Network Transfer Speeds

[kzahrai]

Hello,
How can you test the transfer rates across a network setup through windows xp with a switch and wireless router? Why would wireless access times have such a delay when compared to wired?

 

[eibgrad]

NetCPS
Iperf
Qcheck

Wireless is inherently slower than wired because the former is far more susceptible to environmental conditions. It has to contend w/ more issues (climate, competing signals (some not even related to wifi, like cordless phones, microwave ovens, etc.), obstacles, etc.

Wireless is also a shared resource, so if you have multiple wireless stations, each must wait for the other to complete its transmission before the other can start its own transmission. For example, if you’re transferring a file between two PCs, each connected over wireless, the effective throughput is cut approx. in HALF compared to have only ONE of the PCs connected via wireless and the other using wire.

As I tell ppl all the time, wireless only has one advantage over wire – convenience. Everything else is a negative (it’s more complex, slower, less reliable, more costly, less secure, you name it).