4 Routers Tried, Mostly Slow ONLY on WIFI. Help...

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Ok, our old router/modem was a Netgear from Charter. A WEP. It has became occasionally slow, around 5-9 Mbps. The WIFI should be 50-60 Mbps...

Got Charter out today. He installed a new Netgear. Same result.
He installed another Netgear. Same result.

He went and got one of the brand new Netgear that stands upright. Same result. He's totally stumped! We can be right next to it and it don't matter!

ALL Ethernet cable speeds are 60-65 Mbps on ALL Routers tried! As soon as we go WIFI, it can be anywhere from 0, to 2.5, to 5-15 and up to 65 Mbps! The high speeds are usually on the iPad, but the computer runs 5-9 Mbps.
crazy2.gif


So, what on earth is going on??
Is something interfering with it and what can interfere?

Thank you.
 
You could get netstumbler and see what other wifi is on your channel(s) when you power off your thingy.
 
Originally Posted By: eljefino
You could get netstumbler and see what other wifi is on your channel(s) when you power off your thingy.


I have no idea what you mean, please elabotate...
smile.gif


We can be right next to it and there is no difference.
 
Originally Posted By: michaelluscher
I'd personally go for your own modem/WiFi Router

Much better quality, and if your paying the rental fee, you'll make it back in a year.


He pretty much said that, I was going to see if you guys could put a finger on it first...
smile.gif


He said to go buy a Linksys & has never seen this issue before.
Would a Linksys be better at this situation?? Which one??
 
He's telling you to check for interference on whatever WiFi channel you are using. If all of your neighbors are using the same channel, it can cause this sort of problem.

This Wikipedia entry might help you understand the general concept:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_WLAN_channels

Personally, I would get my own router, if the cable company will allow it, and get one that can run DD-WRT. But then again I'm a network analyst by profession so I like to run router firmware that I can tweak everything on
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His Boss at the Charter shop said "something's interfering with it".
Other people have around me have the Charter Netgear WIFI's.

Does that help? Will the Linksys stand on it's own?, away from other WIFI's intertfering?
 
Originally Posted By: Turk
Originally Posted By: michaelluscher
I'd personally go for your own modem/WiFi Router

Much better quality, and if your paying the rental fee, you'll make it back in a year.


He pretty much said that, I was going to see if you guys could put a finger on it first...
smile.gif


He said to go buy a Linksys & has never seen this issue before.
Would a Linksys be better at this situation?? Which one??



My bad.
Do you have access to an Android Device?
Download WiFi Analyzer and see if the channel your router is on isn't ideal. The app will recommend the best one for your local RF conditions.
 
Originally Posted By: michaelluscher


My bad.
Do you have access to an Android Device?
Download WiFi Analyzer and see if the channel your router is on isn't ideal. The app will recommend the best one for your local RF conditions.



The guy was trying all of the channels on 3 routers. No better.

Ok, we have 2 iPads, 2 computers, 2 iPhones & 1 Android (Samsung 4GLTE).
Also (1) 120Hz 50" HDTV with WIFI. Not all run at once of course.

So, which Linksys Router would be bet with 65 Mbps coming in to it?? I have Amazon Prime, btw.

Thank you!!
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Do you have anything that is wireless that might interfere with it? The biggest culprit is wireless printers that go wonky and need rebooted, and wireless subwoofers for soundbars and stuff. I've had one of those that actually made 2.4Ghz in it's vicinity unusable
 
Originally Posted By: Nick R
Do you have anything that is wireless that might interfere with it? The biggest culprit is wireless printers that go wonky and need rebooted, and wireless subwoofers for soundbars and stuff. I've had one of those that actually made 2.4Ghz in it's vicinity unusable


Nope, none of those.
smile.gif
 
Originally Posted By: Nick R
Do you have anything that is wireless that might interfere with it? The biggest culprit is wireless printers that go wonky and need rebooted, and wireless subwoofers for soundbars and stuff. I've had one of those that actually made 2.4Ghz in it's vicinity unusable


older 2.4ghz cordless phone(or early 5.8ghz)?

rather frequent microwave useage?

something bluetooth going mad? (bluetooth is in the 2.4ghz band)

just spitballing things that could be on that frequency band.
 
Sounds like the router is in an RF dead spot...

Try moving the router, several feet if possible, or a hard wire to another router. You may have to turn off the wireless on the first router if you use a second.

My choice of router is a Linksys EA2700, dual band with gigabit hardwire ports.
Look on Amazon, refurbished units are around $30...
 
Router configuration...
First, change the DHCP IP from 192.168.1.1 to 192.168.XXX.1, with XXX being from 5 to 225...
Remember, once the change us applied, you will have to reconnect with the new IP address...

