WiFi Effect on DSL Download Speed

Hi,
I have a Westel 7500 DSL modem/router. My "main" (laptop) computer is
connected to the modem via ethernet cable. I have the cheaper DSL service from
Verizon. I seldom download very large files, but I plan on downloading a
large, almost 700MB, ISO file for a CD disc. This will take between 2 to 3
hours.

While I download this large file, I plan on using another laptop
that uses WiFi to this same modem/router for internet access. I will NOT do
any internet activity on this other laptop while I am downloading this huge
file.

This other laptop automatically connects via WiFi to the DSL modem.

I do not think just being "connected" (NO internet activity) via WiFi
will have any effect on the download speed.

Am I correct?

Thank You in advance, John

wrote:

Hi,
I have a Westel 7500 DSL modem/router. My "main" (laptop) computer is
connected to the modem via ethernet cable. I have the cheaper DSL service from
Verizon. I seldom download very large files, but I plan on downloading a
large, almost 700MB, ISO file for a CD disc. This will take between 2 to 3
hours.

While I download this large file, I plan on using another laptop
that uses WiFi to this same modem/router for internet access. I will NOT do
any internet activity on this other laptop while I am downloading this huge
file.

This other laptop automatically connects via WiFi to the DSL modem.

I do not think just being "connected" (NO internet activity) via WiFi
will have any effect on the download speed.

Am I correct?

Thank You in advance, John


You should be able to connect, without overpowering the thing.

Paul

jaugustine wrote:

I have a Westel 7500 DSL modem/router. My "main" (laptop) computer is
connected to the modem via ethernet cable. I have the cheaper DSL
service from Verizon. I seldom download very large files, but I
plan on downloading a large, almost 700MB, ISO file for a CD disc.
This will take between 2 to 3 hours.

While I download this large file, I plan on using another laptop
that uses WiFi to this same modem/router for internet access. I will
NOT do any internet activity on this other laptop while I am
downloading this huge file.

This other laptop automatically connects via WiFi to the DSL modem.

I do not think just being "connected" (NO internet activity) via WiFi
will have any effect on the download speed.

All hosts connected to the same cable modem will share its bandwidth.
If you suck up the bandwidth with one host, little or none left for the
other hosts. You don't get more bandwidth because you added more hosts.

If you're not going to use the Internet (or even the intranet with your
other intranet hosts, so no networking between your internal hosts) then
why leave wifi enabled on the other laptop you're playing on (during the
huge download to the other host)? Just press the wifi button to disable
wifi on the host you play on during the download to the other host.

You might not think you are generating much traffic with your play-time
laptop (although you could check with tools) but pressing the wifi
button (to disable wifi and later enable) seems easy to make sure.

I have a Westel 7500 DSL modem/router. My "main" (laptop) computer is
connected to the modem via ethernet cable. I have the cheaper DSL
service from Verizon. I seldom download very large files, but I
plan on downloading a large, almost 700MB, ISO file for a CD disc.
This will take between 2 to 3 hours.

While I download this large file, I plan on using another laptop
that uses WiFi to this same modem/router for internet access. I will
NOT do any internet activity on this other laptop while I am
downloading this huge file.

This other laptop automatically connects via WiFi to the DSL modem.

I do not think just being "connected" (NO internet activity) via WiFi
will have any effect on the download speed.

All hosts connected to the same cable modem will share its bandwidth.
If you suck up the bandwidth with one host, little or none left for the
other hosts. You don't get more bandwidth because you added more hosts.

If you're not going to use the Internet (or even the intranet with your
other intranet hosts, so no networking between your internal hosts) then
why leave wifi enabled on the other laptop you're playing on (during the
huge download to the other host)? Just press the wifi button to disable
wifi on the host you play on during the download to the other host.

You might not think you are generating much traffic with your play-time
laptop (although you could check with tools) but pressing the wifi
button (to disable wifi and later enable) seems easy to make sure.

Hi Vanguard,

Your reply made me realize I left out an IMPORTANT detail.

My plan is to use the computer that has an ethernet cable
(NO WiFi) connected to the modem. I assume if I am downloading
that huge file on that ethernet cable connected PC, the download
speed will not be affected by another PC connected via WiFi, but
NOT using the Internet.

Thanks, John

wrote:
I have a Westel 7500 DSL modem/router. My "main" (laptop) computer is
connected to the modem via ethernet cable. I have the cheaper DSL
service from Verizon. I seldom download very large files, but I
plan on downloading a large, almost 700MB, ISO file for a CD disc.
This will take between 2 to 3 hours.

While I download this large file, I plan on using another laptop
that uses WiFi to this same modem/router for internet access. I will
NOT do any internet activity on this other laptop while I am
downloading this huge file.

This other laptop automatically connects via WiFi to the DSL modem.

I do not think just being "connected" (NO internet activity) via WiFi
will have any effect on the download speed.
All hosts connected to the same cable modem will share its bandwidth.
If you suck up the bandwidth with one host, little or none left for the
other hosts. You don't get more bandwidth because you added more hosts.

If you're not going to use the Internet (or even the intranet with your
other intranet hosts, so no networking between your internal hosts) then
why leave wifi enabled on the other laptop you're playing on (during the
huge download to the other host)? Just press the wifi button to disable
wifi on the host you play on during the download to the other host.

You might not think you are generating much traffic with your play-time
laptop (although you could check with tools) but pressing the wifi
button (to disable wifi and later enable) seems easy to make sure.

Hi Vanguard,

Your reply made me realize I left out an IMPORTANT detail.

My plan is to use the computer that has an ethernet cable
(NO WiFi) connected to the modem. I assume if I am downloading
that huge file on that ethernet cable connected PC, the download
speed will not be affected by another PC connected via WiFi, but
NOT using the Internet.

