Does 802.11b use a lot of resources?

[Vince]

I'm not sure if this is still the case but.. 
Have a read of this thread, 
http://lists.freebsd.org/pipermail/freebsd-current/2004-May/027476.html
Basicly set your wireless to ad-hoc mode and see if that 
resolves the issue. It did for me (had an old p133 laptop acting as my 
Access point until it died, and that was fine.)

Vince

> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-freebsd-questions at freebsd.org 
> [mailto:owner-freebsd-questions at freebsd.org] On Behalf Of 
> Christopher Kelley
> Sent: 25 February 2005 05:07
> To: freebsd-questions at freebsd.org
> Subject: Does 802.11b use a lot of resources?
> 
> Have I tried too hard to squeeze usability out of an old computer?
> 
> I have a Pentium-166 that has been a faithful router & 
> firewall (FreeBSD
> 5.3 and pf) for a couple years now.  It has no trouble with 
> the 3 to 4 Mbps I get from my broadband connection, at least 
> not with ethernet.
> 
> I wanted wireless, so I could use my laptop around the house. 
>  I dutifully read the section in the manual about setting up 
> FreeBSD as an access point. I'm using a Netgear MA311 802.11b 
> card (Prism 2.5 chipset).  And it does work, except it's very 
> slow.  Now I know that I can only expect about 50% of the 
> rated speed with wireless, but I figured even if I got only 
> 4Mbps, I'd be fine.  But I get less than 1Mbps.  I've updated 
> the firmware, added a signal booster and hi-gain antenna, and 
> I have "excellent" signal strength throughout my house.
> 
> So my question is, is there more overhead with wireless than 
> with ethernet?  TOP doesn't seem to show that I'm taxing it 
> too hard, idle never goes below about 70% with polling 
> enabled (Hz=1000), and never below about 80% with polling 
> disabled.  Am I expecting too much out of an old Pentium-166?
> 
> Thanks for your help.
> 
> Christopher
> 
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