Speed Tests

After running several Internet speed tests i feal my
internet was operating rather slowly compared to what it
should be. I'm using a Microsoft Base Station (Wireless)
connected to a MS wireless card both set to G performance.
However, when hooking my Eth cable into the computer i
notice almost 2.5 megs speed increase. My computer tells
me I'm connected at 54mps so why is there such a difference?

Thanks

They are two different measurements, on two differently performing pieces of
hardware, Peter.

Until the recent 10 Gigabit Ethernet products, Ethernet has supported data
transfers at the rate of 10 or 100 Megabits per second (Mbps). A full
duplex setting on the Network Interface Card (NIC) will result in sending
and receiving at the same time, while half duplex is one way at a time only.

With wireless (802.11), transmissions are generally half-duplex, and
definitely depend on distance from the base station/router (plus home
construction environment). Transmission is a maximum of 54 Mbps (standard
802.11g or a, 11 Mbps for b), and decreases the farther away from the base
station.

Unless you're right on top of the base station with wireless, you'll
probably never see the "full" 54 Mbps throughput, and even then because it
is wireless, you may see less.
--
Chris H.
Microsoft Windows MVP/Tablet PC
Tablet Creations - http://nicecreations.us/
Associate Expert
Expert Zone - www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone


"Peter Spalding" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:108401c4cbba$eb276680$(E-Mail Removed)...
> After running several Internet speed tests i feal my
> internet was operating rather slowly compared to what it
> should be. I'm using a Microsoft Base Station (Wireless)
> connected to a MS wireless card both set to G performance.
> However, when hooking my Eth cable into the computer i
> notice almost 2.5 megs speed increase. My computer tells
> me I'm connected at 54mps so why is there such a difference?
>
> Thanks

Ok, Lets make a few assumptions here. First, lets assume
that my wireless card is not right on top of the base, and
I have a connection of 11mbps. Even at half duplex,
theoretically shouldn't that still be near 5.5megs per
second? That still wouldn't explain why i can't download
anything faster then 1.5mbps on my 4mbps cable connection.
And while the Ethernet test is only at 3mbps, this router
is slowing down my speed horridly for wireless... And
thats assuming that i'm only connected at 11mbps. I never
see anything lower then 54. Even switching to pure G mode
didn't improve the speed. (I'm using mixed B mode to
accomadate my wireless PDA)

Is there any settings I can adjust to tweak it a bit?
Otherwise, I will probably dump this wireless, cause it
makes no sence to pay for this much bandwidth if I can't
use it.

Peter


>-----Original Message-----
>They are two different measurements, on two differently
performing pieces of
>hardware, Peter.
>
>Until the recent 10 Gigabit Ethernet products, Ethernet
has supported data
>transfers at the rate of 10 or 100 Megabits per second
(Mbps). A full
>duplex setting on the Network Interface Card (NIC) will
result in sending
>and receiving at the same time, while half duplex is one
way at a time only.
>
>With wireless (802.11), transmissions are generally
half-duplex, and
>definitely depend on distance from the base station/router
(plus home
>construction environment). Transmission is a maximum of
54 Mbps (standard
>802.11g or a, 11 Mbps for b), and decreases the farther
away from the base
>station.
>
>Unless you're right on top of the base station with
wireless, you'll
>probably never see the "full" 54 Mbps throughput, and even
then because it
>is wireless, you may see less.
>--
>Chris H.
>Microsoft Windows MVP/Tablet PC
>Tablet Creations - http://nicecreations.us/
>Associate Expert
>Expert Zone - www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone
>
>
>"Peter Spalding" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in
message
>news:108401c4cbba$eb276680$(E-Mail Removed)...
>> After running several Internet speed tests i feal my
>> internet was operating rather slowly compared to what it
>> should be. I'm using a Microsoft Base Station (Wireless)
>> connected to a MS wireless card both set to G performance.
>> However, when hooking my Eth cable into the computer i
>> notice almost 2.5 megs speed increase. My computer tells
>> me I'm connected at 54mps so why is there such a difference?
>>
>> Thanks
>
>
>.
>

There is a difference in "ratings" if you will, and I believe you're
confused by the two. MBps is Megabytes per second, whereas Mbps is Megabits
per second. A single MB, or the file size you're talking about is roughly
eight times larger, or would take 8 Mbps to equal a single MB.

An 11 Mbps connection (minus the overhead for an actual throughput of
roughly 4.5/5.5 Mbps) is just a little over one-half (1/2) a Megabyte (MB,
not Mb). Eight (8) bits makes up a byte.

In your scenario where you're running a mixed environment of 802.11b and
802.11g, you're basically slowing down the g's 54 Mbps (not megabytes, but
megabits or less than 7 Megabytes per second, minus the overhead). It is
the nature of the beast with wireless networking.

Even if you have a broadband Internet service of say 1.5 MB down, anything
around 80% of the "top speed" is considered within an acceptable realm
because of the overhead involved.

To possibly relieve some of the speed issues, you might be interested in
this networking article by Microsoft MVP Barb Bowman regarding setting up
segmented LANs:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/u...an_segnet.mspx
where she describes the advantages of running "segments" or portions of your
LAN, to separate 802.11b and 802.11g devices on their own service.
--
Chris H.
Microsoft Windows MVP/Tablet PC
Tablet Creations - http://nicecreations.us/
Associate Expert
Expert Zone - www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone


<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:6a8501c4cc26$fd2c9f00$(E-Mail Removed)...
> Ok, Lets make a few assumptions here. First, lets assume
> that my wireless card is not right on top of the base, and
> I have a connection of 11mbps. Even at half duplex,
> theoretically shouldn't that still be near 5.5megs per
> second? That still wouldn't explain why i can't download
> anything faster then 1.5mbps on my 4mbps cable connection.
> And while the Ethernet test is only at 3mbps, this router
> is slowing down my speed horridly for wireless... And
> thats assuming that i'm only connected at 11mbps. I never
> see anything lower then 54. Even switching to pure G mode
> didn't improve the speed. (I'm using mixed B mode to
> accomadate my wireless PDA)
>
> Is there any settings I can adjust to tweak it a bit?
> Otherwise, I will probably dump this wireless, cause it
> makes no sence to pay for this much bandwidth if I can't
> use it.
>
> Peter