Wireless Network Speed Comparison – 150 Mbps vs 300 Mbps

Update: After numerous comments on this article, I feel a number of readers are missing the purpose of the demonstration. This article is meant to provide the average everyday user a means of “visually” comparing the speed difference between the two types of wireless connections. (150 and 300) I understand that there is a difference between Megabytes & Megabits…however, the article is not geared towards the technically elite. It is simply a means by which the everyday person will be able to discern if an upgrade is worth their hard earned money. 

What does 300 Mbps mean? What does 150 Mbps mean? Will my internet be faster with a 300 Mbps wireless network card instead of a 150 Mbps network card? What is the real world difference in actual speed between the two types of wireless network cards? Should I go with a hard wired Ethernet connection versus a wireless network connection? These questions and many more are the questions I am asked when discussing any type of wireless network installation. After 13 years of working professionally in the computer field, I feel it is time to show actual real world results between the two wireless network speeds. In addition, I will compare them both to the good old hard wired Ethernet connection. Which one is best for you?

Wireless network speeds come in a variety of standards. Common wireless network standards are wireless 802.11B, 802.11G and 802.11N. For the most part both wireless 802.11B and 802.11G are not used nowadays for new network installations. 802.11N is currently the fastest stable wireless connection you can buy. 802.11N also provides the strongest signal allowing networked devices to maintain a reliable connection far away from the actual wireless router. While there are various levels of 802.11N, the two I will be discussing are the 150 Mbps and 300 Mbps variety.

Common mathematics would lead one to assume that a 300 Mbps wireless network will be twice as fast as a 150 Mbps wireless network. However, these numbers are feasible in what one would consider an “optimal” environment. Imagine placing your wireless N router in the center of a basketball gymnasium. It would be fair to assume that since there are no obstructions to block the wireless network signal coming from your wireless N router, you would probably have a decent wireless connection anywhere inside that basketball gymnasium.

However, place that same wireless router inside your home and that powerful wireless network signal now must travel through walls, floors and much more before it reaches your wireless device. By the time it reaches your wireless device, that signal has been reduced considerably. All these obstacles not only reduce the strength of the signal, but the rate at which data is transmitted.

In order to give proper real world results, three sets of tests were performed. Each set of tests included 1) an internet speed test from Speedtest.net and 2) a large file transfer from one PC to the other. These two tests were completed on the same two computers for all 3 types of connections: Wireless 150 Mbps, Wireless 300 Mbps and finally a hard wired gigabit Ethernet connection. All three sets of tests were done on the same 2 computers in order to provide the most accurate real world network results.

System Specifications of Control Computers

CPU – AMD Phenom II X4 965
Motherboard – GIGABYTE GA-990FXA-UD3
RAM – G.Skill 16 GB DDR 3
HD – Crucial 256 GB SSD
Power Supply – Corsair 750 Watt Professional Series
Graphics Card – Asus Radeon HD 7850 (1 GB DDR 5)
NIC (for hard wired tests) –
Operating System – Windows 7 Home

The components of the wireless network are as follows…

1) Verizon FiOS Actiontec Router – This router has (4) gigabit network ports that allow you to connect 4 wired devices to your network. The wireless antenna on the FiOS router has been disabled and the router only controls the hard wired network devices.

2) UniFi AP LR (Unifi Long Range Access Point) – This wireless N 300 Mbps access point is connected to the Verizon FiOS Actiontec Gigabit router and controls the wireless portion of my network. This access point can transmit data at the rate of 300 Mbps and is backward compatible to previous 802.11 standards. It is important to note that the access point is running in N mode only in order to squeeze the most performance from the wireless network. The access point is also operating a 40 Mhz channel.  (Wireless B and G standards have been disabled on the access point.)

