Transcript Wired and Wireless Networks By Jeremy Mayeres Problem Does a wireless network create a significant difference in internet experience (speed of page download), compared to a wired network? Hypothesis I.

Wired and Wireless
Networks
By Jeremy Mayeres
Problem
Does a wireless network
create a significant difference
in internet experience (speed
of page download), compared
to a wired network?
Hypothesis
I do not believe that the
Internet experience will be
affected
Purpose

The reason why I am doing this project is
because I have never found any information
about whether a wireless network creates a
significant slowdown in your internet
experience, compared to a wired network.
There are studies that compare wired and
wireless networks based on file transfer
speed, but not internet experience.
Research Plan


I plan to read my router’s manual, to learn
more about how packets are moved through
a network and the internet, and to find out if
anybody ever did any research on the same
topic I chose.
I will go online to find out about the research,
find books that describe internet protocols
(HTTP) and file transfer protocols (FTP), and
I will read the router’s documentation as well
as the information on their website.
Materials Used
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
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
Laptop with a PCIMCIA port open and a built
in Ethernet port. Pentium 3 processor
Linksys Wireless Access Point Router with 4Port Switch
Linksys Instant Wireless Network PC Card
Belkin Category 5 patch cable
Motorola Surfboard Cable Modem
Mozilla 1.1 Internet browser
Procedures – Page 1
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Connect the laptop computer to the router via the category 5
patch cable
Turn on the computer and make sure the connection works
Open up Mozilla
Go to a web site (e.g. Yahoo.com or google.com)
Write down the website URL and time taken for the amount of
KB downloaded
Repeat steps 4 and 5 three times
Go to Bandwidthplace.com and take the Speed Test
Write down the results
Repeat steps 7 and 8 three times
Procedures – Page 2
10. Go to Toast.net and run the “All Tests” from the Toast.Net free
server
11. Write down the amount of bytes loaded, the time it took, and
the throughput
12. Repeat steps 10 and 11 three times
13. Turn off the computer
14. Disconnect the patch cable
15. If you can, try to move back 10 feet (if you are already very
close to the router)
16. Put in the wireless PCIMCIA network card into the computer
17. Clean the browser’s Cache
18. Repeat steps 2 through 12
Data for Wired Network
Date
Time of access
12/9/2002
4:33 PM
12/9/2002
4:34 PM
12/9/2002
4:34 PM
12/9/2002
5:07 PM
12/9/2002
4:40 PM
Date
Time of access
12/9/2002
4:41 PM
Date
Time of access
12/9/2002
4:44 PM
12/9/2002
4:46 PM
Site
Page Size (in bytes)
Time taken (seconds)
yahoo.com
39106
1.672
google.com
1121
0.49
rooseveltmiddle.com
7395
0.361
howstuffworks.com
6367
4.237
m-w.com
21725
1.882
Raw Speed (Bits/sec) Communication (megabits/sec) Storage (kilobits/sec) 1MB Download (sec)
2537716.33
2.5
309.8
3.3
Bytes loaded
Time taken (seconds)
Throughput (k)
Source
1,754,674
5.938
2364 Toast.net Free Server
1,754,674
14.19
959 CableOne
Data for Wireless Network
Date
12/9/2002
12/9/2002
12/9/2002
12/9/2002
12/9/2002
Date
12/9/2002
Date
12/9/2002
12/9/2002
Time of access
4:54 PM
4:55 PM
4:57 PM
4:58 PM
4:58 PM
Time of access
4:59 PM
Time of access
5:01 PM
5:02 PM
Site
Page Size (in bytes)
yahoo.com
google.com
rooseveltmiddle.com
howstuffworks.com
m-w.com
Raw Speed (Bits/sec)
1767532.1
Bytes loaded
1,754,674
1,754,674
39074
1121
7395
6367
21725
Communication (megabits/sec)
1.8
Time taken (seconds)
6.364
16.323
Time taken (seconds)
2.383
0.621
0.27
4.837
2.744
Storage (kilobits/sec)
1MB Download (sec)
215.8
4.7
Throughput (k)
Source
2204 Toast.net Free Server
860 CableONE
Research
I did research on the internet, but found little
information comparing the two network
mediums. I only found in the instruction
booklet that the wireless network speed is up
to 11 Megabits per second, while the regular
wired network is at 100 megabits per second.
Speeds are constantly increasing, and there
is already the IEEE 802.11a Wireless
networking system, which is faster than the
current IEEE 802.11b Wireless network.
Data Analysis
For low-content websites like google.com
and rooseveltmiddle.com, there is very
little difference. High-content pages may
have a slight difference, but it often
goes unnoticed. Mass downloads and
uploads do show a difference, but is not
ten times different as suggested in the
speed differences (11Mbps vs.
100mbps)
Conclusion
My hypothesis was correct, there
is very little difference in Internet
experience.
Bibliography Page 1
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Brain, Marshall. “How Routers Work.” How
Stuff Works. 2001 ed.
Jamsa Kris. “Network Operations.” PC
Performance Tuning & Upgrading. 2002 ed.
Burgess, John. “Wireless LANs.” Predictive
Systems.
http://www.predictive.com/publications/article
s/article_detail.cfm?Rsc_ID=328 (Nov. 12,
2002)
Bibliography Page 2
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Tyson, Jeff. “How Wireless Networking
Works.” How Stuff Works.
http://www.howstuffworks.com/wirelessnetwork.htm (Nov. 12, 2002)
Whitehead, Paul. Teach yourself visually
networking. 2000 ed.