Wireless cards dont make sense

[solarwinggx]

Hey guys,

i recently bought 2 wireless adaptors and i tried to test their wifi speed capabilities and have been getting results that dont make sense

 

i have comcast as isp with 50Mbsp service (i think)

my modem/router is right next to my desktop (3 feet away)

 

here are my wireless cards

older http://www.tp-link.us/products/details/?model=TL-WN881ND#spec

newer http://www.tp-link.us/products/details/?model=TL-WDN4800

heres the specs of my modem

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/hcm0czn1b4s8vto/SBG6580specs.pdf?dl=0

 

 

 

the first test was made at 6pm

 

speedtest results http://imgur.com/OhaB02f

 

heres the same test at 1am

Newer results http://imgur.com/hhYudfZ

 

whats going on? why is the card with better specs performing worse or close to the card with worse specs?

is it normal to get such low speeds with wifi (relative to ethernet cable) when the computer is that close?

 

Thanks

[JJB]

if your modem/router is 3 feet from your desktop, why don't you just buy an ethernet cable?

[Openfire070]

Just from a glance, I would guess that you are getting interference on the 5mhz band, while your old one was on 2.4, which typically is more crowded but, I'm not a networking expert, but if I had to guess, it would be that. Try downloading an app to see how much traffic is on each band, you may be  able to configure your router to output the less crowded band

[TDP_Equinox]

Why not just use a cable? 3 footers are like..$1.50

[solarwinggx]

if you looked at the results, you can see that i infact DO have a ethernet cable.

the issue here is to RESOLVE the differences in signal strength between the two adaptors.
i want to know that what i bought has full functionality

i dont think its band interference since only 1 band frequency can be emitted at once

[solarwinggx]

bump

[SlayerOfHellWyrm]

1) If your system is that close, I don't see the point to the WiFi card
2) It depends how your tests were done. There's a lot of factors for WiFi speeds, everything from interference, to channel, frequency, time of day, traffic at that time, drives, etc, etc

3) The results are as expected on WiFi, it's damn near impossible to actually reach 300Mbps on WiFi

 

if you looked at the results, you can see that i infact DO have a ethernet cable.

the issue here is to RESOLVE the differences in signal strength between the two adaptors.
i want to know that what i bought has full functionality

i dont think its band interference since only 1 band frequency can be emitted at once

2.4Ghz and 5.0Ghz can be broadcast simultaneously on a dual band router. On top of that, each frequency will have interference with every other channel on the same frequency created by other wireless routers and APs. Hell, on 2.4GHz, you'll get interference from cordless phones, cell phones on occasion, and microwaves.

To really get a performance delta, you need to do a larger sample size of each device at different times of day to get an idea, whilst keep the traffic you send across while doing the speed test the same if possible, as well as the number of people connected to the AP.

[solarwinggx]

so again, i would like to recapitulate, I KNOW ITS CLOSE. THATS NOT WHY IM TESTING IT.

IM CREATING A TEST ENVIRONMENT THAT REMOVES DISTANCE AND WALLS AS A VARIABLE

I WANT TO TEST THESE CARDS IN An OPTIMAL ENVIRONMENT.

 

so how come i got higher readings at 6PM (where traffic is high)

but lower readings at 1am (where traffic is low)

 

I live in berkeley,ca 

 

i also went to the address for my router and checked out the band settings

it doesnt look like i can select both to emit, it lets me only do 1

 

 

if its impossible to reach 300MBPS on wifi, why do they make 450mbps?

[SlayerOfHellWyrm]

For all you know, there could have been more traffic at that time, not less, it's hard to say. As for the band, it should let you do both, being dual band... it's the point of them, you may just need to dig deeper in the settings. 

 

As I said above however, you need a larger sample size. Doing one or two tests (or even 10) all in a row, is a shitty sample size. You have no idea what the ISP conditions were like during those times, or the potential interference. Do more testing over a few days before coming to a conclusion. 

 

Trust me on this. I have a Nighthawk AC1900 that hit 2Mbps at 3AM, and 45Mbpbs at 3PM because it happened to be when Daredevil hit netflix, and torrents, and my ISP has free data usage between 2AM and 8AM. This caused a lot of strain at 3AM compared to 3PM when most people are at work, to contrast 3AM when most are asleep (but have scheduled torrents and other downloads)

 

As well, for real world performance, you never give it the best chance, you give it the worst and see how it performs, because in reality, a device on WiFi should never be that close to the AP unless it doesn't support a wired connection, like a phone. By testing with the optimal case, you lose a sense of what performance may occur on say, the other side of your bedroom wall, or otherside of the house once it goes through a few wall.

[solarwinggx]

For all you know, there could have been more traffic at that time, not less, it's hard to say. As for the band, it should let you do both, being dual band... it's the point of them, you may just need to dig deeper in the settings. 

 

As I said above however, you need a larger sample size. Doing one or two tests (or even 10) all in a row, is a shitty sample size. You have no idea what the ISP conditions were like during those times, or the potential interference. Do more testing over a few days before coming to a conclusion. 

 

Trust me on this. I have a Nighthawk AC1900 that hit 2Mbps at 3AM, and 45Mbpbs at 3PM because it happened to be when Daredevil hit netflix, and torrents, and my ISP has free data usage between 2AM and 8AM. This caused a lot of strain at 3AM compared to 3PM when most people are at work, to contrast 3AM when most are asleep (but have scheduled torrents and other downloads)

 

As well, for real world performance, you never give it the best chance, you give it the worst and see how it performs, because in reality, a device on WiFi should never be that close to the AP unless it doesn't support a wired connection, like a phone. By testing with the optimal case, you lose a sense of what performance may occur on say, the other side of your bedroom wall, or otherside of the house once it goes through a few wall.

 

Well ok, than can you tell me what i should reasonably expect between the speeds of the Newer card vs the Older card then?

under what circumstance is my newer card going to show it's money's worth when compared to the older card?

[SlayerOfHellWyrm]

Realistically, you only see a difference with the newer card on the 5GHz band, within a small difference. 5Ghz can push more data at once, but it gets caught out by walls way quicker. the 2.4Ghz performance should be virtually the same, assuming they are using similar chips. Of course, this advantage goes out the window if the things you need connecting, can't connect with 5GHz