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Wired vs Wireless difference

K

KD28

Weaksauce
Joined
Mar 17, 2007
Messages
113
Hi all,

Just got cable and new hardware and been running bandwidth tests. I know wired is always going to be faster than wireless but was wondering if there were things I can do to see where the bottleneck is.

I have cable internet with a sb6120 modem and the asus rt-n56u router. When I go wired, I get 40+mbs down and when I go wireless I'm getting approx 20mbs down. Dont get me wrong, this is more than adequate but was wondering why the huge difference. I'm not anywhere close to the theoretical max.

The rt-n56u is on firmware 1.0.1.7f which is current. My desktop uses the WMP600n and my laptop has the Intel 5100 AGN built into it - both have updated firmwares. These numbers come from running speed tests over at broadbandreports.com

TIA
 
Well, one thing is that switches are full duplex with no collisions. Wireless access points act like hubs (so they have collisions) and they are only half duplex.

Wireless speed can easily be interfered with. Wired not so easily....or at least, not as easily as wireless.

Also, line of site and distance from access point can make a huge difference in speed.
 
You using a G wireless client? 18-22 megs is typically peak G speeds. You should be getting towards 80 if you're running a good N connection (the wireless is capable of that...but peak at 40 if that's you're max internet pipe)
 
Wireless latency will also be higher. The RF forward error correction and retry algorithm almost guarantees it.
 
YeOldeStonecat said:
You using a G wireless client? 18-22 megs is typically peak G speeds.
Click to expand...


I've tried both the 2.4ghz on G and the 5ghz on N and with same results. I've tried with laptop right next to router as well as with it upstairs sitting next to my desktop. Results on laptop at both spots and results on desktop are same which makes me wonder if there is some kind of bottleneck i'm running into. I get up to 27mbs wirelessly.

And again, I do realize I wont be able to match wired speeds. Just wondering if its normal for it to be cut in almost half or if I can do anything about it.

Thanks again.
 
KD28 said:
I've tried both the 2.4ghz on G and the 5ghz on N and with same results. I've tried with laptop right next to router as well as with it upstairs sitting next to my desktop. Results on laptop at both spots and results on desktop are same which makes me wonder if there is some kind of bottleneck i'm running into. I get up to 27mbs wirelessly.

And again, I do realize I wont be able to match wired speeds. Just wondering if its normal for it to be cut in almost half or if I can do anything about it.

Thanks again.
Click to expand...

Sounds like a bottle neck with the wifi adapter , if your right next to the router picking up 5Ghz on N then you should be screaming considering how uncrowded 5Ghz is.

I would check for driver updates and goto the control panel on your computer , select system , device manager and then your wifi adapter. Make sure its using the full 40mhz (dual channel) of that 5Ghz spectrum and that its transmitting at 100 percent power , if its only using one channel than you are cutting down your throughput. Also make sure your router is using 40mhz as well under its wireless settings.

Under power settings make sure the computer isn't allowed to turn it off (your wifi adapter) or anything in a power saving mode , sometimes that can interfer cause the PC to put it in a low power mode.

Outside of that go to Newegg and buy this : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833704045

Dirt cheap , works very well and will help through a process of elimination and finding out if its your adapter that's the problem. If you get a full 150mbps with nice transfer speeds than you'll have your solution to the issue. This is what I did when I was figuring out a faulty adapter.
 
Last edited:
KD28 said:
And again, I do realize I wont be able to match wired speeds. Just wondering if its normal for it to be cut in almost half or if I can do anything about it.

Thanks again.
Click to expand...

It's not normal to just be cut in half. I'd look into tweaking the wireless...trying a different channel like 1 or 11.

What brand wireless NIC are you testing with?
 
1 , 6 and 11 are the most commonly used Wifi channels so unless you have some freak conditions where your neighbors are all using channels outside those 3 (very unlikely) don't use them.

However it is normal for wireless to be about half speed compared to ethernet. Ethernet is a close circuit that doesn't have to worry about penetrating walls or dealing with high grade interference so wireless is slower because it has to tolerate much worse possible conditions that can change on the fly.

But even taking that into consideration , your wireless speeds are not very impressive regardless.
 
N should be able to beat your wired connection speed, unless it's gigabit.

You may have a lot of EMI around, or your wireless router could be crappy or need tweaking.

The newest of wireless tech has multiple antenna that can send and receive independently, boosting speed and latency quite a lot. Obviously upgrading hardware is not necessary for you.

I find that the laptop itself is the limiter with some of the fancier wireless techs as well. They usually don't put very good wireless tech into all but the most expensive laptops.
 
Make sure you are using 40mhz width on 5ghz so you can connect at 300mbit. That router is supposed to be uber awesome.
 
Thanks for trying to help me out guys. So far no luck. Just bit of clarification if needed (clarification is more for me than anyone else lol). My LAN speeds reported by windows wireless connection status fluctuates between 270mbs and 300mbs.

My WAN speeds are the numbers reported above.

Running Win7 x64 if it matters.
* Forgot to mention in addition to the WMP600n on my desktop, I also have and am trying the Asus USB-53. Again, same results.

---

Drivers up to date. Turned off ability of computer to turn off adapter to save power. Tried 20, 20/40, 40mhz settings on router. No difference. Is there a place I can check if both channels being used? Dont see that option in either of my adapters.

Tried several channels. Same results.
 
Godmachine said:
1 , 6 and 11 are the most commonly used Wifi channels so unless you have some freak conditions where your neighbors are all using channels outside those 3 (very unlikely) don't use them.
Click to expand...

Uhm...you know with 2.4, using any channels other than 1, 6, or 11 will result in "channel overlap"...which absolutely does drop performance regardless of neighbors or not. 5.0 Ghz can use any of it's 8 channels.
 
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