Hi all,
Below are the causes for the association rate displayed on wireless terminals is low:
This is because wireless terminals are far away from APs. As a result, radio signals are weak. In this case, the association rate that is negotiated by the wireless terminals is low. Specifically, the signal transmission rate of 802.11g APs includes 54 Mbit/s, 48 Mbit/s, 36 Mbit/s, 24 Mbit/s, 18 Mbit/s, and 12 Mbit/s.
Some wireless terminals display strong signal strength, but their actual signal strength is poor. The signal strength can be measured by using dedicated testers or test software such as wirlessmon.
The 802.11n is backward compatible with the 802.11b/g, so the 802.11n APs can be encrypted in the mode of WEP or TKIP. The association rate displayed on the STAs may be only 54 Mbit/s because the 802.11n standard does not define the WEP or TKIP encryption mode. If the 802.11n APs use the WEP or TKIP encryption mode, the STAs are associated only at 802.11g rates.
Some NICs of the STAs support only the 802.11b/g APs. When the STAs are associated with the 802.11n APs, the maximum association rate is only 54 Mbit/s. The 802.11n APs can also be configured with the 802.11b/g radio frequency type, because the 802.11n is backward compatible with the 802.11b/g.
