Upgrading broadband speed, worth upgrading router?
Discussion
I'm about to upgrade to Virgin's 152mb broadband and am just considering whether to use Virgin's kit, my own, or to upgrade some (or all) of the below.
I currently use a TP-Link TL-WR743ND 150mb/s router with a TP-Link TL-WR702N 150mb/s range extender (bought because the HTPC was struggling with signal, but I suspect the wireless card is lunched now so once replaced I may remove the extender if it's not required) and finally a TP-Link TL-WN722NC 150mb/s USB wireless adapter for the main PC. An old style cable modem connects by ethernet to the router above.
Should I stick with what I've got, use Virgin's gear or upgrade anything? I'm hoping to be able to stream HD content to the HTPC - hence giving it some consideration.
As a side issue can anyone recommend a decent internal wireless card (or if more effective a USB one) for the HTPC? It goes without saying most HD streaming will be done on the HTPC.
I currently use a TP-Link TL-WR743ND 150mb/s router with a TP-Link TL-WR702N 150mb/s range extender (bought because the HTPC was struggling with signal, but I suspect the wireless card is lunched now so once replaced I may remove the extender if it's not required) and finally a TP-Link TL-WN722NC 150mb/s USB wireless adapter for the main PC. An old style cable modem connects by ethernet to the router above.
Should I stick with what I've got, use Virgin's gear or upgrade anything? I'm hoping to be able to stream HD content to the HTPC - hence giving it some consideration.
As a side issue can anyone recommend a decent internal wireless card (or if more effective a USB one) for the HTPC? It goes without saying most HD streaming will be done on the HTPC.
Have taken a few days to see if any niggles iron themselves out before replying.
I've setup the Virgin kit (it's a Superhub 2) and I'm not getting anywhere near the speeds promised. The Superhub is located upstairs and at most 6 metres from any of the devices (and that's being generous) with no solid walls between. All the following is using Speedtest.net.
I'm getting max 80mb/s with a laptop connected by ethernet to the Superhub, with speeds of between 20-45mb/s wirelessly for various devices (48mb/s for a mobile phone a couple of metres from the Superhub.)
Putting aside the wireless speeds for a second, I'm paying for 150mb/s and don't live anywhere rural so what sort of speed (through ethernet) should I realistically expect? I didn't think I'd ever see 150mb/s, but is 115-120mb/s during non-peak hours realistic? I'm going to have a chat with VM's broadband technical support later so I was just wondering what's likely to be considered acceptable.
Second question, if 80mb/s is less than I should reasonably be expecting could it be the Superhub that's the cause of the low wireless speeds or is it likely to be my gear?
I've setup the Virgin kit (it's a Superhub 2) and I'm not getting anywhere near the speeds promised. The Superhub is located upstairs and at most 6 metres from any of the devices (and that's being generous) with no solid walls between. All the following is using Speedtest.net.
I'm getting max 80mb/s with a laptop connected by ethernet to the Superhub, with speeds of between 20-45mb/s wirelessly for various devices (48mb/s for a mobile phone a couple of metres from the Superhub.)
Putting aside the wireless speeds for a second, I'm paying for 150mb/s and don't live anywhere rural so what sort of speed (through ethernet) should I realistically expect? I didn't think I'd ever see 150mb/s, but is 115-120mb/s during non-peak hours realistic? I'm going to have a chat with VM's broadband technical support later so I was just wondering what's likely to be considered acceptable.
Second question, if 80mb/s is less than I should reasonably be expecting could it be the Superhub that's the cause of the low wireless speeds or is it likely to be my gear?
Thanks for all the responses, I'll try and respond to those that I understood:
Firstly, running cables around the house is something I'm keen to avoid if at all possible. It's not a big house so if I can invest in wireless gear that'll get me similar results then I'd rather do that. (Obviously for testing I'm going to connect directly to the modem though.) Last resort I'll consider seeing if VM can move the broadband downstairs to where the TV connection comes in (about 3ft from the HTPC.)
