wireless router speed vs cable speed question

[GRT]

I'm going to buy a new wireless router, and I'm wondering what kind of router I need. I get around 8 mbps from my cable, does that mean I don't really need that good of a router? I'm told I should get 802.11n with 2.4ghz+ band, but how does that translate to actual internet speed? Do I need the fastest wifi router if I don't really have that great of a basic cable speed?

thanks in advance

[Pikarya]

Do you use home networking?

[GRT]

pretty much no, unless there's gonna be an app that allows wifi syncing between my laptop and iphone

[Mellema]

Is 8 mbps the speed they tell you that you have or what you get from Speedtest.net (or similar site)?

I use Roadrunner Basic, and they say the max download speed is 3 mbps. However, during the day I usually get about 60 mbps and at night I've hit as high as 98 mbps.

So first I'd suggest testing your speed.

As for the wifi, it will always be slower than an ethernet connection. Wifi is for ease of connecting multiple units or for the mobility of taking your laptop anywhere in the house.

Also, some new routers offer 10/100/1000, meaning their max transfer rate is 1 gbps. At this pointy though, no ISP is going to have speeds that fast for home service anyway, so it's pointless to get a router that fast.

[guartz]

So it's pointless to get a router that fast.

lies

[Mikelee0351]

I use Roadrunner Basic, and they say the max download speed is 3 mbps. However, during the day I usually get about 60 mbps and at night I've hit as high as 98 mbps.

Bull-fucking-shit you see speeds like that off a Time Warner cable line. Stop lying

[Binkie]

N = 150-300+ mbps
G = 54 mbps

But realistic numbers would put it less than that. If you are talking just internet DL speeds, a G network wouldn't bottleneck your internet. But if you do home networking, get an N, they aren't that much more than G these days.

[Mellema]

Bull-fucking-shit you see speeds like that off a Time Warner cable line. Stop lying

http://www.speedtest.net/result/846459664.png

Just ran this.

[jmc]

ya........ something is completely broken there.

[Mikelee0351]

I hate to be the one to tell you this, but it's wrong. A 75 Mbs download with all of, we'll say, a 512 Kbs upload speed. It doesn't exist, plain and simple.

I can't post links, but check out timewarnercable.com/East/learn/hso/cablevsdsl.html where it says the fastest speed they even offer is 15 Mbs. You need a Fios to get those kinds of speeds for real.

[aers]

Run this to get your real connection speed Mellema:

http://www.cc.gatech.edu/~partha/dif...haperProbe.exe

I can't post links, but check out timewarnercable.com/East/learn/hso/cablevsdsl.html where it says the fastest speed they even offer is 15 Mbs. You need a Fios to get those kinds of speeds for real.

Cable spec is more than capable of hitting 70Mbps, I don't know what you're talking about. FWIW Time Warner's biggest package is 50/5, but the only offer it in areas that support it (DOCSIS3), and they're pretty much the worst of the cable companies when it comes to deployment.

I'm going to buy a new wireless router, and I'm wondering what kind of router I need. I get around 8 mbps from my cable, does that mean I don't really need that good of a router? I'm told I should get 802.11n with 2.4ghz+ band, but how does that translate to actual internet speed? Do I need the fastest wifi router if I don't really have that great of a basic cable speed?

If you don't do any networking/file transfers and your connection is really 8mbps, then a g router is fine. Most decent ones can pull 40-50 mbps off the WAN port and you're well under that.

[Omniyoji]

http://www.speedtest.net/result/846459664.png

Just ran this.

Yeah I used to get flakey speeds when I ran the test using Opera.

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s...speedtest2.jpg
http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s...speedtest1.jpg

lol

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s...t_lolopera.jpg

[Pikarya]

dem ratios.

[Omniyoji]

Yeah I know low, but I lived a block away from the CO so it was reliable unlike TWC. Except this one day when SBC exploded...

[Mellema]

Run this to get your real connection speed Mellema:

http://www.cc.gatech.edu/~partha/dif...haperProbe.exe

ShaperProbe doesn't seem to want to work on my laptop. Running Win7 so thinking since shaper is from 2002 it's for older OS.

I've run tests on speedtest, speakeasy, CNET, McAfee, and Timewarner homepage and all show about the same.

Only thing I can think of is that I'm hooked up to the same junction box as the Police station, so maybe I'm getting their speed for some reason. Would explain why I've never complained about TWC for the past 8 years when everyone else seems to hate them.

[Rockstaru]

Only thing I can think of is that I'm hooked up to the same junction box as the Police station, so maybe I'm getting their speed for some reason. Would explain why I've never complained about TWC for the past 8 years when everyone else seems to hate them.

In before BG legal thread.

[jmc]

ShaperProbe doesn't seem to want to work on my laptop. Running Win7 so thinking since shaper is from 2002 it's for older OS.

I've run tests on speedtest, speakeasy, CNET, McAfee, and Timewarner homepage and all show about the same.

Only thing I can think of is that I'm hooked up to the same junction box as the Police station, so maybe I'm getting their speed for some reason. Would explain why I've never complained about TWC for the past 8 years when everyone else seems to hate them.

Download the application, right click and run as admin for it to work.


Also, I never had that type of connection speed for the police buildings I worked at >.>

[TheMysteriousX]

OP: a basic Wireless-G router will shunt data around at 54Mbit/s; Wireless-N 108Mbit/s. Even the cheapest, shittiest, belkinest router will handle everything the modem can throw at it, and then some.

Guy who is full of shit:

Aside from DOCSIS v2 networks (i.e. roadrunner) only supporting 50Mbit/s maximum...

Biggest typical TCP MTU is 1500 bytes. ACK packet is 40 bytes.
1 ACK must be sent for every TCP packet received.

This means for 75 Mbit/s downstream, you need 2 Mbit/s upstream, minimum.

[Mellema]

OK, got the diffProbe to run, but not sure how to interpret exactly.

For estimated capacity upstream it says 503 kbps, but the 9 packets it used all varied from 516-519 kbps. Close enough to my earlier results for upload speed, just unsure how they determine 503 when average should be around 517.

Now the estimate on downstream is where it confuses me more.

It gives an estimate of 21778 kbps, but the 9 packets varied from 34000-40000kbps.

[GRT]

thanks for the responses

i did do some speed test, but they are so inconsistent i just can't trust any of them... one would give me 24mb/1mb and another would give me 3mb/1mb

i know that i'm paying for the 8mb package though, so i'm just going by that