Slow Wireless G and N Network Problem

[littergator]

I have been struggling to set up a home wireless network with good file transfer speeds between computers wirelessly connected to the network.

No matter what I do, however, I cannot get sustained file transfer speeds much beyond 1 megabyte per second using Microsoft home networking.

I've now tried three sets of hardware.

1. First, I tried 3 computers running XP Home with Wireless G (including a Linksys WRT54G router).

2. Next, I tried 3 brand new computers running Vista Premium with the same Wireless G equipment.

3. I recently tried the 3 new computers running Vista Premium with new Wireless N equipment (including a TrendNet TEW-652BRP and matching TrendNEt USB and PCI Wireless N cards).

To my great dismay upgrading my network equipment to Wireless N did not materially change the speed of transfer speeds. Here are some things of note:

a. My signal strength on all computers has been very strong (80+%)
b. I've tried disabling all software firewalls.
c. I've tried disabling all network encryption.
d. I've tried the router in Wireless N mode only, and mixed mode.
e. I've unplugged all cordless phones and turned them off.
f. I've tried turning off TCP/IP

I now feel really dumb. What am I missing?

I very much appreciate any help you can provide to solve this mystery.

 

[tipstir]

I have been struggling to set up a home wireless network with good file transfer speeds between computers wirelessly connected to the network.

No matter what I do, however, I cannot get sustained file transfer speeds much beyond 1 megabyte per second using Microsoft home networking.

I've now tried three sets of hardware.

1. First, I tried 3 computers running XP Home with Wireless G (including a Linksys WRT54G router).

2. Next, I tried 3 brand new computers running Vista Premium with the same Wireless G equipment.

3. I recently tried the 3 new computers running Vista Premium with new Wireless N equipment (including a TrendNet TEW-652BRP and matching TrendNEt USB and PCI Wireless N cards).

To my great dismay upgrading my network equipment to Wireless N did not materially change the speed of transfer speeds. Here are some things of note:

a. My signal strength on all computers has been very strong (80+%)
b. I've tried disabling all software firewalls.
c. I've tried disabling all network encryption.
d. I've tried the router in Wireless N mode only, and mixed mode.
e. I've unplugged all cordless phones and turned them off.
f. I've tried turning off TCP/IP

I now feel really dumb. What am I missing?

I very much appreciate any help you can provide to solve this mystery.

Linksys router you should use DD-WRT if that router is listed on their hardware site. That will boost the wireless to 70mw which is a lot stronger than what you get from the Linksys group.

Now if you set everything to G and use different wireless channels what are you getting for link speed?

Also if you download the trail version of Wireless Mon from www.passmark.com you can test your network wireless to see what's really going. You can test G and N but if you do N you need to install the software on N wireless system. You can't test N on G system.

This is the way I did mine inside and outdoors to see what range I could had going into our woods. In the house I have 3 floors I had started from the wireless N which had yield 0dBm 100% then move up to the next level then etc..

If you can run everything in N then use N only. I know some here will say different than that. I use channel 6 for N and channel 11 for G ( I use different wireless access points)

 

[thiggins]

How are you measuring wireless speed?

Are the router and client in the same room?

Do you see any networks other than your wireless router when you connect a client to a wireless network?

You do not want to turn of TCP/IP. That is the protocol used for networking.

 

[littergator]

Thanks for your help.

I can detect a couple of other networks in the area.

Two of the computers are in the same room and my transfer speeds are limited when trying to transfer files between them.

The third computer is upstairs and measures -55dBm with WirelessMon.

I am measuring the 1 MB/sec speed with two devices: the number Vista reports in the copy file dialogue box and the number reported by Addgadget.com's Wireless Network Monitoring gadget in Sidebar.

Any more suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[thiggins]

If the signal levels on the other networks are strong, you can try assigning your router's channel to a different channel (1, 6 or 11) than the other networks use.

Unfortunately Windows' built-in wireless client doesn't show the channel. But maybe there is a client program that is on your computer(s) that will show channels.

If you look at the Network Performance graph in the Vista Reliability and Performance monitor during a transfer, what is it reading?

 

[tipstir]

Thanks for your help.

I can detect a couple of other networks in the area.

Two of the computers are in the same room and my transfer speeds are limited when trying to transfer files between them.

The third computer is upstairs and measures -55dBm with WirelessMon.

I am measuring the 1 MB/sec speed with two devices: the number Vista reports in the copy file dialogue box and the number reported by Addgadget.com's Wireless Network Monitoring gadget in Sidebar.

Any more suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Are you running mix mode or N only?

 

[littergator]

N only mode.

 

[tipstir]

If you're running N only then on each PC have you tweaked:

Browser
NIC

If you download and run SG TCP Optimizer found on www.speedguide.net When you first run the program you will get and idea of what's going on in the basics. The only thing it won't do is turn on the onboard NIC processor so that would free up using the CPU on the PC to manage network task.

Interference is another factor that can slow down transfers..