The wireless card in the laptop is dated which I hadn't considered, and it's a real fly in the ointment for speaking to technical support. I don't know how to find the exact speed (if anyone can talk me through on XP then I'll post it up), I can only say it's a Broadcomm 802.11g network adapter fitted in a 4-5 year old laptop. I'm not sure how I'm going to get around that, short of either borrowing a laptop or dragging the desktop upstairs (probably does need a spring clean, but it's hassle I could have done without.) Thanks for making me consider it though.
The Superhub is on default settings already. It's only been setup a week and it's had one reset in that time - no difference in speeds.
I didn't consider channels etc as during setup the instructions said that it'd automatically set itself to the least populated channel. I'll have to manually confirm if that's the case, alongside switching 2.4 & 5ghz on and off respectively.
Firstly, running cables around the house is something I'm keen to avoid if at all possible. It's not a big house so if I can invest in wireless gear that'll get me similar results then I'd rather do that. (Obviously for testing I'm going to connect directly to the modem though.) Last resort I'll consider seeing if VM can move the broadband downstairs to where the TV connection comes in (about 3ft from the HTPC.)
The wireless card in the laptop is dated which I hadn't considered, and it's a real fly in the ointment for speaking to technical support. I don't know how to find the exact speed (if anyone can talk me through on XP then I'll post it up), I can only say it's a Broadcomm 802.11g network adapter fitted in a 4-5 year old laptop. I'm not sure how I'm going to get around that, short of either borrowing a laptop or dragging the desktop upstairs (probably does need a spring clean, but it's hassle I could have done without.) Thanks for making me consider it though.
The Superhub is on default settings already. It's only been setup a week and it's had one reset in that time - no difference in speeds.
I didn't consider channels etc as during setup the instructions said that it'd automatically set itself to the least populated channel. I'll have to manually confirm if that's the case, alongside switching 2.4 & 5ghz on and off respectively.
Quick update.
Moved the Superhub 2 to a different room and within cables reach of the HTPC (a fairly straightforward job, as someone helpfully mentioned above) and straight away I'm up to 155mb/s via ethernet during peak hours. Very pleased with that aspect.
The desktop - despite being significantly closer to the SH2 - is still only 35-40mb/s. I've not tinkered with checking/changing channels and switching between 2.4 & 5ghz, so that's next on the agenda. Once that's eliminated that just leaves kit as a possible cause.
Thanks for the help so far, I'm getting there slowly.
Moved the Superhub 2 to a different room and within cables reach of the HTPC (a fairly straightforward job, as someone helpfully mentioned above) and straight away I'm up to 155mb/s via ethernet during peak hours. Very pleased with that aspect.
The desktop - despite being significantly closer to the SH2 - is still only 35-40mb/s. I've not tinkered with checking/changing channels and switching between 2.4 & 5ghz, so that's next on the agenda. Once that's eliminated that just leaves kit as a possible cause.
Thanks for the help so far, I'm getting there slowly.
Polariz said:
Have you considered using a couple of those network-through-power sockets? They're relatively cheap and can get great speeds as opposed to WiFi.
Old wiring in the house. From the SH2's new position I could feasibly run a few metres of ethernet cable to the desktop (and I may) but given how many wireless devices I've got in the house - laptop, tablet, phones etc - if I can I'd like to get the wireless speed up to scratch either way.Right, I've done some tinkering with channels etc.
For starters, my desktop wireless adapter doesn't support 5ghz. Nor does my laptop or tablet (but my phone does.) So one way or another I'm going to need to run the SH2 in dual channel mode. Which is a shame, as according to the app I was using there's nothing else in reach of my house which does run 5ghz.
Having tinkered with channels I've made a small improvement - it was defaulting to channel 11, but shifting it to 13 (despite causing the PC to drop all wifi - wouldn't even see the neighbours) means I was maxed at 42mb/s (from 35mb/s on 11.) I tried moving down to 6 but that took speeds down again, presumably because of the nearby strong Virgin signal (mine is the light blue network.)
