Re: Wi-Fi vs cable... any advantages?

"negativeB@xxxxxxxxx" <negativeB@xxxxxxxxx> hath wroth:

I have an 8-Meg cable connection right now in my apartment, of which I
really only get 4 down and 0.5 up.

There's something wrong with your unspecified equipment. All of my
cable modem benchmarks are running at maximum speed (and faster),
except when the system gets really busy. In short bursts, I've seen
15Mbits/sec. If you're getting 4Mbit/sec download, there's something
wrong. See the test results for Comcast at:
<http://www.dslreports.com/archive?f=g&dnsdom=comcast.net&dnsdom1=&domsum=Draw+Graph>
Hmmm... big spike at 3.7Mbits/sec. Those are probably 802.11b
wireless connections. The speed isn't being limited by the cable
modem connection, it's limited by the 4.5Mbit/sec maximum you can cram
through an 802.11b connection. Anything faster requires 802.11g.

It's also possible to purchase a router with a bad case of thruput
constipation. See table at:
<http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/component/option,com_chart/Itemid,189/chart,119/>
The routers near the bottom just can't pass the traffic fast enough
for a cable modem.

So, what hardware do you have (makers and model numbers) and how are
you measuring it?

My neighbor and I were talking the
other night, and he offered to let me use his Wi-Fi connection, which
I can pick up at 80% strength, but still slower than the 4 Megs I get
from Comcast.

Half the speed, half the price. I don't see the problem.

If I didn't use Comcast for my phone service, I would cancel and just
use his Wi-Fi network... but as it stands, I suppose my question is:

You might want to read the Comcast TOS (terms of service).
<http://www.comcast.net/terms/>
There's probably an unenforceable clause in there about not sharing
connections.

Are there any advantages to running both a Wi-Fi & cable connection?

That depends on what is at the other end of the Wi-Fi connection. If
it's another cable modem on the same system, you won't improve
reliability. If you want more speed, there's no way to "bond" two
different IP's into a single IP connection. You can get a load
balancing router to that you can automagically use either connection,
but the speeds don't add up.

Or would these two connections compete with each other?

It would be an either/or proposition. You can't just plug everything
into an ethernet switch and expect things to magically work. See load
balancing routers for an explanation:
<http://www.edimax.com/en/produce_detail.php?pd_id=226&pl1_id=3&pl2_id=20>
<http://www.edimax.com/en/produce_detail.php?pd_id=49&pl1_id=3&pl2_id=20>

Can I make
each connection serve a different purpose (i.e. update through my
cable connection and play World of Warcraft over the Wi-Fi at the same
time)? Just a thought.

Not easily. You would need to specify a different gateway IP for each
connection and then explicitely define the route (source routing) to
each server using static routes. It can be done, but whether you want
to go through the ordeal is a bit much. A load balancing router will
do that for you. If one connection is clogged with traffic, it will
move any new traffic to the other connection.



--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@xxxxxxxxxx
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558
.

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