To more effectively benchmark network adapter performance, it is best to establish a point-to-point connection between two PCs, rather than connecting through a router or switch. One of the most accurate ways to benchmark network performance on a LAN is by using iPerf. File transfers are bottlenecked by a number of things, including performance limitations of the disk the data is on, and often times a lack of establishing parallel network connections to perform the task. Transferring files from one computer to another on your LAN is typically not the best way to benchmark a network adapter. Websites like, , and other performance tools in your web browser are going to use your WAN connection, and are not appropriate for determining if a network adapter is working well. Eliminate bottlenecks, especially link rate bottlenecks.To properly benchmark network adapter performance, we need to: Each port on a network interface is a separate data connection. Each network interface has 65,535 of these logical ports. For the purposes of networking, ports are logical constructs that can also be referred to as "network ports". Some may refer to physical hardware connections as "ports". Ports and Interfaces InterfacesĪ network interface represents connections, whether wired or wireless, that are made to form a network between devices.
If we were to change the Wi-Fi connection to a wired Ethernet connection capable of 1Gbps, our performance bottleneck would then become the USB 2.0 connection to the USB drive where the file is stored. This means that, regardless of the link rates established elsewhere, the absolute maximum the data can possibly be transferred is 300Mbps. 1600Mbps-File Destination: SATA hard drive capable of 200MB/s (1600Mbps) read/write.įollowing this chain, we see that 300Mbps is the slowest link rate established.6000Mbps-PC2 is going to store the file on an internal hard drive with a link rate of 6Gbps.The link rate of the USB connection to PC2 is at 480Mbps 480Mbps-The Wi-Fi adapter on PC2 is connected via a USB 2.0 port.
WLAN USB ADAPTER DRIVER WINDOWS 7 PC
With regards to network performance, it is crucial to first separate whether an issue is with Wide Area Network (WAN) performance, or if the issue is with Local Area Network (LAN) performance.
WLAN USB ADAPTER DRIVER WINDOWS 7 HOW TO
If you just need to know how to perform a network performance test/benchmark, jump down to configuring iPerf. In this article, we'll be taking a deep dive on the nuances of network performance for those who need some additional explanation while striving to be concise, and to educate users of various experience levels relating computer hardware and computer networking.