Wireless N Speeds

NickM · 21 Sep 2010 at 20:20

Just got a Linksys WUSB600N to go with my Netgear DGND3300 router. Both are dual band wireless N.

My room is 2 floors above the router and I'm getting speeds of 30-54Mbps on the 2.4Ghz band and 54-80Mbps on the 5Ghz band, the signal strength for both seems to hover around 2/3 bars. Are these figures normal for being this distance from the router or should it be performing better?

benftl · 21 Sep 2010 at 20:24

Sounds about right mate, to be honest. If you have no 'G' devices that require access then try changing both radios to 'N' only, you may see some improvement.

OpenToSuggestions · 21 Sep 2010 at 20:26

It depends on the house you live in. I am about 10m from my router through 2 partition walls (same floor) using wireless G.
However, my signal was naff and even though I had full signal, the internet would often say 'finding www.google.co.uk' (iirc of course).

Yet my brother has less signal but a signal that is fine and he always has good pings on online FPS.

I wouldn't worry about your signal strength, if your internet is working well

.

From my experience, USB wireless adaptors are majorly inferior to pci ones.

EDIT: I forgot to say, my room is above the garage and has a big steel 'I beam' above and below.

vsmora · 21 Sep 2010 at 23:35

There's no such thing as "normal" for wifi in a real environment. There are way too many variables (e.g. what material are your floors, how thick, contain any metal, what about metal furniture, what angle is the PC relative to the router etc). Also as the previous poster says, don't assume the signalling rate or strength to be accurate indicators of performance. Interference will have a big impact so the only real test is how fast you can actually transfer in practice (which might even vary with time of day).

roadie · 22 Sep 2010 at 11:35

I understand the above, especially in my old Victorian flat! However, I've a new flatmate who is having trouble connecting to my router and am in need of suggestions to improve the connection/coverage. Current set up is:

- ADSL line into Thomson Speedtouch 780WL in bridge mode.
- Ethernet cable from the 780 into a Buffalo WZR-HP-G300NH router spitting out the wireless signal.
- Edimax EW-7318USg USB wireless G adapter trying to pick up the signal!

Would replacing the USB wireless G adapter with a 300Mbps wireless N one (especailly a PCI or PCI Express) have any positive affect in picking up the signal?

One thing I do need to do is test changing channels and perhaps moving the router from 40Mhz mode to 20Mhz mode, which may help things.

Thanks!

NickM · 23 Sep 2010 at 20:56

Hmm well as a comparison I just fired up my laptop (Vista 32 built in wireless N) which is sitting next to my desktop (W7 64) and as I type the laptop is apparently connected at 300Mbps (2/3 bars) as opposed to the desktop connected at a mere 40.5Mbps (1bar)...