Why Your Wi-Fi is Slow (And How You Can Fix It)

[Brink]

The first 801.11ac chipsets are coming soon, but 802.11n is likely to stick around for many years to come -- both in the business world and our homes. Unfortunately, the 300Mbps (megabits per second) that the n-standard promises rarely delivers anything even close and proves to be a massive bottleneck in the days of 50/100Mbps (or more?) broadband connections, 1080p video streaming, massive backups and so forth. On the business side of things, even menial tasks such as remote desktop or real-time collaboration suffer from a poor Wi-Fi-connection.

Read more at:
Why Your Wi-Fi is Slow (And How You Can Fix It) | PCWorld

 

[chev65]

Nice read Shawn.

People need to understand that WIFI isn't magic. Going through two or three walls and expecting a perfect signal isn't reality. My tests indicate that anything more than two walls will give you average signal strength but it will be far from optimum, three walls will be marginal at best but there are other factors involved like the density of the walls and many other factors.

Installing access points in the ideal locations is what makes WIFI work best. Expecting to have a good signal at the other end of the house after going through a bunch of walls is pure fantasy but people still seem to think it's possible.

Another important point I'd like to make that the article didn't mention. Using the 802.11n Only setting with AES encryption is the only way to achieve full wireless N speed of 300Mbps. Using the mixed settings or using the older and slower TKIP encryption you can't achieve full wireless N speeds because the router needs to slow down it's signal in order to talk to slower wireless standards. Of course you can only do this if all the clients are using wireless N.

Even with this strong signal strength and high speed of this connection if you don't look around for a clean channel you may notice dropped packets and skipping video streaming so channel selection is very important.

 

[ahmedsaad456]

amazing , it is good topic

 

[pparks1]

I only use wireless on laptops which are being used almost exclusively for surfing the web. My current 54g wireless router can supply more bandwidth that my ISP can provide...so the wireless is NOT a bottleneck for me. For any other computer in my house, my 360 and my PS3 it's hardwired into the network. I realize not everybody has the luxury or ability to run network cables around the house/apartment...but for those who do, it's by far the best and most reliable way to go.

 

[Stratos]

The router may not be an issue when it comes to bandwidth throughput but it can affect your connection quality if the router's not top notch.

For example I've analyzed connection quality on top of bandwidth throughput tests. I found that a lot of people don't use proper settings on their AP's (access points/routers) and rely too much on default settings to achieve good performance. Some routers are plain junk while others can be very buggy. Some try to use better firmware on their routers (i.e. DD-WRT) but the router's hardware is plain terrible (there's a reason why I don't like using any Cisco-Linksys product).

The article does seem to cover the basics but even the best software apps out there to help you plan a wireless scheme still falls short to plain trial and error. Even with router choices it's often a guessing game since what I need to know about the router is the stuff not written on the box.

 

[chev65]

The router may not be an issue when it comes to bandwidth throughput but it can affect your connection quality if the router's not top notch.

For example I've analyzed connection quality on top of bandwidth throughput tests. I found that a lot of people don't use proper settings on their AP's (access points/routers) and rely too much on default settings to achieve good performance. Some routers are plain junk while others can be very buggy. Some try to use better firmware on their routers (i.e. DD-WRT) but the router's hardware is plain terrible (there's a reason why I don't like using any Cisco-Linksys product).

The article does seem to cover the basics but even the best software apps out there to help you plan a wireless scheme still falls short to plain trial and error. Even with router choices it's often a guessing game since what I need to know about the router is the stuff not written on the box.

Good point, that is why I mentioned the settings required to achieve true wireless N speeds which most people aren't even aware of. I agree about the trial and error part.

People mentioned here ISP bottle necks but what about wireless video streaming on the LAN and file transfers on the LAN, huge different there between old standard wireless G which is stuck at 54Mbps and N at 300Mbps. Reliability is more related to proper hardware selection, signal strength and channel selection. I can move 8GB a minute through my wireless connection.

My wireless connection is darn near as fast and just as reliable as my wired connection, it really depends on proper set up and choosing good compatible hardware. It helps to read the reviews at places like Newegg to make an educated choice. I can save people some trouble here,... go with D-link DIR-655 for a router and use the DAP-1522 for an access point or bridge. Or wait for the new standard 802.11ac at 5.0Ghz.

 

[Joan Archer]

My Wi-Fi isn't too bad, the two main computers are both Ethernet connect to an n capable router but the laptop is used via wireless and that is at the opposite end of the bungalow to the router. The signal is usually just one bar below the full set but that's only surfing the web.

 

[GeneO]

When I switched from G to N my bandwidth increased significantly, even though the G bandwidth should have been enough for my ISP. I went from 14 Mb/s to 21.

 

[Kha]

Nice read Shawn.

People need to understand that WIFI isn't magic. Going through two or three walls and expecting a perfect signal isn't reality. My tests indicate that anything more than two walls will give you average signal strength but it will be far from optimum, three walls will be marginal at best but there are other factors involved like the density of the walls and many other factors.

