Hi ...

I have just set up an old PC as a server on my home network to hold things like Photo, music, Videos and setup files (drivers etc) ... It is a decent machine (duo Pentium 4 (hyper-threaded) 3.4 with 2 GB ram ... optimised for performance ... well using the windows optimisation option anyway)

Everything works fine except that I am using a wireless connection to this machine and although it i a 54 Mps connection I am only getting a max of 300Kps connection speeds so a 100 meg file is taking about 5 - 10 mins to transfer

The wired connections in mi system are 100Mps and I get transfer speeds of 12Mps ... so effectively 40 - 50 times faster transfer rate and the same file takes 5 - 6 Seconds or so to transfer

The signal strength is excellent and the connection speed is confirmed at 54 Mps the noise level is 70% however ... everything is working and I can connect etc no problem .... just why is it running so slow and what can I do to improve it (assuming I cannot relocate the computer or hard wire it in)

any help would be greatly appreciated ... and will save me pulling more hair out

Thanks

Daramore

 

Some more information would be good on hardware specifics and OS's in use.

As a starting point I would set the router to auto negotiate the connection speeds and do the same with your network cards on all the machines.

Run net stumbler or something similar to see how many other wireless lans are operational in your area and which channels they are using. Set your wireless channel to something which is not used.

Microwave ovens and some wireless telephones are also an often overlooked source of interference.

Look also at the type of encryption being used - WEP can zap your network bandwidth, WPA has a lesser overhead.

I have also seen McAfee antivirus products have a detrimental effect on network transfer speeds.

If you are using Vista, I would look at removing it for something else - I have tried to move my home network to vista a couple of times but it is just plain slow.

If this doens't help, please report back with more detail.

 

Thanks Guys ... Ill try the things you have suggested ... As a test I moved the machine into the same room as the router .... Speed went up by 5x

I think I have something interfering with the signal ... so Until I find somewhere else to put the machine I'm stuck ... but thanks for all the help and advice ... much appreciated

 

Well, what most don't know is that wireless "54 Mbs connection" is half-duplex transmission, so half the line speed for up and down transmisson, so 27Mps, but factor in the 7 layers of the OSI model (overheads) and the max you will ever get is between 0.5-15Mps.

If your wired line speeds are that gash then check the pins for damage.

 

you could consider going wired and use something like a powerline

 

make sure your router firmware and wirless lan drivers are up to date

also as a previous poster has said -- turn off encryption if you use it on wireless and re-test (I think its overkill in a domestic network anyway -- unless you really think someone is going to site outside you house and try and crack your traffic, they would be more successful going thru your bins)

to avoid unwanted use of your wirless just use MAC access control