Slow Wireless Speed - Safecom Products

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matttaylor
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Slow Wireless Speed - Safecom Products

Post by matttaylor » Thu Mar 15, 2007 12:51 pm

I am using the following Safecom wireless products for my network at home:

SWAMR-54125 Router
SWLPT-54125 PCI Card
SWLUT-54125 USB
SWLCT-54125 Laptop card

Some of these products were origianally 54/108Mbps devices but have all been upgraded with the necessary firmware/software to make them 125Mbps.

I have the router with Turbo Mode switched on and two of my PCs in the same small room so connection couldn't get much better. On each PC the 'Wireless LAN Configuration Utility' will show Current TX Rate: 125Mbps on the left.

Image

When transfering a big file from one PC to another though the TX Rate (on the right) shows considerably less and averages about 6Mbps.

Image

This is considerably less than the advertised data transfer rates.
Am I missing something? Is this expected? Perhaps something is not configured right?

Thanks,

Matt
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Shotokan101
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Post by Shotokan101 » Thu Mar 15, 2007 5:01 pm

HI - have you tried downloading netstumbler from www.netstumbler.com and monitoring the signal quality (the graphical version for your SSID) ?

Also worth trying a different wireless channel.
Jim

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Post by mstombs » Thu Mar 15, 2007 8:20 pm

I don't believe the 125 Mbps.

Broadcom Afterburner (=Linksys Speedbooster) can be called 125 mode by Belkin/ Buffalo but is only a bit better than standard wireless G (20-30Mbps real transfer rate). I guess TI 11g+ Turbo is similar.

Atheros Super G claims 108Mbps by using two channels bonded together - a completely different technology.

I believe Intel have another 11g+ variant.

If you have a mix they will both work in standard wireless G mode 54Mbps at best.

Note also the 54Mbps is shared by all clients, completely different to 100Mbps Ehternet cable which can work in full duplex with 100 in both directions.
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Post by matttaylor » Fri Mar 16, 2007 12:03 pm

Shotokan101 wrote:HI - have you tried downloading netstumbler from www.netstumbler.com and monitoring the signal quality (the graphical version for your SSID) ?

Also worth trying a different wireless channel.
Downloaded NetStumbler as suggested and found the green graph.

I also played around with different channels and although most channels are the same I have found one channel that doubles the speed up to an average of 11Mbps so that's better than nothing. :D

Cheers,

Matt
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Post by Shotokan101 » Fri Mar 16, 2007 12:11 pm

Hi Matt - thanks for the update.

Your throughput is obviously still pretty grim :cry: - any chance that you can post a screenshot of the signal graph ?
Jim

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Post by matttaylor » Fri Mar 16, 2007 12:12 pm

mstombs wrote:I don't believe the 125 Mbps.
...
Note also the 54Mbps is shared by all clients, completely different to 100Mbps Ehternet cable which can work in full duplex with 100 in both directions.
I take your point and I never expect to get the full 125Mbps that manufacturers claim but I thought I would perhaps get near it.

So with two wireless clients sharing 54Mbps would the max be 27Mbps on each?

I do have a fair few other wireless devices in my home:
  • Telephone
  • Door bell
  • Wireless alarm system
  • Wireless thermostat for my boiler
I guess they could be interfering but that's what channels are for right?

Thanks,

Matt
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Post by mstombs » Fri Mar 16, 2007 1:23 pm

There's good review of wireless performance vs specs in this

http://tomshardware.co.uk/2006/02/27/wi ... _ntk_2006/

seems like you should be able to do better than are - but will never be comparable to wired!

I've tried copying dvd isos from wired lan computer to wireless and then looked at disk write rate on reciever. I was happy when I was able to do the transfer without breaking (router firmware/ adapter driver issues) but could never get more than 30Mbps real throughput with Linksys speedbooster with only one wireless client.
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Post by Neo » Fri Mar 16, 2007 2:26 pm

matttaylor wrote:I do have a fair few other wireless devices in my home:
  • Telephone
  • Door bell
  • Wireless alarm system
  • Wireless thermostat for my boiler
I guess they could be interfering but that's what channels are for right?
Multiple channels allow for a certain amount of interference, but there is a limit to the number of channels available.

