Wireless transfer speeds

Merlin5 · 11 Jun 2012 at 01:46

What sort of transfer speed should I be getting when transferring files between desktop and laptop? My laptop has a Centrino Wireless-N 1030 and my desktop has a built in Realtek RTL8168C(P)/8111C(P) Family PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet NIC (NDIS 6.20). And the router is the virgin superhub, wired to the desktop.

Not sure what speed the desktop card is rated at (Gigabit, so, 1000mbps I guess?), and the wireless card is 300mbps. Does that mean in theory it could transfer at 37.50MB/s?
Last night I had my laptop right next to my desktop. I transferred a 1GB folder from desktop to laptop, and it was very slow, like it started at 1.7MB/s, then dropped to around 600kb/s then to 400kb/s, and took over an hour. After that, I tested a small folder, just a few MB's, and it did it at 8.5 to 9MB/s (around 6MB/s when transferring the same file back from laptop to desktop). Then I tested a 3.5GB folder, and it transferred at around 2.5MB/s. Why the huge variation in speeds and what sort of speeds should I be getting?

Mitzy · 11 Jun 2012 at 01:53

I get about 7MB/s tops going from PC to Laptop via a Virgin Media Superhub. The PC is wired and the laptop is wireless.

Mitzy · 11 Jun 2012 at 01:55

This might help you visualise the speed a bit better.

http://web.forret.com/tools/bandwidth.asp?speed=7&unit=MB/s

Merlin5 · 11 Jun 2012 at 02:05

Mitzy said:
This might help you visualise the speed a bit better.

http://web.forret.com/tools/bandwidth.asp?speed=7&unit=MB/s

Well I used that chart earlier and typed 300mbps which converts to 37.5MB/s. Is it down to the virgin superhub's rated speed that determines transfer speeds, regardless of how fast the laptop card is? Is the superhub rated much lower, like 100mbps or something, meaning max possible transfer speed between both PC and laptop is about 10MB/s or am I completely misunderstanding how it works? (More than likely

)

bremen1874 · 11 Jun 2012 at 02:38

Unfortunately quoted wireless speeds are very theoretical.

If you divide the quoted figure by four you’ll be somewhere near what you could optimistically expect for a single stream under perfect conditions with a good router (which the Virgin Superhub isn’t from a wireless point-of-view).

Merlin5 · 11 Jun 2012 at 03:10

bremen1874 said:
Unfortunately quoted wireless speeds are very theoretical.

If you divide the quoted figure by four you’ll be somewhere near what you could optimistically expect for a single stream under perfect conditions with a good router (which the Virgin Superhub isn’t from a wireless point-of-view).

Ah right, so the 8 to 9MB/s I was sometimes getting would make sense then.
Yeah, I don't think the wireless on this Superhub is good at all.

I'm thinking of reconnecting my TP-Link router to the Superhub and just using the Superhub as a modem. Just like I had it with my previous VM cable modem. Cable coaxial feed into modem, modem into TP-Link router, and TP-Link router wired into desktop. Because in certain areas of my home, I used to be able to get wi-fi on my phone with the TP-Link that I can't get now.

If I reconnect my TP-Link, will I have to change any settings or will it work straightaway? Like, if I switch the superhub setting in the menu to modem, I presume that will override my wireless settings? And the TP-Link router, when I first set it up when I had the previous VM cable modem, I made these settings:

WAN Connection Type: Dynamic IP
Network Name (SSID): My Wi-Fi
Network Security Type: Most Security (WPA2-PSK)
Network Security Key: xxxxxxxxxxxx

Then under 'Mac Clone' I did 'Clone MAC Address'. Will I need to recreate all those?