Cisco E2000 Router Throughput

[FTJoe]

Apologies if my questions are not up to the level normally posed. If there is a more remedial forum out on the net for average users, please let me know.

My first issue is wired throughput on a Cisco E2000 I have running DD-WRT as a wireless access point. My network is a work in progress, I currently am running a Netgear WNDR3300 as my main router. This provides one 2.4Ghz G connection to clients on one side of the house, and a 2.4Ghz N connection for N clients, because there are no gigabit ports, I have connected the main router to one switch and connected that switch to another to provide access to my wired clients, including the E2000 on the other side of the house (100ft Cat 6 connects them).

I have a 500MB file using to test copy from the main router and the E2000. It takes about 10-13 seconds to transfer the file across my main network to various raid storage arrays I have but when I run it through the E2000, its about 23 seconds or so. When I connect the wire from my switches directly to the machine it seems fine.

I won't get into all the other routers I've bought; suffice it to say I've not really understood dual/simultaneous/true simultaneous, but have in total...

3 Netgear WND3300s <-- Nice but not gigabit
2 Cisco E3000s <-- seems weird that I can't get N alone at 2.4 and G at 2.4 as well as N at 5Ghz is a total fail
1 Cisco E2000
1 Cisco WRT320N
1 Asus RT-10N
1 Buffalo WHR-HP-GN
1 Linksys WRT54GL

Any opinions as to what might be the issue? I can try the E3000 or WRT320N but wanted to ask the question first.

 

[FTJoe]

Well I replaced the Cisco E2000 with a Linksys WRT320N (I think the Cisco is just a re-branded Linksys) and everything seems much better. Both the same builds of DD-WRT so I have no idea what the issue was. Going to reflash, reset and try the E2000 one more time just for giggles.

 

[rhombus]

Sounds like youre sorted for the switch problem.

Just out of interest, why do you run DD-WRT on the access point/switches?
Does that go for the E3000s too? Do both of them have the same issue?

Dual band is either one band at a time, or both at a time. It's that simple.

 

[FTJoe]

Sounds like youre sorted for the switch problem.

Just out of interest, why do you run DD-WRT on the access point/switches?
Does that go for the E3000s too? Do both of them have the same issue?

Dual band is either one band at a time, or both at a time. It's that simple.

Thanx. You mean instead of stock firmware? I'm just used to flashing everything as the routers seem more stable with DD-WRT. The switches are dumb switches, I use them because the WNDR3300 is not a gigabit router so it keeps the network hopping.

As far as dual/simultaneous - I have a dual band WNDR3300 that will put out a 2.4 or 5.0 signal on one band, and a 2.4 on the other. So I can have N only on 2.4 or 5.0 on the first band and a mixed on the other. The E2000 is one band, the E3000 is dual, but only a 5Ghz and a 2.4Ghz (I think). I noticed when I tried N at 5Ghz it was pretty crummy going through floors and walls so figured N at 2.4 is better and I like to dedicate one radio to N only for the devices that have it. So far real life testing is not so good, N, G, 5, 2.4 all seem to fall below 20Mbps a few rooms away...but 5 really suffers. Still trying to figure it all out though, I wasn't testing with WPA2/AES
so need to play again when the family doesn't need the network up.

Since the throughput issue seems fixed and I'm tired of setting up WAPs, I'll save testing the throughput through the E2000/E3000 for another day.

 

[rhombus]

I have a dual band WNDR3300 that will put out a 2.4 or 5.0 signal on one band, and a 2.4 on the other.

The bands are 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz. What you call bands, are the radios. Most routers in their manufacturer firmware/configuration fit into just two categories:

Dual-band Selectable = 1 radio that can be selected to operate at 2.4Ghz or 5Ghz.
Dual-band Concurrent/Simultaneous = 2 radios, 1 operates only at 2.4Ghz and 1 operates only at 5Ghz.

Looks like the WNDR3300 is a rare case. We would call it dual band concurrent, because it has this capability. But because both radios can operate at 2.4Ghz, we would also call it something else - dual-radio, on the 2.4Ghz band, or something...

Hope that makes some sense.

And yes, sorry, I wasn't clear - I meant why run DD-WRT on a router configured to run just as an AP/Switch. I'm not saying it's to blame, but it doesn't exactly seem to be bringing you much stability or issue-free running. I was just being curious, it's no big deal so long as everything works how you want.

You've got a lot of wireless routers there, and probably a lot of clients to go with them. If they're fast at close-range, and all slow further away, it might just be you're expecting too much. 20Mbps a few rooms away is good from 802.11g?

On Security modes and 802.11n, it is confusing and even illogical. I was confused until recently, and even formal guides have published it wrong. I have however consulted the standard document in depth, asked a couple of enterprise vendors, and have now confirmed the reality.

In practice it's simple: with real equipment you buy and use, always enable WPA2/AES.

This is because only 2 modes, Open Security and CCMP ("WPA2/AES" is the Wi-Fi Alliance brand name speak for CCMP), will support HT (802.11n) throughput rates. This is a choice by vendors and the Wi-Fi Alliance. The 802.11n standard proper only forbids TKIP with HT rates, it does not forbid WEP.

 

[FTJoe]

Thanx for the explanation and I probably am expecting too much from G. But N at 5 or even 2.4 didn't seem to fare much better. But again, who knows how I had them set up and I really need to have a day to test all of them and actually have a nice test bed simulating real world, multiple tests, etc. I just thought I would get decent throughput at N running 2.4 but must be doing something wrong. Even right next to the router the adapter connection was reporting a connection speed via status of 65Mbps. I know that's just the theoretical, but 65? So again, I was rushing through setups and just not doing it right, so I'll have to reserve judgment until I do. Anything I need at good speeds is hard wired (hence why I opened this thread, the E2000 was choking for some reason and speeds were terrible (relatively speaking) even wired.

BTW - all those routers are the result my purchasing routers without truly understanding N and what's required or just really good deals. So right now in use are a WNDR3300 and the Linksys WRT320N. I help out a lot of folks with their computers so many of these will end up being sold to them at cost or as backups for my house in case one goes down. One friend already has dibs on two of them but I have to figure out which ones will give them the best bang for the buck.

I was open for the longest time but have now switched to WPA2/AES.

Thanx again for the help.

 

[rhombus]

Even right next to the router the adapter connection was reporting a connection speed via status of 65Mbps. I know that's just the theoretical, but 65?

What clients have you tried?

65Mbps means you are connecting with just one spatial stream. I think most of your routers are capable of two spatial streams, so if your client is also capable of this, then you should see 130Mbps.