About two weeks ago, I wrote here

<Xns96B96A7674788parcxmannetscapenet@216.196.97.13 6>

about self-installing Comcast HSI, and a wireless router connection for
my daugher at her college apartment. I did that this past Friday.
Comcast arrived as scheduled, extended existing coax to where I needed
it, and dropped off the self-install kit. Once I connected my daughter's
laptop to the modem (RCA DCM425C), and launched her browser, I was
presented with a Comcast welcome screen, and instructed to "Click here"
to install the Comcast software and configure my account. Instead, I
called Comcast and configured my account over the phone, and was online
in about 15 minutes. Once I had the Comcast HSI working fine, I
installed a wireless router.

I'm new to wireless, so I have some questions...

My daughter has an Inspiron 8600 running Windows XPHome, with an Intel
PRO/Wireless 2200 BG network card. She is using a D-link 524 802.11 g
wireless router (revision c). Before enabling any security features of
the router, the Wireless Network Connection icon in the systems tray
showed Speed:54.0 Mbps, and Signal Strength: Excellent. After enabling
64-bi WEP, the speed dropped to 5.4 Mbps, but the signal strength still
showed excellent.

Also, after enabling WEP, the wireless card icon in my system tray
indicates a poor connection, even though my throughupt seems to be just
fine, and surfing is ok. (I suppose that's because I'm still capable of
speeds higher than I'd get from Comcast, anyway?). For instance, the two
icons in the system tray show:

Intel PRO/Wireless 2200 BG Network Connection : POOR

Wireless Network Connection (my network name):
Speed 5.5 Mbps
Signal Strength: Excellent
Status: Connected

How is it that the NIC can show POOR, while the signal strength shows
Excellent?

And how is it that the signal strenght can show Excellent, but the speed
is 5.5 Mbps? Could this be because enabling WEP can greatly slow down
speed, even though the signal is strong. The Dlink manual states: "Note:
Your network will slow down and wireless signal may degrade when enabling
encryption due to the added overhead."

If this is true, I'm really disappointed, since the speed did indicate
54.0 Mbps before I enabled WEP. I have to use encryption, so does this
mean I'll have to accept only 10% of the speeds I got without WEP?

Next I'll try enabling MAC filtering, and disabling SSID. What should I
expect when I do this? I don't anticipate slower speeds still when SSID
is disabled, but will enabling MAC filtering slow me down more?

Thanks for any clarification,
Bruce

Bruce wrote:

I haven't had occasion to use wireless yet, but 5.5 Mb should handle all
your needs internet-wise. If you had local LAN computers you wanted to
share with, that would be a bit slow for like file transfers etc, but
still sufficient for most needs. Are there any 11B devices that could be
slowing down things (I kinda doubt it if you were getting 54 without WEP).
If it's a trade-off of security over extra speed, security ought to win.

"Bruce" <parcxman@netscape.net> wrote in message
news:Xns96C84F91E8F88parcxmannetscapenet@216.196.9 7.136...
Comcast has a maximum transmission speed of 6Mbps, plus or minus over
the WAN (Wide Area Network) connection to the router. The 54Mbps
wireless transmission rate is the maximum achievable for LAN (Local Area
Network) transmissions - computer to computer through the router.
Wireless has considerable overhead for security traffic that will
consume measurable bandwidth. My wireless consumes about 0.6Mbps,
compared to a wired connection to the same computer. This the same
order of overhead you observe.

Q

"Quaoar" <quaoar@tenthplanet.net> wrote in
news:bsKdnelE0L2NIIHeRVn-tQ@comcast.com:

Thanks, Q. I don't have any machines on the LAN, except for the one I
wrote about.

I'd consider that the 5.5 Mbps (about 6 Mbps less overhead) is the rate
at which I am getting the Comcast data, but Comcast in my daughter's
area only broadcasts at 4 Mbps. More importantly, when I disable WEP,
the wireless connection shows connection speed is 54 Mbps.

The technical specifications on this particular router indicate:

Wireless Data Rates* with Automatic Fallback:
54 Mbps
48
36
24
18
12
11
9
6
5.5
2, and
1 Mbps

* Maximum wireless signal rate based on IEEE Standard 802.11g
specifications. Actual data throughput will vary. Network conditions
and environmental factors, including volume of network traffic, building
materials and construction, and network overhead lower actual data
throughput rate.

(The router is placed on a desk next to the laptop.)

I have always assumed (perhaps wrongly so) that the connection speed
shown on the LAN, wired or wireless, gives the maximum available, rather
than the actual speed at any given time. That is, it is not measuring
throughput, but maximum possible, just like my wired connection on my
hub here at home shows 100 Mbps.

Guess I'll have to do some more reading up on all of this. <g>

Thanks again,
Bruce

"Bruce" <parcxman@netscape.net> wrote in message
news:Xns96C8DEE0B6397parcxmannetscapenet@216.196.9 7.136...
Comcast is (or has) upgrading all basic service to 6Mbs. Your
daughter's looks like it is upgraded. Note that this is download;
upload is limited to 384Kbps. IMO the wireless 54g is not worth
worrying about unless there is a requirement for moving very large files
on the LAN, etc.

Q

"Quaoar" <quaoar@tenthplanet.net> wrote in
news:e9KdncQ_LeV2tIDeRVn-1g@comcast.com:

big snip
I absolutely agree. Just curious. If she needs to move large files
fast over the LAN (currently SHE is the LAN), we'll do it over a wired
connection. But heck, we're patient anyway.

Thanks again,
Bruce

someone else is on the same channel
"Bruce" <parcxman@netscape.net> wrote in message
news:Xns96C84F91E8F88parcxmannetscapenet@216.196.9 7.136...

"BigJim" <woody10277@hotmail.com> wrote in
news:O7adnZ2dnZ22HmCvnZ2dnZ3MgN6dnZ2dRVn-052dnZ0@comcast.com:


Thanks, BigJim,

I hadn't considered that, and will try changing channels next time I'm up
there.

Bruce