WLAN Card Speed tests

Been meaning to do this for a very long time.
Put some time aside and 4 days later here is a few WLAN cards tested.
Did a simple transferring a file (312,928,648 bytes) over WLAN form a server to the laptop and back again.


Gigabyte WI06 (AR5008)
2.4Ghz Download = 31secs = 9.45MB/s = 75.6Mbps (300Mbps)
2.4Ghz Upload = 31secs = 9.78MB/s = 78.3Mbps (300Mbps)
2.4Ghz Download = 56secs = 5.33MB/s = 42.6Mbps (300Mbps)
2.4Ghz Upload = 42secs = 7.11MB/s = 56.8Mbps (300Mbps)
5.0Ghz Download = 42secs = 7.11MB/s = 56.8Mbps (300Mbps)
5.0Ghz Upload = 31secs = 9.63MB/s = 77.0Mbps (300Mbps)
Driver 7.6.1.204 (modded v1.24)
This was the first WLAN I bought for my i9400 to update the i3945 that came with the machine.
The Atheros 5008 based card was the best at the time (or so I thought)
Gave me some early issues with the now Infamous NMI/Parity error.
Once i found a fix for this, the card did well.
Tests above are all round good, but nothing stands out.
Atheros has not Client utility in Vista so a big downer for me.

SparkLAN WPEA-124N (AR5008)
Driver 7.6.1.204 (modded v1.24)
2.4Ghz Download = 42secs = 7.11MB/s = 56.8Mbps (300Mbps)
2.4Ghz Upload = 82secs = 3.64MB/s = 29.1Mbps (300Mbps)
2.4Ghz Download = 28secs = 10.66MB/s = 85.3Mbps (300Mbps)
2.4Ghz Upload = 29secs = 10.29MB/s = 83.2Mbps (300Mbps)
5.0Ghz Download = 90secs = 3.32MB/s = 26.5Mbps (300Mbps)
5.0Ghz Upload = 43secs = 6.94MB/s = 55.5Mbps (300Mbps)
This was my first sample WLAN card I was send by OxfordTEC direct from SparkLAN in Taiwan.
This card has been very unreliable, I hope it's just the card that I have.
11n testing was very hard as it would hardly perform any file transfer (would have taken hours to complete test with 300Mbps connection)
Once I connected at 135Mbps (20Mhz channel width) the card behaved much better and performed more like it brother above.
Ofcourse with 135Mbps connection it would never reach it peak potential, as the above times show.
Like above no Client Utiltiy in Vista

Dell WLAN 1500 (BCM94322)
2.4Ghz Download = 25secs = 11.94MB/s = 95.5Mbps (80% of 135Mbps))
2.4Ghz Upload = 31secs = 9.53MB/s = 76.3Mbps 64% of 135Mbps)
2.4Ghz Download = 25secs = 11.94MB/S = 95.5Mbps (270Mbps)
2.4Ghz Upload = 24secs = 12.43MB/s = 99.5Mbps (270Mbps)
5.0Ghz Download = 26secs = 11.47MB/s = 91.8Mbps
5.0Ghz Upload = 28secs = 10.66MB/s = 85.3Mbps
Driver 5.10.38.26
This card was the biggest surprise for me.
It's one of the first 11n WLAN cards released and it did rather well with both 2.4 and 5Ghz tests.
Would love to see how the newer versions of this card go.
Client utility is a little naff, as you cannot do much with it.

Intel 5300 Driver wouldn't start = No Result.
The card with the most potential with 3x3 antenna setup, but alas on both my i945 chipsets the driver wouldn't start in all the OS's I tried.
This test will need to wait till I get a newer Notebook to try it on.

Intel 3945
2.4Ghz Download 150secs = 1.99MB/s = 15.9Mbps (38% of 54Mbps)
2.4Ghz Upload 118secs = 2.53MB/s = 20.2Mbps (43% of 54Mbps)
5.0Ghz Download
5.0Ghz Upload
Driver 12.1.0.14
Here goes not my original card (in my Wife Notebook) but a i3945 from a Toshiba A100
This card is a weird one, as it has 5Ghz channels 36-48(or possibly 64) disabled, so only the higher channels can be used.
But there are very few Wireless routers that broadcast the higher channels, rendering this cad pretty useless for 5Ghz testing.
My other i3945 card works with channels 36-64 and all the higher channels so no issue there.
But buyers beware there are channel locked devices out there, but then who would buy one today ?
Intels client utility is better than Broadcoms but doesn't compare to Ralinks, not much better than WZC

