Connection speed vs wireless speed

[ctjayhawker]

Hi, all!
My question is this: I have a 60 Mbps internet package, which, as we all know, is hardly ever what you actually connect at. My router, despite being a 300 Mbps unit, connects to my devices at 72 Mbps, which I understand is a common issue. SO---as my WiFi speed seems, at least, to be faster than my actual internet connection (even at 72 Mbps), is there any advantage to me to upgrade to a faster router, or is it just as well left alone?
Thanks!

 

[kanewolf]

72 Mbit link speed will provide about 35Mbit throughput. A faster router might improve your link speed or it might not. It depends on both the router and the device hardware. Either end could be a limiting factor.

 

[bill001g]

The connection speed is more a representation of how the data is encoded into the wifi radio signal. It directly corresponds to what is called a MCS value. You can use this number to a point to see why it does not connect at the top speeds.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_802.11ac

It also depends what router you have, there are a number of devices they call 300m. The ones that can run 2.4g and 5g it is really 2 150m devices in the same box since you can not use both radios at the same time on a pc.

What is strange from yours is 72.2m only matches 1 configuration. This means you are running 20mhz channels and you are only use a single antenna/feed. You are using the best encoding so you likely have strong signals.

If you could run your router at 40mhz and use 2 antenna you could get the connection speed at 300. It could be a setting in the router or it can be a limitation in your pc nic card if it for example does not support 2 antenna.

BUT after all this the connection speed numbers are almost a lie. They represent some theoretical rate that never happens in the real world. You will be very lucky to get 1/2 at slower speeds and when trying to use the ones that claim things like 1700 or higher you are lucky to get 10% of those speeds.

 

[ctjayhawker]

Mine's an older router--Netgear WNR2000. 802.11n, no ac; single antenna (I think), 2.4 Ghz only. Does the job, but I was just wondering if something newer would actually make a difference, given my relatively low broadband speeds.

 

[bill001g]

Likely yes but you would have to have newer equipment on both ends the router is only 1/2 the connection your end device need to support. You do not need anything really fancy since you only have 63m but to get 63m you would need a actual connection speed of 150m. A 802.11ac router with a 1200 number on it should let you use your connection fully especially if you can use the 802.11ac part.

Of course there is no guarantee of any speed since how your house is built and how far you are from the router have a significant impact on how well it works.

 

[ctjayhawker]

Pretty sure nothing has an AC chip in it. So sounds like even a new N router won't make any real difference. Phooey.

 

[kanewolf]

Pretty sure nothing has an AC chip in it. So sounds like even a new N router won't make any real difference. Phooey.

Not true. An AC router can benefit even N devices. This article -- https://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wireless/wireless-features/32896-will-a-new-ac-router-bring-you-wifi-joy says that even N devices get improvements with an AC router.

Go to E-Bay, and for about $25 you can get a used Asus RT-N56U. It will give you gigabit wired ports, dual band and 300Mbit 2.4Ghz. Compared to what you have it is a great upgrade at a bargain price.