Slow download speed but normal upload speed with wireless router

I have the Comcast performance internet connection. Through wired, I get 25/4 Mbps download/ upload speeds.

With the wireless router, I get only 12/4 Mbps speeds. I have the Netgear wireless G WGR614V9 router with the WPA2-AES security. The wireless channel setting is on "Auto". Sometimes the wireless download speed drops to as low as 5 Mbps, but the upload speed doesn't drop.

I used to get 18 Mbps download speeds with the router before. What might be going wrong? I have the Intel 4965 wireless card. Would upgrading to a N router improve the download speed?

 

Maximum throughput of 802.11g is some 20mbps under near-perfect signal conditions. So wireless g is too slow for your ISP connection anyway but if wireless conditions get worse- i.e. you are far from the router or 2.4GHz band is overcrowded maximum throughput gets limited even more. That is most likely what you're seeing now.
So yeah- most likely a good "n" router would help you here but if you're going to buy one go for a simultaneous dual band router.

 

Thanks, I guess that the 2.4 Ghz band crowding should be the reason for the slowdown. But I am the only one using the network. I do see too many networks in the available wireless networks.

I should get the dual band N router.

 

You can download inSSIDer, it'S free to check what wireless networks are in range of you on both bands. Note that 5GHz isn't ideal, but if you're not very far from the router, then you'll have no problems with 5GHz. Note that even a good N router will likely have better 2.4GHz signal strength and should help with interference in any case and you'll have more bandwidth anyways.

If you're looking for a good N dual band router, we can help you out with that too. ~100$, Netgear WNDR3700v2, if you can find one at 70$, Linksys E3000 or E3200 are very good routers at that price. If you want the cream of the crop, go for the Linksys E4200v1 (not v2).

 

Thanks tijo. I was looking on that Netgear router.

Is the dual band really worth it? The Netgear WNR2000 costs only half the price. I do know that it's limited to the 2.4 Ghz band and 300 Mbps speed. I am not limited to my budget for a good router.

 

I personally transfer a lot of data over my network and the 5GHz band is invaluable for that as in i get up to 130Mbps LAN to WAN. If there are a lt of interference on 2.4GHz, it is also worth it.

 

I think that Netgear WNDR3700 would be a better router.

I changed the channel in my router from "auto" to 11, it increased the download speed from 10 Mbps to 17 Mbps. I wish that I had done this before.

Thanks for your help.