How To Optimize Wireless Internet

[kevinmcn]

**NOTE: This isnt a guide, sry i should have named it something differnet, if theres an admin then go ahead and change it to more of a question so people done view this expecting a guide.

Recently we got wireless internet, we live out in a very rural area and it was the only option other then dialup internet.

http://simplysurf.net/ is the service, it is a small canadian company and probly means nothing but w/e ill post it anyway.


Anyways, im not fully complaining or having any huge problems with it.

They said we would have about a 1.5mb connection.

There are some problems, which may be natural with this technology, but im looking for any ways to optomize it for best performance.


So some info:

Wireless Router = Airlink 101 AR410W Wireless Router
Wireless PCI Card = Airlink wireless SuperG PCI Adapter

The way the net works is it connetcs through and access point modem via a directional antenna, LANs with a wire to the wireless router which broadcasts it over the house.

I am about 2 rooms away and do not have line of site of the router. We also have a computer downstairs which is obviously not in los.

Im curious as to some settings offered by the modem.
*I have updated both firmware for the router and drivers for the pci card

Now some settings i want to ask about:

Best Encryption? WPA/WPA2/Ect?None??
- We dont really have a problem with security as we are in a rural area so thats not to much of a concern, so what is the best encryption?? Basically Speed > Security.


Ok now to some router settings.

Super G Mode ? (Turbo)
- Disabled/SuperG but no Turbo/SuperG Turbo? Note i do have matching router and pci card. Turning Turbo on limits chanel to 6 only.

Extended Range Mode: Enabled/Disabled?

Chanel?

Advanced:
Beacon Interval : 100
RTS Threshold : 2346
Fragmentation Threshold : 2346
DTIM Interval : 1
TX Rates (MBps) : Auto
11g only mode : Disabled
Antenna transmit power : full

All are on default, should i change any??

Enable NAT? it is by default
Receive: disabled/Rip1/rip2 .. it is disabled now.

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Now for any other tips or tweeks?

I ran the TCP/IP Analyser and this is what I got:

TCP options string = 020405b40103030001010402
MTU = 1500
MTU is fully optimized for broadband.
MSS = 1460
Maximum useful data in each packet = 1460, which equals MSS.
Default TCP Receive Window (RWIN) = 7300
RWIN Scaling (RFC1323) = 0 bits
Unscaled TCP Receive Window = 7300

RWIN seems to be set to a very small number. If you're on a broadband connection, consider using a larger value.
RWIN is a multiple of MSS
Other RWIN values that might work well with your current MTU/MSS:
513920 (MSS x 44 * scale factor of 8)
256960 (MSS x 44 * scale factor of 4)
128480 (MSS x 44 * scale factor of 2)
64240 (MSS x 44)
bandwidth * delay product (Note this is not a speed test):

Your TCP Window limits you to: 292 kbps (36.5 KBytes/s) @ 200ms
Your TCP Window limits you to: 116.8 kbps (14.6 KBytes/s) @ 500ms
Consider increasing your RWIN value to optimize TCP/IP for broadband.
MTU Discovery (RFC1191) = ON
Time to live left = 47 hops
TTL value is ok.
Timestamps (RFC1323) = OFF
Selective Acknowledgements (RFC2018) = ON
IP type of service field (RFC1349) = 00000000 (0)

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One of the main problems or concers with this internet is a slowness in browsing and browser download. When downloading files with DAP, if it splits it up into 5 or so sources i can get close to my max speeds at like 150 or and even goes up to 200 on good servers. When downloading through the browser i get speeds that average 20-40. When doing a dsl report test i only get like 10/s. Any way to fix this? or is this normal?

dslreports.com speed test result on 2006-08-23 23:51:45 EST:
158 / 37
Your download speed : 158 kbps or 19.7 KB/sec.

Your upload speed : 37 kbps or 4.7 KB/sec.

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I know this is alot of information, but maybe its better i give it all then you guys asking for me to post stuff .

So thanks for any info.

[Balaberda]

Hi there. It sounds like we are having the same problem.. did you find a solution.?? I also have airlink car but i have a cms wireless router. I should be downloading at 200 kb/s but i only get like 30. let me know if you have found a solution..??

[TonyT]

1. encryption: use WPA, WEP is easy to crack, takes about an hour at most.
2. super G will only affest speeds on the lan, not the wan.
3. the speeds you are getting are determined by:
- power of the wifi broadcast that the directional antenna aims at.
- the directional antenna on your end assists you reaching the other end, it increases your receive signal, but does not increase the signal that is coming toward you.
- the directional antenna likely has a spread of 30 degrees at best, so it must be aimed precisely.
- I'd get their 14 db antenna.
4. nat - yes, it should be on so multiple comps can share the conmnection.

[saygoon]

Since you're using the Airlink 101 AR410W Router, try upgrading the firmware. I found it to be the biggest performance improvement. After I upgraded the firmware, I streamed the Las Vegas tv show off of NBC.com (yummy Nikki Cox) and it played perfectly on my laptop. no stutters, jitters, nada. Next I downloaded 75 'small' updates from Microsoft in under 3 minutes. My desktop computer has an Airlink super G card, but the laptop was using a TrendNet PCMCIA card (also super G). Of course my connection is faster using Time Warner cable (6 mbps) but you too should at least notice a modest improvement on any connection if you flash your firmware. Use the super G turbo mode anyway, even if it is stuck on channel 6, you'll love the speed. If it bothers you to use channel 6 because everyone is using it, just get the big antenna to run everybody else's signal off (ha ha) and make sure your firewall is running. Extended Range Mode? Enable it so you can sit outside when the weather is nicer. And yes I know this didn't speed up my internet connection but it sure seems like it did. You can get the firmware upgrade at Airlink's website below. I'm sure this will help you improve performance.

http://www.airlink101.com/downloads/ar410w.html