Networking data rates, what does it all mean?!

Hi,

I would like to purchase a new wireless router, and I'm trying to make a slightly educated decision. However searching for any of the terms involved (wireless, router, network, etc) results in a multitude of unrelated pages.

So, does anyone know if there is a good website somewhere that
1) explains the basics of networking
2) compares network routers

For example, I have a cable network connection that is apparantly sold as fast and can send me data at up to 20Mb. So, is that 20 Megabytes or Megabits. I presume it is per second. Is that upload and download? At the same time? How likely is that it actually even runs that fast?

I have a 54Mbs wireless router. Again, what does that mean? 54 Megabits per second? Is that total upload and download? If there are 2 computers accessing the router fairly continuously does that mean 27Mbs each?

If 20Mb is 20 Megabits per second, is there any point in having a faster wireless router than 54 Megabits per second?

Basically I only connect to the network wirelessly, and I'd like to make the most of the incoming data rate from the cable network. Is my current router enough, or should I get a faster one. If so, which type?

Thanks for your help.
Rob

 

Well, the first thing to remember is 8 bits equals 1 byte since everything is based off of the binary system or base 2 in mathematics. Also all your rates are per second in normal usage. So here we go. I'll give normal/public usage numbers first and binary numbers in ().
kb or Kb is 1,000 (or 1,024) bits per second
kB or KB is 1,000 (or 1,024) bytes per second = 8,192 bits per second
Mb is 1,000,000 (or 1,048,576) bits per second
MB is 1,000,000 (or 1,048,576) bytes per second = 8,388,308 bits per second

If you are paying for a 20 Mb connection, that is only for the download side.
Upload rates are generally a fraction of the download rates. Invariably, the verbiage of the plan says "up to" so if you do not get that speed, the ISP has a fall back position. What the ISP also does not say, there is generally a loss of 10% to 15% in the speed which is consumed by "network overhead". (The essential packeting of the information that goes along with the delivery of the information itself to direct it to the correct location and assemble it in a readable form.)

As to speeds, you won't get any faster download than what you pay for but the computer on the other end may be slow or have a bad connection that slows the data rate down even more. (I'm sure you've downloaded something that takes forever to finish. Well, it could be on the other end that the problem lies.) Also, with a cable connection, there are other customers on the node that can suck up the available bandwith and keep things crawling especially at times of high usage like the evening hours.

As to having a 54Mbs (G standard) or 300Mbs (N standard) router, with wireless signals, the rate decreases as the distance increases. You also have to figure there will be some interference from physical obstacles or interference from electric or electronic devices that can cause the rate to decrease by wireless. So, your effective rates will be less than the design rates in communicating with the router unless you are sitting on top of the router. N standard routers are less affected by this but a radio signal can only go so far at a specific strength and be usable. Depending on your distances, you may need an N router if you are pretty far from it and you want to stream video or something that requires a high rate of data transfer to function properly.

I like to use ezlan.net as a good resource of networking information and how-tos. (1 of the network gurus here, cat5e, is the owner.)

I don't know of any dedicated sites for router comparisons. Maybe someone else does and can give you a heads up on that.

Hope this helps some.

 

Tim Higgins site http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/ is a great source for reviews and there is also a good forum there as well.

Sam