SMC router, Transfer speeds, 300Mb no where to be found

[Eva Mendes]

Hi all,

I just purchased a SMCWBR14S-N2 for 50€ with USB adapter included. It is supposed to be a 300Mbps router, but using the USB 2.0 adapter connected to desktop and my Vaio laptop i could only get 150Mbps tops. Is this normal or should i exchange this for a different product. I was tempted to purchase a linksys router instead.

Anyway i installed the router and tested the WLAN to WLAN file transfer speed. at 150Mbps theoretical output should be 18MB/s, i got 4.5MB/s tops! Even taking into account that this may be a single radio router shouldn't it transfer at least at 9MB/s? (Both WLAN clients are draft-n and show a 150Mbps connection to the router).

I must say that i am a bit disappointed. Should i exchange it for a different router? What is the best in terms of speed, for around 50€?

TIA,
Eva

 

[thiggins]

150 Mbps is the link rate, which is what you'll get with an N router using 20 MHz bandwidth mode. You can increase the link rate to 300 Mbps if you change to 40 MHz bandwidth mode.

But in 2.4 GHz, that's not recommended since the 40 MHz bonded channel will eat up most of the available 2.4 GHz spectrum. If you must use that mode, use channel 1 or 11 to be more friendly to neighboring networks.

Different routers use different terminology, but you should find the bandwidth setting among the router's wireless settings.

4.5 MB/s (36 Mbps) is a bit low for a best case (same room, no other traffic) N speed, but not unheard of, depending on what you are using to measure speed. Make sure you don't get client and router closer than about 3M or you could overload the receiver and get reduced throughput.

See also 5 Ways To Fix Slow 802.11n Speed

 

[Eva Mendes]

Hi Tim,

Thanks for your reply and advice. The router is set to operate in 20/40MHz mode, and only has another option that is 20MHz, ill try to change it to other modes and test speed. (It actually fluctuates allot from 130 to 144 on laptop and from 130 to 150 on usb adapter).

What would be considered "normal" speed for this type of setup?

With crossover cable i can get around 30MB/s, i was hoping to get at least 10-12 from a draft-n Router (similar to a FastEthernet LAN), perhaps this is wishful thinking?

The 2 clients are on the same room, but the router is on diff room, with a wall. I am in a very busy area, i get aroun 12 WLAN signals, and about 6 n signals.

I am using Teracopy to mesure the speed, but also tested with regular windows copy paste.

 

[tipstir]

Nobody going to get a full 300mbps going to be from 52, 65, 120, 130, just maybe 150mbps if you see this then the TX: 150mbps and RX: 300mbps. Again these number varies or better said up and down method. If I get 100mbps that's better than anything as you really not going to notice large packets until you do LAN to LAN transfers or backing up files over the wireless.

I like to see what speeds everyone going to get when 450/450mbps finally gets release. I feel have that going to be half of that 225/225mbps the max more like closer to 300mbps if even?

 

[Eva Mendes]

Agreed. The speed issues are mostly noticeable when doing Lan to Lan transfers. Surfing the web is just as it used to be because the bottleneck is the 24Mbps connection (i get 2.4MB/s down speed, and only got 1.4, 1.8 from Lan to Lan transfers, it's mostly the reason why i upgraded to N, to get better L2L and the ability to stream HD video to home devices.

However i just upgraded to N from G and the speedup was less than impressive. What speeds do you get doing L2L tranfers on your WLAN?

I would like to be able to finally stream HD video to multiple devices but with N its still a bit shaky at times.

What really sucks is that you buy these routers completely blindsided, because you have no idea if it uses one radio, or two, no idea what chip it's using, etc... all you get is a big 300Mbps, security features and little more.

I went with SMC again, mostly because it's what i have used for the past 10 years from wired hubs to wireless routers, i had bad experiences with belkin, and dlink, and linksys is a bit pricey. But if you guys can give a better recommendation, i will go and exchange it, i got it just today and have 30 days to test it and return it, if i don't like it. Is a Dual-N a better option?

EDIT: Changed a few settings on my adapters and on the router now i can get 250 to 270 to 300 Mbps connection that is a bit better, but it's unstable.

