1

Here's my home network set up:

  1. TP-Link W8968 router (dual antennae, max 300 Mbps, supports 802.11n)

  2. Lenovo SL400 laptop, Intel WiFi AGN 5100 card (supports till 802.11 draft-n)

  3. HP Pavilion 15 laptop (bought it a month ago)

  4. An old desktop PC connected to the router with a 100 Mbps Ethernet cable

Here's my problem: when transferring files from the desktop to any laptop, I get constant rates of 10MB/s (around 98 Mbps). 802.11n has a max link speed of 150Mbps, so that's a good speed.

However when transferring the same file between the two laptops (connected over wireless), I get abysmal speeds in KB/s which fluctuate a lot, and even that drops to 0 in a few seconds.

I am transferring files by copy-paste in shared folders. Also all 4 devices are in the same room. The laptops are in line-of-sight with the antenna, with a separation of less than 8 meters. Clearly it's not an interference issue. Moreover even if it is, I should get a low but constant speed, not something in KB/s which keeps fluctuating.

There's no disk-intensive process running on any machine. There are a couple of smartphones connected to Wi-Fi but they're not being used. There are 3 neighbor Wi-Fi networks with only low signal. Since I am getting 10MB/s on my Lenovo with 802.11 draft-n, so clearly that is not the culprit.

So kindly advise on the resolution of this issue.

Improve this question
2
  • 802.11n doesn't have a max link speed of 150, it has a max link speed of 600. YOUR 802.11n setup has a max link speed of 300 though. What wireless settings are you using? The symptoms sound like interference caused by too many backwards compatibility options being on
    – qasdfdsaq
    Commented Dec 8, 2015 at 14:11
  • Here are my settings: WPA2-Personal with AES encryption, Channel: auto, Mode: 11n only, Bandwidth: 20/40 MHz, Control Sideband: lower (setting disabled), Transmit Power: 100%, The 11n only setting was initially 11bgn. Upon changing it, I observed speeds momentarily go upto 2.5 MB/s but the fluctuation issue still persists
    – Megha Sharan
    Commented Dec 9, 2015 at 5:23

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
0

So normally your link speed is ~80Mb. Going WLAN to WLAN lets half that, so 40Mb. But then time divison isnt 100% efficient. So lets say 30Mb effective. Now we're down to around 3.75MB/s. Still not terrible.

The only thing that could really cause this might be Mixed mode, where the router picks the most compatible mode so all clients can connect. For whatever reason it might be dropping back to 802.11B/G.

Try setting the CH to within 1-11 to be safe, 20Mhz bands, and force it to 802.11N only.

Improve this answer

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .