AOL wireless broadband speed - advice please

herman2811

I have been on AOL (wired) 1MB broadband for a while now, and was very happy with it, consistently getting download speeds of +900 Kbps.

However, I have recently "upgraded" to AOL's wireless offer, and so am using the Netgear DG834G Router they supplied me. But with this I am now getting download speeds of about 640 Kbps.

Is this normal? Or should I still be getting greater then 900 Kbps?

Or is there anything I can do to tweak it?!

Any help/advice would be much appreciated, however please bear in mind that I'm not a computer expert at all!

Thanks in advance

espresso

Basically if the router is set up correctly it should easily cope with a 1MB connection. Have one hard wired connection and two wireless here and the download speeds are the same. Your wireless channel may be getting interference from another wireless network nearby, so try changing it to a channel several channels away.

herman2811

espresso wrote:

Your wireless channel may be getting interference from another wireless network nearby, so try changing it to a channel several channels away.

Erm, how do I do that?! Sorry be for being thick, but I'd need step by step instructions.

PS - My wireless Network Connection signal strength is "Excellent"

albertross_2

tweaking your mtu to 1400 might help..

http://kbserver.netgear.com/kb_web_files/n100603.asp


http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=2471408&postcount=37

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=2471410&postcount=38

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=121274

Downloads speeds vary all the time, 640MB/s is reasonable on a 1MB link, but not perfect.

herman2811

albertross wrote:

Downloads speeds vary all the time, 640MB/s is reasonable on a 1MB link, but not perfect.

But surely if I'm getting 900 Kbps on a wired connection, I should get the same download speed on a wireless connection??

herman2811

albertross wrote:

what do you mean by wired, ethernet via router, or old usb modem. How are you testing the speed.

try this wired to the router, then wireless.

http://www.adslguide.org.uk/tools/speedtest.asp



The 1Mb/s is the max speed, not the norm, it varies during the day, from site to site.

have you setup encryption. anyone else using your router?

By wired, I mean USB modem.

Yep, I've been using the adslguide speed test. In the past when I've checked the speed of the USB modem at different times of the day, it was always greater then 900 Kbps. Now I've got the wireless router, I'm doing the same, and it's always about 640 Kbps.

And yes, the router is security-enabled so there should only be one computer using it!

Can anyone help please?!

espresso

herman2811 wrote:

By wired, I mean USB modem.

Yep, I've been using the adslguide speed test. In the past when I've checked the speed of the USB modem at different times of the day, it was always greater then 900 Kbps. Now I've got the wireless router, I'm doing the same, and it's always about 640 Kbps.

And yes, the router is security-enabled so there should only be one computer using it!

Can anyone help please?!

I don't understand why you are not comparing the wired with the wireless connections on your router! Forget the USB modem and check the wired speed on your router to see if you have configured it correctly.

HTH

herman2811

espresso wrote:

I don't understand why you are not comparing the wired with the wireless connections on your router! Forget the USB modem and check the wired speed on your router to see if you have configured it correctly.

HTH

Good point, silly me!

Ok..... here are the aprox. speeds I'm getting:

USB Modem: 940 Kbps
Router with Ethernet cable: 940 Kbps
Router using wireless connection: 630 Kbps!

So, any ideas anyone?!

albertross_2

Does it do this if you are sat next to the router?

Does you wireless still work if you switch off the router (i.e. are you connecting to yours or someone elses router)

if yes, and no, try changing channels.

Are you using wpa-psk encryption, have you made it secure, turned of the ssid broadcast, changed the default router password?

herman2811

albertross wrote:

Does it do this if you are sat next to the router?

Does you wireless still work if you switch off the router (i.e. are you connecting to yours or someone elses router)

if yes, and no, try changing channels.

Are you using wpa-psk encryption, have you made it secure, turned of the ssid broadcast, changed the default router password?

How do I change channels?

Sorry, all this stuff is very new to me! Yes, my wireless download speed is still slower even when I'm next to the router, and no, it doesn't work when I switch the router off (definitely connecting to my own router).

I think I'm using WEP encription (26 character).

espresso

herman2811 wrote:

How do I change channels?

Sorry, all this stuff is very new to me! Yes, my wireless download speed is still slower even when I'm next to the router, and no, it doesn't work when I switch the router off (definitely connecting to my own router).

I think I'm using WEP encription (26 character).

Chapter 4 of the user manual covers wireless. The wireless channel is the third setting down on the Wireless Settings configuration page.
SSID
Region
Channel
Mode

If your equipment is all 802.11G you should set the mode to g only.

You should be using WPA-PSK encryptions as this is much more secure.
Go to this site and get yourself a 64 Char HEX string (top box) for your encryption key.

HTH