3) Verizon FiOS Internet – 25 Mb Download  / 10 Mb Upload

Want to know how to install the UniFi AP LR on your Verizon FiOS router? Click the link below…

Boost Verizon FiOS Wireless Network Signal – UniFi AP

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The results of the 3 sets of tests are shown below…

150 Mbps Wireless Network Real World Speed Test

For these tests both computers were outfitted with a Rosewill RNX-N150 PCe which operates at a maximum speed of 150 Mbps. Both computers were connected to the same UniFi AP LR and were both roughly 30 ft away from the access point.

Large File Transfer

150 Mbps vs 300 Mbps - Wireless N Network Speed Comparison

In a real world scenario, the Rosewill wireless network card only had a maximum data transfer rate of 3.37 MB/s.

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150 Mbps vs 300 Mbps - Wireless N Network Speed Comparison

The Speedtest.net test had a download of 19.01 Mbps and an upload of 9.90 Mbps.

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300 Mbps Wireless Network Real World Speed Test

For this test both computers were outfitted with an Intel 2200BNHMWDTX1 which has a maximum data transfer rate of 300 Mbps. Both computers were connected to the same UniFi AP LR and were both roughly 30 ft away from the access point.

150 Mbps vs 300 Mbps - Wireless N Network Speed Comparison

In a real world scenario, the Intel wireless network card had a maximum transfer rate of 5.41 MB/s. This showed an increase of 2.04 Mbps for network traffic when compared to the Rosewill network card.

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150 Mbps vs 300 Mbps - Wireless N Network Speed Comparison

The Speedtest.net test had a download of 25.21 Mbps and an upload of 10.79 Mbps. This is an increase of 6.2 Mbps for the download speed and a .89 Mbps increase in the upload speed when compared to the Rosewill network card.

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Gigabit Ethernet Network Real World Speed Test

For these tests both computers were outfitted with a Realtek 8111E onboard gigabit network interface / port. The Realtek NIC has a maximum transfer rate of 1,000 Mbps.

Hardwired File Transfer

In a real world scenario, the Realtek network card had a maximum transfer rate of 32.9 MB/s. This showed an increase of 27.49 Mbps for network data transfer speed when compared to the Intel Wireless network card.

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150 Mbps vs 300 Mbps - Wireless N Network Speed Comparison

When compared to the Intel wireless network card, the Realtek Gigabit network card showed little difference in the download and upload speed.

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From the data collected between the three devices, it is clear that the claimed wired and wireless data transfer speed is no where the real world results.  Remember, those figures are for an optimal location which almost never occurs. However, the results from the test clearly showed a difference in both network data transfer speed as well download and upload internet speed between the three devices.

The 300 Mbps Intel wireless card showed a 61% increase in network data transfer speed, a 33% increase in the internet download speed and a 10% increase in the internet upload speed when compared to the Rosewill network card. It is important to note that the 150 Mbps Rosewill wireless network card could not utilize the 25 Mb FiOS internet connection to the fullest extent.

The Realtek network card showed a 600% increase in network data transfer speed. However, the differences between the download and upload speed when compared to the Intel network card were negligible. This is important to note because I am often asked if a faster wireless network card will help the download and upload speed of an internet connection. For the most part, internet speed is determined by the speed of your internet connection. However, the Rosewill wireless network card showed that it could not handle the full 25 Mbps / 10 Mbps FiOS internet connection.

So which network setup should you go with…150 Mbps, 300 Mbps or a hard wired Ethernet network? This all depends on your requirements. The Intel wireless network card clearly showed an increase in both network data transfer speed and the download / upload speed of the internet. Though the increase in network data transfer speed from the Intel wireless card is miniscule when compared to the data transfer speed of a traditional hard wired Ethernet network. So what should you go with?

For over 13 years, I have told my clients to run a hard wired connection within their offices. The fast network data transfer speed as well as the reliability that comes with a hard wired network setup is a must for any business.  If you are planning to stream video through your home network a wired Ethernet network is the best solution. Though there are times when one must go wireless. For these times, it is clear that the 300 Mbps data transfer rate is a great improvement over the old 150 Mbps data transfer rate.

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Tags: 150mbps,300mbps,wireless,n,network,speed,comparison,gigabit,ethernet,transfer,rate,data,802.11N

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