Airport Express slower than Netgear 802.11b router

[slariz]

I just received the Airport Express I ordered from Apple's post-Thanksgiving sale. Purchased mainly for the wireless printing, but figured since I'm using an old Netgear MR814v2 802.11b router might as well use it as the primary router since it should be faster, especially when transferring files from one computer to the other.

With the routers sitting next to each other, I'm getting significantly faster speeds using the old Netgear router than the new Airport Express. The Netgear I'm averaging about 3400 kbps download and 500 kbps upload, while the Airport Express is averaging 2000 kbps download and only about 300 kbps upload using the Speakeasy bandwidth test. Any ideas why this might be the case?

I did also notice that the number of bars constantly fluctuates between a full 4 and as few as 1 on the Express, often within a span of a couple seconds. Netgear retains a constant full 4 bars.

 

[mad jew]

If they're running on the same network then the speed will be throttled back to 802.11B standards by the Netgear, although that still doesn't explain the discrepancy. Are you using AirTunes or a connected printer at the same time as you're recording these download figures?

Nevertheless, mixing an 802.11G and an 802.11B router on the same network will slow everything back to 802.11B speeds.

 

[slariz]

Nope, I'm running two separate networks. The routers are just placed side by side, with nothing connected to either except a MBP.

 

[slariz]

Well, I think I figured it out. By turning the old Netgear wireless router off, the Airport Express' signal and speed has increased. I'm now getting around 8400 kbps download, 500 kbps upload on it. I guess the proximity of one router to the other destroyed the integrity of the signal.

 

[mad jew]

Yeah, they were interfering with each other. Putting them on quite different channels (one and eleven or something) might get around this to an extent.