wireless upgrade

Question

i have a rangemax (netgear) router that has 100mb+ speed, the intel pro wireless connects at 54mbps.   was wondering if there is a software upgrade to allow me to use the extra speed or is it a limit to the prowireless that cannot be changed   ta   dell 6400

Ndel · Answer

Some more information would help, like what standard are you currently using. If you're running at 54 mbps I'm assuming you have either wireless A or G. If you wanted to get better performance a signal booster would give you the most value. With a higher signal you can expect higher speeds closer to what your maximum speed is.

doapyonekenobi · Answer

my comp is the inspiron 6400 with inbuilt wireless.

its running 802g

i'm just hoping there is a software upgrade.

i'm thinking that the wireless is only a 54mg card

i am getting great signal, speed etc.. but as u know we always want more. just want to use my rangemax to its potential

Name [00000010] Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection
Adapter Type Ethernet 802.3
Product Type Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection
Installed Yes
PNP Device ID PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_4222&SUBSYS_10228086&REV_02\4&6C79FC5&0&00E0
Last Reset 2/12/2006 1:43 PM
Index 10
Service Name w39n51
IP Address 192.168.1.4
IP Subnet 255.255.255.0
Default IP Gateway 192.168.1.1
DHCP Enabled Yes
DHCP Server 192.168.1.1
DHCP Lease Expires 19/01/2038 2:14 PM
DHCP Lease Obtained 2/12/2006 1:44 PM
MAC Address 00:13:02:6D:31:C3
Memory Address 0xEFDFF000-0xEFDFFFFF
IRQ Channel IRQ 16
Driver c:\windows\system32\drivers\w39n51.sys (10010-13 Driver, 1.36 MB (1,428,096 bytes), 8/06/2006 3:48 AM)

Ndel · Answer

Well with wireless your performance it really matters on what you're using it for, you mentioned a laptop so I'm assuming you don't have any media streaming devices. I feel you with the performance unfortunately there is no software that will improve your performance drastically. These are several options you might want to consider:

A wireless router G with MIMO technology, if you have a lot of users on the network this will benefit you.
You claim you're getting great signal already so a signal booster will have minimal performance gains.
Or you can try wireless 802.11n which runs at 270 kpbs, this is costly and all your hardware need to be wireless n compatible. Not only that but this standard has not even been fully approved yet, hence the name Draft N.
There are some ways you can optimize your connection but really that just configures caching and other stuff that wont do much good.
Also if your router has the latest firmware and drivers for your router and network card but that isn't going to help a whole lot either.

Hope this helps

Just reread

Also I noticed what your current IP address and what your default gateway address is. I'm assuming you're not using any static addresses, and considering the IP address you currently have which is 192.168.1.104 (correct me if I'm wrong). You currently have 4 or more devices that are being used on your router. This makes me wonder whether you have a open connection or encrypted. If those are all your devices then a router with MIMO technology you could probably benefit from. Or if you have no encryption setup, and these aren't your devices, you probably have pesky neighbors stealing your connection.

Message Edited by Ndel on 12-01-200609:17 PM

doapyonekenobi · Answer

i have mac address filtering on my network. no encryption but from what i learnt on call for help, its not that secure so i am probably going to have to use encrytion.. which is a pain..the belkin cards on two of my computers arent great with the netgear router and a lot of times i had to either disable wpk\wep etc or re-install the card drivers... couldnt figure out why they kept on stopping working and belkin and netgear was no help.. so i went with mac filtering upgrading router made it worse and i had to reset it..... was thinking of upgrading firmware to see what it does to my dell?   (the ethernet ports always worked on all computers)

Ndel · Answer

Yeah encryption can be a hassle, most devices do support basic WEP encryption. MAC filtering is so so, and the address can be easily spoofed, so not the best method. It's a combination of things, and if your router allows it DHCP reservation, mac filtering, and a higher encryption protocol then WEP is good. As well as not broadcasting SSID, this can be tedious but it just depends on what your security requirements are.

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wireless upgrade

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