Intel 4965
2.4Ghz Download = 47secs = 6.35MB/s = 50.8Mbps (43% of 130Mbps)
2.4Ghz Upload = 35secs = 8.53MB/s = 68.2Mbps (62% of 130Mbps)
2.4Ghz Download = 53secs = 5.63MB/s = 45Mbps (29% of 144mbps)
2.4Ghz Upload = 30secs = 9.95MB/s = 79.6Mbps (67% of 144Mbps
5Ghz Download = 29secs = 10.29MB/s = 82.3Mbps (27% of 300Mbps)
5Ghz Upload = 24secs = 12.43MB/s = 99.5Mbps (30% of 300Mbps)
Driver v12.4.0.11
Luckily for Intel they released a new driver and I found it over at Gigabyte (and now host at LaptopVideo2go.com)
This driver fixed the previous 5Ghz 11n connection problem, I was now able to do a proper 11n test also the 2.4Ghz download speed was dramatically improved.
I would recommend that folk use this driver as it fixes an Authentication issue that stopped the Card from connecting to router in 11n mode (20Mhz or 40Mhz) at least with my Marvell based Chipet set router.
The i4965 now is the fastest uploader in 5Ghz, ans 2nd equal in downloading, this is much more like it.
No excuse for the lack luster 2.4Ghz performance (most 11n routers are 2.4Ghz only) where Intel crippled the card with no channel bonding (40Mhz)

Gigabyte GN-WS30N (RT2860)
2.4Ghz Download = 31secs = 9.63MB/s = 77.0Mbps (27% of 300Mbps)
2.4Ghz Upload = 15secs = 19.90MB/s = 159.2Mbps (54% of 300Mbps)
2.4Ghz Download = 30secs (28% of 300Mbps)
2.4Ghz Upload = 26secs (38% of 270Mbps)
5.0Ghz Download Not Supported
5.0Ghz Upload Not Supported
This has been my favourite card especially when I only used 2.4Ghz, where the upload speed is simply phenominal, no card come remotely close to it.
The download speed is not the greatest, which is a little odd as it can upload so fast.
This card would be the ultimate if it only could do 5Ghz as well, but alas only has 2.4Ghz radio chip (2820)
Ralnk have an excellent Client Utility, that is not beaten by any vendor tested thus far.
I've used this card for some months now and cannot really fault it other than lack of 5Ghz support.

SparkLAN WPEA-110N (AR9001)
2.4Ghz Download = 30.4secs = 9.82MB/s = 78.5Mbps (31% of 300Mbps)
2.4Ghz Upload = 18.6secs = 16MB/s = 128.4Mbps (48% of 300Mbps)
5.0Ghz Download = 29secs = 10.29MB/s = 82.3Mbps
5.0Ghz Upload = 28secs = 10.66MB/s = 85.3Mbps
Driver 7.6.1.204 (modded v1.24)
This card I looked forward to for sometime.
It's a vast improvement over the AR5008, it's very stable and no crashes.
To ge the most from the card you need the modded INF driver, gives it quite a range boost (not all cards), and enables quite a few useful features that make up for no Client uitilty

SparkLAN WUBR-505 USB (RT2870)
2.4Ghz Download = 41secs = 7.3MB/s = 58.2Mbps (24% of 300Mbps)
2.4Ghz Upload = 22secs = 13.47MB/s = 108.5Mbps (45% of 300Mbps)
5.0Ghz Download = 31secs = 9.63MB/s = 77.0Mbps
5.0Ghz Upload = 28secs = 10.66MB/s = 85.3Mbps
This is a little Gem, one of the very few 2.4Ghz AND 5Ghz USB WLAN cards.
It works really well for it's tiny size, it does much better in 5Ghz band probably due to its short antenna's better suited to the shorter wavelength
Ralinks legendary Client Ultily also comes bundled with the official drivers

SparkLAN WMIR-215GN (RT2860)
2.4Ghz Download = 38secs = 7.85MB/s = 62.8Mbps
2.4Ghz Upload = 36secs = 8.29MB/s = 66.3Mbps
Tested on a System running WinXP.

Gear used to test the above:
Server - IBM Xserver 236
2x3.6Ghz Xeons (Hyper threading and EMT64)
8GB RAM
5x73GB 15,000RPM Drives RAID 5
2x36GB 15,000RPM RAID 0
1x1TB 7200RPM SATA 2 Drive.
256MB SCSI RAID controller
64MB SATA controller.
Dual 1Gbit LAN
Windows Server 2008 x64
There are no bottlenecks on the server to hold up the WLAN's max 300Mbps connection.

Notebook to test the WLAN cards:
Dell Inspiron 9400/E1705
2.16Ghz Core 2 Duo
4Gb RAM
320GB 5400RPM SATA HD
Windows 7 x64
MiniPCIe slot

Router used in test (colours used above):
DLink DIR-655
4x1Gbit LAN ports
1x1Gbit WAN port
11n @ 2.4Ghz max 300MBps
Router was 4m away from laptop sitting about 1.8m above the floor on a book case.
Security settings WAP2/AES

Buffalo WZR-AG300NH
4x1Gbit LAN Ports
1x1Gbit WAN port
11n @ 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz max 300Mbps (only used 5Ghz for tests)
Router was 4m away from laptop sitting about 1.8m above the floor on a book case.
Security settings WAP2/AES

The tests were run as follows:
The driver for the WLAN was installed and any necessary adjustments made to connect to my Router.
A 300MB file was copied from the 1TB SATA drive on the file server via file sharing to the Dell Inspiron.
And then copied back again to get both download and upload speeds.
I did this 3 times to make sure that there was consistency, and took the last reading.
The server was connected to the Router @ 1Gbit/s to have no bottle necks feeding the 300Mbps router.
As soon as there was LAN activity once the copy was initiated the timer was started.
And as soon as the transfer connectivity stopped the timer was stopped.
I then worked out the data transfer rate by diving the size of file in bytes by 1024^2 diving the time taken.
This then gave me the MB/second, multiply by 8 and gives the Mb/sec.

