why is enabling 802.11G worthwhile? - Networking

considering that :
-most if not all wifi network are in mixed mode b/g
-802.11G uses more power that causes windows phones batteries to die even faster
-on a mobile device there really isnt demand for crazy speeds above even 1 or 2 Mbits
-its disabled by default
why are so many people go though the hastle of enabling it? am i missing something? other than combatibility reasons, im not sure why HTC et al even include it in their devices

If you jump on a G network with a B device the extra speed for all the other devices goes away and the whole network throttles down to B speeds.
While I admit that getting the G speed out of a phone is moot, I will hack my device so that when I get it on my home network it does not nerf all my other devices connected wirelessly.
BTW my phone requires a hack to use G, yours may not.

Some people (myself included) turn 802.11b off (stability concerns with my AP's firmware)

there is also a range difference between b and g different frequencies. G is better than b. And N isn't supported on any phone I know about so G is defacto standard.

Related

Bluetooth Modem to Laptop HSDPA Speeds

I am supposedly in a UTMS/HSDPA zone (Detroit MI). The phone show me a "U" in the status bar. I've read the speed is around 1.5Mb/s. But I am getting only 30KB/s - 50KB/s MAX using the Hermes as a bluetooth modem! This sucks!
Is this speed limited by bluetooth? If I use the phone as a USB modem instead, does that increase the speed significantly? It's a much more involved setup to do this however.
Or am I missing something? These speeds are atrociuos for what I am paying. I expect MUCH MUCH higher speeds. Please someone enlighten me or I am going to cancel the stupid service.
Very frustrated. Thanks for any input.
Anyone?
I have the same problem via USB, here 60 miles north of Manila, Philippines. Best I can figure, it has to do with the radio stack being used...? I am using Orange m3100, but my buddies in Manila using Dopod 838 Pro and/or Universal, get real 3G speeds with no special settings...
What version of BT is on your laptop? Older versions than 2.0 are very slow. I use USB and get 700 Kbps avg with 2 bars of UMTS in Bay area, CA.
anubus12 - partly the answer gave you Chirunavvutho. Check what kind of BT adapter you have in your computer, which version.
Go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluetooth for details about versions and about speeds.
But, in my opinion and my practice BT option is much slower then USB connection. First of all all interference with other radios (especially WiFi [same bandwith], and other apliences like CRT monitors and TV, microwave ovens even fridge - it sounds weird but they do interfere.
Second - when your device has to be like a midleman, and has to use GSM/WCDMA radio to get information and then send it by BT radio it will limit it's speed. Actually both speed end efficency. That is why it is better to use USB.
Third - I do not know which version of HSDPA has Cingular in your area. Remember that even if they have 3.6 Mbps speeds may be much lower, due to many reasons - lot of users, kloged backbone etc.
Forth - for info on HSDPA go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HSDPA
drummer10630 - find out FieldTest_157 here on xda-developers. It is monitoring application for Hermes. Find if you have HSDPA in your area. Remember that pure UMTS (WCDMA) has only 384 kbps. This app will tell you what kind of connection you have. You have here also manual if you do not know what to look for.
Hope this helps you guys
No EDR
The Hermes/TyTN supports Bluetooth 2.0 but not EDR. The maximum speed is 721 kbit/s, or about 90 kbyte/s.
abubasim said:
The Hermes/TyTN supports Bluetooth 2.0 but not EDR. The maximum speed is 721 kbit/s, or about 90 kbyte/s.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My buddy has a PCMCIA Card with EVDO Rev0. I put it the same computer and got constant DL rates at around 100Kb/s. That is very acceptable.
Using BT 2.0, it's horrible. I don't get anywhere close to 90Kb/sec.
So now, it might make more sense that USB would yield higher download rates. MAYBE.
Pawlisko said:
anubus12 - partly the answer gave you Chirunavvutho. Check what kind of BT adapter you have in your computer, which version.
Go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluetooth for details about versions and about speeds.
But, in my opinion and my practice BT option is much slower then USB connection. First of all all interference with other radios (especially WiFi [same bandwith], and other apliences like CRT monitors and TV, microwave ovens even fridge - it sounds weird but they do interfere.
Second - when your device has to be like a midleman, and has to use GSM/WCDMA radio to get information and then send it by BT radio it will limit it's speed. Actually both speed end efficency. That is why it is better to use USB.
Third - I do not know which version of HSDPA has Cingular in your area. Remember that even if they have 3.6 Mbps speeds may be much lower, due to many reasons - lot of users, kloged backbone etc.
Forth - for info on HSDPA go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HSDPA
drummer10630 - find out FieldTest_157 here on xda-developers. It is monitoring application for Hermes. Find if you have HSDPA in your area. Remember that pure UMTS (WCDMA) has only 384 kbps. This app will tell you what kind of connection you have. You have here also manual if you do not know what to look for.
Hope this helps you guys
