Wireless Performance
NOTES:
• No Link Quality or Strength readings were available
• Testing was done with a Linksys WPC54G card in AdHoc mode in a Dell Inspiron 4100 laptop running WinXP Home
• Wireless settings were Channel 6, Mixed mode
Rather than lug around the WET connected to my laptop, I plugged one set to AdHoc mode into my LAN's switch and used a Linksys WPC54G card also set to AdHoc mode to do the testing. As both the table above and IxChariot plot below show, performance was disappointing at my more difficult test locations.
Figure 16: Four-location throughput test results
(click on the image for a larger view)
I also checked Location 1 performance with the GS5 and WPC54G card set to WEP128 mode. Figure 17 shows no measurable throughput degradation.
Figure 17: Security mode throughput comparison
(click on the image for a larger view)
Figure 17 also shows the results of a test run with a GS5 to WRT54G Infrastructure mode link with WEP 128 and then WPA-PSK enabled. Note that I couldn't run a WPA-PSK test since only WEP is supported in Ad Hoc mode. Note also that due to its PRISM-based radio, the GS5 supports only the mandatory WPA-PSK TKIP mode and not the more secure, but optional AES mode supported by the Broadcom-based radio in the WRT54G.
You can see that using WPA-PSK TKIP reduces throughput about 16%, which, to my recollection, is consistent with what I've seen with other PRISM-based 11g products. Still, given 11g's higher base throughput, I don't hesitate to recommend that you use WPA if your WLAN equipment supports it.
802.11g Wireless Performance Test Results
| Test Conditions
| Firmware/Driver Versions AP f/w: | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Test Description | SNR (dB) | Transfer Rate (Mbps) | Response Time (msec) | UDP stream | |
| Throughput (kbps) | Lost data (%) | ||||
| Client to AP - Condition 1 | 0 | 24.3 [No WEP] 24.2 [w/ WEP] | 1 (avg) 1 (max) | 500 | 0 |
| Client to AP - Condition 2 | 0 | 14.5 | 1 (avg) 2 (max) | 500 | 0 |
| Client to AP - Condition 3 | 0 | 3.5 | 1 (avg) 3 (max) | 436 | 0 |
| Client to AP - Condition 4 | 0 | 2.4 | 1 (avg) 4 (max) | 500 | 0 |