Link speed?

[huwwatkins]

Hi
I've just bought a RT-N66U and have a quick question about link speed using 5Ghz. The router is supposed to be capable of 450Mpbs, however the most I seem to get is around 270-300, with the odd blip above it.

I have configured the router to use 40mhz.

My laptop origionally came with some single band 2.4Ghz rubbish so I bought an intel 5300 card which also support 3 stream/450mpbs. I had to buy an extra antenna for it as my laptop only had two.

innssider reports that the max rate for the network is 450, but I cannot for the life of me get the indicated link speed by windows to get anywhere near (even right next to the router)

I am running the latest official firmare (246)

Does anyone have any ideas?

Thanks

 

[AnthonyArmato]

Are you on WPA2 AES ? Try changing channels.

 

[RMerlin]

I would double check to make sure that all three antennas are correctly plugged.

 

[huwwatkins]

Hi
Thanks for the replies. I have tried several channels and I am using WPA2/AES.

All the antenna are firmly pushed home, is there a specific order the should be connected in??

Thanks

 

[RMerlin]

Hi
Thanks for the replies. I have tried several channels and I am using WPA2/AES.

All the antenna are firmly pushed home, is there a specific order the should be connected in??

Thanks

No, they're all identical.

 

[huwwatkins]

No, they're all identical.

I thought so, but had a play anyway - but no difference. Right on top of the router I can get it to hit 405mpbs for a couple of seconds and once (just once) saw 450 before it dropped back to 270mpbs where it sits most of the time.

I'm not sure if the problem is the router or card. I dont have another card to test with.

 

[RMerlin]

I thought so, but had a play anyway - but no difference. Right on top of the router I can get it to hit 405mpbs for a couple of seconds and once (just once) saw 450 before it dropped back to 270mpbs where it sits most of the time.

I'm not sure if the problem is the router or card. I dont have another card to test with.

Have you tried actually transferring a file and monitoring it during the transfer? It's normal for the speed to go down while you aren't actively using it.

 

[huwwatkins]

Tried copying a 1GB file and the link speed sat at around 240-330Mbps with a file transfer speed of around 11MB/s. Does that sound right? I would have thought a link speed of 450Mpbs would be easily achievable at that distance?

Update: moved the laptop a bit and am now seeing link speeds of between 360 and 405mpbs with the occasional jump to 450Mbps for a few seconds, would suggest and issue with either the pci-e wireless card or the antenna?

 

[RMerlin]

Tried copying a 1GB file and the link speed sat at around 240-330Mbps with a file transfer speed of around 11MB/s. Does that sound right? I would have thought a link speed of 450Mpbs would be easily achievable at that distance?

Update: moved the laptop a bit and am now seeing link speeds of between 360 and 405mpbs with the occasional jump to 450Mbps for a few seconds, would suggest and issue with either the pci-e wireless card or the antenna?

That looks perfectly normal to me. Keep in mind that 450 Mbits is the theoretical attainable speed. It doesn't take into account any packet retransmit (since radiowaves are nowhere as reliable as a wire), interferences (you would have to be in a Faraday cage or something to ensure zero interference), slotting (packets are sent in "slots" to allow other devices to also communicate with the router), etc... And on top of that add the encryption which will make the real throughput quite lower than the connection limit.

 

[huwwatkins]

Hi
Thanks for the reply - I understand that throughput will be lower than link speed and maybe I'm fixating on something here that I shouldn't be, but should I, at close range using 40Mhz in the 5ghz band get a link speed of 450Mpbs?


Im tempted to order an intel ultimate-n 6300 just to make sure its not the card.

Edit: I've just thought of somthing - my laptop had a 2.4ghz card only in it before so I am assuming that they would not be good for 5ghz. Time to order new ones.