8. Performance - 802.11a

• WAG511 802.11a/B/G...
• • VEGAS MICRO
  • $65.00
• • ElectronicsPLUS
  • $72.50
• • Mwave.com
  • $72.85
• • TECH ON WEB
  • $75.03
• • NextWarehouse.com
  • $78.70

The WAG511's 11a throughput was surprisingly good, with Figure 12 showing much better performance than I've previously had with any 11a products.

Figure 12: 802.11a throughput
(click on the image for a full-sized view)

I usually get a very unreliable connection, if any at all, at my Condition 3 and 4 locations with very "bursty" throughput. The difference, however, is not in the WAG511, but from the WAB102 AP's second-generation 11a radio. See my Second-generation 802.11a NTK for the story behind this improved 802.11a performance.

Figure 13: WEP and Turbo mode performance
(click on the image for a full-sized view)

I also ran tests in Turbo mode, and with WEP enabled in both normal and Turbo modes. Figure 13 shows an average throughput of about 31Mbps in Turbo mode under best case conditions. I also ran tests at all four of my test locations and found that, unlike my previous tests, Turbo mode still produced an approximately 40% throughput increase even under weaker signal conditions. You can also see that WEP-enabled performance is virtually identical to running without it.

In all, a very impressive performance in all modes.

802.11a Wireless Performance Test Results

Test Conditions - WEP encryption: DISABLED - Tx Rate: Automatic - Power Save: Disabled - Test Partner: NETGEAR WG602 54Mbps Wireless Access Point			Firmware/Driver Versions AP f/w: 1.04.00 Wireless client driver: 2.3.0.73 WinXP Wireless client f/w: No Info
Test Description	Signal Quality (%)	Transfer Rate (Mbps)	Response Time (msec)	UDP stream
				Throughput (kbps)	Lost data (%)
Client to AP - Condition 1	100	19.3 [No WEP] 18.6 [w/ WEP]	1 (avg) 2 (max)	499	0
Client to AP - Condition 2	95	19.2	1 (avg) 3 (max)	499	0
Client to AP - Condition 3	73	19.3	1 (avg) 5 (max)	499	0
Client to AP - Condition 4	68	17.5	2 (avg) 5 (max)	499	0

See details of how we test.