Kitz Forum

Computers & Hardware => Networking => Topic started by: Bowdon on March 17, 2022, 10:25:55 PM

Title: Can wifi data link protocals be manually changed?
Post by: Bowdon on March 17, 2022, 10:25:55 PM
I'm looking at buying a wifi extender in the future. Having looked around the internet for recommendations I noticed that some people complain about not getting good speeds on certain wifi setups.

I was wondering if this as anything to do with the data link protocals, as on one page I looked at the different protocals have different transfer rates. So if the wifi is stuck on a lower protocal for whatever reason, is there a way to manually change the protocal?

Just as an example of what I mean, this is the wifi extender I'm looking at;

https://www.ebuyer.com/860753-netgear-orbi-outdoor-wifi-mesh-extender-add-on-satellite-rbs50y-200eus (https://www.ebuyer.com/860753-netgear-orbi-outdoor-wifi-mesh-extender-add-on-satellite-rbs50y-200eus)

The protocals it uses are: IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11g, IEEE 802.11n, IEEE 802.11ac

If I look at the intel page for information of the transfer rates I can see the rates very dramatically especially between 802.11b to 802.11ac

https://www.intel.co.uk/content/www/uk/en/support/articles/000005725/wireless/legacy-intel-wireless-products.html (https://www.intel.co.uk/content/www/uk/en/support/articles/000005725/wireless/legacy-intel-wireless-products.html)

So other that forcing the wifi extender to re-establish a link, are there any manual commands a person can type in to force it to link to a higher protocal if getting slow speeds?

This is more an academic question for me as I have most of the house cabled up. But I wondered if the wifi protocal sync is what causes some people to have slower than expected wifi transfer rates, and if there was anything they could manually do.
Title: Re: Can wifi data link protocals be manually changed?
Post by: Reformed on March 17, 2022, 11:59:06 PM
You set the protocols your wireless may use. The only reason to use lower ones than AC is if you've some equipment that's kinda old and only supports up to 802.11n.
Title: Re: Can wifi data link protocals be manually changed?
Post by: meritez on March 18, 2022, 08:28:20 AM
According to the technical sheet, the RBS50Y uses a 4x4 MIMO for the backhaul, and provides 2X2 5GHZ and 2.4GHZ for anything that connects to it: https://www.netgear.com/media/RBS50Yv2_tcm148-74894.pdf

Does it give you the flexibility to disable b/g on 2.4GHZ, and a on 5GHZ?
Can you set the Channel Width?

Title: Re: Can wifi data link protocals be manually changed?
Post by: Alex Atkin UK on March 19, 2022, 08:02:55 AM
So other that forcing the wifi extender to re-establish a link, are there any manual commands a person can type in to force it to link to a higher protocal if getting slow speeds?

As a general rule I'd say no.  WiFi seems to try really hard to hit the highest rate possible, if you aren't getting it then its because it plain wont work.

In my own experience I usually sync at one of the highest rates but that doesn't mean I get close to its potential speed, it varies dramatically day to day.