Understanding Wifi bandwidth

Question

I would like to know what is the difference betwen the bandwith in the android phone wifi->network name ->bandwidth ,and the bandwith that i determin from a downlowd and an upload in the local network ? PS :download and upload from a client and a server connected in the same network.

Answer 1

The bandwith that you see in your WIFI settings is the negotiated communication speed between your device and the access point. It depends on the supported WLAN modes of both devices and decreases in certain steps when reducing signal strength due to bad reception or interfering neighboring networks.

This bandwith is the theoretical maximum speed between your device and your router in an optimal case, it is not the speed that you will get when you download something from the internet. The latter is limited by the connection speed between your access point/router/modem and your internet provider, and it also depends on the whole chain of stations between your device and the host you want to download from.

There can be situations where the speed between your AP/router/modem and the internet download source is much higher than the speed that your WIFI connection between your device and your AP/router/modem offers (such as in universities, e.g., that usually have the big pipes), but usually your WIFI bandwith is above the "real" bandwith towards the internet, so you won't be slowed down. Increasing your WIFI bandwith to something above your internet bandwith only makes sense when you share the connection or when you want to access servers within your local network.