Wifi question

[PistolBob]

Have you tried using one of those Pringle can antennas?

 

[ArcadiaGP]

You are seeing the full speed when plugged in though, yes? Just making sure they didn't mess up and stick you with a DOCSIS 2.0 modem.

3.0 is required for those higher speeds

 

[Cameramonkey]

I looked at my comcast modem/router and it is indeed 802.11ac. I can understand that I may need newer equipment, by why does the box say it handles up to 340 mbps? Granted, I get 90 on my laptop with ethernet, but only 10% of that through wifi? I guess I should have researched modems a bit more before spending 100 bucks for what I thought was more than I needed. It did worry me at unboxing time for the new unit that it was quite a bit smaller than my comcast modem/router.

Bear in mind that 340 number is a RAW wifi speed. (not actual ethernet throughput which is considerably lower due to signalling overhead) It also has nothing to do with how strong the processor is on the router to handle internet traffic through the firewall. I've seen really fast wifi inside on the LAN, but once you try to hit the firewall all bets are off.

it is entirely possible that your ROUTER handles it just fine - but the wireless setup on your laptop can't do that kind of speed. I would talk to a friend with a more modern laptop (or you can get a USB unit or something) and try that.

THIS! Speed is dependent on both sides supporting the speed. If you have a brand new expensive AC router but your phone and laptop are still running G/N radios, you wont get the speed of AC. Also most Access points must downshift to the lowest speed device on the network. So if you have a bunch of AC radios, but one old device connects at G speeds, EVERYBODY may slow down to match that G device.

Thank you again for the advice sir!

Now the question is whether new hardware will bring speed increases that my years old, yet higher end, (WRT310N) Linksys cannot?

Step 1: plug a network cable into your Linksys.
Step 2: turn off your wifi radio on the laptop to make sure you are using the ethernet port
Step 3: run a speed test.

If you are getting the speeds you are paying for, its fine and there is no need to upgrade.

And personally, I tend to ignore the wifi on my router and disable it. I run separate radios for the wireless clients so Im not constantly chasing new tech and paying through the nose just because one got better. If the wifi needs updated, but the router is fine I can update just what needs it.

So I have a router that does what I need and nothing more. Then I run two separate radios; One AC for the really fast stuff, and one B/G/N radio for slower devices.


More general info:
5ghz radios are faster than 2.4, but the tradeoff is signal propagation. 5 is faster, but doesnt penetrate walls very well. 2 is slower but is hard to stop.

Also when looking to do both, just get different physical units. Many advertize "dual band" radios, but the same radio does both and robs from peter to pay paul when running devices on both frequencies. You need a "Dual RADIO" unit that has separate hardware for each frequency. Those get pricey.

Also, a common mistake I see is unique SSIDs for sites with multiple radios. If you need more than one access point because your site is too big for one, set all radios to use the exact same SSID/passphrase/encryption type. If you do that, devices will roam between the radios as necessary. (just like your cell phone roams between towers) But if you segment out your high speed and low speed devices, use one SSID for the fast stuff and one for the slow stuff so they dont mix.

 

[jkaetz]

There is a lot of useless info being offered to the OP by people that didn't read the thread.

The OP Already connected with a cable and verified that he was still getting max throughput with a cabled connection. He is asking specifically about WIFI performance.


@OP, the 2.5 GHz WiFi spectrum is typically very crowded. Without knowing where you are you could have as many as 30 different wireless access points in your area overlapping and stepping on each other. This will drastically degrade performance. There are only roughly three WiFi channels that should be used in the 2.4GHz range, 1, 6, or 11. The problem is that no one really realizes this and routers will sometimes even automatically choose one that is in the middle of those overlapping things. To make matters worse, if you want to go above 150 theoretical Mbps, you have to use additional channels along with the primary channel. That further crowds the available radio space. Even with a theoretical 150 Mbps connection you would struggle to get 90 Mbps of true throughput. All that said, you SHOULD be able to get more than 10 unless your phone and access point are negotiating a 54 Mbps connection for some reason. Have you tested with any other devices? What is the theoretical connection speed being reported by your phone and access point? What WiFi protocol is your access point set to use? If you can answer some of those we might be able to offer some additional help.

 

[bwframe]

...

Remind me that I owe you lunch sometime.

 

[TB1999]

There is a lot of useless info being offered to the OP by people that didn't read the thread.

The OP Already connected with a cable and verified that he was still getting max throughput with a cabled connection. He is asking specifically about WIFI performance.


