Over the years, various standards have gradually been approved for the transfer of data through Wi-Fi connections. Overall, these standards are defined by the IEEE 802.11 specifications and by a series of versions (distinguished by one or more letters) which differ in terms of modulation, theoretically available bandwidth and obtainable data transfer speed, bandwidth, the frequency spectrum used, the possibility of using multiple spatial streams (MIMO, Multiple-input and multiple-output) and additional features (ie Beamforming). Make one speed test WiFi it helps to understand what the real performance of the wireless network you are using is and at what speed data can be transferred.
WiFi standards in a nutshell
Leaving aside the older versions of the IEEE 802.11 standard, we mention those that are still in use today:
- 802.11n (WiFi 4). Approved in its final version in September 2009, 802.11n works on both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz. It also makes it possible to reach a theoretical speed of 300 Mbps. For the first time it also becomes possible to use MIMO technology so as to extend the bandwidth available through the use of multiple antennas and signals. Routers and connected WiFi devices can simultaneously send and receive multiple streams of data, significantly increasing the speed of the connection. 802.11n devices are also capable of extending the coverage range of the WiFi network.
- 802.11ac (WiFi 5). Officially becoming standard in January 2014, 802.11ac uses the technology dual band allowing the simultaneous management of multiple connections on both 2.4 and 5 GHz. On paper it allows you to reach 1,300 Mbps on 5 GHz and get up to 450 Mbps on 2.4 GHz.
With 802.11ac you can make use of higher bandwidth (up to 160 MHz), you can use more MIMO spatial streams (up to 8), multi-user MIMO, high-density modulation (up to 256 QAM), and Beamforming (offers considerable advantages compared to the traditional omnidirectional diffusion of the WiFi signal, directing it towards the position where the various clients are physically located). - 802.11ax (WiFi 6). It was introduced in 2019 and is designed to deliver higher spectral efficiency, higher capacity, and higher performance in environments with a high density of connected devices.
- 802.11axe (WiFi 6E). Version of the WiFi standard which after many years introduces the use of a new frequency band. This time the 6 GHz frequencies were chosen in order to further extend the network capacity.
Acronyms AC, AX and AX: so much marketing…!
There is obviously a lot of marketing involved in using swing “AC”, “AX” e “AXE” because no WiFi device can even come close to the overall manageable band. The number that appears next to AC and AX in the model name, in fact represents the speed that can be reached by adding the available bandwidth on all supported frequencies (for example 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz and 6 GHz). The speeds realistically achievable with WiFi are much lower. Available bandwidth and range of coverage router WiFiare also some of the parameters on which it is good to reflect.
Furthermore, a trivial but, at the same time, essential observation: to try to exploit the connection speed maximum, both the client device and the router must support a recent WiFi standard. Otherwise, the performance of WiFi data transfer will be fixed by the older and slower device.
Speed test WiFi or how to measure the speed of the wireless connection
One of the mistakes that many make is to run it speed test WiFi using one of the many services available online. Internet connection speed test is not helpful to ascertain the performance from the WiFi. It makes no sense to check how fast a download and upload data transfer is by communicating with a remote serveroutside your local network.
To perform a WiFi speed test you need to ascertain the performance during the data transfers within the LAN, home, office or company network. It is not necessary and indeed it is counterproductive to “call into question” remote servers.
Unless you use ultra-performing FTTH fiber connections or, at the limit, even FTTC up to 100 or 200 Mbps downstream, even the performance offered by WiFi 802.11ac compatible devices could be significantly reduced. In another article we have seen the differences between the various types of FTTx connections.
To figure out how fast WiFi really goes, you then need to make one speed test locale excluding data transfers to and from remote servers.
It goes without saying, as already mentioned several times, that the data transmission speed via WiFi is strongly influenced by distance from the routerthe access point or repeater as well as many other factors.
LAN Speed Test
To carry out a WiFi speed test, you can use a free application such as LAN Speed Test. Just like other applications in its category, LAN Speed Test creates a data flow between two devices on the local network and measure the actual data transfer rate.
We recommend downloading the following two modules which are completely free:
– LAN Speed Test
– LAN Speed Test Server
The program runs the test locale of the available bandwidth using two different approaches, applicable at the discretion of the user. The first is to write and then read a file of variable size to a shared folder local network; the other involves connection to the server module running on a device connected to the LAN.
Speed download and upload over WiFi when connecting to a shared folder
To make a speed test of the WiFi with LAN Speed Test, just follow a few simple steps:
1) From a Windows WiFi device, access a shared folder on a system connected to the local network via an Ethernet cable.
2) Start LAN Speed Test and type the shared folder path in the field Folder. After \\ you can specify the name of the system to connect to or its private IP address (in our case 192.168.1.63).
3) Press the button Start test then type for example 100 in the box Filesize in Megabytes. In this way LAN Speed Test creates a 100 MB temporary file in the folder specified in the previous step.
4) Be sure to check the box Delete this file when finished and press OK.
5) After waiting a few seconds, in the boxes Mbps the value detected by LAN Speed Test in writing and reading the file via WiFi is read. In the example, the value in Mbps is between 88 and 93 Mbps which means that the file was transferred over the WiFi network at approximately 11.6 MB/s.
As mentioned above, instead of writing and reading a file on a shared folder, LAN Speed Test it also allows you to use, alternatively, his own modulo server (second link offered earlier). This server module must be started on a PC connected to the local network via Ethernet cable while the software will run on the WiFi device LAN Speed Test.
L’private IP address to type in the field Folder or Server IP must match that of the server this time LAN Speed Test.
iPerf, speed test WiFi con approccio client-server
While not exactly new, iPerf is a widely used tool for testing les network performance. You can use iPerf to run speed tests between two devices on the same local network.
The application uses one approach client-server: You can run iPerf as a server on one device and as a client on the other device for measure speed of data transfer.
After extracting iPerf to a folder, you can launch the program in server mode simply by typing the following command: iperf -s. The application must be launched from the command prompt by typing cmd in the Windows search box then choosing Run as administrator.
At this point, you can run iPerf on a device client typing at the command prompt iperf -c followed by the private IP address of the server system.
At the end of the test, after successful data transfer, iPerf shows the complete results of the test indicating the speed detected in the communication between local servers and clients.
WiFi speed test limited by wireless network card
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