Wireless is causing a loss of half my bandwidth; Normal?

[CarlosF]

I'm probably in way over my head on this site but I need help and I figured why not ask the experts.

I moved to a new apt. recently and hooked up my internet through Comcast.
I pay for the Blast Internet service which allows 30Mbps dowload bandwidth.
I have a brand new Motorola SURFboard SB6121 cable Modem. (Docsis3.0)
And a NETGEAR N 300 Wireless Router WNR2000v3

I called Comcast, activated the router, with no issues.
Then I set up the router, also with no problems.
I left all default settings on the router.
All I did was add security to the wireless network. (WPA2-PSK [AES])

I have two laptops, and my htc EVO LTE, running off the wireless network.

The wireless network runs fine, all devices connect and I get an internet connection.

Here is the problem.

I wanted to make sure I was getting what I was paying for from Comcast.
So I decided to do a speed test to see if I was getting at least the 30Mbps I'm entitled to.

I first ran the test while the computer was hardwired through the router, as I had just finished the router set up, and consistently got speeds above 30Mbps. After a few tests I averaged 36Mbps. Great, more than what I pay for.

Then I disconnected the ethernet and connected to the wireless network with the password.
When I ran the test again, wirelessly, I consistently got half of the speed I got with the ethernet. Through the wifi I am only getting 17Mbps on avergage. Not cool.

I asked Comcast and they said they only guarantee the speeds at the modem, but the tech said when I go wireless I should lose no more than about 5Mbps.

I'm loosing about 19Mbps!!

It should be noted I tried both laptops an Acer and a Dell hardwired and wirelessly. And I get the same numbers every time 36Mbps hardwire/ 17Mbps wifi. I have no cordless phone, the laptop picksup about 6 wifi networks so I don't think there is much interference.

The Acer has a Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection

The firmware version on the NETGEAR is the lastest.
I tried a different router my brother had, a Belkin g router, and the same thing happens. Same number hardwired and wifi.
I tried the different router because the NETGEAR is refurbished so I wanted to eliminate the possibility that there is something wrong with the wireless capabilities on the NETGEAR. Not the issue since both routers gave the same numbers.

I want to know if this is normal; to lose 19Mbps by going wireless??????
The router I have should certainly be able to handle the 36Mbps download right? It does hardwired.
If it is normal to lose that much speed is there something I could do in terms of setup or router settings???? Like channels or something like that, I notice the router has alot of wifi settings to mess with.
Or if its not normal, what is the problem?????

Someone more refined in the subject of wifi, please help?
Thank you

 

[thiggins]

The problem is your wireless adapter card. It is a dual-band abg card. Maximum link rate is 54 Mbps. Best case throughput for 802.11g is about 22 Mbps. So 17 Mbps isn't bad.

You would need to upgrade to a card that supports 802.11N. An Intel Centrino 6200 would work, as would other abgn cards that support two antennas.

Do not buy a card that has three antenna connections if your laptop has only two antennas. You will get flaky connections.

 

[CarlosF]

The Dell connects using a Dell Wireless 1395 WLAN mini-card

Does this also only support g ad not n?

What about my phone HTC Evo 4G LTE, should I be able to speeds closer to the hardwire rate there also?

I downloaded the speedtest.net app and ran, I got on average 23mbps. I guess it is the card in the computer.

And if I plan on getting a new computer soon, do most new ones come with an adapter which supports n.

And there is definitely nothing I can change in the router settings to better that speed is there?

 

[thiggins]

The Dell card is single band 802.11b/g.

I don't know what is in the phone. Best case it's a 1x1 11bgn card that will give you a 65 Mbps max link rate. You're not going to get top rates out of cellphone WiFi anyway.

All laptops these days come with wireless N, which should help improve throughput.

No, there is nothing you can do in the router settings. Your laptops are using old Wi-Fi technology that can't run at higher speeds.