WiFi and cable modems

If I switch to a WI-FI network, will my cable modem downloads slow down? I'm thinking about downloading some of those routes with nearly 100 MB's of files. Right now, with wired cable modem, I'm doing OK. Don't know whether or not to switch to wireless.Bill

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RE: WiFi and cable modems, DRGWK36, Dec-06-04, 08:41 PM, (1) RE: WiFi and cable modems, derekmorton, Dec-07-04, 05:45 AM, (2) RE: WiFi and cable modems, wecline, Dec-07-04, 04:59 PM, (3) RE: WiFi and cable modems, Emmo213, Dec-08-04, 08:41 PM, (4) RE: WiFi and cable modems, lfriddle, Dec-09-04, 00:24 AM, (5) RE: WiFi and cable modems, ashiva1313, Dec-09-04, 08:12 PM, (6) RE: WiFi and cable modems, lfriddle, Dec-09-04, 10:45 PM, (7) RE: WiFi and cable modems, ashiva1313, Dec-09-04, 10:54 PM, (8) RE: WiFi and cable modems, derekmorton, Dec-10-04, 04:23 AM, (9) RE: WiFi and cable modems, ChckHbrt, Dec-11-04, 00:42 AM, (10)

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We've got WiFi at home, and haven't seen any problems with speed. In fact, due to some interesting work-related connection issues, the primary home desktop is not directly connected to the modem, and there hasn't been any noticeable drop in network performance. We are very pleased with the setup.Andy

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Hi Bill,You have not mentioned what download speeds you are getting with your cable modem.WiFi comes in 2 speeds, 802.11b (11Mb/s) and 802.11g (54Mb/s).
Download speeds are usually measured in MB/s (bytes), so 11b throughput comes out at about 600KB/s and 11g at about 3.5MB/s.

Derek
EngMod@sgrail.org
www.sgrail.org
EngMod forum
http://www.3dtrains.com/forums/index.php?s=3c21ea4e4882bb70177f35d82c51523b&act=SF&f=59

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Thanks, Guys. I really appreciate the quick response.When I run a test on download time, I get 1344 Kbits/sec. I tried d/l a file from the library and my transfer rate starts out at around 300kb/sec and drops down and settles at around 100kb/sec.I'm not sure what the difference is in getting Kbits, Mb/sec, kb/sec. and what they all mean. Anyway, the test program says my system is OK and running at good download speed.Gotta read up some more on WIFI.Again, thanks very much.Bill

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If you want to be up-to-date, or even ahead of the pack, go for 802.11n. You can get the "Pre-n" right now.

Brian

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Bill,
I think I can put this into something you can understand.Typical cable packages offer download speeds starting at 256 thousand bits per second (256 KBPS or 0.256 MBPS) and max out with premium service of about 5 million bits per second or 5 MBPS. Think of the BPS as gallons of water through a pipe.
So say you have premium cable service and are capable of getting 5 million gallons per second.
Wireless 802B rated at 11 MBPS or 11 million gallons per second would be a pipe that is quite capable of handling even double the most premium cable service. It sounds like you are only getting 1.3 million per second so you won't see any difference at all unless something isn't set correctly.I hope the analogy helps.Larry Friddle
Manager Information Systems
KHBS/KHOG TV

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ok, I got a question, see if my math is right..
I got a chance to go to a cable modem at 256K.. which means my actual download speed would be on the order of 15K per second???
around a meg every 70 seconds??
that right?
Thanks

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Unless I have my head up my butt, which happens often I come up with this:
256K is the modem rate in bits per second
Now we have to switch to talking about bytes for the file size so we are now talking about 8 bits to make a byte. This gives us 256,000/8=32,000 or 32K bytes per second. Time to transfer 1Meg = 1,000,000/32,000=31.25 seconds. A little better than your calculation.There are other variables (overhead) that results a sightly lower data rate. For example, hand shaking, CRC checksum data and so forth. Data having to be resent that arrived with a bad CRC check eats download time. But the data rate would in theory be much better than your calculation.Perhaps the one item people often fail to consider is the source servers ability to feed (download) your data at the maximum possible rate. Remember it is also serving from 0 to thousands of other users at the same time. You could have a 5 MB connection but if your source is only capable of sustaining a 10K data rate to you, you are still only to get 10K per second. Also say the source only had a 5Mbps line and was feeding a file to 5 users at the same time, each would only be getting a 1MB receive rate.Larry

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mucho thanks, Larry, that helps immensly..

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Larry,KBPS in my language means kilo BYTES per seconds.
KbPS means kilo bits per secondThis means that we can note the difference between bits and bytes.

Derek
EngMod@sgrail.org
www.sgrail.org
EngMod forum
http://www.3dtrains.com/forums/index.php?s=3c21ea4e4882bb70177f35d82c51523b&act=SF&f=59

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Hey Bill..Switch to wireless. It's a no brainer. For example, I downloaded the Roseville Subdivision tonight on my laptop using a linksys 802.11 G WiFi card in my truck, at a truckstop in Little Rock, Arkansas. I downloaded the 102 MB Roseville sub in 29 minutes. My lap top is set up to use modem or wireless. I just turn off the modem default and have no problem going wireless while on the road. Chuck

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