Second, make sure the 2.4 and 5 GhZ bands have different SSID's.
Devices which need static IP's (printers) use DHCP reservation to assign the same IP to the Mac address...

Turn off all devices, then turn them on one at a time. After ten-twenty minutes, look for large amounts of network traffic (blinking LED's) which are an indication of a virus...
 
Advanced-
Use WPA-2 for encryption.

Use HTTPS addresses when possible (Facebook, etc)

Find all your devices MAC addresses, enter them in "Mac Address Filtering / Restriction".
Then allow only these MAC addresses to use your wireless signal.

Increase your DHCP reservation pool, usual is 50, I use 100...
From 192.198.XXX.25 to 192.168.XXX.125.
Save the first 25, and 224-up, used for broadcast IP's, max DHCP pool is around 200...

Keep your router firmware updated...
 
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Super Advanced-
Turn off QOS and WMM if using a Linksys router...

Once all devices are connected via wireless, and username / password saved, turn off the SSID broadcast.

On Linksys Cloud routers (EA seriers), you will have to log into the Cloud to see the "SSID broadcast" radio button...

Once off, it will stay off, even if you don't use the Cloud to configure your router, and do it manually...

MagicJack and VOIP devices don't play nice with lots of network hops. Plug your VOIP device in to your cable/FIOS/DSL modem, along with your router. Modems sometimes come with switches built in. Use a 4-5 port 100 or 1000 (gigabit) speed switch between modem and router if not...
 
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Thanks guys.....

Nothing else is around to "interfere" with me, just several "regular" homes & a field behind me.

There's several other WIFI networks around me & what's got me puzzled is my Speedtests are SO inconsistent whether I'm right next to the router or not!

Same problem when nothing else is on and even at 3:30AM.

So, this is what I bought off Amazon last night at deadline so I didn't have to wait until Monday wuth the Prime:

http://www.amazon.com/Linksys-Wireless-D...asin=B007IL7AKM

Thoughts?? Would this one be "THE BOSS" of the neighborhood, lol?? Or, return it?
 
Turk:

That one should be fine. Are they giving you a stand-alone modem to use with your new router or will they at least convert your current modem/router into a bridge for you so you aren't doing serial NAT? Something to be aware of.

Set it up with WPA2/AES with a decent passphrase and you'll be be fine. Also, make sure channel selection under the wireless is set to "AUTO", as that allows the device to perform a site survey and choose the least congested channel.
 
Originally Posted By: mattwithcats
Super Advanced-
Turn off QOS and WMM if using a Linksys router...

Once all devices are connected via wireless, and username / password saved, turn off the SSID broadcast.


Turning ofF SSID broadcast does nothing for security and is annoying if you have people (guests) using your wireless. The same goes for MAC filtering, as if you have a MAC violation, then your wireless security has already been breached. And if that person was able to get by WPA2/AES, they are most certainly going to know how to spoof a MAC address.

MAC filtering has its place (like controlling device access for spanning different VLAN's for example, enforcing port access policies on a switch or in an EDU/Healthcare/Corporate environment WRT restricting physical network access at the access port level..etc) but its usefulness in a home environment is close to zero unless you have physical ethernet ports that could be accessible to somebody walking by your house
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Originally Posted By: mattwithcats


MagicJack and VOIP devices don't play nice with lots of network hops. Plug your VOIP device in to your cable/FIOS/DSL modem, along with your router. Modems sometimes come with switches built in. Use a 4-5 port 100 or 1000 (gigabit) speed switch between modem and router if not...


It isn't that they don't play nicely with hops, it is that NAT/PAT devices (and people doing serial NAT/PAT) often don't play well with those services. Hop count is basically irrelevant; somebody on one ISP could have 30 hops to the VoIP provider, somebody on another could have 5. As long as the hops are low latency, they aren't an issue. It is the handling of this type of traffic by a consumer-grade gateway that causes issues. Also, if the ISP-provided device serves you addresses on a private subnet on the inside interface(s), using another router/gateway behind that creates a serial NAT/PAT condition, which can further exasperate the issue.

As long as the ISP provides you with a modem or a modem/router/gateway in bridge mode that allows a static or dynamic IP (and not using PPPoE) and more than one external IP, you can avoid NAT altogether with the VoIP device using the setup you described. If they do not, then this setup will create a serial NAT condition for devices masquerading behind the 2nd gateway and the VoIP traffic is simply traversing one NAT gateway. In this case it is better to either enable bridge mode on the ISP provided device and adjust your topology accordingly, turn your other gateway into an AP, or use a routed setup that eliminates the double NAT/PAT.
 
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