The raw data rate is pretty low, but keep in mind that there's all sorts of signaling traffic going on just to establish a connection, depending on protocol req

The raw data rate is pretty low, but keep in mind that there's all sorts of signaling traffic going on just to establish a connection, depending on protocol requiring multiple transmit/receive cycles - which in turn means waiting. Again depending on protocol, you may also have to handle collisions (more than one transmission in the same channel at the same time) etc - while still maintaining service for the network's regular customers. Multiple short transmissions are more taxing than a few long ones.