[VikingPhotography]

First off - the absolute maximum speed you get is dependant on the source file location. If you're pulling your video file over an internet connection - the fastest it will stream or download is limited to the speed of that connection - irrespective of how fast your other data connections can send or receive.

The same thing applies to a local file stored on another computer or HDD. The limitations there are the speed of the disk and the bandwith of the interface it's connected to. Being a hard wired connection, the USB connection will be one of the most efficient means of transferring data since it doesn't "suffer" from the limitations of WiFi. At 480Mbps it's more than fast enough for most uses.

All WiFi protocols are half-duplex - meaning that the stated speed is a combination of their transmit and receive rates. So: an 802.11b connection of 11Mbps can send data at a maximum of 5.5mbps, and an 802.11g connection can send data at a maximum of 27Mbps.

You can see where issues might arise if you have a fast broadband connection of, say, 8mbps or faster... using an 802.11b WiFi connection would mean that you're self-limiting your bandwith!

Also, if you use an encrypted or protected WiFi signal, you lose about anywhere between 20% to 50% of the bandwith due to processing overheads. Some routers allow you to secure your connection without resorting to encryption - so you should check that out too.

Lastly, there's the bugbear of signal strength. WiFi operates on signals in the 2.4GHz range... but so too do microwave ovens, cordless telephones, bluetooth products and many more consumer level devices. All of this causes interference and, in order to combat this, the throughput of your WiFi signal might be lower as it spends more time re-sending data packets to overcome the interference.