Thanks, John


The routing processor should be event driven. It only has
to act, if an actual packet is present. At least some hardware
is capable of giving one interrupt per packet, or one interrupt
per 20 packets (if interrupt consolidation is turned on). and
then the processor doesn't have to necessarily "poll" all the
hardware for activity.

For Wifi, there is likely to be some keep-alive activity
on the channel, when a client is present. But that should be
a low (background) level of activity. You might notice such
a load if the CPU only ran at 1MHz, but the processors in such
routers run much faster than that. MIPS RISC processors are popular
in routers, and in newer routers there are some ARM processors.
Your modem/router might use a Broadcom 6358, with 300MHz MIPS32
processor (one core used for ADSL DSP, likely a dead loss for
any other purpose, leaving the second 300MHz core for routing). The
advertising material claims "wirespeed routing", which is a dishonest
way of doing things (just like the datasheet itself didn't have the
CPU clockrate and I had to go look that up). I much prefer a routing
speed, WAN to LAN, in MB/sec, for comparison purposes.

I don't know of an easy way to measure the %CPU in usage. While
the router has an OS, of necessity it can't have a lot of
convenience utilities. So it might not have a copy of "top"
to drive the console port with (the console port which is on a
pin header, inside the router).

Apparently the web interface of the 7500 does have some statistics,
so it's not actually an "unfriendly lump" of a router box. I have
one box in front of me, that's dumbed down so much, I had to flip
it to bridged mode and just give up on the routing functions. You can
always log into the 7500, and see what it has to say for itself.
My routers here, none have ever admitted to having a CPU, so they
didn't present CPU statistics. And as far as other stats, they'd
give a "transmitted" and "received" packet count for the WAN.
Can't get much more basic than that.

https://wikidevi.com/wiki/Westell_75...0-750015-07%29

https://openwrt.org/_media/media/dat....datasheet.pdf

https://wikidevi.com/wiki/Broadcom

BCM6358 BMIPS4350 300 MHz 2 core (shared TLB) 2005-11-02
(R/U/V)

Paul

wrote:

I have a Westel 7500 DSL modem/router. My "main" (laptop) computer is
connected to the modem via ethernet cable. I have the cheaper DSL
service from Verizon. I seldom download very large files, but I
plan on downloading a large, almost 700MB, ISO file for a CD disc.
This will take between 2 to 3 hours.

While I download this large file, I plan on using another laptop
that uses WiFi to this same modem/router for internet access. I will
NOT do any internet activity on this other laptop while I am
downloading this huge file.

This other laptop automatically connects via WiFi to the DSL modem.

I do not think just being "connected" (NO internet activity) via WiFi
will have any effect on the download speed.

All hosts connected to the same cable modem will share its bandwidth.
If you suck up the bandwidth with one host, little or none left for the
other hosts. You don't get more bandwidth because you added more hosts.

If you're not going to use the Internet (or even the intranet with your
other intranet hosts, so no networking between your internal hosts) then
why leave wifi enabled on the other laptop you're playing on (during the
huge download to the other host)? Just press the wifi button to disable
wifi on the host you play on during the download to the other host.

You might not think you are generating much traffic with your play-time
laptop (although you could check with tools) but pressing the wifi
button (to disable wifi and later enable) seems easy to make sure.

Hi Vanguard,

Your reply made me realize I left out an IMPORTANT detail.

My plan is to use the computer that has an ethernet cable
(NO WiFi) connected to the modem. I assume if I am downloading
that huge file on that ethernet cable connected PC, the download
speed will not be affected by another PC connected via WiFi, but
NOT using the Internet.

Thanks, John

The router has a switch. It multiplexes all inputs to it whether they
connect to each other (intranet) or go out (Internet). There is a
processor inside the router. It can handle only so much. When a host
generates a ton of traffic through the router (whether intranet or
Internet), it affects the effective bandwidth of the other hosts to the
same router. For example, someone sending a printer job through the
router (via wifi or Ethernet since both are going through the router)
ups the traffic level through the router hence affecting how many slices
the other hosts get with the router's processor.

Whether using Ethernet or wifi, that's just the frontend hardware used
to connect to the router. There is no separation of traffic in the
router between what came to it via wifi versus Ethernet. It's all
traffic to the router. Only if you do direct wifi between hosts, like
your wifi-capable computer sending a print job to a wifi-capable
printer, will the traffic be direct between the hosts and not involve
the router.

You didn't detail what is your network. If you have a downstream switch
or router (with its switch) from the router that goes out to the
Internet, and the intranet hosts between which you want to communicate
are all on the downstream router, then their traffic will get passed
through that downstream router and not up to the Internet-facing router
(to which the host is connected doing the huge download). The switch in
the downstream router will keep the inter-host traffic within itself and
not send it up to the upstream Internet-facing router.

Think of the router like your own computer: both have a processor, data
bus, memory, and other limited resources. When tons of startup programs
load and you open tons of programs, what happens to CPU usage? What
happens to responsiveness of your computer?

You router might have a priority setting regarding which port or host
(by MAC) has priority to get its traffic through the router. It might
be QoS (Quality of Service) where you can configure the router to give
priority to one host. For example, if you have a Magicjack or other
VOIP dongle attached to the router, you might want to give that port a
higher QoS priority to eliminate any noise or halts in phone sessions
through the VOIP dongle using the router. In your case, you might want
to assign a high QoS to the Ethernet port to which the computer is
connected that you want to perform the huge download. Else, you could
chain routers/switches to segment your intranet into subnets and keep
the other intranet hosts' traffic in a downstream router.

Of course, the time you've waited while stalling on the huge download
trying to isolate your other intranet hosts' traffic from the
downloading host has far exceeded the likely slowdown of intra-host
traffic during the huge download.