540 mbps...wow that's fast right? I'm just wondering how can this be. i'm running Vista Ultimate with an N USB wireless network connection so max speed is 300 mbps. The fastest i've gotten unbridged is 270 but it usually is steady around 240. So when i bridge it with my NIC how do i get 540? I have the NIC connected to an old wired router setup as an access point with a 360, HD-DVD player and Sat Receiver connect to it, everything works fine i just like to make sense of things that i don't understand. There's plenty of bandwith cause i've been gaming on live and streaming music from my server at the same time with no hic-ups at all

Hi, This behavior occurs because the Network Configuration Wizard creates a bridge to which all network adapters belong by default. The speed that the bridge reports is always the highest speed of any bridged adapter. 540 MBPS may be the curenct speed of the NIC.

thanks for the reply, i'm wondering if on the lan i'm getting that 540 speed? i understand about the bridge saying what it can do but i'm connecting to the network via the USB wireless adapter so really the max speed on the lan is dictated by that device right? why doesn't MS just make it simple and show actual connection speed? My USB adapter can connect at 300 but it doesn't show that, it shows the actual speed around 240. NIC cards usually show the max speed all the time also even though it's likely they are connected at less than that. are there any tools out there where i can see actual network speeds on devices?

Hi, Microsoft has explained this behavior in the following website. Bridge Interface Displays Network Speed of 400 Megabits or Faster http://support.microsoft.com/kb/294857/ There may be some reasons on designs of Network Bridge so the reported speed is the fastest of the bridged network adapters' even it is not connected.