Solved Being bottlenecked by Linksys Wireless-G router

[RamyG4]

Router: http://www.amazon.com/Linksys-WRT54G-Wireless-G-Router/dp/B00007KDVI

Needing faster download speeds, I recently upgraded my internet service. With my pc wired through the router, I get speeds of about 21 Mbps and 12-13 Mbps when connected wirelessly. When bypassing the router, i get speeds of about 60Mbps.

Does anybody have an idea of what the issue may be? Any recommendations on routers that can handle 60Mbps if I do indeed need to upgrade?

 

[theveterans]

WRT54G has an ancient CPU that can't keep up with today's bandwidth. For 60 Mbps bandwidth on both WiFi and Ethernet, buy at least N750 Gigabit router which costs around $90. For better performance/money, get an AC1200 Gigabit router for $120 and triple your WiFi speed that you get out of N750 router with a AC1200 client (i.e. your devices must support 802.11ac to get the 3x speeds).

 

[RamyG4]

WRT54G has an ancient CPU that can't keep up with today's bandwidth. For 60 Mbps bandwidth on both WiFi and Ethernet, buy at least N750 Gigabit router which costs around $90. For better performance/money, get an AC1200 Gigabit router for $120 and triple your WiFi speed that you get out of N750 router with a AC1200 client (i.e. your devices must support 802.11ac to get the 3x speeds).

Thanks. Neither of my computers support 802.11ac (have a desktop with a wireless usb adapter and a laptop); both support 802.11n but I suppose a new usb adapter could always remedy that if necessary.

You lost me on the 3x speed though. It sounds like you're saying that an AC1200 router will give me 3x the speed I would get on an N750 router, but that doesn't make sense to me if an n750 router would be giving me 60mbps.

 

[theveterans]

WRT54G has an ancient CPU that can't keep up with today's bandwidth. For 60 Mbps bandwidth on both WiFi and Ethernet, buy at least N750 Gigabit router which costs around $90. For better performance/money, get an AC1200 Gigabit router for $120 and triple your WiFi speed that you get out of N750 router with a AC1200 client (i.e. your devices must support 802.11ac to get the 3x speeds).

Thanks. Neither of my computers support 802.11ac (have a desktop with a wireless usb adapter and a laptop); both support 802.11n but I suppose a new usb adapter could always remedy that if necessary.

You lost me on the 3x speed though. It sounds like you're saying that an AC1200 router will give me 3x the speed I would get on an N750 router, but that doesn't make sense to me if an n750 router would be giving me 60mbps.

It's rounded off to 3x the speed. Most laptops have link speeds of 300 Mbps (N300 or N600) while newer AC1200 adapters have 866 Mbps speed (rounded off to 900 Mbps hence AC1200 = 900 + 300). Those link speeds are when the router is in line of sight with the device

Actual transfer speeds is around 50 - 60 Megabytes/sec (400 - 500 Mbps) while it's around 20 MB/s (160 Mbps) for N so you can have a 300 Mbps internet plan and get all that speed with an AC1200 router.

I'm 1 wall between the laptop and router and the router gives me 702 Mbps link speed with an actual transfer rate of 45 - 50 MB/s on USB 3.0 flash drive attached to my router. Not too shabby.

 

[Dude]

You can try DD-WRT to improve a little, do so at you own risk. I did it with my router the Linksys WRT160Nv3 and it improved my speeds

Hacking your Linksys WRT54G Wireless-G Router with DD-WRT firmware

 

[RamyG4]

WRT54G has an ancient CPU that can't keep up with today's bandwidth. For 60 Mbps bandwidth on both WiFi and Ethernet, buy at least N750 Gigabit router which costs around $90. For better performance/money, get an AC1200 Gigabit router for $120 and triple your WiFi speed that you get out of N750 router with a AC1200 client (i.e. your devices must support 802.11ac to get the 3x speeds).

Thanks. Neither of my computers support 802.11ac (have a desktop with a wireless usb adapter and a laptop); both support 802.11n but I suppose a new usb adapter could always remedy that if necessary.

You lost me on the 3x speed though. It sounds like you're saying that an AC1200 router will give me 3x the speed I would get on an N750 router, but that doesn't make sense to me if an n750 router would be giving me 60mbps.

It's rounded off to 3x the speed. Most laptops have link speeds of 300 Mbps (N300 or N600) while newer AC1200 adapters have 866 Mbps speed (rounded off to 900 Mbps hence AC1200 = 900 + 300). Those link speeds are when the router is in line of sight with the device

Actual transfer speeds is around 50 - 60 Megabytes/sec (400 - 500 Mbps) while it's around 20 MB/s (160 Mbps) for N so you can have a 300 Mbps internet plan and get all that speed with an AC1200 router.

I'm 1 wall between the laptop and router and the router gives me 702 Mbps link speed with an actual transfer rate of 45 - 50 MB/s on USB 3.0 flash drive attached to my router. Not too shabby.

View attachment 331937

Alright got it, thanks for your help. I think I'll order an N750 router for now and see what speeds I get with it. Looking at this one:

Amazon.com: TP-LINK TL-WDR4300 Wireless N750 Dual Band Router, Gigabit, 2.4GHz 300Mbps+5Ghz 450Mbps, 2 USB port, Wireless On/Off Switch: Electronics

 

[theveterans]

Keep in mind that you must use a N900 wireless adapter to get the 450 Mbps advertised speeds by TP-Link. Those adapters are quite expensive (not refurb) and it's cheaper to just get an AC1200 adapter (it's backwards compatible with N and G). It's all up to you in the end.

 

[RamyG4]

Thanks for all your help theveterans, it's greatly appreciated.