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My router is AC and does both 2.4 and 5 but my laptop may be incapable of dealing with it. The laptop was new in 2007 and I don't know what wifi protocol it uses, if that's the right terminology. 50 mbps is OK, but they upped my bill $5 per month when they went to 100 and I'm not benefiting unless I plug in, which isn't practical.

Well I googled Sony Vaio 2007 and found one that has wireless LAN 802.11a/b/g. G doesn't do 5Ghz, but A does (which only helps it reach what G does at 2.4). In any case newer machines mostly come with N (802.11n) which can handle 72/150 Mbit/s depending on if you're on 2.4 or 5Ghz.

tri-mode wireless LAN (802.11a/b/g), Ethernet, modem

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Amazon.com : Sony VAIO VGN-FE770G 15.4 Accessories

EEE 802.11g-2003 or 802.11g is an amendment to the IEEE 802.11 specification that extended throughput to up to 54 Mbit/s using the same 2.4 GHz band as 802.11b.

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IEEE 802.11g-2003 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

If your Sony Vaio has the same wireless hardware as the one I linked then you're already maxed out for wireless with what's in the box. You should be able to buy an 802.11n usb adapter to get a higher speed though;some are pretty cheap.

Thanks!

Edit: I never thought to google my computer. It's this oneVAIO. Looks like the protocol is "n"

I think I'll getTHISsince it's AC.

Well if your laptop does have 802.11n already then I'm puzzled, and I doubt an adapter will make a difference. Your router also claims to be 802.11n (with some fancy perks they claim). I've expended my knowledge of the issue. You should be able to achieve higher speeds with your wi-fi and your current hardware. Have you tried setting the router to 5 GHz or is it set there already?

To move 100Mbps on 802.11n, you will need a clear 40mhz channel, and likely 5ghz. Your laptop could only have 2.4ghz 802.11n.

His laptop should havethisif the model he linked is accurate.

The Intel? Centrino? Advanced-N 6200 dual band (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz)

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So, to move 100mbps on 802.11n, you will need a clear 40mhz channel, and likely 5ghz.

Deathwing_sl said:

So, where do those N router speeds come from that claim up to 900Mbps? I know it's related to the amount of transmitters and receivers, are they just cheating and adding "bandwidth" for multiple users? Though, I've seen some adapters that are 3T3R too.

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Its the theoretical air rate, a speed that can be achieved in a lab setting with zero interference and a non acknowledgement protocol in PTP configuration. 900Mbps would be 3x3 AC speeds though I think. 40mhz N is a rate of 150Mbps, add in MIMO, you get 300Mbps. You can do additional polarity (add more MIMOs) to increase your throughput but with reduction in gains due to self interference.

In long distance fixed point microwave, I generally to 2/3 air rate for PTP connections, and 1/2 air rate for PTMP as a general rule of thumb for expected "best case" real world performance with TCP/IP.

You gain increased performance through better protocol utilization of the spectrum (channel width). AC can pump more data through 40mhz than N can. Not only that, AC allows for much wider channel widths as well (up to 160mhz). To put that number into prospective, the entire 2.4ghz spectrum allowed in the US, channel 1-11, is 50mhz wide.

Ok, I've been running speed tests off and on all day and just now, I reached 80.24, 73.71 and 71.75. Previously, I was between 36-47. It seems like the router (Asus RT-AC68U) is working properly. When I look at the settings, 2.4 and 5.0 are active and the idiot lights on the front confirm this. I guess theoretically, the laptop could receive 100 mbps. At least it's trying.


Thanks for spending time on this for me.

If you ever have problems with wireless, 99% of the time its interference, either self induced or due to your environment. Are you connecting to the 5ghz SSID with your laptop? I always name mine different so that I know which is which. IE SSID and SSID_5G.

Double post.

Remit_sl said:

If you ever have problems with wireless, 99% of the time its interference, either self induced or due to your environment. Are you connecting to the 5ghz SSID with your laptop? I always name mine different so that I know which is which. IE SSID and SSID_5G.

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That's a good idea. I'll rename them later today and see. What are some causes of interfence?

lurker_sl said:

That's a good idea. I'll rename them later today and see. What are some causes of interfence?

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Usually it is just other routers from neighbors, or wISPs running full blast. Can also be cordless devices (telephones), harmonics of other devices (refrigerators, microwaves, and sometimes even individual components).

You can download an app for android called Wifi Analyzer that will do a scan and show you a visual interpretation of channel usage. Nowhere near as accurate as a true spectrum analyzer, but it should give you a good idea of what channels you should set your router to. The (AUTO) channel setting rarely works well, and simply does a quick scan of ambient noise on the router startup.

Funny story, I have a deployment on the same tower as some cellular gear. The secondary harmonic of a CPU on one of my radios happened to be the same as the cell providers ultra RX sensitive equipment. Ended up having to have the manufacturer create a custom firmware that underclocked the CPU a bit, because my $75 radio was taking them down (note this radio was already FCC and CE certified).

I renamed the 5GHz channel as you suggested but it doesn't show up as a choice as possible networks to connect to. But on a positive note, speedtest number is 76.33. I'm running Win7 if it matters.

lurker_sl said:

I renamed the 5GHz channel as you suggested but it doesn't show up as a choice as possible networks to connect to. But on a positive note, speedtest number is 76.33. I'm running Win7 if it matters.

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If it is not showing up, then your device is just a 2.4ghz 802.11n device. Those are really good speeds though for 2.4, so I wouldnt bother messing with any channel planning. If you need more speeds, or faster internal speeds, I would recommend getting the USB AC adapter that was linked earlier.

In the system icons hidden in the lower right hand corner of my desktop, there is an icon that when clicked, allowed me to select 2.4 or 5 or both. I selected both and now my 5g channel showed up. I selected it and it seems a little balky, but speedtest is now 101.73. yay.

nice. problem solved it sounds like

Agraza_sl said:

nice. problem solved it sounds like

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Yup. I just hit 111.9. Thanks for your help.


Edit: I will say though, finding settings and changing them is very clear and intuitive in Win 7.

My wife's win 8.1 is almost impossible to tweak. I'm not having fun finding the settings for her wifi adaptor. I'll keep at it.

Comcast just sent me a notice that we forgot to return a router we never had, even has a serial # listed. Fucking crooks.