Wireless network lag

cogs · Post by **cogs** » Sun Jun 12, 2005 5:17 pm

Had a wireless network set up today between my main comp and other comp. Main comp is connected to Blueyonder 1mb cable with a Belkin 125 G Wireless router, 2nd comp is plugged into a Belkin 54 G Wireless Adapter. The router/adapter have a 15-20 foot clear line of sight between them, the network has just been set up as described in the manuals and is apparently running at 11.0Mbps, but for some reason on the 2nd comp DAoC has constant yellow lag (as in 60-70% of the time yellow pLf, rest green) even when the main comp is turned off completely. Both are running 2.1gig processors and 1gb RAM, is this lag normal? Am i just screwed? Is there anything i can do to improve performance? (hardwiring them unfortunately isnt an option due to bitching housemates

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Ankh Morpork · Post by **Ankh Morpork** » Sun Jun 12, 2005 5:27 pm

Usually it should work perfect and 11mbit should be enough to run it without lag. You should check forums if anyone else had the same problem with the same brand as your hardware or ask the support if they know anything about it imo.

Edit: With forums I don't mean prydwen.net but more discussion groups specified in hardware.

/Ankh

Belisar · Post by **Belisar** » Sun Jun 12, 2005 9:27 pm

I have the same wireless adaptor and router and the same running speed (11Mbps).

In my case the main pc lags and the laptop does not which strikes me as odd but I have put down to the fact that my main pc is now 3 yrs old and therefore stretching the limits of daoc requirements.

So my simple advice is the same as Ankh's - I have also found the proximity of the belkin equipment to be an issue - ie the further away from the main pc I am the slower the speeds on my laptop.

Cromcruaich · Post by **Cromcruaich** » Mon Jun 13, 2005 8:56 am

It certainly isn't normal, ive got a wireless setup at home (using netgear stuff) and I can quite happily play downstairs with no lag atall.

The alarm bells are ringing because your only getting a 11mbps with a a clear view between the card and router, you should be getting right up to the max all the time. I certainly do and thats over a 25ft distance and through an inside roof. Also, just from experience, even through its reporting 11mbps you probably wont have that, perhaps the lag is being caused by the wireless connection altering its connection speed ?

You probably know what i'm gonna suggest - search for firmware updates for the card and router and update them if any are found (read all instructions carefully before flashing!)

Then ensure you have the latest drivers for the card.

If after that you are still only getting a reported connection of 11mbps (which really is not good enough in your situation) ring Belkin support.

Oh what can also cause lower connection speed is if you have other noisy devices around - they say microwaves can cause a problem - not sure what other devices may interfere, but perhaps cordless phones, mobiles etc ? Perhaps someone has more info on that than me.

Mojo · Post by **Mojo** » Mon Jun 13, 2005 9:25 am

cogs wrote:Had a wireless network set up today between my main comp and other comp. Main comp is connected to Blueyonder 1mb cable with a Belkin 125 G Wireless router, 2nd comp is plugged into a Belkin 54 G Wireless Adapter. The router/adapter have a 15-20 foot clear line of sight between them, the network has just been set up as described in the manuals and is apparently running at 11.0Mbps, but for some reason on the 2nd comp DAoC has constant yellow lag (as in 60-70% of the time yellow pLf, rest green) even when the main comp is turned off completely. Both are running 2.1gig processors and 1gb RAM, is this lag normal? Am i just screwed? Is there anything i can do to improve performance? (hardwiring them unfortunately isnt an option due to bitching housemates )

11mbs is an odd figure to get for a 125mb capable router, I wonder if the router defaults are set to 802.11b ? you shud have an option in your router config for auto speed negotiate, maybe look at that. (imo set to auto you will have options for 54g, 125 etc)

Maybe chk your antenna's make sure they are connected and upright. IMO your connection should be "Excellent" with a LoS of 20'.

Post by **Xest** » Mon Jun 13, 2005 10:11 am

Higher latency isn't out of the ordinary with wireless, but certainly not to such a degree as you're suffering. Try updating wireless card drivers and make sure the firmware of the router is uptodate. Try dropping any kind of security like WEP and such and see if that makes a difference then slowly phase security back in to see where the problem lies (I've seen some older PCs struggle with WEP where the encryption is handled by software drivers and not the hardware and when they've been busy with other tasks alongside WEP).

Gahn · Post by **Gahn** » Mon Jun 13, 2005 3:14 pm

Uhm if u got only 1 WL device with problems i'd check ofc drivers and or firmware of the WL card to see if there are known problems, another check u may want to do is how WL AP is set (in terms of speed) and set (force) the other 2 devices to work at same speed (ie if u choose 54 MBs force both PCs to same speed), remember that speed is SHARED so 54 / 2 in your case.
Both speed difference and, as correctly pointed out by Xest, Decryption latencies can cause problems.