2.4Ghz performance chart.

Click to see larger chart

5Ghz performance chart.

Click to see larger chart

If you are in the market for a new card I hope this was/is of use, and I'll let you draw your own conclusions on a purchasing decision.

A huge thanks to OxfordTEC for supplying the Gigabyte and SparkLAN devices to bring you these tests :thumbsup:

Test revision history, for future updates:
Version 1.0, initial release.
Version 2.0, rewritten article with description of each device and how they tested, added 5Ghz tests
Version 2.1, added Intel 4965 card, added security used by routers for tests.
Version 2.2, i4965 5Ghz test added, reran 2.4Ghz test.
version 2.5, added Buffalo 2.4Ghz results

 

Great work on the benchmarks, appreciate it.

Intel 4965 not included?

 

I would love to test one if I had one.

It's near the top of my todo list

 

I've ordered a i4965 from ebay, when I get it will do the same test with it.

The i4965 does only do 130Mbps at 2.4Ghz, so is a little handicapped.

Anybody want to see 5.8Ghz tests ?
I have a pre draftn 2.0 router so can do this as well if there is demand.

 

Rewritten the article for each device.
Added 5Ghz tests to those that support it.

i4965 has been sent today so hopefully next week will test this.

 

Great article and benchmarking. Wondering how Intel will perform. About the 5300 do you plan to test it soon or...

 

I bought this card with high expectations but it doesn't work with the Notebooks I have access to
But will do it as soon as I do

 

Added the Intel 4965 WLAN card results.
Would be good to know what routers this does work with at full 270/300Mbps and like me not work with.

 

Really what a dissapointment for 4965. Unfortunately I have that one.

 

I have a D-Link DIR-855 and a HP HDX Dragon. Wife has HP 9640us and both have 4965's in them, sitting at solid 300 Mbps in 5.0Ghz band.

I just ran 5, 512MB files back and forth at an average of 46 seconds.

So that's 11.13 MB/s or 89.04 Mbps (30% of 300Mbps)

About 15 ft. (little less than 4m) from the router.

Not same comparison setup you ran, obviously. But I thought it would help for comparison purposes.

 

Good to hear the DLink at least works with the i4965, Dlink are good with Firmware updates so probably made a fix for the i4965 short comings.
The tests you ran should be a good indication of what it can do, 89Mbps not bad but a long way from the AR9001 and RT2860 based cards.

My Buffalo dual band router is Marvell Chipset based. (used for 5Ghz testing)
Works fine with Atheros, Broadcom and Ralnk, just weird that Intel refuses to connect in 11n mode (will connect with 11n disabled)

Hopefully this month I'm getting a very nice new Access Point from SparkLAN to test.
This will be a beast of an AP especially since I've already got the Ralink RT2880 WLAN card to put in it.
I can rerun the 5Ghz test with the i4965.
The RT2880 has a build in MIPS processor so should handle file transfers with ease.

 

Just found the latest Intel WIFI driver 12.3.2.1 and this (luckily) fixed the authentication problem I was having with the i4965 and 5Ghz.
Ran 5Ghz tests and the i4965 came on top of the bunch.

Also noticed that my Buffalo Marvell chipset based 11n router is some what faster than my DIR-655 with 2.4Ghz 11n tests.
So there may have to be another set of tests with this router and 2.4Ghz.

 

Bummer, just got to work. Guess I'll try this driver when I get home tonite and see if I notice improvement. Thanks.

 

Intel 12.4.0.21 is also about now, I'll have these up too soon

 

Added some 2.4Ghz test scores for the Buffalo 11n router.
Quite interesting how some WLAN cards do so differently with this router.

 

Nice to hear of those new drivers and improvements. Nice work you're doing here, I believe you deserve a +Rep.

One question, if a have a 50 or 100Mbps router at home through which I connect to internet, my 300Mbps wlan card will only be using the max of the router, right? Same thing is with the internet speed that I have from my provider, if I have only 10Mbits, I won't be using the full potential of router or wlan card.

I think the answer is pretty logical and obvious, and I probably already know the answer but still had to ask.

 

i really appreciate your work i will buy the i94000 for my computer.
3.2 ghz intel processor.
2 gb ram with 3300
500 GB hard disk

 

Having 1 100Mbps router will mean the max speed you will be able to get wirelessly is 100Mbps
At the moment is quite tolerable as you rarely get 100Mbps from WIFI anyway (as can be seen from the very few devices that actually do it)
So if you have a 100Mbps LAN 300Mbps Wifi router hang on to it for now.
Later this year there will be a new set of routers come out with 450Mbps WIFI and these will need 1Gbps connnection to keep them fed with data