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optimal configuration

derekslayton
Level 1
Level 1

hi,

i'm trying to optimize my wireless environment as much as possible, and wanted to get some feedback on what others are doing.

my environment is as follows:

D-Link DIR 825 - being used as an access point only (no firewall, no spi, no added features turned on)
- FW v 1.12NA (current)
Linksys WET200 - being used as a wireless bridge for PS3, Xbox, and AV receiver
- FW v 1.0.13 (current)

I have WPA personal enabled on both devices
I'm only using Wireless G on both devices - B turned off on both, N turned off on 825
I have transmission rate set to auto on both devices
RTS 2347 on both
Frag 2346 on both
link quality is always at least %90 on the WET200 at all times

i'm getting some lag when playing online games, and i want to make sure that my side of the equation is as clean as possible.

speed tests to dslreports usually yield 10/1 min
speed tests to speedtest usually yield 11-12/1 min

does anyone see anything here that you would recommend changing that might improve the connection, or is this as good as it will get likely?

thnx in advance for any/all suggestions
D

1 Accepted Solution

Accepted Solutions

Derek,

There are a few things I can recommend. First make sure you do a wireless survey to confirm that you are the only wireless network in the area. If you are not, then make sure you are the only wireless network on either channel 1, 6, or 11. The other channels are sub channels of the three listed. Secondly, remember that all wireless transmissions not using MIMO are half duplex. Therefore you can only send or receive at once, not both. Wireless devices use CSMA/CA. This is Collision Avoidance, not Collision Detection (CSMA/CD) like traditional ethernet. The idea is to eliminate noise, have a solid path to your wireless network (one free of obstructions like walls, other networks, etc.) and try to use MIMO (Multiple Input/Multiple Output). MIMO is typical with the wireless N draft. If I were in your situation I would upgrade my equipment to this technology since you are using it for gaming and video. You should also know that dsl tests measure the speed of your connection, not necessarily your throughput. Most of the time you will not experience the full throughput of your connection for various reasons. If you are on a cable connection you have to remember the " 10 Meg " pipe you supposedly have is actually shared with the rest of your neighborhood. Only dedicated connections ( DSL, T1) are able to provide the same speed at all times. This is because it is not a shared media.

Good luck.

Bill

View solution in original post

5 Replies 5

cindy toy
Level 7
Level 7

Hi Derek,

This may or may not help but the following thread was about wireless sizing:

https://www.myciscocommunity.com/message/4023#4023

Regards,

Cindy Toy

Cisco Small BusinessSupport

Community Manager

Regards, Cindy If my response answered your question, please mark the response as answered. Thank you!

Hi Cindy,

That was marginally helpful, but still doesn't really answer my questions on performance optimization.

Thanks anyways

Derek,

There are a few things I can recommend. First make sure you do a wireless survey to confirm that you are the only wireless network in the area. If you are not, then make sure you are the only wireless network on either channel 1, 6, or 11. The other channels are sub channels of the three listed. Secondly, remember that all wireless transmissions not using MIMO are half duplex. Therefore you can only send or receive at once, not both. Wireless devices use CSMA/CA. This is Collision Avoidance, not Collision Detection (CSMA/CD) like traditional ethernet. The idea is to eliminate noise, have a solid path to your wireless network (one free of obstructions like walls, other networks, etc.) and try to use MIMO (Multiple Input/Multiple Output). MIMO is typical with the wireless N draft. If I were in your situation I would upgrade my equipment to this technology since you are using it for gaming and video. You should also know that dsl tests measure the speed of your connection, not necessarily your throughput. Most of the time you will not experience the full throughput of your connection for various reasons. If you are on a cable connection you have to remember the " 10 Meg " pipe you supposedly have is actually shared with the rest of your neighborhood. Only dedicated connections ( DSL, T1) are able to provide the same speed at all times. This is because it is not a shared media.

Good luck.

Bill

wichilds wrote:

Derek,

There are a few things I can recommend. First make sure you do a wireless survey to confirm that you are the only wireless network in the area. If you are not, then make sure you are the only wireless network on either channel 1, 6, or 11. The other channels are sub channels of the three listed. Secondly, remember that all wireless transmissions not using MIMO are half duplex. Therefore you can only send or receive at once, not both. Wireless devices use CSMA/CA. This is Collision Avoidance, not Collision Detection (CSMA/CD) like traditional ethernet. The idea is to eliminate noise, have a solid path to your wireless network (one free of obstructions like walls, other networks, etc.) and try to use MIMO (Multiple Input/Multiple Output). MIMO is typical with the wireless N draft. If I were in your situation I would upgrade my equipment to this technology since you are using it for gaming and video. You should also know that dsl tests measure the speed of your connection, not necessarily your throughput. Most of the time you will not experience the full throughput of your connection for various reasons. If you are on a cable connection you have to remember the " 10 Meg " pipe you supposedly have is actually shared with the rest of your neighborhood. Only dedicated connections ( DSL, T1) are able to provide the same speed at all times. This is because it is not a shared media.

Good luck.

Bill

Bill, thanks for all the information this is great.

So here is what I've done.

1. site survey reveals that there are multiple ap's on channel 1 and 11, so changed my setting from auto (which coincidentally was already on channel 6) to a hard setting of channel 6.

2. I've ordered the dlink dap1522 to replace the wet200 which then allows me to move to draft n on both ends. i can also then segment all the av / gaming traffic onto that subnet, and leave the wireless g bandwidth for laptops and my wvc200 camera.

3. I'm going to move to wpa2-personal + aes for the n sgment which again should further segment traffic away from the g band

4. my cable pipe is actually 20/2, so i'm ectastic about getting 10MB over the existing wireless g segment, it's the lag that is killing me. i want to make sure the wireless is set up to be as good as my side can be.

let me know what your thoughts are?

Thnx again

Derek,

Setting the channel as hardcoded for 6 sounds good. I would, however, REALLY recommend the MIMO technology. The idea here is to send and receive (full duplex over wireless) at the same time. This should mitigate the lag you are experiencing. I don't think it is a throughput/signal issue. With gaming you need high-speed send and receive simultaneously. The only dlink device I was able to find with MIMO technology was a pcm/cia card that has been discontinued. It is here:

http://www.dlink.com/products/?pid=386

For your situation, I would recommend the WAP4410N. I have just tested it in my lab with a WRVS4400N v2 (need v2 for WDS). You may need to attach a small switch to the ethernet port of the WAP to make it a multiport bridge. I set both devices to wireless N only and set the AP to wireless bridge mode with WDS. I connected 2 computers to the switch behind the AP and was able to browse the net on both and also download large files on both simultaneously.

I do not recommend the WAP4400N or the WRVS4400N v1/1.1 because they do not support wireless bridge or WDS functionality.

WPA(2) personal + AES will not segment your network. It will only make your AP's processor work harder. With the WRVS4400Nv2 setup normally (like it should be in this case) you will need some type of wireless encryption on your network. I say set the devices that are able, to the WPA2 + AES and set the others to as strong as possible. If they do AES also, that is great (even on the G band). Set your AP to G/N mixed and make your wireless password as complicated as possible (~20 characters that are alphanumeric and upper and lowercase). Write it down and keep that password in a safe place. The wireless setup in this situation will be best suited with MIMO technology. The D-Link products you have will NOT do this. I understand your goal and definitely know that lag can be a killer (sometimes literally).

Best of Luck :)

Bill

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