Hello Hanzibal.
It might have to do with the way a battery capacity is stated. Asuming the battery has not aged and has the capacity the manufacture states, the capacity is usually only acessible when discharging it with a certain load over a specified time. Peak discharges (I don't know if these occur in a wifi device), device impedance and signal strength of both transceivers might cause deviations in battery operating time but I guess I'm getting off topic now :-)