More and more people are getting broadband internet with speeds up to 20MB sent right to their homes. From there a series of computers will be networked, some wired and others wireless. With laptops, netbooks and tablets becoming more popular, it isn’t any surprise that people are setting up Wi-Fi networks throughout the home. But did you notice your internet speed decrease at all since you started using your Wi-Fi?
According to a research firm, Epitiro, 1400 connections were monitored in the UK, US, Italy and Spain. Over 56% used a Wi-Fi connection and the rest were wired connections. During the tests, the study showed that users lost almost 30 percent of the download speed through a wireless network, this included a 10-20 percent increase in latency on the same networks. Obviously, a user cannot trust they would get maximum speed from their Wi-Fi connections, but if you are having issues at home with performance, then why not just “wire” yourself in?
What reasons are their for the lose in download speed? Well, some are quite obvious and include, walls, doors, furniture, baby monitors, television remotes, cordless phones and more. All of those things can, and WILL, interfere with your Wi-Fi network. Of course, if any device is using the same frequency, you are going to see some interceptions.
Even though the download times were reported to have dropped, the study did say that web page download times seemed very much even for Wi-Fi or wired connections to a home network. Since most web pages are very small file sizes, it would make since you see less interruption while surfing, compared to downloading a song or streaming live online.
