Upgraded bandwidth: PC not receving increased download speed

[J Doe]

Today I updated my broadband package from 60/3 to 100/6 and received a new router from my isp.

 

There are various devices connected to the router (which has 2.4 and 5 GHz frequencies).

- the tablets connect to the 5GHz connection and achieve the maximum bandwidth (100/6);

- as does a PC directly wired to the router (100/6);

- a laptop (using the 2GHz connection) also connects wirelessly to the router and achieves the maximum bandwidth allocation (100/6).

 

The issue that I'm having trouble with is two remaining PC's that connect to the router via a wireless usb adapter*. This is connected via the 2GHz signal (the 5GHZ is not shown in the available networks).

*The wireless usb adapter in question is the TP-Link tl-wn722n.  http://www.tp-link.com/en/products/details/?model=tl-wn722n

 

These PC's are unable to reach the newly increased maximum download bandwidth. Since upgrading, the download speed remains unaffected from what it was previously i.e. around 46 Mbps. However, the upload speed has increased to the specified allocation (from 3 Mbps to 6 Mbps)

 

I would appreciate it if anybody could shed any light on why these PC's are unable to reach the increased download speeds?

 

I?m not sure if this has anything to do with the network speed link in the ?Wireless Network Connection Status? window showing as 65.0 Mbps (?) If so, does this indicate that the issue lies with the wireless usb adapter, despite being listed as 150Mbps download capacity? Or, is there some setting within windows, or on my router that is causing the issue?

 

Thank you

[Ambroos]

There's some very easy indications. It only supports bandwidths up to 150Mbps, which is the lowest 'maximum' for WiFi-N. The dynamic behind it also doesn't bode too well. And in general those things will be slower over USB than they'd be over PCI-Express or something similar. In general you also need to half whatever the manufacturer specifies to get close to realistic speeds. I get around 90Mbps on a full set of hardware that's everywhere listed to support 300Mbps.

 

If you get something new, make sure it can do both 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz and can handle at least 300Mbps connections. And make sure that 300 isn't listed as 150Mbps + 150Mbps or 450Mbps listed as 150Mbps + 300Mbps because then you'll still be limited on the 150Mbps side.

 

The fact that Windows shows it as 60-something Mbps means it's not getting all the range it should. Your neighborhood WiFi might be busy in the 2.4Ghz band. Things like that.

 

And in the end you should remember that getting 100Mbps over WiFi-N is stretching it (unless you have top-notch hardware on both ends that works on 5Ghz). I have a pretty good access point and my laptop has a great WiFi card and I hit 96Mbps when I'm lucky.

[Geoffrey B.]

its entirely possible that the area you are in even thought you are paying for a faster rate is simply incapable of reaching that limit. sadly when you pay for internet service you are paying for "up to" a certain speed and they cannot guarentee any certain speed.

 

Also keep in mind the following

 

What Causes Slow Downs

So why exactly do so few people get the advertised speeds? Well, it?s obviously true that Internet service providers have an incentive to be as optimistic as possible with their numbers, but it?s not just misleading marketing. There are other factors involved:

• End-User Hardware Issues: If you have an old router that just can?t keep up with modern speeds or a poorly configured Wi-Fi connection that?s being slowed down by interference, you won?t actually experience the connection speeds you?re paying for ? and that?s not the Internet service provider?s fault.
• Distance From ISP: The further you are away from your Internet service provider?s hardware, the weaker your signal can become. If you?re in a city, you?re likely to have a faster connection than you would in the middle of the countryside.
• Congestion: You?re sharing an Internet connection line with many other customers from your Internet service provider, so congestion can result as all these people compete for the Internet connection. This is particularly true if all your neighbors are using BitTorrent 24/7 or using other demanding applications.
• Time of Day: Because more people are probably using the shared connection line during peak hours ? around 6pm to midnight for residential connections ? you may experience slower speeds at these times.
• Throttling; Your Internet service provider may slow down (or ?throttle?) certain types of traffic, such as peer-to-peer traffic. Even if they advertise ?unlimited? usage, they may slow down your connection for the rest of the month after you hit a certain amount of data downloaded.
• Server-Side Issues: Your download speeds don?t just depend on your Internet service provider?s advertised speeds. They also depend on the speeds of the servers you?re downloading from and the routers in between. For example, if you?re in the US and experience slowness when downloading something from a website in Europe, it may not be your Internet service provider?s fault at all ? it may be because the website in Europe has a slow connection or the data is being slowed down at one of the routers in between you and the European servers.

