network access point bandwidth shared equally?

[GunSpeed]

As I was descussing wifi network types with a friend, both failed to give a clear answer on wether the access point network bandwidth is shared or limited.

Again, if the network speed lets say 100mbps and my access point speed is only 54mbps, and 3 wifi enabled computers are connected to the access point ( no internet ) will the 54mbps be shared to all 3 if all off them are getting a file from the server.
54/3 = 18mbps each?
or each will be able to use the full 54mbps?

 

[scottatwittenberg]

i am pretty sure it would be 54x3. my computer will say 54 or 108 as the connection speed.. 10mb is fine though. i was using a t-10 hub and could stream movies, mp3s, and all that over it with no problem. . so unless you are copying gigs of stuff it won't matter.

 

[MrGuvernment]

10mbps (1MB) is fine for streaming stuff usually - but get a few people streaming stuff and copying files and your bottle neck is hit - you dont have to copy gig's of stuff but the more people = slow down occur.

 

[Boscoh]

The bandwidth is shared between all users of the AP, just like on a hub.

How much bandwidth a particular user gets is going to depend on a lot of things, including signal strength, noise, how many other users are on the AP, the types of objects the signal has to propagate through, weather/environment conditions, antennas, etc etc. It's pretty complicated, and needless to say, the data rate fluctuates almost constantly.

For web surfing, I (personally) wouldn't put more than 8 users on an 802.11g access point. The actual realized data rate for an 802.11g access point is, at best, ~25mb/s. Usually, it's more like 18-20 though. Windows is telling you the signaling rate, not the data rate...there is a big difference.