Unfortunately no one can be told what fun_plug is - you have to see it for yourself.
You are not logged in.
Pages: 1 2
You know, I think if you look back at my posts, you'll find that I consistently point out that you can not predict wireless performance - at least not without a site survey using some fairly expensive equipment & software.
Theoretically the reduced interference at 5GHz will give better performance - BUT - the reduced signal strength (5GHz suffers more from attenuation) takes you back to the same position (or at least in the same direction) as regarding SNR or signal to noise ratio - on the one hand you have a stronger signal and more noise (interference) and the other hand you have less noise (interference) and a weaker signal.
To most of us - if performance is the key factor, we use a wired connection, if convenience/mobility is the key factor,we use wireless.
Could a bridge or range extender get you a lot more? Maybe - but I doubt it.
A wireless bridge is essentially a way to connect to wired networks to one another without running a wire between them - you might find that because they are larger and have space for better antennas - but - you have no guarantees.
There are different types of range extenders - some are repeaters, some are external power amplifiers, some are high gain antennas some are additional access points that are intended to be mounted away from the router - I don't particularly care for any of them - they are all compromises.
Let's go with the repeater first - regardless of make or model - it's going to cut your throughput by 50% - it has a single receiver/transmitter and can do one or the other but not both simultaenously - so it must first receive the data then transmit it onward and then reverse the process. External power amplifiers work but they create problems for your neighbours - high gain antennas do pretty much the same thing, but, because of the radiation pattern can have unusual side effects which can be both good and bad. A corner reflector or uni-directional antenna, for example focuses the radiated energy in one direction reducing the signal behind it and increasing it in front - giving you more of your signal and your neighbour less of it, but it only works if your router is in a corner or at one end of the house. Omni-directional antennas radiate in all directions, but as the gain increases they radiate less directly above & below, so if you are in a multi-storey (or multi-floor) building, you could create problems for upper/lower floors. The additional access point type create additional interference - exactly the same way as more networks in the same space, and require additional cableing.
As you can see, this is not a "one solution fits all" scenario - you really do need to fit the solution to the environment and depending on such factors as building design & construction and proximity of neighbouring networks and interference sources it's literally impossible to predict.
In case you're curious - I use a wired router (which is in my ground floor office) and a separate wireless access point located on the floor above, cabled back to the router using CAT5 cable - the location of the access point was determined by trial & error over a period of several months, but I'd like to think that with the experience gained over the years, I could find a reasonably good location for an access point in someone else's premesis in a lot less time.
I could not tell you how Windows arrives at the network utilization - there are different ways to keep track of the different parameters - your Intel card should have a diagnostic feature in the PROSet utilities that well let you track some of them, throughput, transmit & recieve errors if I recall correctly.
Finally the claimed speeds - they are not claimed - in fact, if you go to any manufacturer's web site you'll find a disclaimer - something like this ...
* Maximum wireless signal rate derived from IEEE Standard 802.11 specifications. Actual data throughput will vary. Network conditions and environmental factors, including volume of network traffic, building materials and construction, and network overhead lower actual data throughput rate.
- which I cut & paste from the Netgear website. Notice where the maximum rate comes from - the IEEE standard - and pretty much every manufacturer acknowledges that they cannot meet those rates - why the IEEE makes those claims I don't know, but I suspect it has something to do with technology design and just in case you're interested, the upper limit for wireless-n is 600 mbps, so some day they might deliver 300, but don't expect it any time soon.
Offline
this is amazing information. I am glad you posted htis as you likely have saved me a couple hundred bucks and a lot of time. What about powerline adapters?? I think this could be the answer to my problem...i could plug in a powerline adapter to my router and one into my notebook (which i generally use in my office 90% of the time). Any experience using these? I am assume the actual through put even on a 10/100 powerline adapter will smoke wireless N. I am looking for gigabit ethernet powerline adapter...that would be very good. Thanks a million, you time is appreciated.
Offline
It appears to me this will give me close to a true 100mbps with obviously very good network utilization. What are your thoughts (see link below)?
http://www.linksys.com/servlet/Satellit … 6422279B82
Offline
Brother man - the only thing that works is wired ethenet - powerline has it's own set of issues, in my opinion worse than wireless.
You're piggybacking your data transmission onto a pair of wires that is connected to every other pair of wires in the apartment building or residential neighbourhood you live in - and any interference from any lamp, appliance or loose connection in any one of those apartments or homes gets transmitted directly into yours and has the potential to completely obliterate your data.
