default dell wireless N card (not intel option) only connects at 54mbits :/

Hey guys,

I'm wondering what i need to set, on my router and/or WLAN card to enable 300mbit connections.

I've tried setting the router to "802.11n only" but the data rate remains at 54mbits, no matter what i change.

The router is a TP-link TL-MR3420, and is a 300mbit b/g/n router, and the wireless card in the m17xr2 is whatever the default one is (NOT the intel one)

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

 

THIS IS WRONG! First off, that wireless card only allows up to a 100Mbit connection if I am not mistaken. Secondly, your ISP has to provide you with a 300Mbit connection to be able to get that. Find out what connection your ISP is providing you with. From the looks of it 54Mbits seems about right, that must be what your ISP is providing you with.

 

This couldnt be more incorrect. Wireless connection speed has nothing to do with the speed your ISP gives you, this is solely between your router and your wireless NIC.

If you're sure the router is set to N then you'd need to be sure your Dell wireless card is not restricted to G, it could also be interference in the area or range.

Go into your device manager, get the properties on your wireless card and go to the advanced tab. There should be a setting for the wireless speed.

Which specific Dell card do you have?

 

Is he not talking about his download speed not going higher than 54Mbits?

 

No, he's talking about his wireless connection.

54mbps is the speed of 802.11g, depending on the capability of his card he should be getting at least 130mbps, but possibly upwards of 300mbps depending on if his wireless card supports it.

 

Oh, my mistake then. He said he had the stock Dell card and according to it's specs it can only support a 100Mbits connection. Where do you check this?

 

The stock Dell card I had in my M17xR3 was connecting at 130mbps without any special changes.

To check your connection speed in Windows 7, go down to the taskbar where the wireless connection is shown, click it to expand, then right click on the specific connection, click Status. It will have the connection speed.

 

Actually, if he's referencing the stock dell/broadcom DW 1520, it's a 2.4/5GZ card so depending on his router he should be closer to 130mbps or 300mbs (depending on his router's capability, location to the router, etc), in practice it's usually closer to 100+mbps at the 2.4ghz frequency and 240-270mbps on the 5ghz frequency.

Also if it is the broadcom card, there is a DWLINK utility installed in control panel that will provide additional details about the connection as well.

 

Thanks, mine is a 54Mbit connection too. My router is a G router... I need a new one. Well actually, I use the LAN port anyways.

 

Ahh yes, the wired lan ports are 100mbps or 1000mbps, again dependent on the router being used.

 

Thanks for all the speedy replies. I had already tried most if these things before posting here.

I'm not sure of the model number of the WLAN card, but it's definitely a 2.4/5ghz card.

My Internet connection is a 100mbit/100mbit fibre connection, so 54mbit wireless kind of defeats the purpose of having fast fibre.

The router I use is a "tp link mr3420" and is also a 5ghz device.

It's really got me stumped :-/ I forced router to "802.11n (draft 2.0)" thinking that it would force the m17x to connect at "n" speeds. By apparently I am mistaken.

*scratches head*

 

You should be able to find the model of your card if you pull it up in the Device Manager, post what it says it is called.

Also, how far away from the router are you? Are there walls/floors between it and you?

 

Sigh. Go to device manager, right click your wireless card, and then check the tabs to see if there's a setting there, to force wireless n. You can also check in our router, check connected wireless clients, and see if it really is connected with wireless n.

IF your wireless card supports wireless N, then it CAN be more than 54mbits.
If there's as much as a microwave or a thin wall between you and your router, you will get a significant drop in throughput.

I'm curious why you think it's only connected through g. 54 mbit would mean 100%, and i've yet to see that... Plug in our laptop directly to your router and check speedtest.net. Then try it wirelessly. just because you have a 100mbit fiber connection doesnt mean you get 100mbit. I barely every get full speed.

 

That is the correct card! Still got me stumped. I moved laptop right next to router to see if that made any difference...nada, still 54mbits.

In response to whomever made the comment regarding the actual max download speed via my ISP (I'm on an iPhone and can't see the name of the poster, my apologies). My point was, that if I ever was capable of getting a true 100mbits or even within 85% of that, my max download speed will be limited by my wireless card, in it's current state.
I'll keep working on it, and report back with my findings!