Is Wireless Router Speed affected when one laptop is wireless and the other is connected through the router?

Question

I got my first wireless router a couple of days ago. The bandwidth is limited to 54kbps whilst my DSL is 100kbps. I set up the wireless connection where I have one laptop connecting to the internet via wireless and the other is plugged in with a network cable from the wireless router. My questions is: If I am connected with the cable with one PC, will the wireless connection speed be lower? Second question: If both PCs are connected to the wireless connection, since the ADSL is 100kbps, wouldn't each pc process at around 50kbps?

3rd and last: The PC connected via wireless loses the internet connection frequently and I have to repair the connection almost every 5 minutes...what can i do to avoid this problem or at least make it less frequent?

Answer 1

First Question: No, having one wired computer and one wireless will not effect either computer's connection speed. The only things that effect wireless connection rates are: how far away from the router the computer is, if there are any walls or other large obstacles in the way of the signal, and if there is interference from other routers (or other wireless devices) using the same channel.

Second Question: The more computers you have running at once effects the overall connection speed very little. Most programs don't utilize the full connection all at one time; it does not take much to download a simple web page. However, if both computers are doing something bandwidth-eating at the same time, such as online gaming or uploading a large file, then you will see your connection speed lower a little. Otherwise, each computer should function at your router's best capable speed.

Final Question: Try updating your router's firmware (this process is different for each router brand, so check with your manufacturer's website or instruction manual for information on how to do this), as well as updating the drivers for your wireless card. Also, make sure to look at any Frequently Asked Question or Troubleshooting pages on your router's website, or other websites with information on your router.

Answer 2

First off that 100Kbp/s is nothing compared to the network speed of 54Mbp/s of your router. Its not 54Kbp/s that would be far too slow for the network between your two PC's.. That 100Kbp/s is not even the throughput of the connection, that is max download speed and that is never achieved anyways.. Having one PC connected via wired and one wireless does not slow down your data transfer speed one bit. It is all routed the same way. I have the same problem with my wirless connection but I lose a connection to the wired and wireless connection to where I have to powercycle the router twice a day.. With you, it sounds like there is some kind of interference or your router is just crap like mine. What you can always do is create a batch file on the laptop that releases and renews your IP every 5 minutes.. Not practical, but if your router sucks thats what you have to do. You can try to update the firmware of the router or in router settings, set the DHCP IP lease to last longer, but I doubt that is the issue.

that batch file needs to be created in a word doc or notepad document and it needs to consist of:

ipconfig -release
ipconfig -renew
exit

and just rename it to (name).bat
After you do that go to scheduled tasks in system tools and set it as a scheduled task to run every ___ minutes and to open with command prompt. Yes very crappy I know. Refer to the manufacturers website on there FAQs or forum for questions..

Answer 3

Sounds like a router than needs to be configured right.
Or, check with your internet provider to see if they have been having service problems in the area.

~Brendon
-Hope I helped!