 

[tipstir]

What settings are you changing? Can you use do wireless sniffer like inSSIDer (free) and report back on your wireless streaming of HD over 802.11n connection. When it starts to choke or jitter/shutter (drops in connection) look at the signal graph results. Still your case might not be the same, going to vary. A lot of these companies are using some sort of coax to stream HD through-out the home. Until 802.11x get's to the point that streaming HD will not have it's issues?

Wireless no, no are: ECO and WPS. Those are both disabled on my end. Even the logs reports if I can I'll disable it. Just keep what I need to use UPnP, VPN an etc. Do you stream to Smart devices like itouch or iPad yet? I know I don't have it listed but iTouch gets very good signal here. I have the nephew run those test. Again my signal seems very strong in 360 degree 150 to 250 feet away from the main AP.

 

[Eva Mendes]

On router I changed mode to n only. Plus there is a protected mode that i activated no idea what it does, allegedly it shields from b/g traffic.

On the laptop advanced setting tab i set all channel width to auto, QoS mode WMM enabled.

Still lan 2 lan connections don't get higher than 4.5MB/s and the Desktop adapter actually starts loosing speed once transfer start down to 108 and 88 Mbps... strange behavior but it may be an adapter issue. Not exactly the best trach record with SMC USB adapters.

I think that going for something better would mean spending twice what i paid so i think i will keep this setup. The usb adapter alone is 25, and all other devices are similar to this, the only thing that would be worth upgrading to would be dual band but i can't find any for less than 80€

Here is a picture of

 

[tipstir]

On router I changed mode to n only. Plus there is a protected mode that i activated no idea what it does, allegedly it shields from b/g traffic.

On the laptop advanced setting tab i set all channel width to auto, QoS mode WMM enabled.

Still lan 2 lan connections don't get higher than 4.5MB/s and the Desktop adapter actually starts loosing speed once transfer start down to 108 and 88 Mbps... strange behavior but it may be an adapter issue. Not exactly the best trach record with SMC USB adapters.

I think that going for something better would mean spending twice what i paid so i think i will keep this setup. The usb adapter alone is 25, and all other devices are similar to this, the only thing that would be worth upgrading to would be dual band but i can't find any for less than 80€

Here is a picture of

Good job doing the wireless sniffing. -43dBm on RSSi is wonderful. That's what I get nearly with with Belkin N+, TEW-673GRU and ESR-9850 -45dBm. Are you right on top of the unit? Are you using B/G if not then you can disable that function as the robs some of your wireless through-put in theory. I only seen that feature on Belkin N+. Do you need dual band? Now that 450/450mbps is coming out sooner than later I might jump on that bang wagon.

The only tool you didn't use is called Passmark Wireless Mon (not free but you can test it for 30 days) It's suppose to draw a wireless map of your signal area. I never could get the feature to work The radar in that program is a bit different.

 

[Eva Mendes]

I have a big wall from the device but i am close to it.

I tested streaming 720p video it hickups allot, forget about 1080p, i think with dual band it could be possible to get at least 720p to stream ok. but ill wait to see what comes out in the meantime.

 

[thiggins]

Yes, 10/12 MB/s for wireless isn't wishful thinking. But it's not typical, especially once client and AP are not in the same room. This Wireless chart shows maximum throughput for 2.4 GHz band, 40 MHz bandwidth mode. You can click through the other charts to get a feel for typical speeds that I've measured.

Unfortunately, going wireless client to wireless client will cut your throughput at least in half. That's because the same radio in the router has to receive, then retransmit the signal. So the effective client-to-client throughput is half the client to AP (or wireless client to wired client). Even N isn't suited for moving large files around.

For HD streaming, the issue is throughput variation. Most media players do a very poor job of buffering, even when they have the memory available. Video streams need an uninterrupted stream of bits, which N has a difficult time with.

N produces high average throughput, but also high variation due to its high packet loss.

Dual-band routers don't necessarily help. Using the 5 GHz band will move you away from all the 2.4 GHz activity. But 5 GHz signals have higher attenuation when going through walls and other physical obstacles.

Read through these FAQ for a bit more background.

SMC hasn't been a leading consumer networking manufacturer for some time. A swap of your router might help, but don't expect miracles. The best overall dual-band N router I've found so far is the NETGEAR WNDR3700.