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you very much for the clarification. I'll check USB out to see if the x-fer rate is faster.
As to FiedlTest_157, I downloaded the manual and can't really make heads or tails of how to read it. The manual gives you some parameters, but how do I know what type of connection I have? UTMS/HSDPDA or EDGE?
anubus12 - let me tell you few things and then I will answer your questions. OK?
If you want to have fast data access for your PC - use PCMCIA cards or build in systems - IBM has few notebooks with it, other I do not care
I can assure you that it will be quicker then any connection via USB/BT because hardware and software (drivers and apps) are dedicated only to handle DUN (dial up networking).
So there is no point of comparing PCMCIA cards to PocketPC telephones. Especially when you are using two different networks.
I had HTC Apache in Sprint and Hermes in T-Mobile/Cingular and then I can tell you that Sprint network is simply faster then Cingular. First of all Sprint in my area is fully EVDO-Rev.0 and Cingular is UMTS sometimes HSDPA or EDGE depends on radio used, interference, or even air (windy/raining/t-storm - it has some influence).
HTC Hermes just like other PocketPC handles DUN well, but it is more like backup connection, not when you need it all the time. Just get the info and finish connection. Not because price per MB but they were not build to work this way. You need PCMCIA cards for that purpose (constant net access).
Most of people here might disagree but if you are not traveling internationally on regular basis - use Sprint or Verizon - it is faster and more reliable. Sorry guys its the truth.
When T-Mobile will start 3G it might be different thou T-Mobile has expirence in other countries but other networks has this advantage.
If you traver internationally then you have to use Cingular or T-Mobile. For corporate use I would choose Cingular for personal T-Mobile.
My point is that you cannot compare something which is not comperable. Back to your questions.
anubus12 said:
As to FiedlTest_157, I downloaded the manual and can't really make heads or tails of how to read it. The manual gives you some parameters, but how do I know what type of connection I have? UTMS/HSDPDA or EDGE?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK, let me put it in the easy way
You have Cingular so your only choice is UMTS/HSDPA (3G) and EDGE (2G) because Cingular claims that it's network is fully EDGE enabled.
When on top screen bar you have G (or when using aku 3.3 - E) you are going to GSM (for basic data), AMR (for speach codecs), GPRS (for data connection).
When on top screen bar you have U (or when using aku 3.3 U or H) you are going to WCDMA (for basic data) or HSDPA CQI Status (for knowledge is HSDPA is in use). Well if you see H (aku 3.3) you know that you are in HSDPA area. But if you are using aku 2.3 you are going to HSDPA CQI Status.
You have to know that GSM/GPRS/EDGE data are time and usage driven due to it is TDMA network (Time Division Multiple Access). It means that network data are given to you every few seconds. Because data transfers it is usage then when you are finished data is 0 because nothing is happening. You have to monitor during transfer.
UMTS/HSDPA data are event driven due to it is CDMA network (Code Division Multiple Access). It means that you will see something during and after event. Like after download, but you have to have FieldTest open during download to record data. You are in HSDPA when after/during download in HDSPA CQI Status group CQI1-10 fields are more then 0.
Hope this helps, if you have more question just ask
I use both bluetooth and usb on the cingular network with my tytn.
And yes, bluetooth is much slower than usb regardless of the type of bluetooth on the pc.
I usually get 300-400 on bluetooth and 800-1300 on usb. higher speeds with vista vs xp (don't know why tho) I doubt you will ever get 1.5 mbs as you mention, unless you are the only person using that particular cell tower
@Pawlisko....My problem is that I do get 3G speeds when using the unit itself, browsing, streaming, etc..., but when I use it as a modem for my laptop, from the same location, during the same time frame, I only get one tenth the speeds. Are there different versions of the USBMDM.inf that would cause such a thing? I have experimented with init string settings, and for some reason, using NO init string gives me the fastest speeds.
eagle 1 said:
I usually get 300-400 on bluetooth and 800-1300 on usb. higher speeds with vista vs xp (don't know why tho) I doubt you will ever get 1.5 mbs as you mention, unless you are the only person using that particular cell tower
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
eagle 1 - By your end of quote I can tell you that still you are thinking old way
Huge advantage of CDMA is it's multi connection to tower bases. There is no handover like in TDMA system. In large city your cell might be served by many towers (TyTN 1 to 6).
HSDPA is regarding of category 0.9/1.2/1.8/3.6 Mbps (current). During 2007 CeBit in Hanover 7.3 Mbps will be shown. It will go thru 10.2 to 14.4 Mbps (max) in near future. Of course like any other link you have to substract overhead of TCP/IP protocol data of avg. 20%.
Like fast ethenet - suppose to be 100 Mbps = 12.5 MBps, if you will get 80 Mbps = 10 MBps of real transfer you have very fast network.
If you have more questions - ask
drummer10630 said:
