Huge loss in speed over wifi?

[pete6032]

Hi guys I've been having problems with my wifi and just wanted to see if these readings made sense to you.

I live in a house and our modem is attached to a dlink 2.4 ghz G router in the basement. I took a reading from the basement PC, which is wired to the router, my notebook PC sitting right next to the router via wifi, and then my notebook PC on the main floor of the house (again, with router in basement) via wifi. Even though there is a good signal, there seems to be huge losses in speed. Is this normal? There are no other 2.4 ghz networks in range (that my laptop can see) so there shouldn't be that much interference.

Summary:
Hard wired PC - 65 down 11 up
Laptop sitting next to router connecting via wifi - 12.5 down 11.5 up Signal -33db
Laptop on main floor, router in basement - 3.0 down 4.9 up Signal -60db

Hard wired PC

Basement - Laptop sitting right next to router

InSSIDer for basement laptop location:

Kitchen - Laptop located one floor above about 20-30 feet from router

InSSIDer for kitchen location:

 

[TheCrackLing]

802.11g is your problem. Upgrade to 802.11n.

 

[Danstek]

Does this occur with any other wireless client device besides your laptop?

I would recommend upgrading to a wireless N router. 802.11g has a max throughput if 54Mbps, but after accounting for wireless and encryption overhead your effective throughput would be about half of that. With a 65Mbps connection from your ISP, wireless G is a bottleneck in your wifi network.

 

[QuietDad]

Wireless routers also work better in the attic than the basement.

 

[JackMDS]

The answer is simple it is Normal.

Lay a Wire from the Basement Router to the first floor/hallway, connect there a Good Dual Band Wireless Router configured as an Access Point and you will have better coverage through the house.

Using Access Points or Wireless Cable/DSL Routers as a Switch with an Access Point - http://www.ezlan.net/router_AP.html

 

[VirtualLarry]

The answer is simple it is Normal.

Yup, this.

Get a better router, or do what Jack says, and get two routers, one for each floor, and connect them via a CAT5e/6 cable.

 

[mango123]

disregard

 

[mango123]

Yup, this.

Get a better router, or do what Jack says, and get two routers, one for each floor, and connect them via a CAT5e/6 cable.

What these guys say.

 

[SecurityTheatre]

Hi guys I've been having problems with my wifi and just wanted to see if these readings made sense to you.

I live in a house and our modem is attached to a dlink 2.4 ghz G router in the basement. I took a reading from the basement PC, which is wired to the router, my notebook PC sitting right next to the router via wifi, and then my notebook PC on the main floor of the house (again, with router in basement) via wifi. Even though there is a good signal, there seems to be huge losses in speed. Is this normal? There are no other 2.4 ghz networks in range (that my laptop can see) so there shouldn't be that much interference.

Wifi (especially older protocols) is inefficient. an 11Mbps "B" connection gets you about 2Mbps of real throughput. A 54Mbps "G" connection gets you about 15-20Mbps of throughput and drops off rapidly with lower signal strength.

The best solution is to go to 5Ghz, and/or to "N". 54Mbps "A" wireless at 5Ghz gets about 30Mbps and 160-ish connections on 5Ghz "N" will get you about 90-100Mbps in my experience.

 

[guskline]

The answer is simple it is Normal.

Lay a Wire from the Basement Router to the first floor/hallway, connect there a Good Dual Band Wireless Router configured as an Access Point and you will have better coverage through the house.

Using Access Points or Wireless Cable/DSL Routers as a Switch with an Access Point - http://www.ezlan.net/router_AP.html

Excellent suggestion! I live in a ranch with a finished basement. The cable company ran a shielded and seperate cable to the modem located downstairs in our furnace room. I used to keep the DLink DR-655 wireless router/ 4 port switch down next to the modem but signal for wireless was weak. I went a different route and moved the 655 router upstairs in the middle bedroom (center of first floor) and ran the hard wires from the switches back down to 3 of my desktops and a fourth wire (4 port switch in router) to a managed 8 port 10/100/1000 switch.

Works great for wireless access.