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Posted by Quaoar on September 5, 2005, 11:32 pm
>
>>
>>> About two weeks ago, I wrote here
>>>
>>>
>>> about self-installing Comcast HSI, and a wireless router connection
>>> for
>>> my daugher at her college apartment. I did that this past Friday.
>>> Comcast arrived as scheduled, extended existing coax to where I
>>> needed it, and dropped off the self-install kit. Once I connected
>>> my
>>> daughter's
>>> laptop to the modem (RCA DCM425C), and launched her browser, I was
>>> presented with a Comcast welcome screen, and instructed to "Click
>>> here"
>>> to install the Comcast software and configure my account. Instead,
>>> I
>>> called Comcast and configured my account over the phone, and was
>>> online
>>> in about 15 minutes. Once I had the Comcast HSI working fine, I
>>> installed a wireless router.
>>>
>>> I'm new to wireless, so I have some questions...
>>>
>>> My daughter has an Inspiron 8600 running Windows XPHome, with an
>>> Intel PRO/Wireless 2200 BG network card. She is using a D-link 524
>>> 802.11 g wireless router (revision c). Before enabling any security
>>> features of
>>> the router, the Wireless Network Connection icon in the systems tray
>>> showed Speed:54.0 Mbps, and Signal Strength: Excellent. After
>>> enabling
>>> 64-bi WEP, the speed dropped to 5.4 Mbps, but the signal strength
>>> still
>>> showed excellent.
>>>
>>> Also, after enabling WEP, the wireless card icon in my system tray
>>> indicates a poor connection, even though my throughupt seems to be
>>> just
>>> fine, and surfing is ok. (I suppose that's because I'm still
>>> capable
>>> of
>>> speeds higher than I'd get from Comcast, anyway?). For instance,
>>> the
>>> two
>>> icons in the system tray show:
>>>
>>> Intel PRO/Wireless 2200 BG Network Connection : POOR
>>>
>>> Wireless Network Connection (my network name):
>>> Speed 5.5 Mbps
>>> Signal Strength: Excellent
>>> Status: Connected
>>>
>>> How is it that the NIC can show POOR, while the signal strength
>>> shows
>>> Excellent?
>>>
>>> And how is it that the signal strenght can show Excellent, but the
>>> speed
>>> is 5.5 Mbps? Could this be because enabling WEP can greatly slow
>>> down speed, even though the signal is strong. The Dlink manual
>>> states: "Note:
>>> Your network will slow down and wireless signal may degrade when
>>> enabling
>>> encryption due to the added overhead."
>>>
>>> If this is true, I'm really disappointed, since the speed did
>>> indicate 54.0 Mbps before I enabled WEP. I have to use encryption,
>>> so does this
>>> mean I'll have to accept only 10% of the speeds I got without WEP?
>>>
>>> Next I'll try enabling MAC filtering, and disabling SSID. What
>>> should I
>>> expect when I do this? I don't anticipate slower speeds still when
>>> SSID
>>> is disabled, but will enabling MAC filtering slow me down more?
>>>
>>> Thanks for any clarification,
>>> Bruce
>>
>> Comcast has a maximum transmission speed of 6Mbps, plus or minus over
>> the WAN (Wide Area Network) connection to the router. The 54Mbps
>> wireless transmission rate is the maximum achievable for LAN (Local
>> Area Network) transmissions - computer to computer through the
>> router.
>> Wireless has considerable overhead for security traffic that will
>> consume measurable bandwidth. My wireless consumes about 0.6Mbps,
>> compared to a wired connection to the same computer. This the same
>> order of overhead you observe.
>>
>> Q
>>
>>
>
> Thanks, Q. I don't have any machines on the LAN, except for the one I
> wrote about.
>
> I'd consider that the 5.5 Mbps (about 6 Mbps less overhead) is the
> rate
> at which I am getting the Comcast data, but Comcast in my daughter's
> area only broadcasts at 4 Mbps. More importantly, when I disable WEP,
> the wireless connection shows connection speed is 54 Mbps.
>
> The technical specifications on this particular router indicate:
>
> Wireless Data Rates* with Automatic Fallback:
> 54 Mbps
> 48
> 36
> 24
> 18
> 12
> 11
> 9
> 6
> 5.5
> 2, and
> 1 Mbps
>
> * Maximum wireless signal rate based on IEEE Standard 802.11g
> specifications. Actual data throughput will vary. Network conditions
> and environmental factors, including volume of network traffic,
> building
> materials and construction, and network overhead lower actual data
> throughput rate.
>
> (The router is placed on a desk next to the laptop.)
>
> I have always assumed (perhaps wrongly so) that the connection speed
> shown on the LAN, wired or wireless, gives the maximum available,
> rather
> than the actual speed at any given time. That is, it is not measuring
> throughput, but maximum possible, just like my wired connection on my
> hub here at home shows 100 Mbps.
>
> Guess I'll have to do some more reading up on all of this. <g>
>
> Thanks again,
> Bruce
Comcast is (or has) upgrading all basic service to 6Mbs. Your
daughter's looks like it is upgraded. Note that this is download;
upload is limited to 384Kbps. IMO the wireless 54g is not worth
worrying about unless there is a requirement for moving very large files
on the LAN, etc.
Q
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