FTTN wireless connection speeds

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by fttn_user » Fri May 29, 2020 11:21 am
Support asserted that our FTTN router (assuming only one kind) delivers wireless speeds between 100Mpbs and 400Mbps.

On my (older) laptops, I can get up to about 180Mbps. I'm not sure if their wireless cards is a bottleneck.

There're USB external antennae claiming to be gigabit-capable, and I wonder if they're worth a try.

Could FTTN users report your wireless speeds? Do you use an external antenna?

Whether the "modal" range falls close to 400Mpbs or higher would strongly sway my decision.

Thanks.

PS: My Ethernet speeds are ~800Mbps, a bit lower than ~900Mps at installation.
by ngufra » Tue Jun 02, 2020 11:19 am
>On my (older) laptops, I can get up to about 180Mbps. I'm not sure if their wireless cards is a bottleneck.

USB is also a bottleneck. USB2 max speed is 480 Mbps.
USB3 will be faster, but you will need both sides of the wifi to be able to handle the speed and on the same protocol.

You an usually achieve better speed by using a wide bandwidth spectrum (using multiple adjacent channels)
by fttn_user » Tue Jun 02, 2020 4:14 pm
I have a USB3 external antenna on order, and intend to use it on a laptop with USB3 ports. Will report.

> You an usually achieve better speed by using a wide bandwidth spectrum (using multiple adjacent channels)

Interesting. Is this "wide bandwidth spectrum" provided by my router (via some esoteric configuration, I presume), or another means?
by ngufra » Tue Jun 02, 2020 5:36 pm
On my engenius access point it's called "Channel HT Mode" and i can choose between 20 and 40 MHz wide.
If you use 40 MHz on 2.4 GHz your neighbors will hate you as they will only have one clear channel to play with. You may even see degraded performance as there will be more collisions and retransmissions.
In 5 GHz band it will be easier to use a wide band. in ac I think you can even use 80 MHz.

The wider channel allows to attain a higher bit per second rate.
by fttn_user » Tue Jun 02, 2020 6:18 pm
I thought my FTTN router (an AT&T Arris BGW210) would be the access point. You seem to be hinting at some other device.

What am I missing?
by ngufra » Tue Jun 02, 2020 7:06 pm
Your router probably has that. I use a separate wifi access point.
Look in settings where you specify the wifi channel.
by apl » Thu Jun 04, 2020 2:30 pm
On the ATT supplied BGW210 it is:
Home Network tab
Wi-Fi subtab
Click on "Advanced options" near the top of the page.
Then the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz networks each have a "Bandwidth" setting
by fttn_user » Thu Jun 04, 2020 5:15 pm
With the router at default configuration, on my laptop, the external antenna provides speeds of about 240 / 310 mbps down / up, compared to 180 / 180 from the internal wireless card.

While 33% / 70% increases are noteworthy, they aren't quite as much as anticipated.

The antenna does support dual bands (2.4 / 5.8 Ghz), but I'm not sure what further improvements are possible with a router re-configuration, which may mess things up. To play safe, I'll go back to Ethernet.

Thanks to everyone who responded.
by fttn_user » Sun Jun 07, 2020 8:05 am
The speeds of 240 / 310 mbps down / up obtained with the external antenna were on laptops with an Intel 6250 wireless card.

On one with an Intel 7265, I got 380 - 430 mbps down, and 300 - 380 mbps up, at my router's default configuration.

Hardware and/or driver limitations on the external antenna may have caused the lower-than-expected results. It isn't a name brand, but I have no idea if name brands would fare any better. Unfortunately, I can't easily move from a 6250 to a 7265 (or a 7260) because of possible whitelist and form factor issues.
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