@Pawlisko....My problem is that I do get 3G speeds when using the unit itself, browsing, streaming, etc..., but when I use it as a modem for my laptop, from the same location, during the same time frame, I only get one tenth the speeds. Are there different versions of the USBMDM.inf that would cause such a thing? I have experimented with init string settings, and for some reason, using NO init string gives me the fastest speeds.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
drummer10630 - did you check your speed using any speed tester? Sometimes speed is relative. Remember that some pages are optimised for PDAs with less ads, better html coding etc.
First of all - do not change anything - no strings. Just put your APN in TyTN and dial *98# should be the fastest way.
Second - check if you have installed in your computer software like IM/update that will use some band without your knowledge. That can kill your connection for good.
And last - delete everything for comp - inf files, and related dlls. Install one more time and do not change anything. As plan as it can be.
As usualy - if you have more questions - ask
I can get about 70KB/s download with my laptop's built-in bluetooth module ( 2.0+edr) and tytn and about 150KB/s via usb ( i'm in Italy with VODAFONE operator ).
Using a 1.2 BT dongle on the pc will reduce speed at about 40KB/s ... this is the connection speed from the pc to the device and not from the device and the operator network ( network speed is independent from your pc to tytn connection ).
Just a question : how can be the tytn BT 2.0 without edr since the specs tell that only differences from 1.2 bt vers and 2.0 bt vers is only the speed increase and there isn't a 2.0 without edr in the bt specs ???
vdavide said:
I can get about 70KB/s download with my laptop's built-in bluetooth module ( 2.0+edr) and tytn and about 150KB/s via usb ( i'm in Italy with VODAFONE operator ).
Using a 1.2 BT dongle on the pc will reduce speed at about 40KB/s ... this is the connection speed from the pc to the device and not from the device and the operator network ( network speed is independent from your pc to tytn connection ).
Just a question : how can be the tytn BT 2.0 without edr since the specs tell that only differences from 1.2 bt vers and 2.0 bt vers is only the speed increase and there isn't a 2.0 without edr in the bt specs ???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK, let me answer.
I do not know how abubasim knows that TyTN does not have EDR but this is meaningless.
Your speeds are normal. First of all maximum speed is something which normally is never achived. Why? Because of interference, not optimal power scheme etc. Just like WiFi (IEEE 802.11g) you will never get transfer of 54 Mbps = 6.75 MBps even with protocols overhead (of 20%) = 5.4 MBps. Real transfer is 1.5-2.5 MBps.
Now BT speeds:
BT 1.2 - 721 kbps = 90.125 kBps = real transfer max 72.1 kBps so your speed of 40 kBps is normal with this type. I would said that this is good link speed.
BT 2.0 - 3 Mbps = 384 kBps = real transfer max 307.2 kBps but as per wikipedia data transfer is 3xBT 1.2 = 2.11 Mbps = 270.375 kBps = real transfer max 216.3 kBps so your transfer of 70 kBps is roughly 1/3 so it is about right. I would say that 110 kBps is what you may get, if more you are lucky.
I do not know if TyTN has EDR - in my opinion it may have, but it has to be chcecked.
Hope this helps, if you have any other questions - ask
Pawlisko said:
First of all - do not change anything - no strings. Just put your APN in TyTN and dial *98# should be the fastest way.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You may have meant *99# ? ;-)
@Pawlisko :
i think the tytn has 2.0+EDR also if HTC website say 2.0 without edr ( this mean nothing if you read the BT specs ) .
I was using a samsung Z560 HSDPA before ( BT 1.2) and max download speed via BT in conjunction to my 2.0+edr laptop never reach up to 40KB/s.
Now with tytn i can reach up to 70KB/s and a stable 55KB/s , i mean tytn has real BT2.0+edr imho...
Menneisyys said:
You may have meant *99# ? ;-)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right. My bad
Something that you may not have thought of. Set the baud rate on your Bluetooth serial ports to the highest rate at which you can communicate. Mine is set for 460Kbps. It made a serious difference for me. I didn't perform any measurements but I did see the difference. The default rate is 115200. This was the mistake that most folks made with standard modems. The default serial port rate was 9600 and a 56K modem needed to have data fed to it at at least 115200 to keep its compression engine busy. It didn't matter if you had a 56K data connection if you were only feeding it at 9600. The same principle seems to apply here, at least in my case.
Just my .02.
jblanken64 said:
Something that you may not have thought of. Set the baud rate on your Bluetooth serial ports to the highest rate at which you can communicate. Mine is set for 460Kbps. It made a serious difference for me. I didn't perform any measurements but I did see the difference. The default rate is 115200. This was the mistake that most folks made with standard modems. The default serial port rate was 9600 and a 56K modem needed to have data fed to it at at least 115200 to keep its compression engine busy. It didn't matter if you had a 56K data connection if you were only feeding it at 9600. The same principle seems to apply here, at least in my case.
Just my .02.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How do you set the modem to 460Kbps? The bluetooth modem is set as a standard modem at 115200, which is the MAX. I don't see an option for 460kps. Are you saying to set it up the BT connection as something other than a standard modem?

