Home Network Speed

[will_stutler]

hey guys
the fastest speed i can seem to get when transferring files from one computer to the next over wireless is 1.5mps

my wireless router is Linksys wrt 54 g
is there something i can do with the router to increase this, because i am wanting to watch movies from one computer with the movie being stored on the other

i can't go out and buy anything new so keep that in mind with your suggestions

More info
this happens even on none vista pc's
every computer gets full signal
we have three computers in the house hold all using wireless but most times only two are on at a time....and yes nothing else is being downloaded nor uploaded on the other computer except the one file

thanks guys for any help

[tehboris]

The theoretical maximum speed you will get on a regular g network is 6.75MB/s. Wireless networks have a fair amount of overhead when been used allot particularly if multiple clients are involved. For every client connected to an AP you basically cut the amount of bandwidth available to the all clients in half.

You didn't say which protocol you where using, but I'm going to assume windows file sharing: http://www.kegel.com/nt-linux-benchmarks.html, wrong protocol to use if you are testing available bandwidth. FTP or HTTP might offer better results.

[will_stutler]

thanks for the fast reply tehBoris

i am using windows file shearing.....lol as far as the rest of what you said is beyond my knowledge...
ive only within the past year gotten the wireless router and only have had more than just my own computer in the household for a few months

i hope that gives a little more insight to why i am such a noob when it comes to wireless networking our computers

so that this thread doesn't get to off topic i will say this right now, i do have the router set up with the best security wap2 personal, and all that stuff

just looking for a simple way for a beginner to increase the transfer rate

again tehBoris i do thank you for your help

isn't there some settings that i am missing on the router itself

i am even thinking about installing the Tomato Firmware, you guys think that would be a getter bet?

thanks to everyone

[tehboris]

Using an alternate firmware could help, wouldn't think by much.

How are the two computers connected to the router? Both wireless or one wired one wireless?

If they are both on wireless then the theoretical maximum possible if the management overhead was removed would be 6.75MB/s / 2 = 3.4MB/s (for ease).

I'd recommend you get a N AP and N adapters for your clients if you want more bandwidth. Try setting up FileZilla (http://filezilla-project.org/) FTP server and see if the transfer results are different compared to windows file sharing.

I forgot to mention that interference from any other 2.4GHz sources (cordless phones, video senders, other APs) will also reduce speed.

[dem0072]

I'll agree with tehBoris on this one.

But another trick you might consider is reducing your wireless security encryption (unless you're doing heavy banking and have a large sum of financial data shared on your network, it's only really bragging rights to have your settings using wpa2). I've noticed better wireless compatibility and data transfer rates by lowering the security standard a little.

Another thing to try is see if your model router has any unique bandwidth prioritizing or organizing technology. Some routers have the feature of a "gaming mode" or similar features, disabling this might yield better results for you as well.

Some people also report with Linksys based routers that trying a non-factory firmware such as Tomato or WhiteRussian has boosted their stability, expanded their features, and actually helped performance.

Also try disabling NetBIOS by right clicking "My Network Places", going to properties, clicking "Internet Protocol TCP/IP" and clicking the properties button. On the new window click "Advanced" and go to the "WINS" tab, and check the option for disabling NetBIOS. You may have to restart your system, but try doing this on both computers.

You could also try tweaking your wireless adapter with TCPoptimizer.exe to the optimum performance range. It takes seconds and you can easily find the program with a quick google.

If you haven't make sure the source server for the movies is hard wired to the router. Running the TCPoptimizer.exe on the server might help even more as well.

And as always, make sure your wireless connection is strong. The weaker the signal, the slower the transfer speed. If you're having problems with this, experiment with your routers antenna positions, and maybe consider relocating the router.

All in all though, I've never really liked linksys routers, especially the WRT54G model... I've always had connectivity, performance, DHCP, or reliability issues with it no matter what.