Quote:
Originally Posted by Rathji
If your performance hit is due to network interference, then upgrading your internet connection speeds will do nothing.
Think of your wireless router as a pipe that connects your network to the internet. Normally that pipe is far larger than anything coming in from(or going out to) the internet, so there is alot of extra room in the pipe. If your network has a large amount of noise/interference it will reduce your network capacity, so your networks pipe is smaller than what is coming in from the intenet, so it doesn't matter how much faster that internet is, it doesn't change the fact that your network can't handle more traffic.
If you are sure this is the issue (ie it fixed itself if you are beside the router), then the fix is to get an access point and hardwire it to the floor where you are having issues with the wireless signal.
I don't have any personal experience with them, but you would be looking for something like these.
If you don't have a cat5 cable running to that level, then you can do a pull of Cat5, or use Power Line Networking solution. Again, I don't have any experiece with these, but if you shop around you can compare prices/quality to determine the best one for you.
Edit: Actually I just noticed this powerline wireless access point, but it seems really expensive |
I wouldn't touch CAT5 (10Mb/second). I would go for CAT6 (1Gig/sec) specifically. I would also buy your cabling from a memory express or similar as Rathji notes and not from bestbuy or futureshop...they charge a premium for the same quality. its a good markup for those retailers.
i wanted to add that your WAP/router may also be the issue depending upon the type of network that you run.
I run this one:
http://www.linksysbycisco.com/CA/en/products/WRT610N and i really like it...i put the slower stuff on the 2.4 ghz and the laptop on 5.0ghz. also, draft n seems to be faster as well as having a different footprint than G or B routers. of course, alot depends upon where you are starting from location wise and the sort of structure that you are in.
i agree with rathji...assuming that you have wireless you need to see the various locations and their connections to start to determine the problems with the speed.
one final comment is about content; alot depends upon where that content that you are looking at resides. if it is on the internet...that is one thing. if it is inside your house (a server or storage device) then you will notice a speed difference.
as rathji notes...there are various speed issues throughout any internet connection. in my experience, you don't want to limit yourself on your network if you can avoid it. the rest of the internet will eventually catch up with your speed.