Horrific WiFi speeds - Droid X bug

[Sydman]

Yeah I changed my network to the WPA/TKIP only and that seemed to work good, I am still using N as the speed and my 3G connection also drops when I am on WIFI.

 

[Coldbricks]

One thing I immediately notice is that your 3G symbol stays on even when youre connected over wifi. My 3G turns off and disappears when connected to my home network. Hopefully that helps you out a bit. As a side note, im using WPA2 encryption on a netgear router on G.

Hi. thanks that is a very interesting observation. ill look into that . I am beginning to believe it is my router.

 

[zamslam]

I very disappointed with the WiFi speeds on the X. I haven't had any trouble maintaining a connection, but then again I haven't used the wifi enough to establish anything in that regard. What I have done is a number of side by side tests with my Droid 1. And regardless of whether the my router is outputting in mixed mode, greenfield, B/G/N, G/N, or N only, the speeds with the X never come close to those on Droid 1.

Data below.

I can't tell from your punctuation, but did you try "G only". That is what did the trick for me. I have a Netgear WNDR3700, and set it to "54Mb/s max" for it's 2.4GHz radio. Constant slowness/disconnects evaporated. Problems with N or multi-modes that include N seems to be a known issue that I hope they fix in 2.2

 

[baniels]

I will try G only this evening. I am pretty sure I only tried G/N mode.

I very disappointed with the WiFi speeds on the X. I haven't had any trouble maintaining a connection, but then again I haven't used the wifi enough to establish anything in that regard. What I have done is a number of side by side tests with my Droid 1. And regardless of whether the my router is outputting in mixed mode, greenfield, B/G/N, G/N, or N only, the speeds with the X never come close to those on Droid 1.

Data below.

I can't tell from your punctuation, but did you try "G only". That is what did the trick for me. I have a Netgear WNDR3700, and set it to "54Mb/s max" for it's 2.4GHz radio. Constant slowness/disconnects evaporated. Problems with N or multi-modes that include N seems to be a known issue that I hope they fix in 2.2

 

[goracer]

There are different kinds of N. The best is the 5.4ghz N ver 2 with MIMO.
Here's some reading ...
802.11n: The Next Generation of Wireless Performance [802.11n] - Cisco Systems

 

[baniels]

Thanks to zamslam's suggestion, I tried something I hadn't thought of. I set my wireless AP to broadcast in G only. As soon as I did that, my X got 4 tests in a row with download speeds of 18-20 Mbps, and upload speed equivalent with what I was getting before.

So if this information tells us anything, it is that there is an issue with the X's performance when connected to a wireless-N network. With a G network it seems to be a touch better than the Droid 1. Now if I can figure out how to tell the X to connect to the G broadcast, so I can leave the N broadcast in place for my laptop and other N-capable equipment.

 

[zamslam]

Thanks to zamslam's suggestion, I tried something I hadn't thought of. I set my wireless AP to broadcast in G only. As soon as I did that, my X got 4 tests in a row with download speeds of 18-20 Mbps, and upload speed equivalent with what I was getting before.

So if this information tells us anything, it is that there is an issue with the X's performance when connected to a wireless-N network. With a G network it seems to be a touch better than the Droid 1. Now if I can figure out how to tell the X to connect to the G broadcast, so I can leave the N broadcast in place for my laptop and other N-capable equipment.

If you have a dual band wifi router, you can have it use N for the 5GHz band and G for the 2.4. Worked pretty well for me.

 

[zamslam]

There are different kinds of N. The best is the 5.4ghz N ver 2 with MIMO.
Here's some reading ...
802.11n: The Next Generation of Wireless Performance [802.11n] - Cisco Systems

For many folks the 5 GHz band isn't "best", because it's more prone to interference. If I am right next to my router, 5 is faster, if I am on the far side of the house 2.4 says "good" signal strength, while the 5GHz band won't hold a connection.

 

[zamslam]

(and have different SSIDs for each, though the X isn't capable of using the 5GHz).

 

[goracer]

That is strange since 5ghz should be approximately double the distance but if the X can't use that frequency then that would explain how you get better performance with 2.4ghz. Most people do not have dual band (G for iNet & N draft 2 for streaming video) with MIMO and QOS.

If I understand this article correctly then 5ghz support will be available in Android 2.2
http://androidandme.com/2010/04/news/nexus-one-learns-a-new-trick-wireless-n/

 

[zamslam]

That is strange since 5ghz should be approximately double the distance but if the X can't use that frequency then that would explain how you get better performance with 2.4ghz. Most people do not have dual band (G for iNet & N draft 2 for streaming video) with MIMO and QOS.

If I understand this article correctly then 5ghz support will be available in Android 2.2
Nexus One learns a new trick, Wireless N – Android and Me

5 is double the frequency, but not double the distance. Higher frequencies have a harder time penetrating objects like walls. N may have better distance than G, but I think 2.4N has better distance than 5N.

This is why you can hear the bass from a stereo farther away than the treble. Or why they use ultra-low frequencies to communicate with far away submarines etc.

 

[mjdurango]

Any one try a dual band router?