Networking help plz

[DJFury]

OK so I set up a basic network btwn 2 PCs - one is directly connected to an 802.11g router via ethernet cable, and the other is connected using an 802.11g PCI card. I got both computers on the network using XP network wizard, and can see and transfer all the files. BUT i thought "g" was supposed to be 54mbps? I'm only transferring at 2-3 MBps (firewalls are all down, file sharing enabled, NetBIOS over TCP/IP enabled.) How can I increase transfer speed btwn these two comps? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Nebben]

I don't know anything about the hardware you're using, but one thing to consider --

Data transfer rates are measured in both MegaBYTES and MegaBITS per second. Megabytes is the speed that you see in Windows download boxes, Megabits is what hardware generally seems to be labeled with. A megabyte ends up being 1/8 the size of a megabit, if I remember correctly, as there are 8 bits in a byte... so your 54mbps hardware is actually a little less than 7 megabytes per second transfer speeds.

I may be wrong, but if that's how your hardware is rated, it's most likely the case.

 

[DJFury]

It's a Belkin Wireless router, and I think it comes out to about 10-11MBps when converted, so my 2-3 MBps transfer is still way lower than expected. It's less than 20 ft away, separated only by a dry wall.

 

[Nebben]

It it's 54 megabits/sec, it comes out to exactly 6.75 megabytes per second. Consider that that's the maximum transfer rate, and in the real world you'll probably not reach it.

That being said, 2-3 mbps seems a bit low. Is special ethernet cabling required? I don't know the specifics of your setup, so I can't offer much advice.

 

[TheGreenGoblin]

You should be seeing about 5-6 Megabytes per sec.

Don't all "G" routers and cards support the B standard as well ? Make sure both the card and the router are in "G" mode if you haven't already. And how exactly are you measuring the file transfer speeds ?

 

[DJFury]

Both the router and PCI card are Belkin 802.11g. I'm measuring the speed by copying files from the wireless PC to my main PC, and seeing how long it takes. For instance, it takes 5-6 min for a 700mb file. But the Belkin utility on the wireless PC shows that it is connected at 40-54mbps.

 

[TheGreenGoblin]

If you want to try narrowing it down a bit you might want to try setting up an FTP server on one machine and do a file transfer test. If you get way faster speeds than it most likely isn't a hardware problem.

Might want to find an app that can measure your transfer speeds more accurately too. Even windows performance in Administrative tools might be able to give you more accurate info.

Make sure both your card's have the latest drivers(not the ones on the cd that came with it) if you haven't already.