Is this possible? Networking issue.
Discussion
I have noticed painfully slow download speeds in Napster, so I did a line test and got 0.5MB. I pay for up to 8mb broadband, with an adsl max line, so I rang BT and they got slow speeds on the line.
They told me to plug the router (Belkin Wireless G) in to the master socket, down by my front door so that over the next 10 days, I could pick up a higher speed on the line, if not the engineer would need to come out, and that could cost me £180 if it was found that it was my internal wiring at fault. I live in a brand new house so hopefully that wouldn't be my responsibility, or the case.
So i plugged the router in, but because I live in a town house, the router being way downstairs means I get slow speeds and a lower signal strength than before (which always said Excellent 54Mbps). I am using channel 12, which isn't used by any of my neighbours, although if my neighbour's router is plugged in at their main socket then the routers are only separated by an internal wall, as all the houses are identical.
So my question - Is there a way I can use a Dlink cable wireless router that I have spare to boost my signal in any way? BT have told me to screw off the main plate on the master socket to test my line speeds,so I might just do that. Can anyone think of anything else?
They told me to plug the router (Belkin Wireless G) in to the master socket, down by my front door so that over the next 10 days, I could pick up a higher speed on the line, if not the engineer would need to come out, and that could cost me £180 if it was found that it was my internal wiring at fault. I live in a brand new house so hopefully that wouldn't be my responsibility, or the case.
So i plugged the router in, but because I live in a town house, the router being way downstairs means I get slow speeds and a lower signal strength than before (which always said Excellent 54Mbps). I am using channel 12, which isn't used by any of my neighbours, although if my neighbour's router is plugged in at their main socket then the routers are only separated by an internal wall, as all the houses are identical.
So my question - Is there a way I can use a Dlink cable wireless router that I have spare to boost my signal in any way? BT have told me to screw off the main plate on the master socket to test my line speeds,so I might just do that. Can anyone think of anything else?
Nope, or at least not easily. The Dlink will be wired to share the cable interface, rather than an outbound Cat5 port, and the software wont allow that as a graphical change. You could overlay linux on it and write your own software, or you could wander out and buy a cheapish access point and a goodly length of cat5, and see if you can get away with running that under the carpets etc under the wifes nose, and into the hall.
1. Rather than using wireless, can you used a wired connection from your PC/laptop to the router? That will rule out any wireless issues.
2. How far from your BT exchange are you? What ADSL line speed does your router show?
3. I assume you did your "speed test" from your PC/laptop. If there is a discrepancy between the line speed your router reports and the speed test reports, then you could have something else on your PC/network using bandwidth...
2. How far from your BT exchange are you? What ADSL line speed does your router show?
3. I assume you did your "speed test" from your PC/laptop. If there is a discrepancy between the line speed your router reports and the speed test reports, then you could have something else on your PC/network using bandwidth...
I had a bizarre problem with an old Dlink ADSL router once. For some reason HTTP traffic (anything web related) ran like a dog. Several calls to BT failed to resolve the problem. I swapped the router with a friends NetGear and it worked fine - for some reason the router was at fault. My thinking is that if something like this fails then the whole thing fails, not just one small component! So it might be worth trying a friends router if you know someone who can help - dont buy a new one though.
It could be a WiFi issue so try connecting directly to see if this is the problem.
I also had a major performance problem not so long ago that turned out to be at the BT box at the end of my street. It was easily identified and solved, but you could see the negotiated ADSL speed was very low, so clearly it was a BT problem. What upstream and downstream speeds are you getting? What is the router negotiating at? Typically a line fault will lower these figures. Poor performance then tends to be a networking issue rather than a physical networking one.
It could be a WiFi issue so try connecting directly to see if this is the problem.
I also had a major performance problem not so long ago that turned out to be at the BT box at the end of my street. It was easily identified and solved, but you could see the negotiated ADSL speed was very low, so clearly it was a BT problem. What upstream and downstream speeds are you getting? What is the router negotiating at? Typically a line fault will lower these figures. Poor performance then tends to be a networking issue rather than a physical networking one.
Had this recently with a friend. Their 2Mb broadband was testing at about 50k, but orange were adamant it was running at 2Mb. He'd been bugging orange for weeks and got nowhere. I took a quick look, router connected at just over 2Mb, internet speed test from lappie about 150k hmm thats not right. Oh look theres a user on the wireless but none of the lappies in the house are turned on.... and its using 95% of the bandwidth !.
Turns out the wireless had hidden SSID but no encryption, I guess one of his neighbours decided this would be useful for downloading stuff 24/7. Turned WPA on and voila suddenly broadband is running at 2Mb.
Turns out the wireless had hidden SSID but no encryption, I guess one of his neighbours decided this would be useful for downloading stuff 24/7. Turned WPA on and voila suddenly broadband is running at 2Mb.
bigdods said:
Had this recently with a friend. Their 2Mb broadband was testing at about 50k, but orange were adamant it was running at 2Mb. He'd been bugging orange for weeks and got nowhere. I took a quick look, router connected at just over 2Mb, internet speed test from lappie about 150k hmm thats not right. Oh look theres a user on the wireless but none of the lappies in the house are turned on.... and its using 95% of the bandwidth !.
Turns out the wireless had hidden SSID but no encryption, I guess one of his neighbours decided this would be useful for downloading stuff 24/7. Turned WPA on and voila suddenly broadband is running at 2Mb.
Hand the MAC address over to the local plod and ask them to talk to the neighbours !Turns out the wireless had hidden SSID but no encryption, I guess one of his neighbours decided this would be useful for downloading stuff 24/7. Turned WPA on and voila suddenly broadband is running at 2Mb.
BT do a line tester - www.speedtester.bt.com
My original line test of 0.5MB was done by BT tech support, where they reported slow line speeds. I use net stumbler and can see the other networks around me, all set to channel 1,7 or 11, but there about 10 of them. We do have cordless phones, but this wouldnt affect the actual speed of the line surely? Just my connection to it. When I used the online speed tester, after disabling my firewalls etc temporarily and plugging the router right right in to the master socket ( so other phone components would make no difference) I got 1MB. This was all done by a wired connection to my laptop.
BT said that gradually over the next few days I should notice a difference and right enough,my napster downloads are ten times,literally,faster than they were yesterday. Only problem is the range,I don't think it's that good.
But what if they say "1MB, that's not unreasonable, there's obviously no problem our end.1MB is acceptable"
My original line test of 0.5MB was done by BT tech support, where they reported slow line speeds. I use net stumbler and can see the other networks around me, all set to channel 1,7 or 11, but there about 10 of them. We do have cordless phones, but this wouldnt affect the actual speed of the line surely? Just my connection to it. When I used the online speed tester, after disabling my firewalls etc temporarily and plugging the router right right in to the master socket ( so other phone components would make no difference) I got 1MB. This was all done by a wired connection to my laptop.
BT said that gradually over the next few days I should notice a difference and right enough,my napster downloads are ten times,literally,faster than they were yesterday. Only problem is the range,I don't think it's that good.
But what if they say "1MB, that's not unreasonable, there's obviously no problem our end.1MB is acceptable"
catmartin said:
off_again said:
What upstream and downstream speeds are you getting? What is the router negotiating at?
Downloading 950kbpsUploading 330kbps
This is on wireless though. I'll try and do a test via the actual router now.
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