Check your Wireless Connection

usually, if your lucky, the amount of bandwidth you can get from a wireless connection and the bandwidth you get from your ISP are two different numbers.

Routers are rated on an a, b, g, or n system, with the same speed ratings as the wireless adapter you use for your computer. If your computer has a “b” adapter and the router has a “g” rating, the maximum bandwidth that you’ll have is around 11 Mbps, so on and so forth

but your ISP bandwidth tells a whole other story. The speed of the router and your computer are pretty much in the clutches of your ISPs Stubby Little Paws (and vice versa). If the bandwidth your paying for is 100 Mbps, and your computer and router can only push 11Mbps, then you guessed it; your highest will be 11Mbps.

[i currently have a 50mbps plan for around $80 a month, but my router can only use around 5 on a wireless connection, and around 11-12 (throttled down to 6 -7) on a wired connection] in conclusion, wired connections are far better than wireless ones. The latest wired network devices are capable of peak speeds of 1Gbps. (1Gpbs = 1000Mbps). even though ISPs (other than google fiber) can not push these speeds, it's still good to know that a router can push whatever your bandwidth plan is.

and then theres hurtles you have to watch out for with wireless signals. wireless networks are vulnerable to interference from common things like microwaves, cordless phones, copper piping, ETC. so move your router to a good spot
also to note: rather than having a dedicated full-duplex connection to your router as you would with a wired connection, with wireless you have a shared-segment network where every device is in the same collision domain. so data travels in a queue'd line (two or more things can't go through at one time)

to make sure your router is 'up to par' you can measure its throughput. this is sort of a lengthy process, so for the sake of a short post, refer to this article and scroll down to the "Measuring Throughput" section.

also, make sure you know what your internet plan is. also do some speed tests as well to see if what your ISP says and what the test says are different. ive been using the 50mbps plan i was talking about earlier to compensate for the throttle.

keep location in mind to. sometimes, the route of all problems is an ISP issue, and most of the time, theres nothing you can do about it