If your phone is on CH1, your alarm is on CH6 and your doorbell is on CH11 that already covers the majority of the available spectrum. If your thermostat is on CH3 (which could already be getting interference from your phone and alarm) then you would have to put your WAN on CH8 or CH9 and hope that the interference isn't too severe. Depending on how strong the signals ares and how close the equipment is, your actual transfer rate could vary enormously.

See viewtopic.php?t=851 ;)

Edit: Oh yeah, and another thing - whether you push or pull the file(s) could make a big difference too. See HERE
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Post by Shotokan101 » Fri Mar 16, 2007 3:02 pm

Jim

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Post by matttaylor » Sat Mar 17, 2007 12:48 pm

Shotokan101 wrote: ...any chance that you can post a screenshot of the signal graph ?
Getting about 11Mbps at the moment, have not been through all the channels yet though. Graph as requested:

Image

That's about the best signal quality I've experienced so far.

Cheers,

Matt
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Wireless throughput.

Post by KeithSloan » Sat Mar 17, 2007 1:16 pm

I see you have another wireless router in range, Grovelands. What channel is it using and what channel are you using.

Expand the channels under netstumbler
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Re: Wireless throughput.

Post by matttaylor » Sat Mar 17, 2007 2:16 pm

KeithSloan wrote:I see you have another wireless router in range, Grovelands. What channel is it using and what channel are you using.

Expand the channels under netstumbler
I've just finished the tedious task of trying every channel available, 1 - 14.
Strangley I couldn't connect using 14 at all.

Most channels gave me a similar result of 6-7 Mbps TX rate.

Only 11 & 12 gave me a TX rate of about 11-12 Mbps with 12 being the best so I have settled on that.
It is odd that 11 gave me such a good result as 11 is the channel that is being used by the other router, Grovelands. Grovelands is a retail garden centre about 2-3 miles away so it's signal strength is not that strong.

Sometimes I'll pick up my neighbour on channel 6 but those are the only other routers I am aware of.

After trying all the channels, and different settings on the router like Turbo on/off, G only/Mixed and moving the router about I guess I'll just have to accept the speed I'm getting. Not great though when all devices are in the same room.

Cheers,

Matt
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Post by Shotokan101 » Sat Mar 17, 2007 3:22 pm

Hi - the wireless signal level looks extremely poor for units in the same room :shock:

To get accurate transfer speeds and rule out the PC systems download qcheck (and an updated windows endpoint) from here:-

http://www.ixiacom.com/products/display?skey=qcheck

Load qcheck and the updated endpoint onto each PC and use it to test actual network throughput (memory to memory)

Have you tried different antenna allignnments etc. ? as there does seem to be a problem with your reception/transmission levels :?

For any USB wireless adapters its well worth investing in a 1 metre USB ebtensioncable to allow flexibility in positioning the unit. :wink:
Jim

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Good ideas

Post by matttaylor » Tue Mar 20, 2007 12:43 pm

Thanks guys. Some good ideas there. I'll update you when I get some time to try them out.

Cheers,

Matt
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Post by studioeng » Tue Mar 27, 2007 8:26 pm

I've just had a quick scan through to find out about the Turbo Mode. Is this still implemented on the RT v2.2 firmware, or am I fighting a non-existant battle??

I've just bought myself some new Safecom SWLMPT-54125 miniPCI wireless cards for my laptops; I was hoping for the 125mbps speed boost, but at the price I got them for it wouldn't bother me that much if I could only squeeze 54mbps out of them :D

I've tried the obvious setting changes; at least I think I have :? any help would be great :D
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