Wireless Speed

[Casey H]

Greetings All-

I’ve just finished the move from Centurylink DSL/Phone to Xfinity Internet + VOIP.  The final step was to remove the rental gateway that came with the Xfinity kit and replace it with a new Netgear CM1150V modem (with voice) and reconnect my Linksys EA3500 router.   My main PC is connected via ethernet, and there are a couple of laptops and 3 phones connected via wireless.

I bought the 100 Mbps package from Xfinity and am very pleased with the results.  Speed at the router is consistently running at close to 120 Mbps.  The wireless connections are much slower.  My Dell Vostro 3300 (old laptop, I know) gets about 70 when right next to the router.  Upstairs is typically around 40.  My daughter’s laptop (much newer) seems to vary quite a bit–from around 100 to around 50.  The 50 may or may not be with my old laptop also connected.  I don’t know if my connection is slowing hers down.  I shouldn’t complain.  Even 40 is vastly superior to what I was getting with DSL.

Right off hand, I don’t know what wireless standard the connected devices have.  Router Network Mode settings for both 2.4 Ghz and 5 Ghz are set to “Mixed.”  Back with DSL, I didn’t see any speed difference between the cable and wireless connections.  They were both typically around 5 Mbps.  The router is coming up on 5 years old, so I don’t know if that’s an issue or not.  UPnP is disabled and GRC shows all ports are stealth.  Thoughts on how to speed up my WiFi without breaking the bank?  Thanks as always.

Casey H.

 

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[Paul T]

You need to check your connection on the laptop. Windows will tell you what speed the connection is.

Then transfer some large files to and from your laptop and PC. Use the built-in Robocopy to get a speed measurement.

cheers, Paul

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[Casey H]

Thanks Paul.  Wireless properties in Control Panel indicate a connection speed of 130 Mbs.  It is the speed test websites that show the reduced numbers of WiFi vs ethernet.  I’ll give your recommendations a try, but I don’t think I’m configured to see other computers attached to the router.  My PC does not have wireless.

Casey

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