Can you really tell a difference when surfing the internet at 56Mbps versus 300Mbps?

Question

I just purchased a N-1 Belkin router which has a maximum data rate of 300 Mbps. However, my new HP laptop only supports up to 54 Mbps. I am trying to determine if its worth the money to buy a N1 wireless card for my laptop and if I will really notice a difference when surfing the internet at the higher speeds.

Answer 1

When surfing the Internet, the average download speed on most major home broadband connections is between 2 and 4 Mbps, and even in most major offices you'll rarely see above 10 Mbps. If you really want to be sure, go to http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/ which is an Internet Speed Test. I suspect you'll find that your Internet Download Speed is substantially less even that 56 Mbps, let alone 300 Mbps, meaning that chances are you'd notice absolutely no difference if you upgraded your laptop.

Answer 2

You won't see any difference at all. Your ISP probably has a transmission speed of no more than 6 Megabits per second. In any case, your router can distribute data at a much higher speed than your ISP can send it. The N1 can connect you to other computers on YOUR network at 300 Mb, but that doesn't mean your notebook can receive it at that speed, expecially if you are running off an on-board Ethernet adapter. Good luck with that.

Answer 3

Unless your broadband connection is faster than about 20 Mbps, you won't notice any difference. Few consumer broadband connections are that fast especially in the US.

Answer 4

Probably not. Usually the limiting factor is how fast the web server can dish up the pages, not the pipe speed when you are talking about that kind of broadband.

Answer 5

- NO- not unless you are going to download some huge files. There is a page on my site that will help speed up your pc if it is starting to slow down. Use the info and links to FREE tools. The link is below http://www.livestreamingwebcamandvirtualtour.eclipse.co.uk/

Answer 6

Um.







Yeah.