Installing access points in the ideal locations is what makes WIFI work best. Expecting to have a good signal at the other end of the house after going through a bunch of walls is pure fantasy but people still seem to think it's possible.

Another important point I'd like to make that the article didn't mention. Using the 802.11n Only setting with AES encryption is the only way to achieve full wireless N speed of 300Mbps. Using the mixed settings or using the older and slower TKIP encryption you can't achieve full wireless N speeds because the router needs to slow down it's signal in order to talk to slower wireless standards. Of course you can only do this if all the clients are using wireless N.

Even with this strong signal strength and high speed of this connection if you don't look around for a clean channel you may notice dropped packets and skipping video streaming so channel selection is very important.

Omg! 300 mbps! do you know that i'm have only 7.2 mbps
And all my money in it, but silly Telecom Company!

 

[M1GU31]

Nice read Shawn.

People need to understand that WIFI isn't magic. Going through two or three walls and expecting a perfect signal isn't reality. My tests indicate that anything more than two walls will give you average signal strength but it will be far from optimum, three walls will be marginal at best but there are other factors involved like the density of the walls and many other factors.

Installing access points in the ideal locations is what makes WIFI work best. Expecting to have a good signal at the other end of the house after going through a bunch of walls is pure fantasy but people still seem to think it's possible.

Another important point I'd like to make that the article didn't mention. Using the 802.11n Only setting with AES encryption is the only way to achieve full wireless N speed of 300Mbps. Using the mixed settings or using the older and slower TKIP encryption you can't achieve full wireless N speeds because the router needs to slow down it's signal in order to talk to slower wireless standards. Of course you can only do this if all the clients are using wireless N.

Even with this strong signal strength and high speed of this connection if you don't look around for a clean channel you may notice dropped packets and skipping video streaming so channel selection is very important.

Omg! 300 mbps! do you know that i'm have only 7.2 mbps
And all my money in it, but silly Telecom Company!

You should be happy i get 5.6mbps download and 0.55mbps upload with at&t and pay around $40 usd for dsl and the phone in a bundle a month but it's what we can afford because the only other internet provider in our area is comcast but they charge like around $80usd and make you sign a contract for 6 months were you only pay around 35$ but it goes up later to like 80-90$usd a month.

 

[Kha]

Nice read Shawn.

People need to understand that WIFI isn't magic. Going through two or three walls and expecting a perfect signal isn't reality. My tests indicate that anything more than two walls will give you average signal strength but it will be far from optimum, three walls will be marginal at best but there are other factors involved like the density of the walls and many other factors.

Installing access points in the ideal locations is what makes WIFI work best. Expecting to have a good signal at the other end of the house after going through a bunch of walls is pure fantasy but people still seem to think it's possible.

Another important point I'd like to make that the article didn't mention. Using the 802.11n Only setting with AES encryption is the only way to achieve full wireless N speed of 300Mbps. Using the mixed settings or using the older and slower TKIP encryption you can't achieve full wireless N speeds because the router needs to slow down it's signal in order to talk to slower wireless standards. Of course you can only do this if all the clients are using wireless N.

Even with this strong signal strength and high speed of this connection if you don't look around for a clean channel you may notice dropped packets and skipping video streaming so channel selection is very important.

Omg! 300 mbps! do you know that i'm have only 7.2 mbps
And all my money in it, but silly Telecom Company!

You should be happy i get 5.6mbps download and 0.55mbps upload with at&t and pay around $40 usd for dsl and the phone in a bundle a month but it's what we can afford because the only other internet provider in our area is comcast but they charge like around $80usd and make you sign a contract for 6 months were you only pay around 35$ but it goes up later to like 80-90$usd a month.

Not really 7.2 mbps, that's just a fake number from them!

They say i will get 7.2 mbps speed, and it take many times to open just a webpage with images.

Anyway i'm download a file, and the speed not 7.2!
I don't know how many, but i think not higher than 1 mbps!

Any idea how to speed up my connection?
i was try CPROXY it's good but not enough speed in my region.
Any applications like it?

Thanks in advance

 

[M1GU31]

Omg! 300 mbps! do you know that i'm have only 7.2 mbps
And all my money in it, but silly Telecom Company!

You should be happy i get 5.6mbps download and 0.55mbps upload with at&t and pay around $40 usd for dsl and the phone in a bundle a month but it's what we can afford because the only other internet provider in our area is comcast but they charge like around $80usd and make you sign a contract for 6 months were you only pay around 35$ but it goes up later to like 80-90$usd a month.

Not really 7.2 mbps, that's just a fake number from them!

They say i will get 7.2 mbps speed, and it take many times to open just a webpage with images.

Anyway i'm download a file, and the speed not 7.2!
I don't know how many, but i think not higher than 1 mbps!

Any idea how to speed up my connection?
i was try CPROXY it's good but not enough speed in my region.
Any applications like it?

Thanks in advance

you could try manully changing DNS sever by testing your connection with namebench which is what I do when my connection is slowing up and it will show me the two best dns severs for my connection, fastest set for preferred dns sever and 2nd fastest is set for alternative dns sever. Anyways you could google search how to change your dns sever and use namebench to test the connection with the dns severs.