[exotoxic]

 

its entirely possible that the area you are in even thought you are paying for a faster rate is simply incapable of reaching that limit. sadly when you pay for internet service you are paying for "up to" a certain speed and they cannot guarentee any certain speed.

 

 

He is already receiving the full speed, just 2 of his devices connected by wifi are not.

[J Doe]

Thanks for the response.

 

I should have clarified that all the devices connected to the router are within the same household. There is little distance between each of them. Furthermore, the speeds are tested during a similar time frame. The PC directly attached to the router is able to achieve the new bandwidth max allocation, as is the laptop. Thus, the speed is there but for some reason, the other two PC's in the household are unable to get the download speed that the other devices in the house are able to get

[+xrobwx71]

On the specs page it states the frequency range is 2.400-2.4835GHz. So it won't connect to the 5GHz transmit.

[Joe User]

I?m not sure if this has anything to do with the network speed link in the ?Wireless Network Connection Status? window showing as 65.0 Mbps (?) If so, does this indicate that the issue lies with the wireless usb adapter, despite being listed as 150Mbps download capacity?

 

The USB Wi-Fi adapter is most likely your bottleneck. Inexpensive adapters usually have inexpensive antennas, you might be able to improve things by using a USB extension cable and moving the adapter around.

[J Doe]

On the specs page it states the frequency range is 2.400-2.4835GHz. So it won't connect to the 5GHz transmit.

 

I didn't think it was 5GHz compatible but I thought that I would be able to get 100Mbps on 2GHz given the headline 150 Mbps download capacity according to the USB adapter specs?

 

The USB Wi-Fi adapter is most likely your bottleneck.

 

That's my suspicion.

 

 

Is there something on the spec page that should be screaming out to me indicating that this is defintely the cause?

If so, I'll have to upgrade, what specs should I be looking for that would indicate that a future purchase would be compatible with my needs?

[+BudMan]

You do understand at very min you need to /2 any number that makers give you for wireless ;)

They report on total RAW bandwidth as marketing nonsense.

There is no possible way a 150N adapter will see anywhere close to 100.

[J Doe]

You do understand at very min you need to /2 any number that makers give you for wireless ;)

They report on total RAW bandwidth as marketing nonsense.

There is no possible way a 150N adapter will see anywhere close to 100.

 

 

Ahhhh, okay thanks. So I'll need 200Mbps minimum then?

 

Edit:

 

@ ambroos

 

Thanks for the info. When you say top-notch hardware on both ends, would I need a wi-fi card?

[Ambroos]

Ahhhh, okay thanks. So I'll need 200Mbps minimum then?

 

Edit:

 

@ ambroos

 

Thanks for the info. When you say top-notch hardware on both ends, would I need a wi-fi card?

 

That'd be best. Intel WiFi cards are excellent. If you have a laptop you can probably put a 1x2 or 2x2 card in. If you have a desktop, pick up a PCI-Express WiFi card. I'd recommend ASUS.

[J Doe]

Many thanks for the reponses.

 

I'll upgrade my wireless adapter.

[Crisp]

If you're this serious about numbers, I wouldn't even recommend WIFI.

[Roger H.]

Ahhhh, okay thanks. So I'll need 200Mbps minimum then?

 

Edit:

 

@ ambroos

 

Thanks for the info. When you say top-notch hardware on both ends, would I need a wi-fi card?

 

You'll need about 450mbps to do 150Mbps :p.

