Netbook running at 40Mbps. How do I get it faster?

[AViking]

I have Gigabit internet in my apt. My netbook however is "only" getting 40Mbps. Surely this thing can do better?

My netbook is a Samsung N150 with a Qualcomm Atheros AR9285 Wireless Network Adapter. I updated the drivers to 10.0.0.251

The router is an Inteno RG500-R1

What do I do to get the 150Mbps out of this wireless adapter that it should be able to do?

 

[paperwastage]

you say you have gigabit internet, but what network is your router running? b-g-n?

 

[AViking]

I'm not sure. I need to get the login information for the router. It's apparently setup for gigabit though. Regardless I'm just trying to squeeze out 150Mbps since that's all my wireless NIC will do.

 

[paperwastage]

the netbook network adapter should tell you how it's connecting to the router

 

[AViking]

Ah cool.

WPA2-PSK
802.11n

What does this tell me?

 

[drebo]

Not a whole lot. If your connection speed, as reported by your wireless driver, is 150mbps, then your absolute maximum "measured" speed you'll see is 75mbps. This will go down if anyone else is using the network, if there's any interference, and with range.

If you're seeing 40mbps out of it, I'd say that's pretty dang good for shared building wireless.

Also, you could be running in to the limitations of the netbook itself. Things like flash-based speedtest.net are very processor intensive.

 

[AViking]

Well speedtest gives me the same answer as my real world results which is about 5MB a second. That's 40Mbps.

However googling the card should do 150Mbps. My wireless network connection status says my speed is 65Mbps.

 

[Fardringle]

Wireless speed ratings are a theoretical limit, not an actual speed. As drebo said, if you are getting 40mbps over wireless on a netbook, you are doing much better than average.

 

[JackMDS]

Well speedtest gives me the same answer as my real world results which is about 5MB a second. That's 40Mbps.

However googling the card should do 150Mbps. My wireless network connection status says my speed is 65Mbps.

This is the way normal Wireless of this rating works.

The numbers quoted by the Data Sheet are the Speed of the Internal card processor and not real world Network Speed.

 

[AViking]

Kinda false advertisement isn't it? Who gives a shit how fast the processor of a network card is? I care about output. It's off by a factor of almost 4.

 

[JackMDS]

Nope it Not false, it just does not disclose the specific nature of the measure.

It is your imagination (and wishful thinking) that makes the "Jump" that the Number is the functional rate of Network transfer.

 

[JoeMcJoe]

Well speedtest gives me the same answer as my real world results which is about 5MB a second. That's 40Mbps.

However googling the card should do 150Mbps. My wireless network connection status says my speed is 65Mbps.

Speedtest is not on your network, its external.

Run an internal speedtest such as iperf.

Your wireless signal strength is changing faster than you can see it change, up and down.

Things and people around you change your network speed.

You are lucky if you get 50% of the connected speed.

 

[AViking]

iperf seems to be code or for mac only. Are there any for the PC that I could play with? I'm happy accepting my 40Mbps but I'm curious to see what that program would say.

 

[brshoemak]

iperf seems to be code or for mac only. Are there any for the PC that I could play with? I'm happy accepting my 40Mbps but I'm curious to see what that program would say.

iPerf for Windows

You have to extract the the files and put one copy of the files on your netbook and another copy on another computer. Then you open a command prompt on each and run the following:

On PC1:

iperf -s <<--server - it will then start listening for data>>

Example: iperf -c 192.168.1.10

On Netbook:

iperf - c [IP address of server] <<--client - it will send data to 'server'>>

As has been state before, you're not going to get the advertised speed out of any router. The 150Mbps or whatever that they can claim is based on theoretical and/or lab testing with absolutely perfect controlled conditions.

If you want to see what changes are occurring with your wireless network you can download InSSIDer and watch the status of your wireless connection.

 

[Fardringle]

Jperf is similar to Iperf, but uses a graphical interface so it is quite a bit easier to use.

LanBench also works very well and is even easier to use.

 

[fyb3r]

Well speedtest gives me the same answer as my real world results which is about 5MB a second. That's 40Mbps.

However googling the card should do 150Mbps. My wireless network connection status says my speed is 65Mbps.

unless you have a fiber line you will in no way get 150mbs out to the internet.

The 150mbs is the speed you will get when connecting and communicating on your LAN.

So should you want to copy a file from one machine to another via network connection it will be transfered ~150mbps, but your internet connection is going to be limited to the pipe you have purchased from your isp.

 

[AViking]

I do have fiber and 1000Mbps but I'm not wiring this computer. I was just trying to squeeze out what I could on a wimpy wireless netbook.

 

[dawks]

I do have fiber and 1000Mbps but I'm not wiring this computer. I was just trying to squeeze out what I could on a wimpy wireless netbook.

Yea, wimpy is the key. Although the devices may be advertised as capable of doing 150Mbit, it doesnt mean they can actually achieve it. It just means they have the rough specs that *should* be able do 150Mbit under *ideal* conditions. Ideal meaning minimal to no interference (no microwave ovens, no cordless phones, no cell phones, no bluetooth, no other wifi, and line of sight direct between the laptop and wireless AP, without encryption, AND using the same brand hardware). IF all of those conditions are met, you MIGHT be able to high that speed.

Otherwise 40Mbit is pretty darn good anyway.

Also note, you'll see slower speeds pulling from the internet since the router is likely doing some form of filtering like SPI. Lots of routers are limited to 30-60Mbit from the internet simply because their processors can't scan packets fast enough to sustain higher speeds. Most routers use a small number of processors like those from broadcom, and they just arent super fast.