Wireless connection. Internet bandwidth issues

kai_lani

Hi

I wonder if anyone can help me out a little with my in house setup. I'm more than happy with VM, and through testing am convinced it's my kit at fault, not the VM stuff.

Im testing using speedtest.net, and test with only one computer trying to connect. All other devices havee wireless turned off and/or are unplugged from the system.

I have a 10mb connection down cable with VM and up until very recently it's been excellent in one corner of my lounge.

I've moved everything around to get things closer to the phoneline (not really relevant to the setup, more to keep things tidy). Since I moved things around, my connection is reading around 1.5-2mb on download when connected wirelessly or through a spare ethernet. If direct into the modem I get my speed around 9.5mb - excellent, but very restrictive as there are many devices that would like to connect but the bandwidth just isn't there...

I've tried changing the ethernet cable that connect the 2 devices but it doesn't seem to make a difference. Can anyine else suggest what to cheeck/change as the man on the belkin line was rubbish.

Cheers

davb

It does point to the router being an issue.
You could try a different cable between the modem and router. After that, maybe a firmware update on the router, and/or a reset to factory defaults.
There is maybe some scope in tweaking the MTU setting on the router, but really you could be looking at a new router if those don't work.

Do all your testing on wired, and sort the wireless later. You won't then be misled by signal strength and encryption speeds.

kai_lani

thanks for that dave.

didn't really understand the mtu bit though...

davb

The MTU setting is within the router config, and I think it is normally set to around 1500 for a cable router. There are various thoughts on this, but it is often dropped to 1450 or 1400 to get around problems. If you change it, make a note of the current setting.

John_Gray

Have a look at DrTCP - and the advice that you should leave most settings as they are!

exup

if you are on virgin cable the MTU size is 1492 - The MTU size is basically the limit on how big a data packet can be sent before it is either split up into smaller packets, or simply discarded. If you have a conflict between MTU sizes going into and out of the router then it can be like having a traffic jam.
Try imagining a Bridge with a weight limit on it - You drive a HGV upto the bridge and then find out everything has to be unloaded and put into vans because a fully laden HGV is too heavy - so this would slow you down - if you put everythings in vans to start with - then you get onto the bridge quicker.
normally you would alter the MTU size in the router settings (normally set to 1500) - But I doubt you would see a great deal of difference - unless there is some other issue causing oversize packets. As the posters said above - dont speedtest with wireless as it introduces other factors which would affect the result

kai_lani

superb explanation that -

thanks for the various suggestions....
well, after some fiddling, I think i've tracked the problem to something in the patch cable originally used from modem to router. now I get 9.5mb direct through router, 9.0 wired through router and 8.4 through wireless.

i understand the losses through wireless, and also losses through connections through wired, but what's the best way to minimise losses through wires?

exup

If the cable is routed or kinked badly then it could cause a problem - or even a break in the internal wiring.
Also old ethernet cables may cause problems

also they can get interference from other electrical devices (sometimes called noise).

If they have poorly terminated ends. If you can see the wiring in the connectors (unless they have covers on) at each end of the wire - then you may be able to see each individual wire (there are 8 in an ethernet cable) going into the plastic connector which fits in the socket - Normally inside the sheath they are twisted up to help reduce interference - but when you wire up the connectors then you need to untwist these wires. The more you untwist to use - then the more you expose to interference.

Grassy_Knollington

With regards to the wireless card in your laptop or PC. What speed can it go? Many are only going to connect at 54Mbps over your LAN (and even that is being generous) despite what is hitting your router from the WAN.