Improving router speed?

Question

While im right next to my wireless router the connection speed in only 5.5 mbs. can i improve that anyway??

linksys wrt54gx

Answer 1

Is that your LAN connection speed or throughput from the Internet?  If its Internet download speed, then you'll need to upgrade your broadband connection.  With a G wireless card, your LAN speed should be 54 Mbps.

Answer 2

http://www.cantenna.com/

Answer 3

Thats a very poor connection for a router that is sitting so close to you.

Make sure your laptop or pc is using a 54G card to take advantage of the G speeds (54MB), if you are using a 11B card that will limit your speed to (11MB) max.

I would take that router back, if possible, and get this linksys model, or something that is similar:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...

This has great range and the firmware for these Linux version of linksys routers just work better, go figure:)

Answer 4

i doubt that the problem is with your router.

there are a bunch of factors that could cause this slow speed. it could be that your ISP (Internet Service Provider) is fluffing off and giving you crappy speeds, could be about the wireless card in your computer, you might want to make sure that it is 802.11G or N.

i am guessing that it is probably the wireless card in your pc, only because i don't know anything about it.

I would suggest that the first thing you do is call your ISP and have them send a guy out to test your connection, then he should be able to tell you what the problem is.

Good Luck!

P.S. I would also like to tag on what rlfworlf said:

"Another reason is that 5.5Mbps is pretty close to the 6Mbps DSL service that's pretty common nowadays."

I was assuming that you had something faster, but i dont know for sure

Answer 5

If that's 5.5Mbps to the internet, that's probably limited by you're internet bandwidth rather than by the wireless connection.  Even 802.11b can support up to 11Mbps so assuming you are running at least 802.11g then 5.5Mbps should be well below your wireless rate unless you've got some serious noise issues in your house.  Another reason is that 5.5Mbps is pretty close to the 6Mbps DSL service that's pretty common nowadays.