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Help. Trapped at 54Mbps

post #1 of 12
3/3/07 at 9:28pm
Thread Starter 
I have cable modem and a Linksys wireless router. I have 3 computers, 2 desktops and my XPS Gens. My router limits my connection to 54Mbps.

I connected one of my desktops directly to my modem and the speedtests were TWICE as fast. What are my options for utilizing my cable connection? BTW its always been this way. There isn't a problem with my connection. I just would like a faster connection with my XPS.
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post #2 of 12
3/3/07 at 11:43pm
Thread Starter 
I have a Pro wireless 2915ABG card too. I have read the speed ratings on Intels site and it doesn't mention anything above 54Mbps. I also looked at the Dell Draft N card and it doesn't say anything about it being compatible with the XPS Gen2 (9300) model laptops. Is this true?

What are others using to connect wireless at faster rate.
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post #3 of 12
3/4/07 at 11:07am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zeusdafreak
I have cable modem and a Linksys wireless router. I have 3 computers, 2 desktops and my XPS Gens. My router limits my connection to 54Mbps.

I connected one of my desktops directly to my modem and the speedtests were TWICE as fast. What are my options for utilizing my cable connection? BTW its always been this way. There isn't a problem with my connection. I just would like a faster connection with my XPS.

What is your routers maximum wifi speed?
If it is a turbo or super g router these will only work at their rated maximum speeds with the correct adapters from the same manufacturer as the router as they are often a proprietry technology to gain the speed boost.
As for getting full speed when you connect directly to your router(100m/bs?). This is because you are using a wired connection. The breakdown on routers is usually wired connections @100m/bs and wireless at 54m/bs.
What is your connection speed via cable router?
Even if you have a 20m/b connection using wifi g still gives you a huge amount of overhead as your connection to router is still faster than your connection to the internet.
The only real reason for wanting to boost your wifi to even higher than wifi g is if you are using files on your own home network(i.e media files,shared folders), a higher speed will allow faster access to these files, but unless your internet connection via cable is faster than 54m/bs there is nothing else to be gained by an increased wireless speed.
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post #4 of 12
3/4/07 at 12:34pm
Yeah, the intel pro wireless doesn't feature any kind of turbo option. The turbo option isn't part of the g standard so you usually have to get wireless cards by the same manufacturer as the router (or another manufacturer using same components - a little google will tell you whats what). I have a linksys router and atheros wireless card - both feature a turbo option but unfortunatly not a compatable one. Though like banie01 said, even at it's slowest speeds you will still have a local connection speed many times faster than your internet connection - only reason why you would want a faster local network connection would be if you transfer large amount of data between computers on a regular basis...
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post #5 of 12
3/6/07 at 1:00am
I looked it up on dells site the Dell 1500 seems to be there draft N option.. from what I can tell its a mini pci form factor and should be able to fit in the standard minipci slot.

Someone correct me if I am wrong
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post #6 of 12
3/7/07 at 12:29am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by banie01
What is your routers maximum wifi speed?
If it is a turbo or super g router these will only work at their rated maximum speeds with the correct adapters from the same manufacturer as the router as they are often a proprietry technology to gain the speed boost.
As for getting full speed when you connect directly to your router(100m/bs?). This is because you are using a wired connection. The breakdown on routers is usually wired connections @100m/bs and wireless at 54m/bs.
What is your connection speed via cable router?
Even if you have a 20m/b connection using wifi g still gives you a huge amount of overhead as your connection to router is still faster than your connection to the internet.
The only real reason for wanting to boost your wifi to even higher than wifi g is if you are using files on your own home network(i.e media files,shared folders), a higher speed will allow faster access to these files, but unless your internet connection via cable is faster than 54m/bs there is nothing else to be gained by an increased wireless speed.
My routers max speed is 54mbps. It is a wireless g router by Linksys.
I don't understand how to answer "What is your connection speed via cable router?" How would I determine this? I just want to get the most/utilize my connect speed to its fullest potential.
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post #7 of 12
3/7/07 at 1:12am
Your connection if its on the fast end is 6mbps. The router is not slowing you down unless your getting a weak signal from it.
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post #8 of 12
3/7/07 at 2:40am
do a google search for " broadband speed test", run a few different ones as they all behave slightly differently. That should give you a good idea of your actuall connection speed to the internet.
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post #9 of 12
3/7/07 at 8:50am
Thread Starter 
Speed tests are as follows:

Desktop hardwired directly to modem average after 5 sppedtests = 2005kbps/241kbps

Same desktop wired through router average after 5 speedtests = 1159kbps/276kbps

XPS Laptop wireless through router average after 5 speedtests = 1084kbps/242kbps

This is why I thought the Linksys router was the bottleneck. The desktop hardwired got better average downloads(1751,2114,2821,1324,2015) whereas the XPS wireless was significantly different(1185,674,879,1415,1292). the desktop through the router was(1198,1202,892,1561,940).


Why would this be? What else should I look at? Is this normal?
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post #10 of 12
3/7/07 at 10:29am
Got latest drivers for network adapters and latest firmware for router? If you have done any tweeking in the past it might be worth resetting the settings.
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post #11 of 12
3/7/07 at 2:43pm
Thread Starter 
No I haven't updated any network adaptors nor have I updated any router firmware. I am wondering before I go "fixing" things is there actually a problem or are is the information on the speed tests enough to make a determination as to whether this is normal or not.

Also if my 54Mbps router is faster than my internet connection like you say, then why is it showing slower speed tests when going through the router vs. hardwired?
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post #12 of 12
3/7/07 at 6:23pm
I would say there is something up with your router. However, your wired to router vs wireless to router speed is not outside the margin of error considering all the other factors that can come into play with those speed tests. Wi-Fi has problems with data collisions which can delay transmission whereas your desktop is running full duplex which will not have problems with collisions.

the IEEE 802.11g standard for Wi-Fi has a maximum speed of 54Mbps. All devices that are 802.11g compliant will not interconnect any faster than 54Mbps with other devices on the same standard. Products that advertise "Speedbooster" or something similar are compliant with the standard but have proprietary features that are not included in the original 802.11g standard. In order to utilize such features you need a client adapter and access point that utilize that feature. It's pointless to buy a Speedboster router if you're not using a Speedbooster Wi-Fi card with it. Speedbooster is only for Linksys products that are marked as Speedbooster capable. And really Speedbooster just lets you transmit and receive simultaneously, you're still limited to 54Mbps in either direction.
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