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Why is my wireless connection half as slow as my wired connection?

post #1 of 12
8/15/05 at 4:10pm
Thread Starter 
My signal strength is 'Excellent' and I'm connected at 54Mbps , but when I run a speed test the results of the download speed are less than half of what I get when I run the speed test through a wired connection. The upload seems to stay the same.

I get between 3100-4000Kbps when I run it through my ethernet but only 800-1000 when I run the test through my wireless.

I have NO security enabled...

Why do you think this is?
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post #2 of 12
8/15/05 at 5:01pm
Just a note.. half as slow would actually means twice as fast.. so you meant to say half as fast...

What type of wireless card are you working with?
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post #3 of 12
8/15/05 at 5:03pm
Probably as a result of packet loss. Are you using Intel's management program (assuming it's an Intel Pro Wireless module) or XP's integrated control?
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post #4 of 12
8/15/05 at 5:08pm
Interference, or packet loss. Its the reason sometimes you have an excellent signal @ full throttle (54mps) yet no connection whatsoever. You keep 404'ing in browser etc.

I think you should test at different times in the day and average out your result.
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post #5 of 12
8/15/05 at 5:16pm
Signal strength does not matter as much as signal quality.

Degraded quality will result in high packetloss, which leads to poor performance.


40% strength @ 90% quality would function better than 80% strength @ 60% quality.
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post #6 of 12
8/15/05 at 5:24pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks for the replies everyone, it's much appreciated.

CollegeStudent, you're right, I meant half as fast

I'm using the Intel Pro Wireless 2200BG, it's builtin.

Quote:
Are you using Intel's management program (assuming it's an Intel Pro Wireless module) or XP's integrated control?
Not sure what you mean?


What could be the cause of packet loss and degraded signal quality? The wireless router is literally a foot away from my laptop right now. It's a new linksys, should I see about updating the firmware?

Thanks again
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post #7 of 12
8/15/05 at 5:29pm
I'd like to point out that your wired network is probably at least 100mb, which is... twice as fast as 54mb (roughly).
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post #8 of 12
8/15/05 at 5:29pm
I would perform internal network (if you have one) file transfer tests as opposed to using your internet connection to do it to make sure it has nating to do with NAT in your wireless router.

And since you're saying it's insecure, it could also be the neighbor piggybacking on it.
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post #9 of 12
8/15/05 at 5:44pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
I'd like to point out that your wired network is probably at least 100mb, which is... twice as fast as 54mb (roughly).
Yea but we're only talking 2-4mbs here...

Quote:
I would perform internal network (if you have one) file transfer tests as opposed to using your internet connection to do it to make sure it has nating to do with NAT in your wireless router.
I only have 1 PC so I can't...

What exactly should I checkout regarding the NAT to make sure it's not interferring with my wireless speed?

Also, I literally just put the wireless network up an hour ago so I don't think anyone other than myself has connected to it. I checked the IPs and I'm the only one...
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post #10 of 12
8/15/05 at 6:14pm
If you are using the latest Intel ProSet (v9.X proggie, then you can get "advanced statistics" under "Tools". If it is of the v8 variety, go to troubleshooting then click on statistics. This will show you the number of missed AP beacons and trasmit retries which should give you an idea of the quality of your connection. If either of those are high, you are getting significant packet loss which would explain your slow connection.
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post #11 of 12
8/15/05 at 7:44pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Unleaded
If you are using the latest Intel ProSet (v9.X proggie, then you can get "advanced statistics" under "Tools". If it is of the v8 variety, go to troubleshooting then click on statistics. This will show you the number of missed AP beacons and trasmit retries which should give you an idea of the quality of your connection. If either of those are high, you are getting significant packet loss which would explain your slow connection.
Thanks for the tip...I'm downloading something through ethernet right now so when it's finished I'll test the wireless and see if i'm losing packets.

If I AM (losing packets), what would you advise to do?

If I'm NOT, what the hell is making my wireless half as fast?
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post #12 of 12
8/15/05 at 8:43pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Unleaded
If you are using the latest Intel ProSet (v9.X proggie, then you can get "advanced statistics" under "Tools". If it is of the v8 variety, go to troubleshooting then click on statistics. This will show you the number of missed AP beacons and trasmit retries which should give you an idea of the quality of your connection. If either of those are high, you are getting significant packet loss which would explain your slow connection.
I'm running v9.x drivers and I'm having trouble finding this feature, where is it exactly? Thanks for your help Unleaded
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