One router (BGN), different speeds on wireless NIC's? What's with?

[Tj_El]

Hi,

I have an N-rated router (I know, I know...there are newer faster AC ones out there, but this is fine for me) in my living room.

In my bedroom, I have 3 laptops.

• One (my wife's: Acer) shows a status of 150Mbps and has an Atheros wireless card.
• One (my work: HP) shows a max of only 54Mbps and has a Broadcom 4313GN wireless card which shows up as 802.11b/g/n 1x1.
• One (my personal: also an HP) also shows a max of 54Mbps and has an Intel(R) Wireless WiFi Link 4965AG wireless card.

I can understand my personal laptop not showing higher Mbps as it doesn't appear to support 802.11 N speeds but my work laptop is what is a bit surprising seeing as it appears to be 'N-rated'.

Can anyone shed some light?

Is there a setting on the wireless card that needs to be amended?

Thanks in advance.

TJ

 

[thiggins]

Yes, in the Wireless properties for the cards, there are usually settings that allow you to choose which modes the cards support. The Broadcom 4313GN should also show 150 Mbps if the settings are supporting b/g/n and you are using WPA2/AES encryption.

Since you are getting 150 Mbps link rate on the Acer, that means you are running 40 MHz mode in 2.4 GHz, possibly causing problems for your wireless neighbors without gaining much actual throughput.

 

[azazel1024]

Depending on the wireless card drivers, if the router is 2:2 802.11n and the client card is also 2:2 802.11n, 20MHz mode might well be showing 150Mbps connection speed if you have a full speed link.

I think it normally shows as 145Mbps, but I have seen clients connected showing 150Mbps in windows with 2:2 20MHz.

As for the one showing 54Mbps, make sure in the driver properties it is set for 11n speeds or max speeds. Whatever the highest speed option is.

Another possibility is that the wireless signal strength where that one device is located is just low enough to bump down the connected speed.

I've had two devices within just a couple of feet of each other and one connected at 65Mbps and one connected at 54Mbps. Move them around a little and the other ones connected at 65Mbps.

Wireless is fun (and by fun I mean not).

 

[Tj_El]

Since you are getting 150 Mbps link rate on the Acer, that means you are running 40 MHz mode in 2.4 GHz, possibly causing problems for your wireless neighbors without gaining much actual throughput.

Hi Tim, yes you're right. Running the Wi-Fi Analytics Tool shows that my router (Draytek) is running in the 2.4GHz band on channels "6+2". See below images (I hope the images are sharp/clear enough)





Today there isn't much wireless activity - I guess because it's a tad late (23:23 GMT) but normally there are greater than 10 wireless SSID's showing.

Another possibility is that the wireless signal strength where that one device is located is just low enough to bump down the connected speed.

I've had two devices within just a couple of feet of each other and one connected at 65Mbps and one connected at 54Mbps. Move them around a little and the other ones connected at 65Mbps.

Ha ha! Indeed! My wife was sat right next to me (~12") when I checked the status of the wireless connection on her Acer!

Any ideas on which settings to tweak on the Broadcom 4313GN wireless NIC? There are so many options and I have no idea what does what...

Thanks in advance!

TJ

 

[azazel1024]

First, I'd switch your network to Channel 1 and just 20MHz. Looking at that, you have several competing networks on the channels you are currently using and they are all stronger than your network (at least where you took the reading). That is a recipe for slow speeds.

Next, look for anything speed related in the driver properties. Should be relatively obvious. Could be a drop down setting for 11a, 11b/g, 11n, 11a/b/g/n or something like that. Or it could be a speed setting, like best speed, 54Mbps, 11Mbps, etc.

 

[Tj_El]

Under the Advanced settings I see the following Properties (I have no idea what all these mean...):

• 802.11n Preamble - set to Green field mode. Other option is Mixed Mode
• Afterburner - options are either Enabled or Disabled. Curr = Enabled.
• AP Compatibility Mode - options are either Broader Compatibility or Higher Performance. Curr = Higher Performance.
• Association Roam Preference - options are either Enabled or Disabled. Curr = Disabled.
• Bluetooth Collaboration - options are either Auto, Enable or Disable. Curr = Auto.
• BSS PLCP Header - options are either Auto (Short/Long) or Long. Curr = Auto.
• BT-AMP - options are either Enabled or Disabled. Curr = Enabled.
• Fragmentation Threshold - Valid range is 256 - 2346. Curr = 2346.
• Locally Administered MAC Address - currently set as 'Not Present'
• Minimum Power Consumption - options are either Enabled or Disabled. Curr = Enabled.
• Mixed Cell Support - options are either Enabled or Disabled. Curr = Disabled.
• Power Output - ranges from 5%-100%. Curr = 100%.
• Priority & VLAN - options are either Priority & VLAN Enabled, Priority & VLAN Disabled, Priority Enabled, or VLAN Enabled. Curr = Priority & VLAN Disabled.
• Rate 802.11b/g - ranges from 1 up to Best Rate. Curr = Best Rate.
• Roam Tendency - options are Aggressive, Conservative or Moderate. Curr = Moderate.
• Roaming Decision - options are Default, Optimize Bandwidth, or Optimize Distance. Curr = Default.
• RTS Threshold - ranges from 1 - 2347. Curr = 2347.
• WMM - options are Auto, Disabled, or Enabled. Curr = Auto.
• WZC IBSS Channel Number - range from 1 - 13. Curr = 11.
• XPress (TM) Technology - options are Disabled or Enabled. Curr = Enabled.

Not sure if you can spot the value to tweak amidst the above listing.

If so please could you give me some direction? It would be appreciated.

Much obliged.

TJ

 

[azazel1024]

Change the first to mixed mode. Greenfield is for 11n operation ONLY. If there are mixed devices on the network it can cause a lot of problems (IE anything 11a/b/g which you have). Greenfield is faster than mixed mode, but any a/b/g devices operating on the network cannot see an 11n device operating in greenfield mode, resulting in them stepping all over each others transmissions...which is a darned slight slower than the overhead required of mixed mode operation.

The Rate 11b/g is what you would want to tweak, but you already have it set to best rate (which means it'll allow 802.11n).

Set WMM to Enabled instead of auto, just in case. WMM is required for 11n operation, and it could be that it is incorrectly defaulting to off.

Try moving your laptop closer to the router and see what it connects at. I haven't see anywhere where you have tried this. You might have low enough signal strength that 54mbps is the best it'll connect at.

Any two laptop and wifi cards are not the same, so even if your wife's is just a couple of feet away, you could have some radio obstructions in the LoS path for your laptop, or it could just have crappy amps in the wifi card, or crap antennas or the antennas are not angled well to the radiation pattern from the router or whatnot.

 

[Tj_El]

OK. Seated in the same room now as the router and it's about 4' away.
All bars lit up in system tray

Status:

Graph:

 

[Tj_El]

Since you are getting 150 Mbps link rate on the Acer, that means you are running 40 MHz mode in 2.4 GHz, possibly causing problems for your wireless neighbors without gaining much actual throughput.

The eagle-eyed amongst you would have spotted a difference...
I spoke with my ISP today and got them to remove the channel bonding so as not to cause problems for my neighbours, set my security to AES not TKIP, and set me up on a channel least used.

Last thing they were going to check for me was if there was a router firmware update available to apply. Still waiting to hear.