Slow wireless speed - Cisco RV220W

[Flyingkenneth]

Hi all,

I have recently bought the RV220W (firmware 1.0.1.0) to share the 100Mb/second internet connect with my computers and iDevices at home. After about a week of usage I found that the WIFI performance is actually quite slow. Using the Speedtest.net to test the connection speed for example, ethernet connection from my Macbook Pro to the router yields about 80Mb/sec, if I use Wifi (Radio in 5ghz mode, N-only, MBP register 300 transmit rate) the same test only gives about 25Mb/sec.....

Interestingly, if I connect wirelessly to my old Airport Express (which is currently wired connect to the RV220W in bridge mode) , the same test yields about 70Mb/sec.. hence I am wondering if there's any problem with my RV220W on the wifi module, or if it's just some firmware/ settings issues.

Any input welcome !

Cheers,
Kenneth

 

[stevech]

Not familiar with that product - it's not one commonly found in consumer use.

25Mbps is typical for 11g or 11n in 20MHz mode and with a good signal.

As your WiFi signal strength reduces (bi-directionally- and the client device's transmitter is usually the limiting factor, not the router's) - the rate will reduce.

Another factor is if your WiFi is 11n and in the 20MHz or 40MHz mode. The latter is reported to you as 300Mbps on WiFi. Both the access point/WiFi router and the client must support this 40MHz mode and the signal strength must be ideal, else the rate will reduce from 300Mbps. Also, in 40MHz mode, the signal consumes 2/3 of the 2.4GHz band, so competition for air time among neighboring WiFi is more problematic than in the 20MHz mode.

My rule of thumb in WiFi is you can expect 60% of the indicated WiFi link speed as net yield after all overhead. However, at the higher speeds, the router's WAN port functions and the distant host in speed test can be the constraint.

The 5.8GHz access mode is usually not as fast - may or may not have 40MHz mode, and signal strength after a wall or two and some distance is substantially less than at 2.4GHz. But their may be less interference in that band - for now.

PS: I'm reading more and more that people are paying for 100Mbps ISP connectivity. I wonder what this costs. I pay far too much for cable modem DOCSIS 2 which is 20Mbps down and 1Mbps up. When DOCSIS 3 comes to my system, and they want to double my charges for DOCSIS 3 speeds, I'll think twice! But maybe they won't charge a lot more. Ha.

 

[Flyingkenneth]

Thanks for your reply.... I have tried both the 20 and 40 Mhz but the result is the same..... not more than 26Mbps

I don't know how much you pay for your DOCSIS 2 ... I am living in Hong Kong and here it costs me about USD$30 per month for the 100Mbps connection.

 

[stevech]

The no-difference - could be that the client does not support 40MHz mode.... and/or the WiFi access point/Router properly elects to avoid 40MHz mode because there are 20MHz mode SSIDs in range. This is "WiFi politeness" for 2.4GHz. It may also be that the client supports only 20MHz in 5.8GHz mode.

here, I pay $45/mo for 20Mbps/1Mbps. That would be more if it were not bundled into my cable TV/phone from TimeWarner.

 

[nels0360]

I'm having a similar issue with the RV220W with the latest firmware, 1.0.3.5. I get 25 Mbps over the LAN, but only 15 on wireless. I have tried changing every setting possible. Were you able to find a solution?