So help me out here, speed issues with wireless..

[DannyBoy]

So my internal network consists of the following:

Server - 2 Wired NIC's + 1 Belkin Wireless PCI card.

The server runs one wired cable to my cable modem, and the other to my wired router for the other wired machines in my house.

Laptop - 1 Buffalo Wireless PCM NIC Card.


The server - laptop are running an ad-hoc connection.

The wireless NIC and the wired NIC in the server are bridge and sharing my cable connection over the network.

Now, everything is fine, I have all my machines with static IP's, including the wireless connection, and all the other machines are working fine and the wireless signal strength, wherever I am in the house is always excellent or very good.

Now, my problem is the speed of the wireless connection, they're both 54g cards, however no matter where I am in the house, even if it's right next to the other machine, I can get a max of 40 KB/s on a download from the server, which is barely 400kbits?

Originally the "rate" on both cards was set to "use best available", so I changed it on both machines to "54", however I don't seem to be able to attain a higher speed and I don't have the knowledge of wireless networking to figure out why


I would really appreciate the help in trying to figure out what the problem is.

Cheers,
Dan

 

[JackMDS]

Since you have a very unorthodox type of arrangement I would suggest that you first try some thing simple.

I.e. disconnect the server from the Internet. Disconnect the Router and the Bridge from the server, and try simple Ad-hoc connection between the server and the laptop. Doing so it might be easy to resolve problems (if there is any) with the AD-Hoc connection.

However Ad-Hoc is a very simple thing and might Not work well in the type of Network that you concocted. If you need this separation of two independent Networks, you are probably much better of buying an Inexpensive Wireless Cable/DSL Router (some go as low as $20)

Connect the Modem to the Router; connect the server to the Router use the Wireless part to connect to the laptop. Plug the current wired Router to a regular port on the New Router and that it.

:sun:

 

[DannyBoy]

Originally posted by: JackMDS
Since you have a very unorthodox type of arrangement I would suggest that you first try some thing simple.

I.e. disconnect the server from the Internet. Disconnect the Router and the Bridge from the server, and try simple Ad-hoc connection between the server and the laptop. Doing so it might be easy to resolve problems (if there is any) with the AD-Hoc connection.

However Ad-Hoc is a very simple thing and might Not work well in the type of Network that you concocted. If you need this separation of two independent Networks, you are probably much better of buying an Inexpensive Wireless Cable/DSL Router (some go as low as $20)

Connect the Modem to the Router; connect the server to the Router use the Wireless part to connect to the laptop. Plug the current wired Router to a regular port on the New Router and that it.

:sun:

Thanks for your feedback Jack, I'll be sure to try out some of the things you've suggested, ideally I'd like to avoid having to purchase a WAP but if I have to I guess I'll have to


One thing I'm curious to know, is it necessary to bridge the wired and wireless connections to share the connection or could I simply setup the wired + wireless cards in the server with different subnets and then share the connection through routing and remote access?

I'm not to sure what would work however I have a feeling that the server doesn't like having bridged connections.

Cheers,

 

[JackMDS]

I assume that you are using WinXP Pro in the Server. It is an Interesting notion that the bridge mange some how to put some degree of cohesiveness in this arrangement. But it is not design work this way you can not have three independent connections runing in a regular computer.

:sun:

 

[DannyBoy]

Originally posted by: JackMDS
I assume that you are using WinXP Pro in the Server. It is an Interesting notion that the bridge mange some how to put some degree of cohesiveness in this arrangement. But it is not design work this way you can not have three independent connections runing in a regular computer.

:sun:

Server is running Win 2003

 

[JackMDS]

Server Win 2003! That is why it is partially working.

Even with Win2003 if it is need to be configured as a server (as oppose to using it as part of peer to peer Network) I would put two NICs, one goes to the Modem one to a switch and I would put an Access Point or a Wireless Group Bridge on the switch, and use Win2003 as the primary Router.
However Win2003 can work with few NICs
Look at these links may be you would find a better configuration solution:

Link to: NAT in Windows 2003: Setup and Configuration.

Link to: Using Windows Server 2003 in a Managed Environment.

:sun: