Getting 50Mb wirelessly.

CMP · 10-12-2010, 11:27

On my Ethernet connection, I get 50Mb down and 1.6Mb up, 9/10 when running speed tests. I have connected my wife's lappy up to my new 50MB connection via the supplied D-Link adaptor.

So far, and I'm not complaining before anyone asks, I have only managed to get a down speed of about 40Mb, but the upload speed is constant at 1.6Mb.

Is there any specific settings, or any hardware tips out there to help me reach 50Mb down via the N adaptor.

Much appreciated.

m47een · 10-12-2010, 11:32

Hi,

Have you checked if there were any other wireless connections active at the same time as yours?

As far as I know the wireless bandwidth is saturated across all wireless connections.

CMP · 10-12-2010, 11:47

Wireless is pretty quiet around here. There's only 3 or 4 other wireless networks near by.

As I said. I'm very happy for my wife to get 40MB. I'm just being greedy I suppose.

But worth trying isn't it?

Pbryanw · 10-12-2010, 12:33

It might be worth putting something like inSSIDer ( http://www.metageek.net/products/inssider ) on the laptop, which can then scan for nearby networks, and show you if you're using the same channel as another network, or if there's an unused channel you can use.

love2learn · 10-12-2010, 18:28

I worked for an ISP for a while. You almost always won't get as good a connection through wireless as you do on ethernet. Although most of the time it is a channel issue causing the problem. Even if there's only 4 networks in your area. If the laptops got Windows Vista or Windows 7, go to the program list, right click on command prompt, select run as administrator. Then type the following quoted command without the quotation marks
"netsh wlan show networks mode=bssid" hit enter that'll tell you every network in range even if the ssid's hidden and even if the signal's low. Most ISP send their routers out on channels 1,6 and 11 You may or may not find this when you check. But try a channel that has no-one on it and no-one with at either side of it if possible. I.e channel 3, if no-ones on 2 or 4. If the router's N-draft, check the laptop is capable of N-draft. If it's new it probably is. Other unlikely but possible causes are "some" cordless phones and Wireless tv senders.
If none of that helps it's likely the physical obsticles in your house, like walls e.t.c In which case you could try buying a home plug kit, that will send the internet connection through your electrical system as long as it's all on the same circuit. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Twin-85Mbps-.../dp/B000SO94FA

As always, do your own research. Hope this helps

m47een · 10-12-2010, 19:25

I may be wrong so please feel free to correct me but my understanding is if you have a wireless router and you have two machines connected via wireless. The max wireless bandwidth will be split between both machines. This means if you have a 54g router do not expect to be able to max 54mbits if you have more than one machine/device connected.

jb66 · 10-12-2010, 20:31

No you can have 2 machines, one working at 50mbit and the other at 4mbit, it's totally dynamic, but in reality you'll never come close to headline wireless speeds due to interference, distance, Walls etc

progers · 11-12-2010, 09:37

I don't think you'll ever get the 50Meg with a secured wireless link due to the overhead required in processing the security side of the link

Jimmy-J · 11-12-2010, 13:07

Maybe a better router might help? I've switched back to a cabled connection since upgrading to the 50Mb, I tried 2 wireless adaptors and they will not show a download speed above 30Mb no matter how close to the D-Link router that VM provide.

qasdfdsaq · 13-12-2010, 20:28

Maybe better firmware will help. I've got 160mbps with the VM DIR-615 router and alternative firmware. I can't imagine it having problems doing >40. What's the link speed displayed on her laptop?

Matth · 13-12-2010, 22:34

If you are strictly N, and not suffering co-channel defers, then some extra speed may be gained if you turn off B/G protection, on the other hand, if you are sharing a channel with B/G sytems (yours or others), then protection should be on or auto.

Hunting for the least impeded channel is also useful, remember that 5 channel spacing is needed to clear completely, 4 is more or less ok (the compromise 1, 5, 9, 13 layout), and while Wifi scan software will show you active broadcasting networks, there are other devices that will not be identified (eg. Video senders), so if a channel performs very poorly, there may be interference.

Also, N-150 or "N-lite" needs two whole channels, while N-300, needs two channels and the antenna diversity.

Who passed the N specification? Using two "big" channels when the entire band offers just 3 or at most 4, is BRUTAL!

qasdfdsaq · 14-12-2010, 20:14

Actually it's worse than that. You need more than 5 channel spacing to clear completely, actually closer to 11.

You need 5 channel spacing to clear the bandwidth intentionally used/transmitted by the device but in fact bleed-off past the edges of this range cause interference far further than that. Running a single "big" device in 2.4Ghz "occupies" half the band but causes interference through the *entire* band, all the way through to channel 13.

And as for the N specification - WiFi certification actually requires all devices to be shipped - and default to - having "big" channels disabled in the 2.4Ghz band, and the specification also requires/requests (I'm not sure) the device to automatically turn it off when it detects other devices using the secondary channel. Frankly I think that's the best compromise and far better than disabling it completely (even for users in completely isolated/controlled environments).