If your router is not in your office where you use the notebook 90% of the time grab a power drill and a 1/4'' bit and run an ethernet cable - it'll pretty much guarantee you 100 mbps throughput - ok maybe not 100 but close to it.
Edit - did you notice the disclaimer at the bottom of the Linksys page?
* The HomePlug AV network data rate is up to 200Mbps. Actual throughput of the PLE300 is limited to 100Mbps by the Ethernet 10/100 specification, and will vary depending on network traffic and environmental conditions such as building wiring type and routing.
Last edited by fordem (2008-12-15 17:47:34)
Offline
i thought powerline was the answer! Logistically, punching a wire to the two locations is very difficult in my place. I am torn....
1. settle with my current throughput. wait for a new standard (many years)
2. try to boost my signal to gain a little more network utilization (worried about my return on investment here)
3. buy powerline adapters (i saw an online poster claim 25-35MB/s transfers...would be good?!)
I am very tempted to try powerline...i understand the risks...but my data is backup and on raid onem and most of my file transfer will be media related (if it screwed up once a month, no big deal). Do i need to be talked off the ledge, if so -what alternative do i have. (thanks in avance again)
Offline
Get the powerline from some place closeby - some place that will allow you a full refund - it may work for you, it may not.
The worst part is, that if it does work for you now, you have no guarantee that it will continue to do so in the long term - your next door neighbour can buy a dishwasher or something similar on CraigsList and your powerline throughput takes a nosedive and you'll have one heck of a job figuring out the cause - and there really is no fix (except may be buying a new dishwasher for the neighbour).
Offline
Will do. I will let you know how it does. I think I will buy the d-link as they are cheaper and i not need multiple ports on each end. Thanks again for all your help. Austin
Offline
Austin wrote:
I typically stay in one area (office ) of my home 90%...there reaosn i have wirless is for the wife and the fact i do not want to run a wire through home.
Then why don't you run a wired connection in your office and achieve much better throughput? Sorry I'm a little confused.
I have a gigibit network in the house and have seen no need to upgrade my wireless equipment despite that my wife has a wireless-N laptop. She uses it to browse the Internet and is happy with wireless-G speeds.
Offline
I have wireless N in my house. Great for 80% of everything we do. I am looking to utilize my very high speed internet connection, stream HD and transfer large files. Physically it is a massive pain to run a wire....our cable comes into a closet in my bedroom. Not an option. I push files back and forth from my NAS a lot and wouldn't mind some more bandwidth (do i need it- no, do i want it -yes) as i seem to be getting 2.6 mb/s of true throughput....so i am looking at linksys powerline. I am going to buy it over the next two days and try it. If i can get 10 MB true throughput i will be happy, anything less it likely is not worth the money ($200 CDN).
Last edited by Austin (2008-12-15 22:12:40)
Offline
ok. I rushed out and bought the new linksys plk300 powerline network router kit. I bought from the most repuatable dealer I could (but still a 15% restocking fee for returns) - I figure it is worth the risk. I am home now and i hook it up and I get.................................5 MB/second actual throughput (vs. about 1.5-2 mb for my wirless N). Disappointing. I tried streaming a file from my dns-323 to my noteboko using vla (720P movie).....it chops. Sucks. My guess is the circuit my router conencted unit is on - is different than the circuit of my office connected unit.
Not worht the $200 Cdn i put down for it. I think i seriously need to look at punching a wire through somehow. This is what I get for persuing a perfect connection.
Offline
Contact a local Telephone Repair/Installation guy, NOT the phone company, they will most likely be able to install something that will work for you and it will look like it came with the house, not just a hole in the wall. I used to do this kind of work, it's relatively simple takes less than an hour but they will most likely charge for an hour, but that is standard through most professions
If all you need to do is go through one wall ... you can do it yourself, if you have a home depot or simular near by, they can probably tell you how to do it, or you can just get a "Single Gang Old Work Low Voltage Mounting Bracket" for example (make sure it's a low voltage bracket because the high voltage will be a box and very difficult to get the wires into with the wall already being built). They're fairly simple to install and you can put a Cat-5 plate on it. do this to both sides between the same two studs and it will look very good, and if it's a rental that you live in, i bet the managers wouldn't notice it, though you should still get the okay to do it.
