is there a way for me to get better wireless speeds?

joemardo1

Hi folks,

I upgraded to Talktalk fibre medium a week ago and have router D-link 3780 connected by Ethernet to desktop. Good download speeds of 36 MBPS so no problems and happy enough there.

If I am using my nexus in same room I get over over 27 MBPS but upstairs this drops to 9-14 MBPS.

It isn't an option to move the existing router.

I do have a few old routers lying around such as a netgear DG83 which I liked a lot. Is there anyway I can try it upstairs and see if it increases the wireless speed without running an Ethernet cable to main router or is there a way to get it to receive the wireless signal and then I can move it around to see what happens?

Thanks for any advice, not a great problem I can live with it but still if I can improve things!

Thanks
Joe

The_Magnificent_Spoon

joemardo1 wrote: »

Hi folks,

I upgraded to Talktalk fibre medium a week ago and have router D-link 3780 connected by Ethernet to desktop. Good download speeds of 36 MBPS so no problems and happy enough there.

If I am using my nexus in same room I get over over 27 MBPS but upstairs this drops to 9-14 MBPS.

It isn't an option to move the existing router.

I do have a few old routers lying around such as a netgear DG83 which I liked a lot. Is there anyway I can try it upstairs and see if it increases the wireless speed without running an Ethernet cable to main router or is there a way to get it to receive the wireless signal and then I can move it around to see what happens?

Thanks for any advice, not a great problem I can live with it but still if I can improve things!

Thanks
Joe

Hi mate,

You will always find this is an issue. Wireless transfer speeds drop quite rapidly with signal loss, particularly in areas with high contention for wifi. My apartment block has about 40 visible wireless networks, and unless I'm within 5m of my router, my transfer rates drop to just a couple of mbps.

Routers these days are supposed to choose the least contended channel, but I sometimes find they have not done a great job of this. Sometimes manually selecting a different channel that is less contended (you can either run a wifi scanner like inssider or just use trial and error) can improve things. You might also be able to move things like power cables, large metallic things like filing cabinets, anything else with 2.4ghz frequency radio transmitters (keyboards/mice, microwaves!) out of signals path.

You might also want to try a different type of wireless encryption. While WPA2 is much more secure, it often increases the load on cheaper routers by quite a bit, slowing wireless service down considerably. You could try WPA1, or even, dare I say it, WEP. Be aware that WEP is fairly insecure though.

Your DG834 is 802.11g, so max transfer rate you would ever get from wireless on it is about 25mbps, and that's if you're sat right next to it. Realisitcally it would be much less.

What you might consider, and would probably be my choice, would be to use some 100+mbps powerline adapters, one at your router and one upstairs where you mostly hang out. Then upstairs, put a 802.11n wireless access point (or router, setup with dhcp/wan disabled!). This will give you the best coverage available in your room upstairs.

poppellerant

I find with some routers that support 300Mbps speeds, the signal is too weak. 144Mbps is more than fast enough and always gives me good coverage around the house. 54MBps is too slow for my broadband connection speed of 60Mbps, but I imagine would be a better signal still.

I always stick to WPA2 where possible. I doubt WPA is penetrable to drive-by hackers. I certainly wouldn't recommend WEP, unless test for brief period.

You can get an app for Android phones, called Wifi Analyzer. Use this to choose the best channel in your area. It will choose the least congested channel range.

bluesnake

The answer to your problem is homeplugs.

Also on the wifi frequency you get house and car alarms, door bells, Home tv repeaters/transmitters, baby monitors etc. Wifi analyzers will not detect these, but a spectrum analyzer will.

neilwoods

bluesnake wrote: »

The answer to your problem is homeplugs.

Also on the wifi frequency you get house and car alarms, door bells, Home tv repeaters/transmitters, baby monitors etc. Wifi analyzers will not detect these, but a spectrum analyzer will.

NO they dont, house alarms tend to operate in 990Mhz or 433Mhs range, door bells around 330Mhz, baby monitor around 50Mhz. So anything that low bandwith will operate in a much lower frequency than wifi.

Tv repeaters operate in 2.4ghz.

Are there any radiator panels in the way, fish tanks, even other people, may sound strange, but anything with water in will stop the signal dead.

As said above, homeplugs could be the best way to go, cheapest option is to buy physical connection only and maybe use your old router as an access point (connected to homeplug upstairs)

Oblivion

poppellerant wrote: »

I find with some routers that support 300Mbps speeds, the signal is too weak. 144Mbps is more than fast enough and always gives me good coverage around the house.

Yes, I agree. I have a TP-Link 300Mbps wireless router and was initially disappointed at the coverage in my flat. What I hadn't realised until I ran the inSSider software was that it achieves those speeds by broadcasting on two separate channels.

I had mine manually set to channel 5, but inSSider revealed that it was actually broadcasting on channels 5 and 9 and this is why the router was struggling to deliver signal strength and getting very hot in the process.

A simple setting change in the router's management setup (20Mhz instead of 40Mhz) and it's now back to 144 Mbps on channel 5 only which is much better for me and no doubt a relief to the neighbours who were wondering where all the 'interference' was coming from.