Router and WiFi tune up?

[Zeke]

You know I've complained about my slow connection for years. At this point, I have the fastest FIOS Verizon offers, yet it took 50 seconds to open OT just now.

Yesterday was interminable. It 's so slow I can't even log onto B of A to pay bills. It just times out. I'm so sick and tired that I'm about to give up something. Either this new $1600 computer, Verizon (I have a contract with TV, phone, fiber optic, etc.) or what, I don't know.

But, before I throw the baby out with the bath water, I'll ask ONE MORE TIME.

thx.

[Mule]

Does your computer work OK on other connections?

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by Mule

Does your computer work OK on other connections?

My office is detached.The router is 30 feet away in the house. The path for the signal goes pretty much straight thru 2 single pane glass doors. I can see the router from where I sit. The only thing I can think of that would disturb the signal is that the main electrical panel and service entrance is next to, but not directly in the path of the line of sight to the router.

My wife is on WiFi and her laptop (which is less than this desktop; 540 K RAM and a 2 YO chip vs. 1G RAM and a 3.00 GHz Pentium) downloads much faster. She is 2 plaster walls away and about 20 feet.

[Neilk]

Have your restarted the router? Sometimes it helps. Also check that you have the latest firmware for the router.

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by Neilk

Have your restarted the router? Sometimes it helps. Also check that you have the latest firmware for the router.

The router is a proprietary Verizon model. Talking to them is like trying to talk to your Senator.

28 seconds to post that.

[Mule]

Do other machines on this network run well?

[stomachmonkey]

1) Pelican is really slow so your times don't surprise me.

2) While glass does not affect WIFI much if the panes are coated they can cause problems.

I'd reboot the router, leave it unplugged for 10 seconds.

Do you have a way to measure the signal strength to your PC?

Try changing channels on the router, may be some interference.

[spinner]

Have you tried your wife's laptop in your office? If it crawls, the problem is some kind of interference. What is the signal strength? You can also bypass the router and connect directly and check. "Slow" connections are typically caused by drop packets by something failing (outside your house). You can check that by using the ping command (e.g. ping -n 10 some-website.com). If you get request timed out - packets are getting dropped. BTW - you can have strong signal strength and still have dropped packets.

Good luck

[stomachmonkey]

Milt is it that black router with the silver strip?

[Zeke]

I have a small problem. I get a message that Windows cannot configure this connection. It is between mid range and 4 bars, never all the way. So the connection is not so good. The glass doors are not coated. I'll try moving the router closer. I'll have to buy some cables.

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by stomachmonkey

Milt is it that black router with the silver strip?

yes, M1424WR

[stomachmonkey]

Does it get better if you open the glass doors?

[svandamme]

change channel
disable upnp on the router
set router and all wifi cards to long pramble instead of auto
don't use usb dongle wifi crap
buy better antenna's (stock usually is 4 DB, 15 bucks get's you 6-8 DB omnidirectional ones)
maybe consider getting an antenna extension cable so you can position it better on both pc and router
make sure you don't sit inbetween 2 antenna's, human=water, water is bad for wifi signal

last but not least, make sure no neighbour is downloading kiddy pr0n via your wireless... lock. it. down.

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by svandamme

change channel
disable upnp on the router
set router and all wifi cards to long pramble instead of auto
don't use usb dongle wifi crap
buy better antenna's (stock usually is 4 DB, 15 bucks get's you 6-8 DB omnidirectional ones)
maybe consider getting an antenna extension cable so you can position it better on both pc and router
make sure you don't sit inbetween 2 antenna's, human=water, water is bad for wifi signal

last but not least, make sure no neighbour is downloading kiddy pr0n via your wireless... lock. it. down.

I'm familiar with the need for security. However, this slow speed is all the time. Unless the pedophile is 24/7.

One other thing, the FIOS installer told me that this type of system is very secure as it is. Must be somewhat true, I can't get into the thing to change any settings and if I could, I wouldn't know what "upnp" is. I do have a 3 ft extension on the USB and I move is around to see if i can catch a better signal. No difference.

I understand that fiber optic is just like DSL, lots of users makes it slow. Must be all of Long Beach on my system.

[svandamme]

oh, loose the 3ft extension right now, those things are terrible

try hooking up an external harddrive that's powered via usb, on one of those extensions... you'll be lucky if it spins up at all


"Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) helps devices, such as Internet appliances and computers, access the network and connect to other devices as needed. UPnP devices can automatically discover the services from other registered UPnP devices on the network."

all nice , but hardly anybody needs it, and it uses cpu time and internal memory on the router, slowing things down...
folks who need it, are better off with a manual port forward...


if you can't get in the router, then you should look up the reset button and factory password.. and take control back..

secure as it is... how can you tell if you can't get in
that admin console is just the frontend to configure it... the router might be open for everybody... you can't get in>it could very well be unsecure...

[mikester]

milt are you on wireless 30ft away? if so, do you know if the card you're using is 802.11b or 802.11g?

G has a shorter range than B but B is slower, G downgrades to B speeds at distances.

My suggestion would be to run a wire if you can. Do you have the ability to adjust the settings on the wireless router? If so I would suggest you download something called netstumbler and run it on your computer - it will help you see what channels are in use around you for other wireless networks.

More often than not people leave their wireless routers configured with the default settings; almost all of them come configured on channel 6 or 11. So a lot of times folks are competing all around them for the same channels (there are 11 in the US for 802.11b/g). So, if you run netstumbler - if need be I can provide screen shots - you will see what channels are in use in your immediate area. Then you can choose a channel that is NOT in use which will improve your performance. 30ft isn't very far but in a poorly configured environment it can make a difference.

Failing that - run a wire. Wireless is great but for reliable connectivity if you can run a wire - do so.

[Mule]

ditto!

[svandamme]

seriously, long preamble setting does miracles

it's like the old autonegotiation half duplex/full duplex 7 years ago, it would cause all sorts of crap if left enabled in some combinations of hardware....

[Zeke]

I'll tell you what is frustrating to me. Windows XP assumes I'm an adminstrator and always wants me to configure settings for users. There are no users, only me. No network and never will be. I'd sure like to bypass all that mess and get down to business.

[Zeke]

Is my 1394 connection my Ethernet connection? Should it be enabled if I don't have a cable?