Time Capsule - How to improve connection speed ?

[Terwal]

Hi,

I have read somewhere that one way to improve the TC connection speed is by setting it up as Wifi "n" only (and therefore disabling g and others)...

Hence 3 simple questions:

1. is it the case ?

2. if so, how do you do it ?

3. if you do it, can you then change it back to b, g and n ?

Note: I use my TC only with my MB Air.

Thanks,

W.

 

[netnothing]

To switch it to 802.11n only mode,

1. Open Airport Utility
2. Select the Time Capsule
3. On the Airport page, select the Wireless tab.
4. Change the Radio Mode dropdown to 802.11n only (5 GHz).

Changing to the 5 GHz n only mode as opposed to the 2.4GHz n only mode will help if you have a lot of other 2.4GHz devices in the house, like cordless phones, microwaves, etc.

-Kevin

 

[netnothing]

To answer your questions (forgot to in last post)

1. not sure if you will see a hige increase since you're probably connecting at n speeds anyway, since you don't have any b or g clients. Basic rule of thumb is, a wireless network will only go as fast as the slowest client. So if you have your MBA running at n, but another client connects at g speeds, then your MBA connection will slow down to g speeds.

2. explained in previous post.

3. You can switch back and forth whenever you want.

Note however, that if you switch to n only mode, no b or g devices can connect. If the MBA is the only thing you have, then it's not a problem, unless someone comes over and tries to connect at b or g speeds.

-Kevin

 

[SVT Amateur]

I found that when switching to 5 ghz (I chose running both a and n since my Xbox 360 wireless adapter only supports a, b, and g) the range and strength of the wireless signal was reduced. Once I changed it back to 2.4 ghz the signal strength increased.

 

[netnothing]

I found that when switching to 5 ghz (I chose running both a and n since my Xbox 360 wireless adapter only supports a, b, and g) the range and strength of the wireless signal was reduced. Once I changed it back to 2.4 ghz the signal strength increased.

This can be the case. The 5Ghz spectrum I think has a harder time going through some types of materials (ie. walls, floors, etc.).

I guess for the original poster, they should try both the 802.11n only in 2.4GHz and 5Ghz.

Most people like me that are running the TC in bridged mode with another router running b/g connections run the TC in n only mode in the 5GHz range to reduce interference.

I think the original poster only has the TC, so they can try both.

I know in my house, I failover to the 2.4GHz g connection if I'm far from the TC.

-Kevin

 

[Terwal]

Thanks guys for the clarifications. Very helpful.

 

[suprajoe]

I thought I would pop-in and give my issue, it is not a speed issue with wireless though. Background, I am currently using a Dlink DIR-655. I get around 10MB down and 1MB up for Internet. When I got my TC, I turned off the Dlink and was going to use just the TC for my router/firewall/NAS. Everything worked great, but I noticed my VOIP phone service was acting up, mainly while on the phone you could hear a lot of noise. So I went to DSL Reports and ran a test. I was getting around 425 Kbps down and 1MB up....weird? So I switch back to using the Dlink and my Internet speed was back to normal. Switched back again to TC and speed was slow.
My fix is I am using the Dlink as my router/firewall and have the TC setup as a bridge with wireless off. My MacPro connects to Dlink via ethernet and the MBP connects to Dlink wireless. All are able to use the TC to backup.
Anyone have slower, way slower internet issues with there TC? Also, one thing I was a little upset about the TC was no DDNS support. I use DDNS on my Dlink and was bummed out that the TC didn't support it. Besides these issues, I like my TC.

 

[ks-man]

When I switched my TC from mixed mode to N only it actually seems to have decreased performance. I added a linksys g router and am getting better speeds connecting to that one than to the TC now. I need to play around with it a little more but if you are happy with your wireless speeds you may want to think twice before making a change.

 

[Kittychan]

I thought I would pop-in and give my issue, it is not a speed issue with wireless though. Background, I am currently using a Dlink DIR-655. I get around 10MB down and 1MB up for Internet. When I got my TC, I turned off the Dlink and was going to use just the TC for my router/firewall/NAS. Everything worked great, but I noticed my VOIP phone service was acting up, mainly while on the phone you could hear a lot of noise. So I went to DSL Reports and ran a test. I was getting around 425 Kbps down and 1MB up....weird? So I switch back to using the Dlink and my Internet speed was back to normal. Switched back again to TC and speed was slow.
My fix is I am using the Dlink as my router/firewall and have the TC setup as a bridge with wireless off. My MacPro connects to Dlink via ethernet and the MBP connects to Dlink wireless. All are able to use the TC to backup.
Anyone have slower, way slower internet issues with there TC? Also, one thing I was a little upset about the TC was no DDNS support. I use DDNS on my Dlink and was bummed out that the TC didn't support it. Besides these issues, I like my TC.

With your Dlink, do you setup your wireless as to N? or mixed mode? I am having problems with my AppleTv and Dlink as it won't stream movie as fast as it should be

 

[coopermac]

It may help you to know that the difference in signal strength between 2.4 and 5 Ghz is down to the band width (5 is wider than 2.4).

