As wireless capability has become standard fare for pretty much every electronic device you buy these days, so has an equivalent amount of boasting about how fast these devices can (allegedly) whip data around your living room. To give you one example, the fastest available broadband internet service in my area tops out at 23-24 Mbps, and in front of me I have a wireless router advertising speeds up to 300 Mbps; in the den, a desktop computer with a wireless adapter promising a theoretical 150 Mbps; and in the bedroom, a PlayStation 3 with a theoretical top speed of 54Mbps but actually achieving more like 8 during everyday use.
While it’s true that any one of these devices is technically capable of moving data at blinding speed under ideal conditions, a more relevant question for home networking is: What can I realistically achieve under the decidedly more real-world conditions at my home or office?
To be fair, all locations are not created equal for wireless networks – the internet service in my area might be faster than it is in yours, for example, or you might have a greater distance to cover – but there are a few basic principles that can help you figure out what to expect.
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Your broadband or DSL speed will be the initial limiting factor
No matter what you do on the wireless side, you are not going to be able to transfer data over the Internet any faster than the connection coming out of your wall. And in the United States at least, that connection is almost always going to be slower than the rated speed of your wireless equipment. The four wireless protocols in use today – 802.11 a/b/g/n – have theoretical maximum speeds of 54 Mbps, 11 Mbps, 54 Mbps, and 300 Mbps, respectively (today, many connections are indeed faster than the 11 Mbps of 802.11b, but as 802.11g was introduced in 2003, this comes into play only with very old equipment).
Using the example I mentioned earlier, the broadband Internet service in my area provides a downstream speed of about 24 Mbps on a good day; unless you have a very old 802.11b router, it probably has a rated capacity of 54 Mbps or more.
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Many other countries have much higher speeds available – such as the 100-200 Mbps common in Japan – but here in the States, chances are your connection will reach its limits well before your equipment. Think of it as the starting point from which you deduct for other factors to obtain your true speed.
Your speed decreases as the distance from the router increases
Each of the four standard wireless protocols has a range of 100+ feet, but signal strength decreases the farther away you get. As common sense will tell you, any obstacles in the way will further sap the signal, as will any interference.
Remember that PS3 that was getting 8 Mbps in my bedroom when the speed of Internet service in my area is three times that? It covers about 40 feet and passes through two walls. There are also other wireless devices in the room in between, which is important because the PS3 uses the 802.11g standard (more on this in a moment). Bottom line, I feel lucky to be getting even that much.
The protocol you are using matters
I mentioned interference a moment ago – here’s where it really comes into play.
Devices using the newer 802.11n protocol can communicate on either the 2.4GHz or the 5 GHz frequency. 802.11b and 802.11g exclusively use the 2.4 GHz frequency – also home to such gadgets as cordless phones, wireless keyboards and mice, baby monitors, Bluetooth, and even microwave ovens. The more of these are around, the more your connection will suffer.
True story: I once lived in an apartment complex with one-bar mobile reception, and there was only DSL service in my area (thanks to a fight between the city and the two providers of broadband Internet service in my area). The result was that every tenant had a DSL/landline bundle, creating cordless phone hell for anyone who wanted to set up a wireless network.
That kind of perfect storm may not be as common these days, but the moral of the story is that if 802.11n had existed back then, I would have had a lot less trouble with interference on my network, and I might still live there (not really). Disclaimer: 5GHz signals lose more strength passing through walls, but if interference is a problem, it’s a small price to pay over the typically shorter distances in an apartment.
The devices you are connecting to the router matter
With the exception of 802.11a, wireless standards are all backward-compatible with one another. 802.11n is obviously the way to go today, but if you have a mixture of old and new devices on your network, some of them are probably stuck using the b or g protocols. For these devices, not only will installing an 802.11n router not provide a boost in range or speed; the router itself can be slowed down by them.
If practical, most networking experts will recommend you connect only 802.11 devices to your 802.11n router, and use your old router for those b and g devices. If you must connect a mixed group of devices to an N router, make sure that you are using WPA2 or AES security, not the older WEP or WPA. 802.11n can lose up to 80% of its speed using the old security standards, and will not enable speeds over 54 Mbps.
Of course, no two networks are alike, but keep these guidelines in mind and you’ll be well on your way to maximizing your wireless speed.
