I have my pc on a router so I can access my laptop. Just bought a new
network adapter that is supposed to run at 108mbps but Vista only says
54mbps. I have been talking with Netgear and they said Vista has
limitations but don't know weather it's just not showing 108 or it is
actually only running at 54mbps. I like to know why Vista would do that
and how can it be fixed? Did I just waste $60.00 on an adapter that will
only run as fast as the one I already had in my laptop because Vista will
only let it run at 54mbps?
Hello Debbie.
The actual commonplace Wi-Fi standard (802.11g) has a maximum speed of
54Mbps. This is the speed that all Wi-Fi devices can talk to each other at.
These higher speeds come about from manufacturers using their own
proprietary bolt-ons running on top of the standard. And as such they're
only compatible with their own hardware. So you'd need a suitable Netgear
router (for example), and Netgear adapter in the PC to get these sorts of
speeds, and even then only in ideal circumstances.
I suspect the router you're connecting to doesn't support Netgear's 108Mbps
connection - if it is a Netgear router or access point that does claim
support, it may have an option in its settings to enable it. If it doesn't
it will only be able to run at 54Mbps.
If you do have compatible hardware both ends, (and I assume the tech support
guy would of mentioned this) another reason for it not to work would be due
to using older drivers that don't support 108Mbps, you might want to check
Netgear's website (
http://kbserver.netgear.com/downloads_support.asp ) for
drivers for your adapter.
If Windows is reporting the connection is 54Mbps, that is what its running
at. It simply passes on what the network adapter's driver is telling it.
To my knowledge Windows has no limit on the speed of any network adapter,
the highest I've got here to test is 1000Mbps - fast enough that no
non-server PC could ever get anywhere near using it all.
Personally I'd seek a refund, in the UK at least you could argue that its
not fit for purpose (irrespective of who's fault it is). Regardless of it
working or not, unless you're moving gigabytes of data around your LAN
regularly 108Mbps won't make any difference to performance. Internet speeds
are probably only a tenth to a fifth of 54Mbps as it is - so you'd see no
benefits there.
--
Paul Smith,
Yeovil, UK.
Microsoft MVP Windows Desktop Experience.
http://www.dasmirnov.net/blog/
http://www.windowsresource.net/
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