Super Slow Internet!!!

penrhyn

We have established that the connection has a marginal noise margin figure, this can give rise to the router losing synchronisation especially in the evening when the margin will drop further.
Its best to sort the basics out first.

Note that with an attenuation of 35db, the line should be capable of supporting 10 to 12Mbps, currently its less than 7Mbps, this means there is noise on the line, ether being caused by internal wiring or the line itself.

aliEnRIK

penrhyn wrote: »

Note that with an attenuation of 35db, the line should be capable of supporting 10 to 12Mbps, currently its less than 7Mbps, this means there is noise on the line, ether being caused by internal wiring or the line itself.

What can be done about 'either' penrhyn?

thescouselander

Why all this focus on the connection back to the exchange? The OP clearly states speeds are OK when connected to the router via a cable - the problem is clearly related to Wi-Fi connection.

GunJack

penrhyn wrote: »

This is incorrect. 6db is at the lowest value that the router will synchronise at. OPs sync speed should be higher with an attenuation of 35db, the line should be capable of over 8Mbps.
Try what I posted earlier.

sorry mate, you're wrong...try asking some peeps who are syncing at 3dB on a stable line...honest.. it really depends on the quality/length of the line and how good the router is at holding sync at low SNRMs

"Note that with an attenuation of 35db, the line should be capable of supporting 10 to 12Mbps, currently its less than 7Mbps, this means there is noise on the line, ether being caused by internal wiring or the line itself."

This is partially true, but only if ikkle is on an ADSL2+ up to 20/24 Meg service...if on ADSL Max then the max sync is 8128kb/s, 7616kb/s if Interleaving is switched on. So, there may well be some slight noise issue, but it certainly isn't worth worrying about and deffo won't be the cause of the macbook wireless issue.

Zuzzie

Be guided by 'GoToChange'. We've been with Talktalk for a couple of years now with no problems. Then 3 or 4 months ago started experiencing instability and drop outs with the connection. Initially thought it was a router problem so went out and bought a new one. Tried moving the equipment near the master phone socket etc etc., but nothing worked. Then we realised that the connection was fine during the day and then come the evening was terrible. Logically, we assumed that the system was overwhelmed when everyone was coming home from work and going online. This all started when they took over Tiscali. They now have too many users on the system and it can't cope. Have you monitored the connection at different times?
We have had little problem since we spoke to Talktalk support last time when they could not offer any explanation as to why there was a difference in the stability at certain times of day. In the end they 'tweaked' our speed and since then we have had very little trouble.

ikkle87

Scrilla wrote: »

We should not need to play with the telephone line because the OP can connect to it fine using a cable.

On the assumption your MacBook is now up to date and you are still experiencing dropouts, try this:
1. Download KisMAC. Install and run.
2. Open preferences, click on driver. There will be an empty box called "Capture Devices". Below that, there will be a dropdown menu. Select the one that says "Apple Airport, Active Mode" or something similar to that. Close preferences when done.
3. Click on start scan on the bottom right of the KisMAC window. A list of wireless devices will now be displayed including your own. The important thing here is to look at the "Ch" column to see what channels the devices are using.

If your device is using the same channel as another device, then this will almost certainly be the cause of the dropouts.
If your channel is close to another devices' channel (e.g. Yours is 3 and the neighbours is 4), then this could cause problems too if your signal strength is low. Signal strength is shown by the column "Signal", the higher the better. If your signal strength is lower than theirs in this case, then this could be a cause of the dropouts.
If you find there are about 40 different devices listed in the window, move house

To correct the problem, set your channel to one that is free. e.g if your neighbours have taken channels 1, 5, 6, 9 and 13, then you may want to choose channel 3 to use. I'm not familiar with the DG834G, so you will have to rely on your instruction manual or others members of the forum to help you there.

If that doesn't work, a firmware update may be what you need (select your device, click on downloads on the resulting page, follow instructions for installation). The other alternative is that the wireless part of your Netgear is starting to fail.

Did the kisMac, it shows 8 channels, mine has highest signal (avg 47) and is on channel 10, the other 7 are on channel 1 (3 times), channel 6 (3 times) and channel 11 and all below 30.

thescouselander

ikkle87 wrote: »

Did the kisMac, it shows 8 channels, mine has highest signal (avg 47) and is on channel 10, the other 7 are on channel 1 (3 times), channel 6 (3 times) and channel 11 and all below 30.

Ok, so now you know which channels other people are using for their wi-fi. The problem is that kismac wont tell you about other devices like baby monitors / cordless phones etc so you will still need to try changing the channel anyway. Also the channels overlap slightly so the person on channel 11 might be causing you a problem.

Its best to get as far away from your current channel as possible to I'd recommend trying channels 3 or 4 first.

penrhyn

aliEnRIK wrote: »

What can be done about 'either' penrhyn?

If connecting to the master test socket results in an increase in sync speed, then it points to internal wiring.
The usual fix is to remove the bell wire (pin 3) connection to the extensions wired to the back of the faceplate,
If there is no improvement this points to the line itself, in which case do a quiet line test and listen for background noise crackles and the like. Its then time to get on to BT or whoever you pay your line rental to.
its quite possible that a router will maintain its sync at less than 6db, however in OPs case the line should be syncing at a higher rate.

Strider590

ikkle87 wrote: »

Most times this can be fixed by unplugging the Router for a few minutes (Netgear DG834G) then plugging it back in

I had nothing but trouble with my DG834G, if it's the little flat white one (V2) then im not surprised at all.
They can't handle large amounts of DNS data, causing them to slow down.... They can't handle multiple connections, hard to explain but these are "virtual" connections from the same PC.

Leopard

For the owner of a MacBook - which, like the OP's, comes with the inbuilt ability to use 802.11n at 5 GHz - the best solution, particularly if surrounded by neighbours swamping the 2.4 GHz band, is to buy an Apple Airport Extreme Base Station (or even an Airport Express) and run it on 5 GHz only.

These, in excellent condition, can be bought on eBay for about £60 and can network wirelessly at some 270 Mb/sec. They also have Gigabit LAN ports (well, the Extreme does).

They do need an external modem, but the OP's is working fine and could be used for that task only. Alternatively, a good ADSL modem can also be purchased cheaply on eBay: I bought a new, sealed Draytek 100 for less than £17 last week and it is perfect with an Airport Extreme.

Upgrading to the 5 GHz band is certainly a cheaper solution than the suggestion that the OP should move house and if properly deployed it works greatly better and faster than 2.4 GHz.