Speeding up Wifi

[ayrshiredude]

Ok so I have sky 20 Mbps broadband and, as I live close to the exchange, tend to get pretty much that. However doing speed tests on my phone while connected to the Netgear router the highest speeds I seem to be able to get is around 2 Mbps.

Is there anything I can do to increase the speed to which my phone can download from the router?

Thanks

 

[The_Omega_Man]

DL Wifi Analyzer and Speed Test this is to make sure that the problem is not at the phone.

 

[Slug]

Is there anything I can do to increase the speed to which my phone can download from the router?

Check that your router isn't sharing a wi-fi channel with other nearby APs, and check that Long_Preamble is disabled in its wireless setup (if available) as this can impede 802.11g performance.

You'll never see anything close to the theoretical max of 54Mbps anyway.... there's a lot of overhead from network protocol data required for security and reliability over wireless connections, so half that would be a good actual data transfer rate. As there are 8bits/Byte, that would still only equate to around 3-4MB/s.

 

[jev]

Also, actual speed might depend on processor power too. The processor is needed for encryption, if your WiFi connection is WPA secured you will get hit by resource limitations.

 

[ticho]

Check that your router isn't sharing a wi-fi channel with other nearby APs, ...

Actually, sharing the same channel is not bad, although it's not ideal. It's the traffic on neigboring channels that has quite drastic impact on performance.

For example, if you're on channel 3, and someone else near you has an access point on channel 2, you're interfering with each other's traffic, creating conflicts, so lot of packets have to be retransmitted - thus reducing overall traffic speed, and in severe cases, also reliability.

The interference is noticeable on up to two neighboring channels in each direction, so channel 3 is interfering with channels 1, 2, 4, 5. It is a good practice to use something like Wifi Analyzer app to check how the channels are used around you.

In ideal situation, lot of APs can coexist in small area if they choose their channels optimally, but there is usually at least one idiot who ruins it for everybody.

 

[Slug]

Actually, sharing the same channel is not bad, although it's not ideal. It's the traffic on neigboring channels that has quite drastic impact on performance.

Thanks for that. I should have mentioned it... I had to move channel myself just last week due to overcrowding. I'm surrounded by hotels with open APs, most of which seem to default to Ch1 or Ch6. Kinda messes up the spectrum for everyone else.....

I second the recommendation for WiFi Analyser, btw. Very useful.

 

[FixManTx]

I only seem to be able to get around 5mbps down and 1mbps up on my Moment over a 25mbps symmetrical FIOS connection. My laptop gets around 20mbps/15mbps via wifi and 30mbps/20mbps via ethernet. My desktop goes a bit faster on the upload. From what I've seen on some other forums this seems to be about normal for Android phones. Mine shows a 54mbps connection to my router as does my laptop but a large difference in actual speeds. On the actual computers I was using Speedtest.net - The Global Broadband Speed Test and on my Moment I was using the speedtest.net app.