New USB wireless adapter is slow?

phil76 · 21 Jan 2012

Hi, was wondering if anyone can help me?

I bought a new usb dongle, 802.11N to try and speed up my net a bit.

I have a 40Meg BT Infininty connection at the socket and my previous usb dongle (g) could get me about 25Meg. So I tried my new one and it's not too cool (0.5meg max).

In my network properties the speed to the router is listed about tx 150mbps and rx 150mbps.

I have tried a few things I have read in other threads, but am stumped tbh...

Using windows 7 x64

Thanks

DustSailor · 21 Jan 2012

Hello phil.

Wireless G and N are not too different from each other. While N may claim faster speeds, in reality you won't always be receiving those speeds due to numerous other factors. The good thing about N over G is its farther range. But, in order to make use of the wireless N adapter, you will need an N rated router as well.

Now your router can only put out as much broadband as it is receiving from the modem. And how much as your modem receives is only as much as you pay for through your ISP. And during heavy traffic hourse and dependant upon how the signal reaches your home (the wellness of the cabling, etc) is how much broadband you actually get in real life.

Now if you were getting 25MBps (MBps is very different than Mbps, by the way), that is quite good, and I wonder why you were attempting to get faster? That is blazingly fast.

Now with the dramatic decrease in speed, it could just be the software. Did you uninstall all previous wireless adapter software, and install the newest version of the adapter from its website?

phil76 · 21 Jan 2012

Hi thanks for your reply.

I get this with old g dongle... http://speedtest.net/result/1719437679.png

and this with new n one:

http://speedtest.net/result/1722113502.png

I use this n router:

BT Home Hub – Wireless Router – The UK's Most reliable wireless connection

I only want more speed because like any avid pc user I want the best from my pc from cpu to gpu to broadband speed, and if I can go faster then I'd like to.

I havent uninstalled other adapter software, but i have uninstalled and used latest drivers from source for my new dongle in a clean install.

Thanks again for the reply

DustSailor · 22 Jan 2012

I'm not really sure what the problem is. Perhaps try uninstalling all other adapter software and only using what came with your newest adapter. You can also attempt to use a previous version of the Wireless N adapter software to see if there might be something wrong with the newest version.

Interestingly, both of those tests use different servers to test from. One says Leeds, the other Manchester.