Wi-Fi network technologies, which are used today on almost all computers and mobile devices, are becoming more and more common, while the most popular among all standards is IEEE 802.11n. True, it provides for the possibility of limiting the speed of the Internet used. However, given the fact that most people surf the net for multimedia files, an additional Wi-Fi Multimedia (WMM) standard has been developed. What it is and why it is needed, and will be described in this article. Internet users should be aware of this standard and make sure that in the modem settings there is a checkmark next to the "WMM Enable" function.
Connection and data transfer speeds
What does it mean to enable WMM? Let's deal with this issue.
First of all, it is worth noting that the speeds of connecting and transmitting information are completely different concepts, and many users try to incorrectly focus on the first option, expressed in the value of Mb / s. In fact, it does not show the actual bandwidth of the network connection you are using. And it is shown by the network adapter driver so that you can see what speed you are currently using within the selected standard.
In other words, your operating system provides information on what the maximum connection speed on this equipment is possible. But at the same time, in fact, it can be significantly slower. The actual speed may depend on a number of factors, including the settings of the 802.11n access point , and, in particular, the "Enable WMM" function. You should activate it if you want to use the Internet without restrictions, and this is provided for by your tariff.
How to find out the speed?
If you want to get a reliable value of your speed over a wireless network, you can use one of the following methods:
- Start the procedure for copying a large file in your operating system, and then try to roughly determine the speed at which this file was transferred. It is worth noting that in Windows 7 operating systems and beyond, when copying for a sufficiently long time, you can go to the additional information of the window, where there will be information about reliable speed.
- Use specialized utilities like NetMeter or NetStress, which are designed specifically to determine your bandwidth. It is recommended to pre-configure the device and activate WMM. Enabling this feature is quite important before starting the tests.
- If you are the administrator of an entire network, then lperf and Jperf are also suitable for you.
How does this standard work?
The 802.11n standard in its work uses a large number of technologies, and one of them is the WMM function. The user can enable it in order to remove various restrictions and provide higher bandwidth. It is worth noting that any such technologies will show really noticeable results only if they work with devices that support 802.11n specifications.
Turn everything off during testing
Do not forget that before testing the network you should turn on WMM, and also completely turn off any other devices except those that you will experience. In a wireless network that is based on an 802.11n point, an option is provided for using devices of previous standards. It is worth noting that 802.11n provides mechanisms to support older standards. As a result, the speed of operation with 802.11n can drop by 50% or even 80% if a slower device receives or transmits data.
In order to ensure the maximum possible performance of this standard, many experts highly recommend that you use exclusively clients with its support on the network.
We remove the limit of 54 Mbps
In the predominant majority of cases, users forget to enable WMM, and also are not aware that if they use outdated security methods WPA / TKIP or WEP, then the provided speed will decrease by approximately 80%. In 802.11n, there is an initial setting that the performance of more than 54 Mbps cannot be fully implemented using one of the above standards. The only exception may be devices that are not certified for 802.11n.
For this reason, if you do not want to face the problem of lowering your speed, it is recommended to use only WPA2 format network security methods using the AES algorithm, however, do not forget that the use of open networks is in itself unsafe.
See settings
It happens that in some situations when using an adapter of the standard 802.11n, as well as installing a wireless access point of this standard, a connection occurs exclusively through 802.11g, and the user cannot even turn on WMM Zyxel. What is this problem? In the predominant majority of cases, this suggests that the security settings of your access point use WPA2 technology with the TKIP protocol. You should not forget that in the WPA2 settings it is recommended to use only the AES algorithm instead of TKIP, which will allow you to significantly improve the work with the device.
Also, many cannot enable WMM APSD for the reason that the access point settings use the automatic detection mode. Experts say that it is recommended that you manually change the only standard to 802.11n instead of leaving the automatic detection function.
WMM mode
Wi-Fi Multimedia defines 4 types of access categories:
- WMM voice traffic priority (highest priority). Allows multiple, low latency concurrent VoIP connections.
- WMM priority of video traffic. Sets the priority of video traffic over regular traffic.
- WMM priority of non-guaranteed delivery. Traffic from devices that do not have a QoS mechanism
- WMM low priority. Low-priority traffic that does not have a delay and transmission performance requirement.
In order to provide the ability to access the Internet at a speed of more than 54 Mbps, you will need to enable Wi-Fi Multimedia (WMM). The 802.11n specification provides for the need to support 802.11e devices, which makes it possible to use a mode with a sufficiently high bandwidth.
You need to enable WMM mode if your device is certified to use 802.11n. It is worth noting that it is recommended to automatically activate this mode in each certified Wi-Fi device. In other words, it is always better to enable WMM mode regardless of whether you are using an adapter, access point or router.
Please note that this mode must be activated not only on your access point, but also on the wireless adapter.
It is worth noting that, depending on your device, the procedure for making such settings may even change. And also in different adapters there can be different names of functions. So if you did not find the "enable WMM" function in the menu of your device, do not despair. Read the instructions carefully, maybe the manufacturer just called it differently.
Among other things, some developers also write that it is possible to provide a higher connection speed if the user has enabled WMM in AD HOC QOS mode.
Disable use of the 40 MHz channel
In accordance with the standard 802.11n provides the possibility of using broadband channels 40 MHz, which provides increased bandwidth. However, in fact, if the channel width changes from 20 to 40 MHz, in the end, even a noticeable decrease in speed characteristics can occur instead of the expected growth.
Why not use it?
Using a channel with a width of 40 MHz can provide an opportunity to potentially increase the bandwidth of your network from 10 to 20 Mbit / s, but in the predominant majority of cases, such an increase can be observed only if there is a sufficiently strong signal. If the signal power decreases, then ultimately the use of such a channel width becomes much less efficient and does not allow to increase the throughput. Thus, if 40 MHz will be used in the presence of a weak signal level, this can reduce the bandwidth by 80%.
If you decide to use such a channel, but at the same time notice a significant drop in speed, it’s enough to simply reconfigure your device to work with a 20 MHz channel. Thus, you can achieve a noticeable increase in bandwidth.
Use only current drivers
In order to configure the Zyxel router to a normal connection speed, you should use only the latest wireless adapter drivers. Often there are situations when, after installing a more recent version of the driver from the manufacturer, a significant increase in connection speed was achieved.
Thus, we examined only the most affordable and effective ways of how you can configure Zyxel devices to provide a higher connection speed and more stable Wi-Fi network. But at the same time, do not forget that there are a large number of other factors that also affect the operation of wireless Wi-Fi networks:
- Other Wi-Fi devices in a short distance.
- Bluetooth devices that function somewhere in the coverage area of your Wi-Fi network.
- Too long distances between used Wi-Fi devices.
- All kinds of obstacles, such as furniture, walls and ceilings, which constantly absorb the emitted radio signal.
- A variety of household appliances that work directly in the coverage area of your network.
- Devices that work through the USB 3.0 standard.
The last point may surprise many users, but it is true, devices with a USB 3.0 interface create certain interference for a Wi-Fi network in the 2.4 GHz band.
If in the end you set everything up correctly, you can safely count on the fact that your overall Internet speed will be guaranteed to rise . Many users are not even aware of these features using the default settings, although in fact the potential of their connection allows for a much higher speed.