When I hook-up a wireless router to my cable modem does it slow down my desktop computers Internet speed?

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12 Responses to 'When I hook-up a wireless router to my cable modem does it slow down my desktop computers Internet speed?'

1. Garrett - January 24th, 2008 at 9:47 pm

   No absolutely not because the only thing that change is that it is wireless.

2. Karen M - January 25th, 2008 at 4:36 pm

   Computers further down the food chain will have a diluted signal, but not the server.

3. microchipper - January 28th, 2008 at 1:35 pm

   wireless runs at roughly half the speed of a wired connection(56mbps as compared to 100mbps) you can get faster wireless but you will pay a lot more for it

4. Scott D - January 30th, 2008 at 11:39 pm

   Technically yes, but negligibly as long as you have a connection speed around 54mbps to the router, which you should be able to check with whatever wireless utility you use.

   Wireless speeds currently go as high as around 150 mbps while as wired goes as high as 1000mbps, but don’t let those numbers fool you. Like 99% of the distance the data has to travel is not part of your home LAN, so the speed of your home lan has a very negligible affect on internet speed as long as it not a very bad wireless connection such that there is massive packet lossage and the speed slows down majorly to try to prevent package loss.

5. andyman_69 - February 1st, 2008 at 3:17 pm

   The only reason you are seeing a decrease in your downloading times is because you are now behind a hardwire firewall (router). There are specific ports that you need to open in order to achieve faster download times. These are usually mentioned in the configuration of the program from which you are using to download.

6. mybestemail69 - February 1st, 2008 at 5:02 pm

   If this is a new router you should not notice much of a slow down but do remember that sharing a connection will slow down your surfing. Just because you are not using the computer at the time it is still communicating with the modem, you will notice the flashing lights on the modem.
   If you want to check your speed go to and use the bandwidth meter function.

7. Joseph C - February 2nd, 2008 at 9:40 pm

   It should not. You will need several PCs hooked to a router to notice a slow down on speed.

   Make sure you have the latest drivers for your router. Go to the router manufacturer and check for the latest drivers.

   Joe.

8. jbtascam - February 3rd, 2008 at 6:54 pm

   There are several possibilities:

   1) What speed is the “wireless” router? If it’s not 100mb, then yes, hooking to the internet through it could cause a speed drop.

   2) How far is the “wireless” connection? Is the router right next to the computer, or is it in the next room, with a furnace and a big-screen TV (sources of interference) between the two? The further you are from the router, the worse the transmission rate will be.

   3) You could be opening yourself up to leaches – have you enabled the proper security on your router? Some people tap into other’s “wireless routers” when the router owner fails to implement the proper level of security. Yes, it’s inconvenient as all get out sometimes, but if you don’t, I could be next door (or in a car on the street) using your bandwidth to download kiddie porn!

   If you already have a hard connection, why would you swap over to wireless on a desktop???

9. kikikicombobreaker - February 4th, 2008 at 5:05 pm

   I know I’m not going to win best answer for this because other people look like they know what they’re talking about, but I don’t think it would change, personally.

   Oh… try a speedtest on each one.

10. WWWWWWWWWW - February 7th, 2008 at 7:07 pm

    no it dosent depending on the router it may make it quiker. Besides the oly thing that can slow your computer down is using up too many memory.

11. lv_consultant - February 8th, 2008 at 3:25 pm

    if there is traffic on your wireless link your desktop will most certainly slow down. you have just decreased the available bandwidth by adding another computer on the network. the other reason why it will slow down is because now there are more collisions and broadcast traffic on the hub.

    in the real-world 802.11 devices transfer data no where near the advertised speeds, it is basically an asynchronous protocol and not very efficient at transferring large files.

12. jamesonlagnaf - February 10th, 2008 at 1:10 am

    Jo Jo:

    First of all, take some of the previous answers with a grain of salt, because several people don’t know what the heck they’re talking about…

    It is true that a wireless connection will be a little slower than a wired connection…

    There are things you can do to help things…

    Make sure you have a Wireless-G router and network card. These allow connection speeds between pc and router up to 54Mbps…

    Make sure your wireless network card has excellent signal strength to get the best speeds possible with your router.

    Since it sounds like you do a lot of downloads, you will also see better performance by downloading late at night and early in the morning, since there is less traffic on your cable provider’s network.

    If you want the best performance, you can always plug into one of the switch ports on your router.

    Hope this helps…