Networx false readings?

Hi,

I am using a WLAN network. I use 3 laptops (with same client NICs) and I upload a large file from all three of them to another computer simultaneously. When I measure the total (aggregate) throughput with Networx in the destination computer (or by adding the individual uplink throughputs) I get a reading of about 3.1 MBps. The theoretical maximum throughput for IEEE802.11g if I am not mistaken is around 2.9 MBps (24Mbps). When I measure the throughput with just 1 laptop doing the uplink I measure 2.2 MBps. In any case the aggregate throughput with all three laptops transmitting should be less than that of 1 laptop transmitting (due to collisions etc). Is there a problem with Networx?

Thank you

NetWorx simply measures the number of bytes received and transmitted by a NIC and then calculates an average. The theoretical maximum for 802.11g is 54 megabits/sec which equals to about 6 megabytes/sec. Furthermore the NetWorx's reading may be slightly higher at it accounts absolutely all data fragments sent through a NIC, including packet headers, repetitions and packets without data. In particular, In the case with the three laptops, the reading may be higher due to retransmissions which are taken into account.

Hi and thank you for your feedback.

I meant the theoretical maximum payload throughput is 24 Mbps. This is what I thought Networx is measuring as until now I've never measured more than 24 Mbps (2.9 MBps) with a single client. So, you are saying that Networx is measuring the overall throughput not the payload throughput? Why is it so low then (compared to 54 Mbps) ?
Thank you.