125mbps question

[pappadj]

I have a a Gateway 7410gx with an onboard Broadcom 802.11g (BCM 4306MP Rev4.4 - board / BCM4306/BCM2050 - chipset) and I'm connecting it to a Belkin F5D7231-4 router. This should support the 125mbps throughput but I don't have a way of telling if it's on. I also have a computer connected to one of the 10/100 ports but I tried without it connected also as the Belkin manual stated that if a non 125mbps device was connected it would revert the network to frame burst mode (54mbps I guess). I do have the high speed mode 125mbps turned on in the router and I'm running XP Pro btw.

Thanks for the help

 

[JackMDS]

I doubt that the Laptop supports 125Mb/sec.

In any case, if you use Windows Zero Configuration for the wireless, double click on the Network Connection tray Icon it will show you the ?Speed?.

Otherwise: Optimizing & Measuring the "Speed" of Internet Connection.

:sun:

 

[pappadj]

Thanks for the reply Jack. Based on the chipset information, can you tell for sure that this system doesn't support 125mbps? There's a sticker that shows it does on the system but this isn't the first thing that was incorrect with the stickers, it said it had a dvdrw drive also and it didn't. I think they stuck a 7405gx sticker on it. No dvdrw drive... fine. But pulling out the 125mbps seems a little cheap to me. I emailed gateway/broadcom about it.

 

[Boscoh]

Here's the datasheet on it:
http://www.broadcom.com/collateral/pb/94306M-PB01-R.pdf

I dont see 125mbps mentioned anywhere in there.

No dvdrw drive and an incorrectly advertised wireless card. Sounds to me like you got screwed. I'd be taking it back, raising hell, and putting a stop on the payment with my cc company.

 

[pappadj]

Thanks for the reply Boscoh, good find on the specs. I've read a little about how the revision may make a difference. Their is an afterburner option that is available for certain versions. I think it may be rev 5+ from what I've read but I'm still not sure.

Yeah, I'm a little upset but there is a price difference between the 7410gx and the 7405gx. It was about $350. The lack of components explains the difference in price and is fairly accurate between the two. I should have researched it more before purchasing but I'm not too upset, the difference of parts actually gives me a lot of upgrade headroom and I'm the type that prefers that anyway. I've already opened it up to replace the memory so I have pretty much claimed ownership on the system.

But the 802.11g 125mbps mode not being a part of the system, this kinda bugs me as I already purchased the parts for the network. Gateway offered to upgrade the system to the DVDRW drive at a price difference and I have to ship it to them. I'm going to be a little more upset with them when I call back tonight however. I'll make a trip to CompUSA first and voice my complaint... I still hope they have that display unit that had the same sticker on it.

In the meantime, I'm waiting for Broadcom to reply on that 4.4 rev, maybe I can find a whitesheet on it somewhere. :roll:

 

[cmetz]

pappadj, 125Mb/s wireless 802.11 doesn't exist. It's pure marketing. There was a point after 802.11g was ratified that chipset vendors were in a marking war with their proprietary speed enhancement technologies and they got very very bold in their claims. To the point of fraud.

The Belkin is based on the Broadcom chipset, same exact chipset and board as the Linksys WRT54GS. Linksys now labels that unit as having "up to 35% better throughput" which is much more honest than the "125Mb/s" claimed by other vendors.

It's not like the standards committees sit around and say "gee, we could make it faster, but we don't want to." They make a lot of careful design trade-offs, especially in ability to handle worst cases. When vendors come around with proprietary faster "enhanced" versions, often time it's because they're trading off something else (like reliability!) to get that better performance.

 

[ktwebb]

11 Mb, 54 Mb, or 125 Mb is the signalling rate, not the real world throughput and always has been. 125 Mbp 802.11 does in fact exist, however the available bandwidth to the client in the realworld will be much closer to 25-35 Mb. Still extremely fast for wireless. Your right about the marketing gimmick, but if you want to include the 125 Mb claim in that then you also have to include .11b, and .11g gear. That's marketing as well.

 

[pappadj]

thanks for the replies cmetz and ktwebb. I know I'm not going to reach 125mbps but I'm trying to do some comparisons with other wifi networks I've built. The dlink network I've built actually does show 108Mbps down by the time on the wireless network icon but the network that I've built based on the 125Mbps would only show 54Mbps. Even if it doesn't go 125Mbps, I would think it would break the 54Mbps as far as the "indicator" goes. I've installed many drivers for this notebook but I'm thinking that one of the following are the possibilities.

1) The wifi card in the notebook really doesn't support the "High Speed Mode". I can only base this possiblity on the chipset and so far it's not looking promising.

2) The 125Mbps isn't designed to change the indicator readings... whether the technology gets anywhere near 125 or not.

3) The drivers aren't fully developed. I've tried many drivers and all have the same output... the latest ones that I have show the following.
Version: 3.70.17.0
Date: Jun 25 2004
Board: BCM4306MP Rev 4.4
Chipset: BCM4306 / BCM 2050

Driver Version: 3.70.17.0 built by: WinDDK
Driver Date 6-26-2004
Provider: Broadcm Corporation

I have sent Broadcom another email and I hope that this one will give me an answer. Does anyone with a 125Mbps network here show 54Mbps+ on the indicator by the time or through the Broadcom Wireless Configuation Utility?