Why is WiFi on my phone or tablet slower than my laptop?

It's great to have WiFi. Observe most hotel lobbies and you will see groups of people connecting to WiFi one way or the other to access the Internet. It is a standard that has become ubiquitous and most of our homes now have it.

Most of our "smart" devices have WiFi function now, from smart phones to tablets. This makes the traditional desktop or even laptops seem rather cumbersome in comparison. I for one have been considering whether I should get a new laptop at all, as my tablet device can provide most of the functions I need, from answering emails to web browsing.  This is further enhanced with a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse for convenience.

There is however, a small issue. I have noticed that WiFi connection can be frustratingly slow even within my home network. This is especially apparent when streaming bigger contents such as watching YouTube videos.

Why is WiFi slower on my phone/ tablet?

I found a blog entry on pocketnow that provided some answers. Below are some quick notes I made on this matter.

Output Power - Stronger signals require more power, and smaller devices always try to use less energy. Does this mean that if I switch off energy efficient mode on my phone I will get a better performance?

Antenna Size - Size of the antenna used to send and receive information is limited on smaller devices. 

Multiple Antennas - Most smart phones don’t have the multiple antenna configuration needed to take advantage of the multi-path technology that WiFi is good for, resulting in noticeably slower speeds.

Frequencies - WiFi can operate on both 2.4GHz and 5GHz, the former being the part of the spectrum that is most crowded. Many modern access points enable communication on either or both sets of frequencies, however, not many smart phones are taking advantage of 5GHz today.

WiFi Standards - 802.11a and b feature the slowest speeds of the bunch. 802.11g is pretty quick, and 802.11n is faster. Most smart phones support 802.11b and g, many support 802.11n, and relatively few support the most recent (and fastest) standard: 802.11ac.

Conclusion

I am going to check which standards my devices can support. May be I still need a laptop after all.