Network bridge on XP kills wireless transfer rate.

I have an ad-hoc 54g wireless LAN setup using a Belkin PCI (Win XP
Pro) and a Belkin notebook (Win2000) card - no access point. The
desktop PCI card is installed in my wired LAN ICS machine.

When the ad-hoc network link is running unbridged peer to peer, the
transfer rate is lightning fast and the rate doesn't drop from 54Mbps
with each PC having excellent signals. Great for file transfers - but
I can't browse the Web so......

I bridged the wired lan to the wireless lan as per the instructions on
the Microsoft website and now when the two machines talk to each other
the transfer rate drops to 1Mbps and becomes practically unuseable.

Any suggestions as to why the bridge seems to be killing the wireless
connection or how can I improve the rate?
Is it the bridge that is causing the problem?

Many thanks in advance.
CG
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Remove 'mypants' to email me.

"Littleboy" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> I have an ad-hoc 54g wireless LAN setup using a Belkin PCI (Win XP
> Pro) and a Belkin notebook (Win2000) card - no access point. The
> desktop PCI card is installed in my wired LAN ICS machine.
>
> When the ad-hoc network link is running unbridged peer to peer, the
> transfer rate is lightning fast and the rate doesn't drop from 54Mbps
> with each PC having excellent signals. Great for file transfers - but
> I can't browse the Web so......
>
> I bridged the wired lan to the wireless lan as per the instructions on
> the Microsoft website and now when the two machines talk to each other
> the transfer rate drops to 1Mbps and becomes practically unuseable.
>
> Any suggestions as to why the bridge seems to be killing the wireless
> connection or how can I improve the rate?
> Is it the bridge that is causing the problem?

I have been trying the same thing today but with two Belkin PCI cards and
had the same problem re: speeds going down to 1MB (though I don't have an
existing network)

Having just got off their 24/7 freephone number, they said that I should
update to the latest drivers and then go to Device Manager in each machine
and under the Belkin Kit, go to the Advanced tab and choose "54g-
Performance" under IBSS 54g mode. - that solved the speed issues for me.

They also told me I shoudn't use the bridge option in Windows XP as it
wasn't the "correct" thing to do but should use ICS to connect two machines
together - though they don't officially support ICS... (so I have to figure
out how to do it- any ideas? (particularly re: IP addresses)) - still at
least they helped me to get my machines to see each other at a decent
speed

Regards
Sunil

On Fri, 3 Oct 2003 04:34:20 +0100, "Sunil Sood"
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>They also told me I shoudn't use the bridge option in Windows XP as it
>wasn't the "correct" thing to do but should use ICS to connect two machines
>together - though they don't officially support ICS... (so I have to figure
>out how to do it- any ideas? (particularly re: IP addresses)) - still at
>least they helped me to get my machines to see each other at a decent
>speed


I got rid of the bridge and used ICS with some help from the following
site: http://www.practicallynetworked.com/sharing/
Hope this helps,

steve

"Sunil Sood" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:bliqo3$ctovn$(E-Mail Removed)...
> "Littleboy" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>> > Any suggestions as to why the bridge seems to be killing the wireless
> > connection or how can I improve the rate?
> > Is it the bridge that is causing the problem?
>
> I have been trying the same thing today but with two Belkin PCI cards and
> had the same problem re: speeds going down to 1MB (though I don't have an
> existing network)

Just to follow up - I may have a solution.

It seems that ICS creates a bridge when you set it up and I found my speeds
were dropping down to 1MB(again) as well whenever I browsed the internet as
well.

My solution is as follows.

1. Download the US version of the drivers on both machines
2. Uninstall the EU version of the drivers
3. Install the US drivers - choosing "Worldwide" under the country settings
in the Belkin utility - I have yet to experiment with the other country
settings offered
4. Change the device manager settings to "54g-Performance" under IBSS 54g
mode
5. Install Internet Connection Sharing... etc

This has worked for me - I am able to connect via my 2nd PC at 48/54Mbs and
connect to the internet...

If it works for you, could you let both me and Belkin
((E-Mail Removed)) know - I am just going to email them myself and ask
them to fix the European drivers - they have only just released the latest
US versions and the EU ones are currently dated from about 2/3 months ago so
are hopefully due for an update soon..

If it doesn't work I'd also like to know

Regards
Sunil

On Fri, 3 Oct 2003 12:18:12 +0100, "Sunil Sood"
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>
>"Sunil Sood" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>news:bliqo3$ctovn$(E-Mail Removed)...
>> "Littleboy" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>>> > Any suggestions as to why the bridge seems to be killing the wireless
>> > connection or how can I improve the rate?
>> > Is it the bridge that is causing the problem?
>>
>> I have been trying the same thing today but with two Belkin PCI cards and
>> had the same problem re: speeds going down to 1MB (though I don't have an
>> existing network)
>
>Just to follow up - I may have a solution.
>
>It seems that ICS creates a bridge when you set it up and I found my speeds
>were dropping down to 1MB(again) as well whenever I browsed the internet as
>well.
>
>My solution is as follows.
>
>1. Download the US version of the drivers on both machines
>2. Uninstall the EU version of the drivers
>3. Install the US drivers - choosing "Worldwide" under the country settings
>in the Belkin utility - I have yet to experiment with the other country
>settings offered
>4. Change the device manager settings to "54g-Performance" under IBSS 54g
>mode
>5. Install Internet Connection Sharing... etc
>
>This has worked for me - I am able to connect via my 2nd PC at 48/54Mbs and
>connect to the internet...
>
>If it works for you, could you let both me and Belkin
>((E-Mail Removed)) know - I am just going to email them myself and ask
>them to fix the European drivers - they have only just released the latest
>US versions and the EU ones are currently dated from about 2/3 months ago so
>are hopefully due for an update soon..
>
>If it doesn't work I'd also like to know
>
>Regards
>Sunil
>


Hey Sunil,

Thanks for the information. I had just downloaded the new US drivers
and was about to try them anyway when I saw your note.
I Went ahead and installed them and like you can get good transfer
rate on both Net access and file transfer.

The rate problem came back when I set up the bridge again which is a
real pain. At least I know it is a driver problem now!
I will just have to decide if I want wireless LAN access or keep
switching the ICS connection between the wired and wireless LAN.

I hope Belkin see sense and release drivers which will support the
network bridge in future.

Did your cards run at 54Mbps when connected to the network bridge?

Thanks
Chris
***************************
Remove 'mypants' to email me.

"Littleboy" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Thanks for the information. I had just downloaded the new US drivers
> and was about to try them anyway when I saw your note.
> I Went ahead and installed them and like you can get good transfer
> rate on both Net access and file transfer.
>
> The rate problem came back when I set up the bridge again which is a
> real pain. At least I know it is a driver problem now!
> I will just have to decide if I want wireless LAN access or keep
> switching the ICS connection between the wired and wireless LAN.
>
> I hope Belkin see sense and release drivers which will support the
> network bridge in future.
>
> Did your cards run at 54Mbps when connected to the network bridge?

Make sure you have choosen 54g-Performance" under IBSS 54g mode on both
cards - until I did this I found the speed used to drop.

My two computers now seem to work fine(48/54Mbs) using ICS (which I believe
creates a network bridge?) and an external USB modem.

Regards
Sunil