Wireless Performance
NOTES:
• "Signal Quality" readings were not available from the WinXP Zero Configuration client used
• Testing was done with a DrayTek Vigor540 Wireless 11g CardBus Adapter in a WinXP Home Dell Inspiron 4100 laptop unless otherwise noted
The throughput test results in Figure 18 show best-case performance of 24Mbps, which is comparable to other 802.11g products running without any of the myriad throughput enhancement technologies.
Figure 18: Four Condition Throughput test
(click on the image for a full-sized view)
Note that the lowest result was obtained in Location 3, which is one floor below and at the opposite end of the test building.
Though a check of the Vigor540 test partner client card's Advanced Network properties showed a Nitro mode (Conexant's throughput-enhancement technology) entry that was set to 1, I suspect that neither Nitro nor Nitro XM is enabled in the 2900G itself. If it had been, I would have expected to see more like 27Mbps under the same test conditions.
Location 1 (best case signal) runs with WEP128 then WPA-PSK (TKIP) enabled yielded average 1 minute speeds of 23.0 and 18.1Mbps respectively. These translate to throughput reductions of about 5% and 25% respectively, when compared to the "naked" best-case 24.1Mbps result.
The 25% reduction for WPA (TKIP) is right in line with tests I've run on other PRISM-based products and appears to be baked into the chipset. Unfortunately, the PRISM chipset doesn't support the alternative AES encryption that Broadcom provides as a way around the problem in their chipset. So if you want to use WPA with the 2900G, you'll unfortunately pay a high throughput penalty.
802.11g Wireless Performance Test Results
| Test Conditions
| Firmware/Driver Versions AP f/w: | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Test Description | Signal Quality (%) | Transfer Rate (Mbps) | Response Time (msec) | UDP stream | |
| Throughput (kbps) | Lost data (%) | ||||
| Client to AP - Condition 1 | 0 | 24.1 [No WEP] 23 [w/ WEP] | 1 (avg) 1 (max) | 500 | 0 |
| Client to AP - Condition 2 | 0 | 12.9 | 1 (avg) 2 (max) | 500 | 0 |
| Client to AP - Condition 3 | 0 | 8 | 2 (avg) 4 (max) | 500 | 0 |
| Client to AP - Condition 4 | 0 | 13.6 | 1 (avg) 3 (max) | 500 | 0 |