Wireless N speeds a myth?

[kuri]

My trusty old WRT54G finally gave way and I bought a Linksys E3200 router to replace it. I was hoping this would be a good chance to see what Wireless N is all about since I've been stuck with G for a long time now with the WRT54G. Results were a bit disappointing.

 

The E3200 supports up to 300Mbps. My laptop has a Atheros AR9285 wireless chipset supporting up to 150Mbps. I'm not expecting a full 150Mbps here, but disappointingly I've only been able to establish a connection at a Windows reported 65Mbps. Actual transfer rates (copying files) hover around 24-25Mbps (~3MB/s). These speeds are with the laptop sitting just 5ft next to the router Are these speeds to be expected? Or is there something wrong with my configuration?

 

The Atheros AR9285 only supports the 2.4Ghz band, while the E3200 supports both 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz. Would my speeds improve if I get an Intel wireless card for the laptop that supports the 5Ghz band?

 

Edit: if it matters, the laptop I have is the Asus UL30

Edited December 28, 2011 by kuri

[Waco]

I'd bet you're limited by the crappy chipset in your laptop than anything else. I get over 100 Mbps on my phone over N.

[Stonerboy779]

Laptop hdd/mobo/chipset limiting transfers. Basically because its a laptop it is slow

[kuri]

Thanks guys for the quick response. I guess it would be worthwhile to upgrade the wireless component on the laptop then? I found several place online that sell Intel 6200 cards for cheap (<$20). Maybe I'll give the it a try and hope my speeds improve.

[potatochobit]

i dont remmeber how fast a hard drive writes

[kuri]

Hmm... it's definitely not the hard drive limiting the transfer speeds here though, because if I use wired ethernet or USB to copy to or write from the laptop HDD, I do get much faster speeds.

[Waco]

i dont remmeber how fast a hard drive writes

A laptop drive from the late 90s can do more than 40 MB/s.

[d6bmg]

Wireless N in E3200 is capable of providing speed upto 250mbps (practically).

I get more than 120-150mbps pairing it with a wifi card from linksys, whose exact model no I forgot atm and don't feel like opening my rig.

[CoachAub]

How does your PC fair with a wired connection? Does it run at full 100 or 1000mbps? If it can process that fast wired, I would think it should wirelessly. Then you'd know it was your wireless card/antenna/or part of that setup.

[kuri]

The laptop comes with a 100Mbps ethernet port and it is able saturate that no problem against my gigabit switch, so it definitely has enough power to drive the data. I've placed an order for the Intel 6200. Should be here within a week or two. I'll update the thread after I get it installed and tested.

[d6bmg]

^^ Better way to go.

[Overclocker16]

I'd do a search on google for that. I don't remember exactly the settings in my router (D-Link DIR-655) but there is a certain way to make it do the fastest 300mbps. Something like N only, 20/40MHz and WPA2 only I believe. But like I said, do a quick search on google to make sure you have all the correct settings.