Wireless LAN & ping?

[Tetris L]

As a tech dummy I need some advice: I'm planing a network when I move in with my GF ... err wife (damn, can't get used to calling her that). I'm considering wireless LAN, but (on top of the known security issues) I am worried that it might have negative impact on my pings. I read that wireless is somewhat slower than wired, pingwise.

Anybody can confirm or disconfirm? Experience?

 

[Thrash123]

I have never had any huge issue with wireless in the ping dept - Of course, it won't compare to a 1gb lan when it comes to transfers

Honestly, if you can hold out, wait for the 2nd gen of WPA (Wireless Protected Access) coming out later this year. I'm still a fan of cabled networks - it's fairly easy to conceal the cables, and you can put drops in every room if you know how to make your own cables and network drops.

 

[Sir_Brizz]

The internet is not as fast as wireless lan. You might experience minimal packet loss but that is all.

 

[hyrulian]

I'm on an 802.11b (11 Mbps) wireless LAN connected to DSL, and I can still manage to get pings as low as 50; average I get is about 125.

Every once in a while I get packet loss due to poor signal, but that is usually fixed by rotating the antenna. (Think back to the days of antenna TV )

 

[Tetris L]

If you ping your cable/dsl modem over wireless lan, what would be a typical response time?

On wired networks it should be well below 10 ms, even with a router/switch in between. Is it not higher with wireless?

 

[DeDpoet|BuF]

securing a wireless lan is pretty easy, imo.

-don't broadcast your SSID
-use 128 bit encryption
-restrict access to specific MAC addresses (each network card has it's own physical MAC address)
-restrict the # of IP's that can connect to wireless router

check out this site for creating a directional parabolic antenna (increased gain in signal Tx/Rx)

http://www.freeantennas.com/projects/template/

btw - as for ping it's usually pretty good. You might experience packet loss every now and again, but hardly noticeable. pinging a cable modem should be really fast.

 

[Sir_Brizz]

If you ping your cable/dsl modem over wireless lan, what would be a typical response time?

On wired networks it should be well below 10 ms, even with a router/switch in between. Is it not higher with wireless?

I usually get about 8-12, although I have spiked to 33.

 

[Bean 3:16]

I am not sure on the ping between the signal and its wireless accessors, but I know I noticed no difference when I went wireless at my house. Do as depoet says, and you won't have to worry about anyone tapping your network...at least the typical tapper.

 

[dapngwnman]

I've been running an 802.11a network at my home for quite some time. I have 3 PCs on at once, one running a teamspeak server, and the other two are for games. Haven't experienced much packet loss at all, unless i am going alll out with games playing on each , and the PL comes on the farthest away one. It IS quuuiite nice being able to run around and frag at the same time.

 

[[Ci]Mazza]

I ran an 802.11b network from october last year until a few weeks ago and it had no negative effect on my pings. I was sub 100 to all the decent euro servers and sub 80 to quite a lot of UK ones.

 

[MeStinkBAD]

I've ben using a Wireless LAN since 2000 and have gone thru several updates/changes. The network is made up of both wired and wireless peers. Ping time, nor packet loss, have ever been an issue. The wireless PCs get just as good ping a data rates (for internet) then wired. What you do got to look out for is devices that will cause interferance. Such as microwaves. You use a computer within 10-15 feet (possibly more depending on the strength and distance from the base station) you may experiance the network dropping in and out.

 

[dapngwnman]

What you do got to look out for is devices that will cause interferance. Such as microwaves. You use a computer within 10-15 feet (possibly more depending on the strength and distance from the base station) you may experiance the network dropping in and out.

Yeah, IIRC 802.11b runs at around 2.4ghz which is around the same frequency of microwave interference. And again IIRC, 802.11a and g both run at around 5.4ghz and obtain more interference from like...say a brick wall, or in my situation, a giant fridge. If I am wrong, someone correct me, but this is what I barely remember

 

[hyrulian]

Actually, 802.11g runs at 2.4GHz as well.

 

[Sir_Brizz]

b and g are compatible. a is not. a=5ghz, b and g=2.4ghz

 

[dapngwnman]

Actually, 802.11g runs at 2.4GHz as well.

Thanks. I knew I had some of that wrong. I have at least 3 microwaves running around here at once, and at least 3 2.4ghz cordless phones. No wonder I went a

 

[hyrulian]

1 802.11b network, 1 wireless A/V sender, 1 wireless camera, 1 cordless phone, 1 microwave.

Got them all to work together!
Except, when someone's on the phone, the network slows down a bit, and when someone's on the computer, the A/V gets a little fuzzy. But they all work!

 

[Kaligraphic]

And how's the video and sound on that microwave?


Oh, here's a point - make sure your firmware is recent on the AP and client cards - the earlier WEP implementations used weak initialization vectors, and could be cracked pretty quickly. (that's where WEP's reputation for insecurity comes from) Recent (within, say, the past couple of years) implementations filter out the weak IVs, but you have to make sure that all devices with the WEP key have the recent firmware. (128bit WEP with recent firmware takes a bit over a month to crack, on average.)

That shouldn't be a problem, but I thought I'd mention it in case you're looking at secondhand kit.

 

[hyrulian]

And how's the video and sound on that microwave?

Oh, excellent! I can see and hear my movie in the microwave window while my food is cooking!

128bit WEP with recent firmware takes a bit over a month to crack, on average.

I suppose that's why they say you should change your WEP key about every few weeks. :tup:

 

[Kaligraphic]

So how big's the screen on that microwave? I may want to come over and... cook some anime.

And yes, that's why. Of course, for someone like me, it would take a fair bit longer (I find myself using my machine too much for non-cryptographic functions (translate: games) to crack one within half a year)