Wireless speed is so slow compared to LAN, router issue?

I have a 20Mbps cable internet from Mediacom and have some speed problems with my router. I have the modem hooked to my router and then use wireless connections to the router to get to the internet. I used Speakeasy - Speed Test to test my speed.

With wireless, I get around 4.5Mbps download (even with my laptop sitting a foot away from the router). With LAN wire, I get the 20-23Mbps. My router is an Netgear WNR834B v2.

Why are my speeds so slow wirelessly?

 

What channel are you using? The ideal channels are 1, 6 and 11. Also, are you running with the newest firmware for this router?

And have you tried connecting with other computers (just to secure it isn't your laptop).

 

That sort of looks like 802.11b speed or so- you need at least 802.11g to get 20mbps.
Detailed wireless settings of the router would help to troubleshoot this issue.

 

On top of router/laptop configuration issues, there are loads of things that can contribute to slower than expected wireless speeds.

Anything from a microwave oven to a chatty bluetooth device can impact wireless speeds. The 2.4 Gz freq band is unregulated and you'd be surprised to see how many non-computer devices use it. Even the construction materials used in your house can have an impact.

 

Even when the router and the laptop only 1 foot apart ?

 

That's actually a bad idea- notebook shouldn't be closer than 6 feet from a router. This hardware is not designed to work at distances measured in inches and there are serious interferences between the two if placed like that.

 

Thank you for all the replies. My router has DD-WRT (build 14896) firmware on it. I have reset the router to default settings (still DD-WRT), then set basic wireless settings with WEP security. That's it. Attached is my screenshot of the setup.

I also tried Wifi on my laptop 20ft away or even 40ft away and it still get 4Mbps. Two other computers are getting this speed wirelessly as well.

 

For starters change the wireless security to WPA2 + AES and play around with wireless channels.
There might be non-Wi-Fi interference that won't show up on inSSIDer scans but will cause problems. As newsposter noted 2.4GHz band is an open one so there are lots of devices using this frequency starting from Bluetooth through child monitors and cordless phones and ending with proprietary technologies used for wireless transmissions.

 

Thanks. I'll give these a try. Also I recently moved to a new area, so it might be affected by some district power lines near my house. I'm going to try another router and see if it is better as well.

 

Instead of "Mixed", try "G Only". That helped my wireless speeds. Also, try a channel that your neighbors aren't using. Channel 6 is commonly used by a lot of people.

 

Thank you for the InSSIDer program. I changed the setting, WPA2 AES, channel to auto, and channel width to 40, and it was pretty fast for a while--getting around 11-19Mbps. Then it took a crap on me. The RSSIs were constantly dropping from -60dB to -90dB. I believe it has to do with the interference around my place, or that it was overwhelmed. Most of wifi around my place are using the 1, 6, and 11 channels.

I am currently using my other router, the Asus RT-N16 w/ DDWRT and it is holding up pretty well on channel 8. I am getting 11-19Mbps with -40dB to -50dB RSSI. I will see if it will crap on me as well.

 

It may be time to jump to 5k band if things don't clear up.

 

That means I have to buy a new router. *sigh*

 

Acutally, once you make the 5GHz jump, you won't regret it . You should look for devices that are in use when you have connection drop out, you might be able to isolate the problem (or not) which would save you from getting a new router. My old cheap cordless phone used to disrupt my 2wire modem/router combo. My E3000 got a weaker signal when the phone was on, but i held up, no interference what so ever on 5GHz . Note that some devices simply cant do 5GHz, ipod touch/PS3 for example.

 

As someone once told me, "speed costs money, how much can you afford".