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Q. I
recently upgraded my 802.11g Wi-Fi connection speed by
purchasing a new wireless router that supports the
faster 802.11n standard. I have a fast DSL connection
that gives me a 6 megabits-per-second (Mbps) Internet
connection and I was told that the new router would help
me take advantage of the faster Internet speed. But as
far as I can tell, things don't seem to be any faster
than they were with my older router. What am I doing
wrong?
—Aaron,
Gainesville, Fla.
A.
Unfortunately, there's a lot of confusion regarding
connection speeds so I hope you don't feel too bad when
I tell you that your older Wi-Fi connection at 54 Mbps
was already giving you far more speed than your Internet
connection could muster. If your main objective is to
get faster Internet access, then your initial concern
should be with your Internet Service Provider (ISP) and
not your computer equipment.
Your ISP
is the company that hooks you up to the Internet. If you
are an average consumer looking for hi-speed (broadband)
Internet service into your home and you live in a fairly
populated area, typically you have three choices
available to you. You can get it over your phone line,
your cable TV service or via satellite TV. Recently
AT&T
is making headway in various markets by offering a
fourth choice with its U-verse that delivers the
Internet over a fiber-optic connection.
If your
broadband choice is the phone, it's most likely a DSL
connection. DSL typically comes in speeds of 1.5, 3 or 6
Mbps. If your Internet connection comes over your cable
company's connection, speeds are around 10 or 20 Mbps
with some cities offering even faster speeds. Satellite
service speeds vary up to 5.0 Mbps. U-verse offers
various speeds topping out at about 18 Mbps.
That
said, let's take a look at your Wi-Fi connection. Your
older 802.11g is rated at 54 Mbps while the newer
802.11n has a top speed of 300 Mbps assuming you are
close to the transmitter. As you move further away, the
connection speeds begin to drop. There are other
speed-altering variables but let's put those aside and
keep the answer to your problem simple.
Your
Internet connection has two data pipes. Like a water
hose, the wider the pipe, the more flow it can handle.
The first pipe is your ISP connection to the Internet
coming into your home. The other pipe is the delivery of
that data to your computer. In your case, this second
pipe is your Wi-Fi connection. Your old Wi-Fi pipe could
already handle 54 Mbps of information flow. But the flow
from your ISP's Internet data flow is only 6 Mbps at
best. So you can see that your Wi-Fi pipe was more than
wide enough to handle your Internet flow. Adding a
bigger Wi-Fi pipe like you did with the 802.11n router
doesn't do anything for you since the Internet data
coming into your house is still only 6 Mbps. Get it? Not
to make you feel any worse but even if you had elected
to upgrade your ISP to something faster, the fastest of
them still wouldn't outpace your 54 Mbps.
So why do
network companies offer these faster Wi-Fi routers?
Aside from the fact that they offer better distance
ranges and penetration through walls, they allow for
data to flow more quickly within your home network. If
your home network for example has other devices
connected to it such as a wireless printer, then it will
begin its printing more quickly when you send something
to it. If you want to transfer files from one connected
PC to your wireless notebook, then the faster 802.11n
data transfer rates will let you copy that data a lot
faster.
So there
you have it in a nutshell. If you didn't fully get it
the first time around, read it again. It's important
stuff you should know, especially if you're planning to
upgrade what you already have. Being in the know will
save you from buying something you may not need and
getting something you do.
(
Craig Crossman
is a national newspaper columnist writing about
computers and technology. He also hosts the No. 1 daily
national computer radio talk show, Computer America,
heard on the Business TalkRadio Network and the
Lifestyle TalkRadio Network — Monday through Friday,
10 p.m.-midnight ET
. For more information, visit his web site at www.computeramerica.com.)
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