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Because these routers have built in hubs, we decided to test the efficiency and speed of file transfers within the intranet, when running through the built in hubs/switches. To test this, I created several files for the purpose of this test. I had 3 separate tests, a directory of files and folders totaling 670MB, and single files with sizes 54MB and 257MB. The test was fairly basic, and involved copying the files or directories from one computer to another. Timing started when the copy button is pressed, and timing stops the instant windows copy box disappears from the screen. All tests were run 5 times, and the times were averaged to produce the results graphed in the charts below.

For the WAN-LAN throughput testing, I had to do something a little less scientific. I set up a server in a remote location with a standard webserver, and downloaded a single 112MB file during off peak hours. Each download was run twice each night, for 3 nights total, and then the times were averaged to produce the results graphed below. This test is hardly scientific, because of possible fluctuations in the net, but they are “real world” tests that reflect relative performance between the routers, and because we do each test run at the same time, especially during off peak hours, we are hoping to achieve some level of validity in the data.

Remember that we are using Linksys LNE100TX cards in full duplex mode, on Win98SE machines.

LAN-LAN Intranet Transfers Results:

WAN-LAN Internet Transfer Results (Downloads):