wifi less power?

Hi guys,
is possible that the shift wifi is power-less than others notebooks?
i explain, i've a 20mb connection at home and a wi-fi zyxel router, i connect to it my shift and also my asus g1s. when i download something from internet my asus download approximately from 1,5mb to 1,8 per second. and is a good thing. If i download the same thing from shift it don't go beyond 800kb. i've never seen a download like on asus.
This have sense? don't know why.. is not a big problem, but is courios.
have same here,
At home my con.speed is 1Mbit. Slow!
At work is normal 54...
I guess it's wireless router that is the problem. (Mine USR, has more problems...)
I get this too.
I can get 17m/bit on my PC which uses a wireless card, 8-10m/bit on my daughters HP laptop and 4-5m/bit on the Shift.
You have to remeber the specification of the device can also have a bearing on the results. My Core2duo 3.6ghz, with 2gb of highly overclocked RAM, RAID0 Raptors and IP35 Motherboard, will ultimately process download speed faster than the Shift would. Plug a P2 450mhz based machine with a 8gb hard drive and 128mb RAM into a wireless network, believe me, you won't get tremendously fast downloads!!!
Performance issue here too :
Using a Netgear WNR854T and I can see the Wi-Fi connection switching constantly from 54 Mbits/s to 11 Mbits/s. Getting really low data rates...
Yep, on the Shift I'm on about half to a third of what I get on my Presario (true d/l speed vs connection speed). In fact depending on 3G performance I can get better d/l speeds that way...
I find in general wireless strength to be sub par on the Shift. My HX4700 PPC has better range and speed than the Shift. Because I use the shift to mainly just surf pages it isn't an issue...but d/l'ing large files in emails is a pain.
While we're discussing wireless on the Shift, is getting it to work under SnapVue a priority in the project? I see that and the SD card as the 2 key issues (for me anyhow)...another donation coming to help with these elements and as thanks for work to date.
my wifi works fine, seems to work better than on some other devices i have
FOOFTR said:
While we're discussing wireless on the Shift, is getting it to work under SnapVue a priority in the project? I see that and the SD card as the 2 key issues (for me anyhow)...another donation coming to help with these elements and as thanks for work to date.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
wifi isn't a priority because the driver doesn't even exist for WM6. will have to recompile CE5 one if that one is working at all.
so that'll be a big pita
also, wifi will only work if SD works.
cmonex said:
wifi isn't a priority because the driver doesn't even exist for WM6. will have to recompile CE5 one if that one is working at all.
so that'll be a big pita
also, wifi will only work if SD works.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks- SD card working would be a big bonus indeed...I got about 7 meg left on Snap Vue...and with no calendar sync'd...
I guess the only reason why I mentioned WiFi (apart from my naivety about drivers etc) was the duopoly we exist in here in NEw Zealand means 3g/HSDPA data costs are horrific. Try $40 for 200meg (yes, meg) a month! Vodafone have been known to say that New Zealand is their most profitable country on the planet (read "most ripped off"). And if fact the news today talked about our commerce commision bashing them around for lying about their cheap rates to an audit group...it p!sses me off to no end, but what am I gonna do?
Anyway's look forward to further Shift developments.
I have to review my initial comments. Last night I had very fast speeds in spite of the less than stellar reception showing for the strength...so I suspect the wireless strength shows as being less but actual impact on speed might be minimal....

