Wifi Speed

[Jazwire]

So my cable company just upgraded my internet speed from 60/5 to 100/5.

My iMac (which I have connected via ethernet) to my Time Capsule, does get full speed. (Via www.Speedtest.net)
So I know it is at least possible to hit the speed.


However, my laptop (Early 2011) is only hitting between 55-60/5, it that just the limit of wireless in general, or is there something I could have set wrong or misconfigured.

 

[squeakr]

No, theoretically the MBP can hit 450Mb/sec through to the router (if close enough to my airport extreme, I occasionally see this), so it would be the signal, distance, and other factors within your router that are throttling the connection.

 

[Jazwire]

Hmm, I was only about 8 feet away and it's fairly unobstructed.

I'll mess around with placements and see what happens.

 

[squeakr]

Have you tried another speediest to see if it is any different? Speedtest doesn't work the best with my new provider, but they have their own speediest and I get better latency, jitter, and speed results through their site (and it is always consistent measurements). Speedtest is sometimes hit or miss with me and sometimes has issues finding the nearest server to test from for me.

 

[153098]

I think ethernet cards are faster than wifi cards. Check this thread out:

http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/1142623

 

[Jazwire]

Have you tried another speediest to see if it is any different? Speedtest doesn't work the best with my new provider, but they have their own speediest and I get better latency, jitter, and speed results through their site (and it is always consistent measurements). Speedtest is sometimes hit or miss with me and sometimes has issues finding the nearest server to test from for me.

Yep same location that i get my full 100/5 from with my wired connection.

 

[squeakr]

I think ethernet cards are faster than wifi cards. Check this thread out:

http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/1142623

That is really only pertaining to gaming, as the consistency required within gaming can be crucial to be competitive. For the average consumer and very basic gamer wireless is fine as long as it is consistent and has a good signal. If these are steady then for 802.11 n it is not a point in this situation as the throughput of a good 802.11n is greater than can be delivered by most providers.

As for the other issue, I wasn't asking to use another location for the speediest, but an entirely different speediest site (unless I misunderstood what you were asking).

I also must ask what version of time capsule you are using, as the early versions only had early n versions and they didn't support 5GHz channels and the mimo antennas so they were slower routers? Is anything else connected at the time, as the slowest device on the network will throttle all other device speeds? Press the Option key and hold it while clicking on the wifi signal indicator in the menu bar and it will tell what channel you are on and throughput transmit rate (and a few other things).