 

Hell - you should use a AC router if you wanna do it via wireless as 802.11N is pushing the limits to get to those speeds.

[J Doe]

If you're this serious about numbers, I wouldn't even recommend WIFI.

 

 

What would you recommend? Wired?

 

You'll need about 450mbps to do 150Mbps :p.

 

Hell - you should use a AC router if you wanna do it via wireless as 802.11N is pushing the limits to get to those speeds.

 

Just considering my options, would there be a general consensus for my upgrade path?

 

I assume a wired connection would be ideal, although this may not be feasible. If not, options between upgrading to an AC router, going with a network card, or a decent wireless USB adapter or other?

 

I'm not really an avid gamer, but I might resume in the near future, so I'm not sure how this would factor into possible solutions.

[Joe User]

What would you recommend? Wired?

 

 

Just considering my options, would there be a general consensus for my upgrade path?

 

I assume a wired connection would be ideal, although this may not be feasible. If not, options between upgrading to an AC router, going with a network card, or a decent wireless USB adapter or other?

 

I'm not really an avid gamer, but I might resume in the near future, so I'm not sure how this would factor into possible solutions.

 

If speed is that much of an issue, then wired if possible, 802.11ac if not. 

 

Before you start spending large amounts of money though, make sure that the loss of speed on just those computers justifies the cost. Unless you are transferring huge amounts of data (like HD video to both computers at once), you're not going to fully use the 60, much less the 100. 

[J Doe]

It certainly would be preferrable to have the increased speed, one of the machines undertakes the largest amount of data consumption.

 

I think I'll keep my router for now, although it isn't an ac router, the tablets and the laptop are able to get the speeds and they're a further distance from the router than the PC's in question.

 

I'm probably going to look at a network card, not sure if I should go with an ac compatible network card given that I don't have an ac router, but it might be worth future proofing?

[+BudMan]

"I don't have an ac router, but it might be worth future proofing?"

 

Do you plan buying a ac router in the "near" future?  Your talking laptops right?  How long do you plan on keeping them?  Are you talking getting some usb AC sticks or internal cards for your laptops?  Internal most likely not work on your next laptop or other equipment like a stick could.

 

You do understand that AC is just a step along the way, so how much future proofing is there really in wireless? 802.11ad will add 60 ghz to the 2.4 and 5 and they are talking Gbps not Mbps for speed.

 

The term future proofing gets throw out a bit around here - when technology changes at the speed of IT, this is really almost impossible to do IMHO.. And in the home consumer market, since prices drop on tech pretty much daily I never understand buying the latest and greatest paying premium on the tech because it just came out, buy the stuff that has been out a few months and you get much better bang for your buck.

 

Biggest example of this I see is disk space - users buy multiple GBs of space that they have sitting there empty..  While we did have that bit of a bump in drive costs, they are starting to fall again - bigger/faster drives are out every few months.  So why buy X GB of space to sit there empty when that same X amount of space next quarter will be 25% cheaper, etc..  Buy the amount of space you need, because in 6 months it will be half the cost you paid for it today.

 

I would say same thing for wifi speed - if you can live with what you have now, why jump to AC when you have no clients that even support it.  When you have the clients that support it - the AC router is going to be much cheaper.  I would not on purpose buy AC card for your laptop unless you plan on having it for many years..  Most people change them out for newer tech every couple of years.  Your next one will most likely have AC by default, or for that matter AD.

 

Only you just can not stand not seeing the 100Mbps would I suggest you go spend your money to fix that for a couple of laptops.

[J Doe]

"I don't have an ac router, but it might be worth future proofing?"

 

Do you plan buying a ac router in the "near" future?  Your talking laptops right?  How long do you plan on keeping them?  Are you talking getting some usb AC sticks or internal cards for your laptops?  Internal most likely not work on your next laptop or other equipment like a stick could.

