Thinkpads Forum

First, I apologize if this is a repost as I didn't come across anything similar thru search.

My wireless connection at home isn't the speed it should be. I have 15mbps down/1 mbps up internet connection. My T60 maxes out about 4.5mbps. Have tested another laptop that pulled down from 8.5 to 12mbps. Have also tested another AP with the same results. Wireless card and AP are both set at G only, WPA AES Personal.

Specs
-Running Windows XP pro, Vista produced similar issues previously, firewall off
-Wireless is Intel 3945abg, driver 11.1.1.16
-Router is Buffalo WHRHP54 running DD-WRT version 23 sp2
-Running IPCop firewall, but same issues with it not connected.
-Have tinkered with different configurations inside wireless connections with no improvements.

Any ideas?

ok, so how are you testing the speeds from the router? It's from some site or with a bandwidth monitor?

Here's a test you can do, setup a machine to share a huge file. Then copy the whole thing and see how long that takes then use the other machine to test also.

Maybe change channels too, i know you said the other worked fine but maybe for whatever reason it might help.

thanks for the reply.

I was testing by using various sites, namely
www.speakeasy.net/speedtest proved the most reliable. I will try an internal network test and see if that proves the same.

I have tested other channels to the same result.

I had the same problem. At first, I thought it was because of my ISP (I also have a 15Mbps/1Mb connection). Sometimes, the speed was at max, then sometimes it went down to 200Kb/s. It turned out to be because of the power manager. Depending on the profile you choose, your network card doesn't work the same speed. Be sure you have "Wireless power settings" set to "Maximum performance" and "PCI Express" set to "off" or "moderate" (not so sure about this one).

power management is something i had already messed with as well, without even a hint of success.

PCI express is not a setting i am seeing.

Are you using Access Connections? If so, there are settings on the Wireless tab for Power Saving modes and transmit power. Also there is a setting for long and short preamble (or something like that - I am not using Windows at the moment to check).

no Access Connections

Take a look at your settings from: Start > All Programs > Intel Network Adapters > Intel(R) PROSet for Wired Connections. [This is from a T42 with the Intel 2200 BG wireless adapter. I am guessing that you should have the same or similar Intel(R) PROSet for Wired Connections.]

For XP, download and use TCP Optimizer, http://www.speedguide.net/downloads.php. This utility will adjust your tcp rwin (receive window buffer) for optimal performance. The XP default rwin for 15mbps is much to small.

This utility will have no effect in Vista as Vista is supposed to automatically adjust tcp buffers. In Vista I have to run Speakeasy at least 3 times to show max performance. It starts at a round 6mbps on the first test and ends up between 13 and 14mbps by the third test. FYI my provider is Optimum Online.