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How (802.11b/g/n) did I connect to the router?
- Thread starter bigwig
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I don't know of a way that will give you the strait up protocol but check the network utility and make sure the correct interface is selected I think for everyone it's "Network Interface en1" at least it is for me. Then check the "Link Speed," mine's currently at 130 Mbits so n. That should give you an idea. My airport is set to only do n though.
If I understand the process correctly, it will automatically default to the fastest connection (N) unless there is a device that uses A/B/G connected to the same network, and then it will default to the fastest possible connection for the slowest device. Does that make sense? 
No, I don't think thats correct. That may only be listing the max that your link can connect to, not actual connection speed. I have a Belkin wireless N router but I know for a fact that I'm not connected at "N" speeds because we have older "B" and "G" cards connecting to it at the moment too. Unless its capable of doing that whole dual band thing which I doubt.
If I understand the process correctly, it will automatically default to the fastest connection (N) unless there is a device that uses A/B/G connected to the same network, and then it will default to the fastest possible connection for the slowest device. Does that make sense?
This is true, and I just remembered my iPod touch. My AEBS is not set to do 802.11n only, in fact it runs 2.4GHz b/g/n compatibility but since the iPod is off the AEBS running 802.11n. I use the AirPort Utility to see which devices are connected and it lists their compatible protocols so that way I can see which g device is dragging down the speed (it's either my roomate's POS 9 lb Dell or my iPod Touch). I wish I could get away with 5GHz n only. There's so much noise on the 2.4GHz band in a college town
So if I'm connected to a router capable of N (130Mbit/s) with an N-capable device while my GF is also connected but with a G-capable device, does this mean I also end up getting G speed? I would have guessed that I could get N speed while she gets G simultaneously.If I understand the process correctly, it will automatically default to the fastest connection (N) unless there is a device that uses A/B/G connected to the same network, and then it will default to the fastest possible connection for the slowest device. Does that make sense?
Then there is only one logical conclusion: the 802.11x specs were written by communists
I had to look it up but mine is running n @ 130 Mbits because it's on 2.4GHz. You have to be on the 5GHz band to get the full 300 Mbits. I'm curious, what speed are you getting with a "b" node on your network?
Here is a good link i found: http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2007/06/speed-test-airport-extreme-lives-up-to-its-name.ars
Either there is a delay in Network Utilities or the reported speed of connection by the router. But it doesn't seem to change even with 2 other "B" cards connected to the network. For general surfing and stuff there doesn't seem to be any difference in speed at all. Not sure whether I can switch to the 5GHz channel. Should prob try one of these days.
Btw, isn't "N" supposed to be 108Mbits? Just curious.
This thread is great!
I like posting to this thread; I've learned so much but now there's even more stuff I want to do. So it turns out the network utility isn't always right on, it has showed 130 Mbit/s when the Airport Utility showed slower but that caught up to what the network utility said after a moment.
I decided to try "n" at 5GHz and holy wow it's fast. I'll post some screen shots of the Airport utility to show. I tried sending an .m4v movie file weighing in at 1.02 GB and it only took about three minutes. I think I'm going to try to use my airport express as the receiver for the "g" mode and leave the base station on 5GHz
One interesting thing is that my MBP was getting 130 while my roommate's POS dell was getting 54 (as per "g") and my iPod touch was getting significantly less of course. I did not know that it could do multiple rates. It is important to note that this is not a dual band AEBS.
Wikipedia says "n" is theoretically capable of 600Mbit/s (75MB/s) but currently the state of the art can do 450Mbit/s, which I was curious about too.
An interesting side note, the drive I used has triggered Time Machine and tried to back up my computer, of course it wanted to start fresh and gave me some crap about the drive format that wasn't true but it didn't work last time...
I like posting to this thread; I've learned so much but now there's even more stuff I want to do
. So it turns out the network utility isn't always right on, it has showed 130 Mbit/s when the Airport Utility showed slower but that caught up to what the network utility said after a moment.I decided to try "n" at 5GHz and holy wow it's fast. I'll post some screen shots of the Airport utility to show. I tried sending an .m4v movie file weighing in at 1.02 GB and it only took about three minutes. I think I'm going to try to use my airport express as the receiver for the "g" mode and leave the base station on 5GHz
One interesting thing is that my MBP was getting 130 while my roommate's POS dell was getting 54 (as per "g") and my iPod touch was getting significantly less of course. I did not know that it could do multiple rates. It is important to note that this is not a dual band AEBS.
Wikipedia says "n" is theoretically capable of 600Mbit/s (75MB/s) but currently the state of the art can do 450Mbit/s, which I was curious about too.
An interesting side note, the drive I used has triggered Time Machine and tried to back up my computer, of course it wanted to start fresh and gave me some crap about the drive format that wasn't true but it didn't work last time...
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That is apple's Airport Utility. It's free on their website and it comes with their wireless devices, but it only works with apple products. To get to that screen select your Airport express, extreme, or Time Capsule and click "Manual Setup." It will give you the stats of your device like the channel, the serial number, MAC address and the number of wireless clients. Click on "Wireless Clients" and it will bring you to that screen. It shows log entries like when it rotates the CCMP group key and when it associates with devices and even shows why a device couldn't connect. It's really awesome.
Since discovering the speed increase I've set up my Airport Express to handle all "b/g" traffic and my AEBS to handle all "n" traffic. The internet is a little faster but any network data transfers will be a lot faster especially between "n" nodes.
Since discovering the speed increase I've set up my Airport Express to handle all "b/g" traffic and my AEBS to handle all "n" traffic. The internet is a little faster but any network data transfers will be a lot faster especially between "n" nodes.