freakin slow wireless speed

hi,
i have a freaking slow wireless speed with my blackstone on my home router (only device i can test with).
with dslreports.com/mspeed test i get just 100 kb/s max. that might not be too convincing cause i'm located in germany.
but also the perceived rate is much lower than even 3G, not to talk about H...
what can i do to discover where the problem is?
i have a dlink di-524 with wpa2 aes enabled, wireless mode is G only.
i use a laptop with it get best rates.
thx for your support!
ps: i read the thread(s) about the reg key to fasten up wireless, but that did not change anything
try this works great
let me know what you get after test
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=472652
read my ps, already tried, no difference
oh man...this is so stupid!
just hangled my way through setup and set energy level to speed
never thought of this...
ps: but its really stupid on high speed setting i get ~1800 kb/s, on mid and low there is no difference at all!
All recent MSM devices have this issue... They're set to "Best Battery" by default. Setting it to medium makes almost no difference and setting it to "Best Performance" suddenly stuff starts working awesomely.
It's a power saving issue, but according to my tests it doesn't actually save much power either. Perhaps 5% or so, totally not worth it for the crappy performance you get when it isn't set to "Best Performance".

Wireless N with GS

I already have N Draft network setup for my media server but it seems like my GS never pick it up. When I search for Wifi it only come up with the normal G Draft. How so?
It may be a difference in draft-n and true finalized n. Besides, battery life is better on g, and unless you will be transfering HD movies to your phone I don't see the problem. Your internet doesn't break G spec speeds.
caelestis2 said:
It may be a difference in draft-n and true finalized n. Besides, battery life is better on g, and unless you will be transfering HD movies to your phone I don't see the problem. Your internet doesn't break G spec speeds.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I dont mind the G speed for browsing cuz I know it will never break that speed anyway but what I was trying to achieve is..
If there is an app that let me stream HD media file, wirelessly, from PC to phone, << that would need N draft for sure cuz G will not be able to handle it. And because of this reason, im just a bit worried that my GS doesnt pick it up
Note: ie; in iPhone they have an app called "Air Video" which let user streaming media file from PC to iPhone wirelessly
Try turning off all other specs like b and g in your router and leave n on. The phone just might prefer g over n for battery life (the hd2 had n disabled for this reason)
Heard today that Android 2.1 doesn't have drivers for or doesn't support N(I forget which), so you have to wait for 2.2 if that has em.
Regards
Edit-------------------------
2.2 supports N, 2.1 doesn't. Just did a quick search on google
That doesn't mean the Galaxy S can't use N. It only means that Android 2.1 can't use N by default. Samsung might have solved this issue on its own.
Ahhh thanks guy!! Phew..
My network says my Galaxy S has connected at wireless n 65 Mbps if thats any help, DLink DIR 655 router

