Why does my MacBook Pro have a 2x faster download speed than PC?

[Buckeyes69]

I finally got Comcast internet at home. Bought a Linksys Wireless N router. Put a Dynex Wireless G PCI card in my PC at home.

On speedtest.net my PC was downloading at about 7500 kb/s
In the same chair my MacBook Pro was getting 20,000 kb/s

I was using Firefox on both. The Desktop PC is on the floor near my feet and the Mac is on my lap. But the router is in the basement.

Can the wireless card in the Mac be THAT much better? Can location make that much of a difference when they're about 2 feet apart?

 

[JML42691]

It is the wireless card in the Mac, all new Macs have wireless-N cards in them, which have speeds that are nearly double the speed of Wireless-G cards, so yes, it is the differences of the cards.

 

[Buckeyes69]

Yes, but even a wireless G card is supposed to get like 54,000 kb/s.

Is it logical to think that if you only have a certain signal strength that the router/card curbs the speed for quality? Lets say its 20%. If you're starting with 54Mb/s and 100Mb/s...you would be 10Mb and 20Mb.

I assumed when buying the G...that it does 54Mb/s....so it would be overkill anyway.

 

[clevin]

lol, its not, try downloading a big file and see what your download speed really is.

 

[Buckeyes69]

well that sucks...even though the 7000kb/s is WAY faster than the 500 I was getting on a verizon wireless card, there is NO WAY my obsessive nature will let me chug along at that speed knowing another card can get me more...

Even if the pages come up instantly and file come instantly...I'll still be wondering if it could go faster. I guess it's off to Best Buy again.

BTW, does anyone know if the USB wireless cards are as fast as they claim?

 

[hari-bhari]

i bet its not that much faster, even if there is a difference in signal strength. download a large file from microsoft or something and see what happens.

 

[clevin]

you can't accurately measure your internet speed that way, it takes more time to contact server, to wait in queue for response too,

Only speed that really matters, is measured by download a file and checking the download speed.