Originally Posted by
boberonicus
Dave's right. When WPA (not WPA2) is enabled on many current SOHO routers, the router will ensure compatibility with older devices by reducing the top connection speed. Google it if you don't believe it.
Yes the 802.11n protocol limits link rates to 54Mbps when WEP or WPA are configured.
And when you see 54Mbps or 108Mbps or whatever, that is just the link rate. That is not the actual throughput. And of course you can have a 1Gbps WiFi connection but if your connection to your Internet provider is limited to 5 or 10Mbps, then you don't get benefits from 802.11n in most cases. The major case where 11n helps is if you are in a room with a lot of metallic surfaces that reflect the WiFi signal. That's a bad thing with 11A or 11G, but its a good thing with 11n and MIMO technology.