Offline
Thanks very much for the input. I was able to reconnect (from the source) an unsed coax-in for cable at my office ...I have moved all my commmunications equipement to my office. I am now wired. I am getting 10 MB/S on 10/100. I decided to go out and get a gigabit switch to place behind my router - put my notebook and the DNS-323 NAS on the same giga switch to get gibabit connectivity but i still getting 10/100 speeds? I have checked my notebook and it is connected at 1 GB/s, I changed the setting in the web interface for my dns-323 to 1000 MB, and i still get the same speed as 10/100. Does anyone have any suggestions?
Offline
It also seems my DNS is always working away, even when my client pc's are off. Any comments on what it is doing and if this is normal. I am on RAID 1 with 1 TB 7,200 RPM drives in it.
Offline
On the first issue - the "10/100 speed" - search this forum there are a number of posts that discuss throughput or transfer speed and in one of them you will find a link to a little utility called NAS tester. Use that to measure throughput and let us know what it reports.
There are many reasons for low throughput and they need to eliminated one by one - on gigabit you should be able to at least double the throughput you get on 10/100 mbit.
On the second issue - the DNS-323 working away - this is unusual and again there are a number of causes. When left "un accessed" the unit should go into a low power state within five minutes or so - this is configurable and is worth checking to make sure it is enabled.
To be sure the problem lies within the DNS-323, disconnect the network and see if it "sleeps" - if it does, you'll need to find out what on the network is accessing it, if it doesn't you need to find out what process is keeping it awake - again search the forum, there are many threads that deal with this issue.
Offline
OK I ran utlility i found from Intel that posed on this board. I am not sure if it was the nas tester, i would interested in that one as well and will search again. The speed I got was 10 Mb/sec and some varying other results depending on the trasfer test. I tried pushing a file this morning and it bursted up to 13-14/mb/s but settled down to 10 MB/s about a minute later. Any thoughts on how to get this things going at Gigabit spped would be great. I have selected the 1000 MB in the web interface and my notebook is connected at 1 GB wired. I will keep search for the approrpaite posts as well.
I unpolug my DNS-323 and it still is crunching away for hours....I have the 5 minutes sleep function enabled in the web interface. I am puzzled....I feel if a leave it like this i will burning constant power and likly reduce the lifespan of my drives as well. As first i thought it may be a proactive degrag program that runs after any file is transfered etc...but not for hours.....any thoughts on how to trouble shoot would be great.
Last edited by Austin (2008-12-21 20:02:25)
Offline
Alos, how do I enable Jumbo frames on my NIC. I see that this is a way increase throughput....I see the option in the DNS web interface but wondering how to engage in my Vista 32 Bit (i know) computer.
Offline
I am sitting in my office chuckling to myself at how loud and fast my DNS is crunching away. It is sounds like there are 100 users accessing this thing right now....when really there is zero. LOL. (I can entertain myself for hours).
Last edited by Austin (2008-12-21 20:50:35)
Offline
If your DNS-323 continues to run even though it is disconnected from the network there is some internal process preventing it from going into sleep mode - log into the admin page and disable the ftp, iTunes & uPnPAV & servers - what effect does that have? Do you have bit torrent enabled or are you using the backup/download scheduler? Any of those can keep the unit active.
In the status page there is a button to clear the print queue - try clearing it - unprinted jobs in the queue create a situation where the unit goes to sleep and then wakes back up, rather than running continuously. What does it show for sync time remaining in the status page - ideally it should be saying "completed".
Jumbo frame requires that your gigabit switch and the computer at the other end of the connection also support jumbo frame - so you need to verify that before enabling it and choosing a frame size.
Offline
Thank again. No bit torrent (I use news groups and set it up manually through my host). FTP, itunes and upnpav server features are now disabled. Not using printer right now. Still grinding a way. I will reboot all devices and see what happens.
Gigba router supports Jumbo frames to 9.6KB. I am almost garrentee my nic would as well but don;t knwo where to check or change the setting (i looked aqround in the properies section). I will get model and check manufacturers website. Will reply back soon.
Offline
WOW. Did that ever work. Disabled the itunes, upnpav server functions (i was not using them anyway) and had not touched FTP since buying. Rebooted my DNS and bang....I bursted up to 18 MB/s and ran a steady 15 MB/s for a 4 GB movie transfer. Much better thank fordem. You should get medal for all the tech consultancy work you are doing. I am transfering my better wirelessly as well (also my router in the office - 5 ft away, which is helping).
If you could advise me a little re:jumbo frames I am good to go! How do i change my nic jumbo frames setting and seing my router is 9.6 k jumbo frames compabitle what setting should i use?
Note: My DNS is quiet as mouse when I am not using it.
Last edited by Austin (2008-12-21 23:35:32)
Offline
Pages: 1 2