@OP, the 2.5 GHz WiFi spectrum is typically very crowded. Without knowing where you are you could have as many as 30 different wireless access points in your area overlapping and stepping on each other. This will drastically degrade performance. There are only roughly three WiFi channels that should be used in the 2.4GHz range, 1, 6, or 11. The problem is that no one really realizes this and routers will sometimes even automatically choose one that is in the middle of those overlapping things. To make matters worse, if you want to go above 150 theoretical Mbps, you have to use additional channels along with the primary channel. That further crowds the available radio space. Even with a theoretical 150 Mbps connection you would struggle to get 90 Mbps of true throughput. All that said, you SHOULD be able to get more than 10 unless your phone and access point are negotiating a 54 Mbps connection for some reason. Have you tested with any other devices? What is the theoretical connection speed being reported by your phone and access point? What WiFi protocol is your access point set to use? If you can answer some of those we might be able to offer some additional help.

From my cell, the 90s are when I was connected to 5ghz on my comcast modem. The 9/10's are the 2.4 GHz on new unit (is my up speed supposed to be faster than down?).

The 40/50s are connected to 2.4 on old comcast unit.


My laptop wifi speed reads at 31 down, 12 up (90 down when wired directly to modem/router unit).

802.11 N

I am on channel 1, as recommended by wifi analyzer app.

 

[jkaetz]

View attachment 44027
From my cell, the 90s are when I was connected to 5ghz on my comcast modem. The 9/10's are the 2.4 GHz on new unit (is my up speed supposed to be faster than down?).
View attachment 44028
The 40/50s are connected to 2.4 on old comcast unit.


My laptop wifi speed reads at 31 down, 12 up (90 down when wired directly to modem/router unit).

802.11 N

I am on channel 1, as recommended by wifi analyzer app.

Sadly you're likely not going to be able to get more out of it. It sounds like the new unit is simply not negotiating the same protocols as the comcast unit. The only solution may be to get a dedicated wireless access point that will do both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz. You'd just shut off the wireless access point functions of your current unit and use the functions of the new one. I know this probably isn't what you want to hear but manufacturers rarely put the highest performance equipment in combo units.

 

[TB1999]

Sadly you're likely not going to be able to get more out of it. It sounds like the new unit is simply not negotiating the same protocols as the comcast unit. The only solution may be to get a dedicated wireless access point that will do both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz. You'd just shut off the wireless access point functions of your current unit and use the functions of the new one. I know this probably isn't what you want to hear but manufacturers rarely put the highest performance equipment in combo units.

I will be happy with what I have. I'll take slower speed if it mea s I don't have to pay a monthly rental fee.

In the future, what should I look for in a unit that will get me high speeds again? 802.11ac? Dual radio? What don't I have now that I should have looked at before buying the one I did?

 

[danimal]

TB1999, can you post or PM a picture of the wireless settings (black out the ssid + password of course) to see if there isn't something obvious being misconfigured

 

[TB1999]

TB1999, can you post or PM a picture of the wireless settings (black out the ssid + password of course) to see if there isn't something obvious being misconfigured

 

[TB1999]

I can't figure out why my down speed is slower than up

 

[Thegeek]

Have you checked to see if your WAP has a firmware update available?

 

[danimal]

Have you checked to see if your WAP has a firmware update available?

Can't, cable modem firmware is served up by provider, Comcast in this case.

TB, 1 option you can try is to disable security, the top option and see if it helps, but definitely not a solution. I've had Intel 6200 series clients have issues in the past with some of the latest x700 series Cisco APs at work, turns out Intel's drivers had a bug and needed to update, then everything was great. Also, can you go to the advanced tab and take a screen shot of those wireless settings.

 

[TB1999]

Have you checked to see if your WAP has a firmware update available?

Good q. Apprently, I have the most up to date firmware

 

[danimal]

Also, have you checked your adapter status to make sure it's actually negotiating with the wireless at something higher than 54mb? It's easy to blame the AP because that's what you changed, but may be that the culprit is that the adapter in your laptop doesn't like the new AP.

 

[jkaetz]

In the future, what should I look for in a unit that will get me high speeds again? 802.11ac? Dual radio? What don't I have now that I should have looked at before buying the one I did?

you can use a different wireless access point with your current stop if you wish, you'd just turn off the wireless functions on the unit you have. You certainly want a dual band access point as the 5GHz spectrum is far less crowded and will typically give you better speeds. The dual band capability will take care of any older devices our range issues, 5 GHz won't go through walls as much.

The below seems to be one of the best on the market right now.
Amazon.com: NETGEAR Nighthawk AC1900 Dual Band Wi-Fi Gigabit Router (R7000): Computers & Accessories

And I believe this is one of the best for the price.
http://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-Arche...id=1452439306&sr=8-8&keywords=Tplink+wireless

You do have to ignore the ludicrous claims of multiple gigabit wireless speeds as pure marketing fluff but either should get you better performance.