1.201 Wi-Fi

After testing new firmware with two different routers at two different places I can definitely say it's got the same range and disconnect issues when compared to existent v.1 with fix applied. What is your experience folks?
Improved network speed over 5GHz band
Range is okay for me, but the speed that the update brings via 5 GHz band has improved significantly as compared to 12.1.A.0.266, a little better than PureXPERIence ROM.
Stock 12.1.A.1.201: (Attachment 1) http://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=2669192&stc=1&d=1396670645
PureXPERIence v1 ROM: (Attachment 2) http://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=2669193&stc=1&d=1396670725
Stock 12.1.A.0.266: (Attachment 3) http://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=2669196&stc=1&d=1396670772
Trust you to provide us with test results...
Thks!
Edit: don't know what steroid your system is on D) but my tests gave me 15mbps for dl and 39 for upload - think its the low end plan I subscribed to (Singtel)
Am envious...
Trust you to provide us with test results...
Thks!
Edit: don't know what steroid your system is on D) but my tests gave me 15mbps for dl and 39 for upload - think its the low end plan I subscribed to (Singtel)
Am envious...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe is your router that is limiting the speed. I'm using ASUS RT-N66U, on 5 GHz band. 2.4 GHz band has always been limited to just 50 Mbps or so for both downstream and upstream (Xperia SP limitation).
My broadband speed on 5GHz band differs significantly at times too, from lows of 60 to highs of 120 Mbps. No idea why is there such high different though.
Sent from my C5303 using xda app-developers app
Speed is not an issue, I've got what I'm paying for when I'm close to the router.. It's range and disconnection I'm having problem with, especially when connected to an old G router. So I've applied the same trick i used before and it's working.
This I found at xperia Z forum and it might help someone else too.
1. Root your phone. Download and install Root Explorer or ES File Explorer (Explorer).
2. Make sure you manage how to use the Explorer as a tool to modify files in the /system folder.
3. Using the Explorer, browse to /system/etc/firmware/wlan/prima/WCNSS_qcom_cfg.ini
4. Make a backup if you wish. Most of the parameters inside need not be changed except the followings:
a. gTxPowerCap=30 (change to 60 increases the TX power)
b. gDot11Mode=auto (change to n to always connect as n, but if you sometimes want to use g, don't change this) (this I changed to auto though it was 0)
c. You may wish to play around with the other parameters as well
5. Now save the file.
6. Browse to /system/etc/hostapd/hostapd_default.conf
7. Again make a backup copy.
8. This is a long file. So please hang on. Amendment of the following is recommended:
a. max_num_sta=2007 (change to 10 to only display 10 wireless AP)
b. channel=6 (change to 0 can solve most wifi connection problems).
This might drain battery a bit faster, but I can live with that.
802.11g WiFi is normally weaker than 802.11n even on N 5GHz. Increase the TX will not only increases battery consumption, it also can get hot much quickly. I know this because I set my RT-N66U to 110mW from initial 80mW.
Why not just invest into a 802.11n router. Single band N300 is more than what you need since your broadband isn't all that fast in the first place. Just don't go for N150, it isn't built for the future when broadband hits 30 Mbps or higher and coverage is much weaker than N300 too.
Also, unless you're using custom ROM or on unlocked bootloader with advanced, there's no way you can modify these values. Both will void your warranty which can put your phone on risk.
Well, not everyone have N router, so you're not going to find it everywhere, and I like to be backward compatible. I was also thinking about decreasing Tx power, perhaps 60 is a bit too much. I'm on existenz v3 w/LB and root is enough to change these values. You're right about warranty, however think about doing this should know that.

Categories

Resources