 

[chev65]

Nice read Shawn.

People need to understand that WIFI isn't magic. Going through two or three walls and expecting a perfect signal isn't reality. My tests indicate that anything more than two walls will give you average signal strength but it will be far from optimum, three walls will be marginal at best but there are other factors involved like the density of the walls and many other factors.

Installing access points in the ideal locations is what makes WIFI work best. Expecting to have a good signal at the other end of the house after going through a bunch of walls is pure fantasy but people still seem to think it's possible.

Another important point I'd like to make that the article didn't mention. Using the 802.11n Only setting with AES encryption is the only way to achieve full wireless N speed of 300Mbps. Using the mixed settings or using the older and slower TKIP encryption you can't achieve full wireless N speeds because the router needs to slow down it's signal in order to talk to slower wireless standards. Of course you can only do this if all the clients are using wireless N.

Even with this strong signal strength and high speed of this connection if you don't look around for a clean channel you may notice dropped packets and skipping video streaming so channel selection is very important.

Omg! 300 mbps! do you know that i'm have only 7.2 mbps
And all my money in it, but silly Telecom Company!

That speed is really only my LAN speed and in reality the measured speed is typically half that. Using one of the internet speed tests I get 20Mbps on my wireless connection where my wired connection is around 30Mbps. So my ISP isn't the bottle neck.

I can stream HD content from the web perfectly though that wireless connection. The LAN streaming is even better, streaming HD movies is perfect without any skipping. Signal strength and channel selection plus using the settings I mentioned are key here.

 

[Stratos]

Chev65 said it earlier that WiFi isn't magic, I agree. There are several solutions out there if you do some internet hunting and with some planning and smart equipment shopping, you can create a very good WiFi environment for your home, SOHO, etc.

The first thing is to evaluate your environment, you can't plan effectively if you don't perform a proper "recon" of where you intend on installing WiFi services. Think about where you need services first and prioritize zones that are of high, medium to low priority for connectivity. Then consider restraints such as limitations as to where you can put certain things. Obviously you can't put a router/access point where there's no power outlet, etc.

As for the equipment, I tend to choose AP's (access points/routers) with external antenna connectors. Nearly all consumer AP's come with dipole antennas, which provide omnidirectional coverage. While great in an open location when the AP is centralized, it can pose issues when you're in a building with lots of rebar (which absorbs and grounds WiFi signals), lots of walls, water (such as a water heater), etc. Just by switching out a dipole antenna for a more directional one can provide you a 6dbi, 10dbi, or more signal gain in a cone-shaped pattern to areas which need it. For example I use Yagi antennas, such as those that look like a curved ping-pong paddle, sometimes the type that looks like an old school sci-fi laser cannon, sometimes I use a much larger dipole antenna with a much longer coax cable so I can keep the router in one location and run the antenna to a better location.

The last part is about signal strength and quality. Looking at how many "bars" you have doesn't provide meaningful information because there's no rule regulating what a bar of signal actually means. 1 bar of signal doesn't equate to a corresponding dbi value. Each product manufacturer has the freedom of determining what 1 or 5 bars actually mean. However if you want to make accurate measurements, you should always look for ways to observe RSSI/dbi information and not signal bars.

Building on dbi measurements, always keep in mind that the higher the bandwidth (300Mbps vs. 54Mbps), the more it'll be affected by each value of dbi. For example in terms of power, a 3dbi difference is about twice or half the power (depending on whether it's a gain or loss), 6dbi is four times, 10dbi is about 10 times, etc.

 

[Larraine]

Nice read Shawn.

People need to understand that WIFI isn't magic. Going through two or three walls and expecting a perfect signal isn't reality. My tests indicate that anything more than two walls will give you average signal strength but it will be far from optimum, three walls will be marginal at best but there are other factors involved like the density of the walls and many other factors.

Installing access points in the ideal locations is what makes WIFI work best. Expecting to have a good signal at the other end of the house after going through a bunch of walls is pure fantasy but people still seem to think it's possible.

Another important point I'd like to make that the article didn't mention. Using the 802.11n Only setting with AES encryption is the only way to achieve full wireless N speed of 300Mbps. Using the mixed settings or using the older and slower TKIP encryption you can't achieve full wireless N speeds because the router needs to slow down it's signal in order to talk to slower wireless standards. Of course you can only do this if all the clients are using wireless N.

Even with this strong signal strength and high speed of this connection if you don't look around for a clean channel you may notice dropped packets and skipping video streaming so channel selection is very important.

Omg! 300 mbps! do you know that i'm have only 7.2 mbps
And all my money in it, but silly Telecom Company!

You should be happy i get 5.6mbps download and 0.55mbps upload with at&t and pay around $40 usd for dsl and the phone in a bundle a month but it's what we can afford because the only other internet provider in our area is comcast but they charge like around $80usd and make you sign a contract for 6 months were you only pay around 35$ but it goes up later to like 80-90$usd a month.

Mine is worst, i have 3.0 mbps....