Slow WLAN speeds · DIGIT-ARC

I have a desktop [a Compaq SR1732IL] and a laptop [Studio 1555]. I have an ADSL2+ Wi-Fi router (the one I got wit Airtel), which is my gateway to the internet.

My desktop is connected to the router via Ethernet. I don't use DHCP and my IP settings are:

IP Address: 192.168.1.2 [laptop] ; 192.168.1.5 [desktop]
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway: 192.168.1.1

I've networked my laptop and desktop by putting them under the same workgroup. But when I transfer files from my desktop to my laptop, the file transfers happen at around 1.76 MB/s. I was given to understand that Wi-Fi has transfer speeds of 54 MB/s. Why are my transfers almost 40 times as slow?

A few more specs:

Desktop: Windows XP MCE x86 ; Inbuilt ethernet controller [Realtek]
Laptop: Windows Vista x64 ; Intel 5100 Wi-Fi link

any help would be appreciated

firstly it's 54 Mbps (notice the lowercase b)...and ur throughput of about 1.76 MBPS translates roughly to about to 13 Mbit/s wich is a decent enough transfer rate since under ideal conditions, a 54 Mbit/s wireless connection will give a
maximum of about 25 Mbit/s throughput.