Speed way slower wireless than wired (losing 66% of speed) - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

Hack&Lube · 03-14-2009, 04:31 PM

I'm usually very good with computers and networking but I can't figure this one out.

I have a D-Link WBR-2310 router and I just upgraded to Shaw Xtreme-I service with my ISP. When I am wired in, I will usually get the advertised speed of 15 Mbps on various speedtests like speakeasy.net like Shaw recommends.

Now my wireless connection is excellent, near full and with very good efficiency. The router is only one room away. The monitor shows that it is only around 5-10% of thoroughput which is right because the wireless G connection (on Super G with Dynamic Turbo) is capable of 54Mbps.

The problem is that when I am wireless, the computer only gets around 3000-4000 kbps on speedtests and this is reflected in usenet downloads and youtube streaming, etc. as much, much slower than when plugged in. On wireless, watching HD youtube streams, I will get from 100-300 kbps download. Wired I can get up to 1 mbps download. Any ideas what could be causing this? I have played with all the settings on my wireless adapter and the modem and everything should be as fast and efficient as possible but somewhere along the line, I am losing a ridiculous 10,000 kbps in transfer speed.

This happens with other computers and laptops in the house on the same connection too. I can't figure it out. The router was only bought in December and it should be fine.

Rathji · 03-14-2009, 08:01 PM

G band interferes with (and is interfered by) by many common household wireless devices. I think it is the 2.4GHz devices, but I could be totally wrong on that. Also stuff like your microwave could easily mess with it as well. I am not sure this would normally cause an issue this severe, but it could happen.

Jedi Ninja · 03-14-2009, 08:13 PM

Try briefly turning off encryption and see if that makes any difference in the results. Have you checked for updated drivers for your wireless card?

jammies · 03-15-2009, 05:08 PM

I also would point at encryption - it does take horsepower to encrypt the data in real-time and I'd suspect the firmware on the WBR-2310 limits the speed of encrypted connections, probably in a misguided attempt to allow more devices to connect the access point and still have a usable connection. Which is, of course, because people insist on using consumer-level equipment like this in a business setting, and then complain to the vendors when the 20+ people on the wireless network cause the whole thing to bog down, so the vendors push back by doing hacks like limiting the encrypted data speed to ensure more people can get on and not overtax the processor.

sclitheroe · 03-15-2009, 08:51 PM

If possible, disable that Super Turbo Wireless G crap and run straight, proper, CORRECT 802.11g, and see if that helps.

All it takes is one device to get confused by that proprietary crap, and it can impact your wireless network significantly with re-transmits, frame errors, broadcasts, etc.

Usually those hacks to get better than standard performance out of the 802.11g spec are vendor specific anyways, so unless you have a D-Link WAP talking to a D-Link wireless card, its not going to make much difference even on a good day.

Rathji · 03-15-2009, 09:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sclitheroe

If possible, disable that Super Turbo Wireless G crap and run straight, proper, CORRECT 802.11g, and see if that helps.

All it takes is one device to get confused by that proprietary crap, and it can impact your wireless network significantly with re-transmits, frame errors, broadcasts, etc.

Usually those hacks to get better than standard performance out of the 802.11g spec are vendor specific anyways, so unless you have a D-Link WAP talking to a D-Link wireless card, its not going to make much difference even on a good day.

Agree 100%, I never even considered that.

Hack&Lube · 03-15-2009, 10:05 PM

Thanks for the suggestions fellows, but I have indeed already tried all those options and everything under the sun inside my router config and my wireless adapter config. In terms of Super G, it should be perfectly interoperable between vendors who support it and not that vendor specific. My wireless adapter definetely has options for adjusting turbo. The only thing I haven't been able to do is go into my modem as I unfortunately have one of the newer blue Shaw modems and not the black ones they first came out with when they rolled out the new DOCSIS modems. Shaw says they locked out the ability to access the in-system menu because they didn't want customers playing with it (192.168.100.1 ).

Anyway, the only thing I've been able to find that makes any sort of impact is adjusting the RWin or TCP Recieve Window with this: http://www.dslreports.com/drtcp

Changing the value by using my average ping x 1.5 x advertised download speed / 8 is the value I found you should use for your RWin. It has helped get over the bottleneck that stopped my wireless system from ever going over 4 MBps previously. Now it fluctuates around 5-8 which is improved at least.