Internet speed over wifi vs. ethernet

[DeSnousa]

Hey guys Ive got a pretty fast internet connection at home and I have just realised that when I plug my iBook and desktop pcs into my wireless router ethernet (LAN) ports I get a much faster internet connection speed compared to the wifi.

I.e. 12-17mbps when through ethernet and when I connect to the wifi I get 2-4mbps. My computers are all located in the same room no more than 5 metres away from the router.

My question is, is this normal is wireless going to slow down my internet. When I play World of Warcraft on the PC it is nearly unusable over wifi, or when I download via bittorrent I find I get much higher speed over ethernet.

Please help because I what max speed over wifi

Thanks guys.

 

[DeSnousa]

I have just turned of my cordless phone and wifi internet is more faster, it downloads at 8-12mbps now, however I need the phone to be turned on. What channel should I turn the wifi onto?

Also its still not as fast as ethernet so my original question still stands, is wifi slower than ethernet. I know that wifi only allows 54mbps but my net is 17mbps??

 

[mcavjame]

The 54 mbps is a theoretical upper limit. When you are wired, you have a 100 mbps or 1000 mbps transfer rate depending on whether you have a gigbit router or not. Obviously, going wired will be faster.

To help with the cordless phone situation, go into your router software and set the channel to auto or try another channel than the one it is set to.

 

[akutad]

The 54 mbps is a theoretical upper limit. When you are wired, you have a 100 mbps or 1000 mbps transfer rate depending on whether you have a gigbit router or not. Obviously, going wired will be faster.

To help with the cordless phone situation, go into your router software and set the channel to auto or try another channel than the one it is set to.

I have the airport extreme base station and I play COD4 without any slow down in the gave at all and I have my graphic details set on high. Airport extreme is wireless N so that really helps. If you have wireless B then it would be slower. However that shouldn't matter since wireless B can handle over 50 mbps. Its rated that high if someone want to transfer files within the LAN network. What could be happening is that your trying to play the game wirelessly and the other pc's are downloading thus sucking up bandwidth. Hope this helps.

 

[darrenscerri]

I have just turned of my cordless phone and wifi internet is more faster, it downloads at 8-12mbps now, however I need the phone to be turned on. What channel should I turn the wifi onto?

Also its still not as fast as ethernet so my original question still stands, is wifi slower than ethernet. I know that wifi only allows 54mbps but my net is 17mbps??

Hmmm.... if I'm not mistaken the majority of cordless phones and routers both use the 2.4GHz band. Try selecting your router to use the highest possible channel. The higher the channel, the farther the frequency is from 2.4GHz. It will only be farther by about 50-60MHz but maybe it will help.

Good Luck!