Slow wireless network transfers

[Alienwho]

I cannot figure out why my network wireless blows so hard.

My main dsl modem/router is a Netgear DGN2000(wireless n capable). I used to have this bridged to a WRT54G running DDWRT. For some reason wireless transfer between my laptop (envy 15) and my desktop or htpc plugged into the wrt54g was literally almost nothing. It would bounce between 50/100kbs but in reality nothing was happening. The internet was bridged just fine though so I just lived with that for a while. Transfering files between my PC and HTPC (both plugged into the WRT54G) would be about 90MB/s.

I have super crappy qwest dsl 1.5down so I max out at 155KB/s on download speeds anyway. So my main beef has nothing to do with internet speeds, just my internal network interaction.

I decided my WRT54G was dying and just replaced it with an Asus RT-N16. I installed tomato on it and got the client bridging working just fine. Now while there is a significant improvement, I am not getting the network transfer speeds I expect. If I force b/g mode I hover between 500Kb/s and 900 on file transfers. Well at least it works now, but shouldn't I expect 1.5MB+ on b/g alone?

Now if I set wireless n the speeds don't change at all. I am aware of setting WPA2/AES and making sure no b/g devices are connected.

I'm guessing my problem has something to do with the way client bridging works. Maybe somebody can explain it to me. Upstairs is where the DGN2000 is. I am downstairs with my laptop sitting right next to the RT-N16 bridge. I was under the impression that the bridge also acted as a rebroadcaster of the signal, but now I'm thinking that's not the case. So my laptop is connecting to the wireless signal upstairs, then being sent back downstairs to my bridge.

I don't get why this would matter though because my modem/router upstairs is set to wireless n as well. Any ideas?

<edit>
I should mention I have it on channel 6 and I live in the boonies and there isn't any interference from other wireless networks.

 

[spidey07]

By using it as a wireless repeater you decrease the performance significantly, as in 65&#37; or less performance. It's generally considered a no-no to do repeating because of the severe performance hit.

 

[Alienwho]

By using it as a wireless repeater you decrease the performance significantly, as in 65% or less performance. It's generally considered a no-no to do repeating because of the severe performance hit.

So does using it as a client bridge automatically make it a repeater as well? And does this same problem affect those "specialized" XBox360/PS3 routers that people place behind their TV set and plug everything in? Because in my mind those are nothing more than bridges as well. I guess I wonder if those would work because I don't want to buy a wireless adapter for every device I use when I can just plug them all into a router downstairs that bridges to the modem upstairs.

 

[imagoon]

A bridge is not automatically a repeater. It needs to be configured to do that. When you say wireless "bridge" It means "AP connects as a client to another AP and then provides Ethernet access on the port." If you have set as a bridge only, you are not likely to be connecting to it as it would not accept incoming connections, forcing your laptop to go down stairs. Try plugging the ethernet port in to the bridge AP and see if the connection is better.

 

[Alienwho]

A bridge is not automatically a repeater. It needs to be configured to do that. When you say wireless "bridge" It means "AP connects as a client to another AP and then provides Ethernet access on the port." If you have set as a bridge only, you are not likely to be connecting to it as it would not accept incoming connections, forcing your laptop to go down stairs. Try plugging the ethernet port in to the bridge AP and see if the connection is better.

Ok this is what I thought. So it is not set as a repeater so this can't be the cause for my slow network speed.

 

[imagoon]

It depends on what the bridge is supporting and the signal strength. Your sure the strength is good and there is no interference? Things like portable phones, baby monitors, wireless security system and microwaves tend to cause a ton of problems.