Wireless V Wired Connection Speed Test Results

I have just done 3 speed tests with the ethernet cable linked to my Netgear router (Sky broadband) and all 3 came out as 5.9 mb download speed.

I did 3 tests using my wireless connection on the same laptop and all 3 came out as 2.1mb download speed.

Why should this be, when with the wireless connection the signal strength is excellent and I'm connected to the network at 54 mb?

The wireless adapter is a LinkSys USB with Range Booster (WUSB54GR).

I underdstand that wired is generally faster and less variable, but these speeds were consistent over 3 tests and the difference is 3.8mb!

Edited by Outernet (Mon 28-May-07 12:02:41)

possibilities include :-

1. Its a USB 1.1 connection with challenged bandwidth
2. Other folks are on the same channel reducing the available bandwidth
3. Different MTU setting on the wireless vs the wired interface.

Thanks for the reply.

1) Possibly - I've got a new PC on order with USB2 ports so that could help.
2) I've tried it on several channels and the speed is the same.
3) The MTU is 1500 for the WAN, wireless or wired.

Edit: on point 1, just done a speed test with the wireless PCMCIA card rather than the USB adapter and still only get 2.1mb, so that rules out USB speed I think.

Edited by Outernet (Mon 28-May-07 13:38:10)

RWIN value ?

Sorry, I can't find that anywhere.

see link in sig below for links to tweak test sites that show the RWIN

Tweakable settings:
RWIN: 17520
Window scaling: NO
PMTUD: YES
Time stamping: NO
SACKS: YES
MSS requested: 1460
TTL remaining: 119

Results of download test:
Data bytes we sent: 271412 bytes
Data packets we sent: 187
Retransmitted data packets: 0
Transfer efficiency: 100%
Max packet size you sent (MTU): 1500
Max packet size you received (MTU): 1500
Data transmit time: 1.143 seconds
Maximum idle time: 98.5 milliseconds
Transfer rate: 215790 bytes/sec (210.7 kilobytes/sec)

Ping test:
##.###.###.### : xmt/rcv/%loss = 10/0/100%



NEW! Suggestions based on these results

This bit is under development, please ignore all the suggestions below for the time being :-)

Your RWIN is a multiple of your MSS
No retransmits, good connection
Path MTU discovery is enabled

Your chosen RWIN value will limit your throughput to:
25094 kb/s (3136.7 kB/s) to UK sites (assuming 20ms RTT)
5576 kb/s (697.0 kB/s) to US (East Coast) sites (assuming 90ms RTT)
3346 kb/s (418.2 kB/s) to US (West Coast) sites (assuming 150ms RTT)
2281 kb/s (285.2 kB/s) to Japanese sites (assuming 220ms RTT)



Doesn't appear to be anything wrong there either, does there?

Edited by Outernet (Mon 28-May-07 22:28:04)

Just used the DrTCP to up the RWIN to 75920, as suggested in one of the websites you linked, and I've just had 2 speed test results of 6.4mb download! I had still been getting 2.1mb this evening before the tweak to RWIN. Thanks very much - you've outdone people at Sky, Netgear and Linksys who get paid for their useless advice.

RWIN: 17520

too small, man, too small. Woops, just spotted that you have increased it and benefitted - result !

I sometimes find there is variation in the download speeds of wirelessly connected devices. For example, I spent most of last week working two floors up from the router. My download speeds were in excess of 6 mbps, which is more or less the same if not a tad better than what I