Is the Wireless Network Too Slow?

After you verify that your broadband service is not creating a bottleneck, you are ready to take a look at the wireless network. As mentioned in the previous section, faster wireless networks do not always mean faster Internet access. But there are times when the wireless network can be an unexpected bottleneck.

Understanding Wireless Standards and Speeds

In Chapter 2, “Wireless Standards: What the Letters Mean,” we talked about the wireless standards and the different speeds that they can provide. In Chapter 3, “Selecting the Right Wireless Standard for Your Network,” we discussed how mixing different wireless NICs and wireless routers affects the overall network speed. Just to recap:

• 802.11b provides up to 11 Mbps