Expert: Bobbert - 7/20/2009

Question
Just purchased a toshiba satelite L305-S5955 laptop today and its internet speeds are slower than our desktops.  our desktops only have 2.0 Ghz processors and they both use the wireless usb adapters from linksys with speed boost because neither computer has wireless cards.  We pay for 1.5Mb internet and both desktops will get about 1.6Mb when i do bandwidth tests.  our new laptop which has 2.2Ghz will only get 1Mb at best.  Are laptops just slower?

Answer
Generally there should be no dramatic difference, there is no "laptops are slower" kind of generalization. However, the wireless adapter in your laptop may be less efficient than the matched Linksys equipment (for example, no "Speed Boost" functionality). The other issue could simply be the physical distance from your laptop to the router is causing minor interference and influencing the connection (this is unlikely).

Your differences in speed seem relatively minor (as in, you should still have a quality connection to the internet, 1 Mb connection isn't "poor", generally speaking), simply, I wouldn't be overly concerned about the disparity.

-bob