 

No, not the laptop. This will be for one of the desktop PC's that I have exclusive use of. Probably an internal card, as I've read some comments stating that these are better than usb's, better for the signal strength etc

 

You do understand that AC is just a step along the way, so how much future proofing is there really in wireless? 802.11ad will add 60 ghz to the 2.4 and 5 and they are talking Gbps not Mbps for speed.

 

The term future proofing gets throw out a bit around here - when technology changes at the speed of IT, this is really almost impossible to do IMHO.. And in the home consumer market, since prices drop on tech pretty much daily I never understand buying the latest and greatest paying premium on the tech because it just came out, buy the stuff that has been out a few months and you get much better bang for your buck.

 

Biggest example of this I see is disk space - users buy multiple GBs of space that they have sitting there empty..  While we did have that bit of a bump in drive costs, they are starting to fall again - bigger/faster drives are out every few months.  So why buy X GB of space to sit there empty when that same X amount of space next quarter will be 25% cheaper, etc..  Buy the amount of space you need, because in 6 months it will be half the cost you paid for it today.

 

I do fall victim to procrastinating about upgrades, so when I do decide to upgrade I'll try and hold out for future proofing as much as possible (within budget). I wasn't aware of 802.11 ad.

Over the last two years, my ISP has doubled the bandiwdth packages, from 30 to 60, and now from 60 to 100. So I suspect there'll probably be another increase within the next couple of years.

 

I would say same thing for wifi speed - if you can live with what you have now, why jump to AC when you have no clients that even support it.  When you have the clients that support it - the AC router is going to be much cheaper.  I would not on purpose buy AC card for your laptop unless you plan on having it for many years..  Most people change them out for newer tech every couple of years.  Your next one will most likely have AC by default, or for that matter AD.

 

Only you just can not stand not seeing the 100Mbps would I suggest you go spend your money to fix that for a couple of laptops.

 

The PC in question does sometimes transfer around 1TB of data a month, so the extra boost in speed would be desirable.

 

Thanks for your response, I may just go for the 5GHz compatible cards at the minute then. Wait until I upgrade my package, or wait for my ISP to do it for me over the next 18 months and then re-evaluate my options when the time comes.

[+BudMan]

"This will be for one of the desktop PC"

"The PC in question does sometimes transfer around 1TB of data a month, so the extra boost in speed would be desirable. "

These 2 statements point to WIRE connection, where are you xfer'ing the data from? Internet or local devices? If the device does not move around then wire is the clear answer - its most likely cheaper and will provide for much faster stabler speeds and now does not "share" the bandwidth of your "wireless" devices giving them more bandwidth to use.

Unless the device is mobile, or just plain impossible to provide a wire - like its in the middle of shed in a field in the middle of nowhere wire is the better choice. Even if your in a home that is difficult to wire to the location of the desktop, look into powerline adapters - while not as good as a true cable connection to a switch, they should provide more bandwidth than any wireless connection could.

Buddy had desktop using wireless - terrible connection no matter what because the location was directly above the AP and just doesn't provide good single that way with the way antennas work. Picked up a pair of powerline for ~50$ and now sweet connection at full speed of his old 100mbps nic and his other wireless devices now have more bandwidth to share. A decent wireless card would of cost him roughly the same, and still would of had the issue of he was just in a dead spot for his AP which really just could not be moved and adding another AP would of been more cost and more work, etc.

[J Doe]

"where are you xfer'ing the data from? Internet or local devices?"

 

Internet

 

Wired would certainly be preferrable but I'm not sure if it's convenient atm, it would have to go through a couple of walls, up through the attic and over the landing area.

 

I'll look into Powerline Adapters though....

[+BudMan]

Ok not picturing why walls would have to be gone through if you have attic access. When I ran my backbone from my computer room into the living room, up the wall to the attic, down the wall in the living room done. Hour worth of work, not counting beer breaks ;)

[J Doe]

Less visible cabling! :D

[T3X4S]

Just like everything else - go overkill, and go with a quality, brand name.

 

So instead of T-link or whatever that thing was... go with ASUS, Linksys, or Netgear.