So I'm not too sure where that leaves me. I'd like to be sure my phone when speed testing is on 5ghz, but I'm not sure how I can manually force it to choose that so I can test the 5ghz speeds - or whether it's already on 5ghz. It's an Android phone if anyone knows how to check.
I could invest in a dual band wireless adapter but I'm not sure if that's actually going to achieve anything.
And of course the final option is to say b*****ks to the wireless connection, live with 40mb/s for the mobile devices and run ethernet over to the desktop. It would just irk me not knowing what the cause is though doing that, and being able to stream at good speed on my mobile devices is something I would use from time to time.
For starters, my desktop wireless adapter doesn't support 5ghz. Nor does my laptop or tablet (but my phone does.) So one way or another I'm going to need to run the SH2 in dual channel mode. Which is a shame, as according to the app I was using there's nothing else in reach of my house which does run 5ghz.
Having tinkered with channels I've made a small improvement - it was defaulting to channel 11, but shifting it to 13 (despite causing the PC to drop all wifi - wouldn't even see the neighbours) means I was maxed at 42mb/s (from 35mb/s on 11.) I tried moving down to 6 but that took speeds down again, presumably because of the nearby strong Virgin signal (mine is the light blue network.)
So I'm not too sure where that leaves me. I'd like to be sure my phone when speed testing is on 5ghz, but I'm not sure how I can manually force it to choose that so I can test the 5ghz speeds - or whether it's already on 5ghz. It's an Android phone if anyone knows how to check.
I could invest in a dual band wireless adapter but I'm not sure if that's actually going to achieve anything.
And of course the final option is to say b*****ks to the wireless connection, live with 40mb/s for the mobile devices and run ethernet over to the desktop. It would just irk me not knowing what the cause is though doing that, and being able to stream at good speed on my mobile devices is something I would use from time to time.
Right, 5ghz on the phone gets me up to 55mb/s (cheers Rasto, I had both 2.4 and 5ghz with the same name - changed the 5ghz one to make it switch.) A step in the right direction but far from perfect.
Short term I've ordered enough metres of cat6 (cost about a fiver) to connect the desktop as a short term solution but everything on the wireless front points to kit.
Might see if I can find someone with a laptop with a fairly modern wireless card to give the SH2 one final chance before looking at alternatives.
Short term I've ordered enough metres of cat6 (cost about a fiver) to connect the desktop as a short term solution but everything on the wireless front points to kit.
Might see if I can find someone with a laptop with a fairly modern wireless card to give the SH2 one final chance before looking at alternatives.
GCH said:
5th gen airport extremes are currently available in the apple refurb store http://store.apple.com/uk/product/FD031B/A/refurbi... right now for a mere £69.
As an unapologetic Apple-phobe, is there a compelling reason to go for that over a similarly priced or cheaper Asus/TP-Link router? I'm not totally averse to the idea of buying Apple but I don't own a single Apple product (and have no plans to add any iDevices in the future) so it'd be used purely as a standalone router.The phone I'm most interested in streaming to is an Xperia Z1 - so a fairly modern, capable smart phone - is 55mb/s whilst next to the router really the ceiling for such a device?
As an alternative gauge, this is the wireless adapter I'm currently using:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B003158RHE/ref=...
35-40mb/s limit to my desktop PC from that over a fairly short distance.
Like I say, borrowing something with a decent wireless network card in it should ultimately solve the question of whether it's the SH2 or issues at the receiving end. I could shell out for a dual channel wireless adapter, but given I've ordered the ethernet cable anyway that would just prove whether the issue is router or device, it's not an actual solution and would probably sit in a drawer indefinitely after first use.
As an alternative gauge, this is the wireless adapter I'm currently using:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B003158RHE/ref=...
35-40mb/s limit to my desktop PC from that over a fairly short distance.
Like I say, borrowing something with a decent wireless network card in it should ultimately solve the question of whether it's the SH2 or issues at the receiving end. I could shell out for a dual channel wireless adapter, but given I've ordered the ethernet cable anyway that would just prove whether the issue is router or device, it's not an actual solution and would probably sit in a drawer indefinitely after first use.
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