Router questions

[INeedLove]

Hi,
I have a fairly new Netgear router. Lately the connectivity has been spotty. I have to refresh often. I get 15 mbps download and 1 mbps upload with my provider. A speed test on the pc connected to the modem verified that I am indeed getting the speed. So that leads me to think the problem is in the router. I've turned it off, waited a couple of minutes, and then turned it back on. But I haven't unplugged any wires. Could that help? Could the router be bad?

Oh, there are two smart phones in the house, a laptop and a kindle that access the wifi. Just lately the kiddo has been streaming movies via netflix. Could that be our problem? I could upgrade the internet to 30 mbps but it would cost $20 a month plus a new modem. I'm reluctant to take on the costs.

Any ideas are appreciated. I'm not very router equipment savvy.
Thanks and have a great day!

 

[Weird Harold]

Hi,
I have a fairly new Netgear router. Lately the connectivity has been spotty. I have to refresh often. I get 15 mbps download and 1 mbps upload with my provider. A speed test on the pc connected to the modem verified that I am indeed getting the speed. So that leads me to think the problem is in the router. I've turned it off, waited a couple of minutes, and then turned it back on. But I haven't unplugged any wires. Could that help? Could the router be bad?

Oh, there are two smart phones in the house, a laptop and a kindle that access the wifi. Just lately the kiddo has been streaming movies via netflix. Could that be our problem? I could upgrade the internet to 30 mbps but it would cost $20 a month plus a new modem. I'm reluctant to take on the costs.

Any ideas are appreciated. I'm not very router equipment savvy.
Thanks and have a great day!

Streaming Netflix would only slow down your network during the movies, the time between movies shouldn't be affected. Next time you're having problems, check with the Kiddo and have the movie paused or the the Kiddo's device shutdown to see if the problem improves.

Smart Phones loaded up with Apps could be loading up your bandwidth as well.

However, barring a problem with too many Apps on the smartphones, your router should be able to handle the devices you've listed.

From the way you've described checking the problem, it sounds like your PC is connected directly to your provider and feeding the router to the other devices? If so, that is probably the source of your slowdowns -- Your computer may be giving priority to serving the Router and not enough priority to to PC processes.

The router should be between all devices and your modem, not between your PC and the rest of the network.

 

[SweetErika]

IIRC, we've tried many Netgear routers over the years and always had problems with them dropping the connection and dying prematurely. I'll have to check with my husband, but I think he finally ditched the standalone router entirely in favor of turning one of our older computers into a router, and we haven't had those problems since.

 

[FGB]

Netgear?

Is that the brand of that blue SOB with two antennas that I threw away and went and bought a New but different brand of router?

 

[NightL]

May not be a router issue at all, try updating your network/wireless adapter on your PC.

 

[SweetErika]

Netgear?

Is that the brand of that blue SOB with two antennas that I threw away and went and bought a New but different brand of router?

That sounds very familiar to me, at least!

We also had a lot of problems with a certain brand of hard drives. Western Digital, I think. Years ago, I ended up having to contact the BBB because they'd totally crap out fairly soon after purchase and the company failed to respond. A VP responded and sent us a new drive right away when the BBB got involved.

 

[soflabbwlvr]

Netgear?

Is that the brand of that blue SOB with two antennas that I threw away and went and bought a New but different brand of router?

That sounds like Linksys

 

[box13]

What you *might* be saying is that in wireless mode, connection is spotty, and your download speeds (over wireless) aren't always great.

But in wired mode (e.g. devices that are connected via a copper network cable, the download speed is always good.

It could be the router. It could be that in wireless mode it's picked a frequency that has a lot of interference, or it's just because of how your home is built and the walls block the signal. I think most routers allow you to select the wireless channel, and they all default to like 6 or something, and you probably have neighbors with the same default setup as well. Maybe picking a different channel would help?

You could also try moving the router (and it's antenna) up higher.

If you're testing the modem - router connection through a wired device, then I'd guess that the provider will ask you something to test what effect the router is having by plugging your wired device (laptop? PC?) directly into the cable modem and test the speed there, then put the router back in and test with the router working too, and compare.

Yes, the other ongoing downloads could be the problem. My provider will cut off service for 15 seconds or so if I exceed a download rate. The level of service also varies considerably during the day, as does the access to websites which can be very slow in responding sometimes. If you have a heavy user over wireless there may be other options for providing them with their own access point, or using a copper connection instead....even temporarily...to see if that improves your service.

Also...is your wireless AP secure? Is a neighbor borrowing it, and adding to your load?

 

[DrHappy]

I agree with box13. You may have interference. What other wireless devices do you have in the house? Any 2.4 GHz cordless phones? How close are your neighbors? Are you in an apartment? What are the chances that a nearby neighbor has a wireless router or access point? Regardless, I'd suggest that you try different channels to see if it improves.

Who is providing your internet access?

 

[moonbeam17]

Another thing that might be an option is in upgrading the firmware to the latest version. I've also had success with other routers (d-links) in improving performance by uploading DD-WRT to them. It's a custom firmware that can brick routers however, if something goes wrong.

 

[pawaz]

Netflix max speed is around 4 to 5 megs. So even with two people watching and getting the maximum Netflix speed you would have 5 to 7 megs free.


Lets start with one how many other wifi names do you see near you. If your on a laptop can you look at the speed that it says its connected at. If you are on windows, click on the little bar thing in the corner. Then right click on your network and click status. That well tell you the link speed.

If you decided to look into a new router head over to http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/ and look there before you buy.

 

[Que]

Hi,
I have a fairly new Netgear router. Lately the connectivity has been spotty. I have to refresh often. I get 15 mbps download and 1 mbps upload with my provider. A speed test on the pc connected to the modem verified that I am indeed getting the speed. So that leads me to think the problem is in the router. I've turned it off, waited a couple of minutes, and then turned it back on. But I haven't unplugged any wires. Could that help? Could the router be bad?

Oh, there are two smart phones in the house, a laptop and a kindle that access the wifi. Just lately the kiddo has been streaming movies via netflix. Could that be our problem? I could upgrade the internet to 30 mbps but it would cost $20 a month plus a new modem. I'm reluctant to take on the costs.

Any ideas are appreciated. I'm not very router equipment savvy.
Thanks and have a great day!

Was the "speed test" performed concurrent to when you are experiencing difficulties?

Some things I wonder about but have no actual knowledge about:

Could the other users on the same line neighbors on out to however it goes be approaching the limit of the systems bandwidth? Seems like promised band-width may not always be attainable. I have no idea how such things are rationed.

And speaking of rationing, I have heard, but have not seen two accusations of providers. One is that buried in the fine print is a monthly maximum download threshold that once exceeded they reserve the right to throttle you back. The other accusation is that they do it, don't tell you.