Airport network speed - quick answer (and a note about audio drop offs)

Question

I saw this question come up a lot when i was reading how to stop the airport express from dropping the audio signal... **How much bandwidth is all this using?**
Quick answer is about a half a Megabit per second on my network. yipes.
to check for yourself (...if you're using XP...), press control-alt-delete to open the Task Manager, then go to the Networking tab. You'll be able to see your usage there. Multiply the percent of Network Utilization by the Link Speed (for me, about 9% times by 11Mbps = 1Mbit used per second, but I stream 2 connections at all times, so that's where we get 1/2 Mb)...keep in mind that your network utilization is really determined by your router's make and configuration, as well as (and this is the real factor) the amount of collisions and interference in your network.
*and a note about a healthy airport signal and audio drop offs*
... looking at the Networking tab, you shouldn't see an eratic graph (it shouldnt jump back and forth from 0% to 100% and back). a few high spikes every few seconds is ok, even rising to 100% is expected, but if your average network usage is too high (say 20%), there's too much interference. secure your network (WEP enable) and/or filter the MAC addresses. AND play around with the wireless channel used for boradcasting. really.. try it... try all the channels... i got really discouraged reading all the voodoo answers on other posts. (personally, i stayed on channel 6,... i rebooted my whole network of computers and routers at once and that got rid of the congestion for me... for now)
...and if all else fails, call 800 275 2273 for tech support.
IBM ThinkPad   Windows XP Pro  

Answer 1

Selamat Phil Smith,
Actually do we know each other, cause i know a phil smith.
Actually an ether net cable is OK for the short term. But if i get another computer it may get complex. Spent a lot removing cables too.... Looks like i will have to buy the special modem router... Painful $600.
This share internet thing over airport looks like a great idea till you realise it disables access to the ariport network for the computer doing the sharing.
Cheers and thanks for the idea
joe