A comparison can be made with a water pipe, the narrower the pipe (bandwidth) the further the water (signal strength) will shoot for the same pressure (file size) applied.

If you are sending your wireless signal through more than one wall and/or over a long distance then the 2.4Ghz setting will probably be the best option for signal strength.

 

[suprajoe]

With your Dlink, do you setup your wireless as to N? or mixed mode? I am having problems with my AppleTv and Dlink as it won't stream movie as fast as it should be

I have mine setup in mixed. So it is doing b/g/n over 2.4ghz. The reason for this is my kids still have an older Windows computer (which is about to break...if you know what I mean ) that I will be replacing with a Mac Mini. Once I do that, I will switch over to N only over 5ghz.

I just don't understand why the TC would be slower on the WAN link to the ISP than my Dlink? I just don't get that, unless something funny is going on with the WAN port. Oh, and when I did have the TC as my router, I had to specify the WAN as 100MB, it wouldn't work on automatically or 1000??? Crazy I tell ya!

 

[netnothing]

that I will be replacing with a Mac Mini. Once I do that, I will switch over to N only over 5ghz.

Just remember that the current Mini only goes up to 802.11 G.

I just don't understand why the TC would be slower on the WAN link to the ISP than my Dlink? I just don't get that, unless something funny is going on with the WAN port. Oh, and when I did have the TC as my router, I had to specify the WAN as 100MB, it wouldn't work on automatically or 1000??? Crazy I tell ya!

Did you double check that you had either Cat5e or Cat6 cables in order to get the Gigabit ethernet.

-Kevin

 

[suprajoe]

Just remember that the current Mini only goes up to 802.11 G.
Did you double check that you had either Cat5e or Cat6 cables in order to get the Gigabit ethernet.

-Kevin

Good to know about the Mini, as far as the Cat5e and Cat6, yes, I use Cat5e. Really, there is no use for Gig on the WAN cause the ISP does not have that type of speed. I just don't understand why my Dlink gives me 10M down and 1Mup, but the TC give me 400k down and 1M up. That is not right. I tested it several times and the same results.

 

[netnothing]

Good to know about the Mini, as far as the Cat5e and Cat6, yes, I use Cat5e. Really, there is no use for Gig on the WAN cause the ISP does not have that type of speed. I just don't understand why my Dlink gives me 10M down and 1Mup, but the TC give me 400k down and 1M up. That is not right. I tested it several times and the same results.

Have you tried any other cables to see if for some odd, unknown reason, the TC doesn't like the Cat cable you are using? Personally can't see why it would matter, but weirder things have happened with Apple.

I know my TC was very picky about the cable I was using. I thought so sure it was a Cat5e cable, but couldn't for the life of me get the Mac Pro to put the link at 1Gbit/s. Switched cables and now the link is fine, granted, this really only effects the transfers within the LAN.

I'm running my TC in bridged mode, connected to a Linksys WRT54g. I have the Mac Pro and PC plugged into the TC (to get the GigE speeds). My internet speeds are good here.

Maybe you could try plugging the Mac Pro into the TC, while it's connected to the DLink to see if that gives the same effect or not.

-Kevin

 

[suprajoe]

Have you tried any other cables to see if for some odd, unknown reason, the TC doesn't like the Cat cable you are using? Personally can't see why it would matter, but weirder things have happened with Apple.

I know my TC was very picky about the cable I was using. I thought so sure it was a Cat5e cable, but couldn't for the life of me get the Mac Pro to put the link at 1Gbit/s. Switched cables and now the link is fine, granted, this really only effects the transfers within the LAN.

I'm running my TC in bridged mode, connected to a Linksys WRT54g. I have the Mac Pro and PC plugged into the TC (to get the GigE speeds). My internet speeds are good here.

Maybe you could try plugging the Mac Pro into the TC, while it's connected to the DLink to see if that gives the same effect or not.

-Kevin

My Mac Pro connected to the TC, via Gig, just fine. It was the TC connecting to the cable modem. The TC had way slower speeds than my Dlink. I also have the TC in bridged, no wireless, but my Mac Pro is connected to the Dlink, via Gig. TC connected to Dlink, via Gig. Backup and all works great. I just don't know why when I use the TC as the router/firewall/NAS, minus the Dlink, the Internet speed was aweful. Oh well, all I really needed was the 1TB NAS. Plus, the TC doesn't support DDNS, which I use. Thanks for your help.

 

[ntrigue]

I found that when switching to 5 ghz (I chose running both a and n since my Xbox 360 wireless adapter only supports a, b, and g) the range and strength of the wireless signal was reduced. Once I changed it back to 2.4 ghz the signal strength increased.

This was my experience as well. I have 5.8GHz Uniden phones in the house and I went from 54Mbit/sec on Wireless-N 5GHz to 120Mbit/sec on Wireless-N 2.4GHz. I also have a door and two walls between the Capsule and my MBP.

Experiment, in Airport Utility > Advanced > Wireless > Logs and Stats you can observe your transfer rate on a 2D plane.