On 5 Oct 2006 13:49:19 -0700, stephen435@gmail.com wrote:

>My ISP is Optonline and I have their boost service which advertises a
>maximum download speed of 30 Mbps and something smaller on the upload
>side. When I connect my PowerBook directly to the cable modem the speed
>test that Optonline provides shows a download speed of about 27 Mbps
>which is quite good. I get similar results with other speed test sites.
>Now the problem.
>
>I connected the PB via an ethernet cable to a LAN port on my Netgear
>WPN824 wireless router. I reran the speed test and got a download speed
>of about 11 Mbps (I turned the Airport off during this test).

Way too slow. It should be the same 27Mbits/sec.

>Next, I
>turned the Airport on, disconnected from the LAN port and again ran the
>speed test. This time the download speed was about 9 Mbps. So clearly
>the router is a bottleneck.

WAN to LAN thruput benchmarks.
| http://www.tomsnetworking.com/lans_r...html?chart=119
The WPN824 is not listed, but the WPNT834 shows up as the fastest
router testing at 94Mbits/sec.

I agree that this is a router problem. However, don't burn time
figuring out why the wireless is slow. The real question is why the
wired connection only gets 11Mbit/sec instead of 27Mbits/sec. Lacking
any details, my guess is:
1. Bad CAT5 cable between modem and router.
2. NWAY negotiation failure between modem and router.
3. WAN port interface speed on WPN824 is set to 10Mbits/sec instead
of 100Mbit/sec.
4. Out of date firmware on the WPN824.

AFTER you fix the slow ethernet speed, then you can work on the
wireless part of the puzzle.

>I searched the forums here and tried stuff like changing the MTU and
>the channel the router broadcasts on but none of these things make any
>difference.
>
>While some reduction in throughput is to be expected when operating
>wirelessly it shouldn't drop so dramatically even when the Mac is
>connected directly to the router (27 Mbps to 11 Mbps). Has anyone else
>experienced such sharp dropoffs? Is there a better wireless router?
>Better settings for this router?

--
# Jeff Liebermann 150 Felker St #D Santa Cruz CA 95060
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