ADSL Router slow

PurpleSnow

PurpleSnow

Member
I got a weird question

I have a 4 port adsl router with 4 ethernet ports and I got 4 pc's running from it. Main Gaming PC, HTPC, Netbook, and test pc.

Now what I want to know is can all these machines have a adverce affect on download speeds, when all 4 are running. The netbook is on permanent p2p downloads and the HTPC is mostly running movies from the main pc, all this is going through the router.
 
PurpleSnow said:
The netbook is on permanent p2p downloads and the HTPC is mostly running movies from the main pc.
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You just answered your own question. The 2 in the quote will slow network traffic down to a crawl. Just the p2p downloads alone will slow everyone else up.
 
Totally. The network speed will be well slow with all that stuff running through it. 'Slow' is a relative word though. My 'slow' could eaisly be your 'fast'

The power of those ethernet ports on the back of the router is very low and you could eaisly overload the router. Some routers have a processor usasage or flow-rate gauge on the configuration status screen. You can look at that and see if how 'busy' the router is.

HOWEVER... big HOWEVER

I would check you have not got something funny going on somewhere. Particularly on the P2p machine.

Easiest way to check is to do something 'slow' on one of the other computers which would require good ethernet thruput and un-jack the P2P machine to see if the 'slow' thing then dramatically speeds up. Could also possibly carry out the same test using the ping command in a command prompt window with a low timeout setting for the reply. If you want to do that but don't know how then ask.
 
PurpleSnow said:
no the p2p speed runs slower. pages and all works fine but I get a drop in kB/s. If that makes any sence
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Absolutely. What are your speeds with your ADSL? Most likely your router is prioritizing the video stream over the P2P application stream, because you're hitting your bandwidth limit. Actually, that's exactly what's going on, in my opinion.

For instance, if you have a 6mbps connection, most likely you're just hitting the limit of that bandwidth. Which would be 750KB/s. So that means no computer in your house can pass that speed, and all of them together cannot pass that speed, or your router will prioritize the more important traffic over the other to prevent bottlekneck. This is all perfectly normal. What speeds are you paying for?
 
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Well the other thing is that P2P depends on the speeds of the other hosts too. If all your 'peers' are also running multiple p2p sessions then everything is going to run like carp. No doubt they will be. P2p is like growing seeds. One day you think you want that new title, you have to plant the seed and wait for the flower to grow.
 
some of you will laugh but I only got a 384kbs for now, it was all i could afford. upgrading n the next few months to a 4mbs.

my dnld speed range from 30kbs down to 3kbs and mostly they are low, I installed a new router a few months ago as well, quite new model (Mecer ADSL2+ 4 port eth) no affect.

Will it make a difference if I run them from a hub and just the p2p machine from the router or is that the same thing.

I know the p2p dnlds depend on seeds but even with 30k plus seeds available I dont reach my rated speeds and most of my friends with the same lines and ISP do.
 
PurpleSnow said:
some of you will laugh but I only got a 384kbs for now, it was all i could afford. upgrading n the next few months to a 4mbs.

my dnld speed range from 30kbs down to 3kbs and mostly they are low, I installed a new router a few months ago as well, quite new model (Mecer ADSL2+ 4 port eth) no affect.

Will it make a difference if I run them from a hub and just the p2p machine from the router or is that the same thing.

I know the p2p dnlds depend on seeds but even with 30k plus seeds available I dont reach my rated speeds and most of my friends with the same lines and ISP do.
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You may just be stuck until you upgrade the internet. A hub or switch is something that I personally wouldn't want to mess with. Routers are that huge and wonderful convenience that you don't miss until it's gone lol I've dealt with hubs before, it gets annoying. Other than that, there could be a problem with the modem, router, the land lines, etc. The first step is to contact your ISP and ask them if you're getting the speeds you're paying for. And take an internet speed test.
 
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That's SA for ya. I'm getting a solid 5.5mbps to my computer. That's not the rated speed of the line. The line is rated to 16mbps. I know I could get a lot closer to the rated speed if I got rid of my 10-base T hardware firewall. I'm doing that at some point. I have the new firewall here ready to install and I'm expecting to get much higher speeds once I swap that in.

Less network equipment will give you a higher speed. So if you can plug directly into the router then that will get you a better speed if possible. With rated speeds of 384kbps you will probably see a much slower actual speed. As with my connection, the ISP tells me it's a 16mbps line so the fact that I only get 5.5 shows you the sort of ratios of difference to expect. Even after I swap to my new firewall I am only expecting to see speeds of 2 or 3 mbps higher, still nowhere near 16mbps.
 
ejenner said:
That's SA for ya. I'm getting a solid 5.5mbps to my computer. That's not the rated speed of the line. The line is rated to 16mbps. I know I could get a lot closer to the rated speed if I got rid of my 10-base T hardware firewall. I'm doing that at some point. I have the new firewall here ready to install and I'm expecting to get much higher speeds once I swap that in.

Less network equipment will give you a higher speed. So if you can plug directly into the router then that will get you a better speed if possible. With rated speeds of 384kbps you will probably see a much slower actual speed. As with my connection, the ISP tells me it's a 16mbps line so the fact that I only get 5.5 shows you the sort of ratios of difference to expect. Even after I swap to my new firewall I am only expecting to see speeds of 2 or 3 mbps higher, still nowhere near 16mbps.
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That's interesting, and unfortunate. You must have some hardcore firewalls. I've never had an issue, (except when my D-Link router finally went out), to where the router slowed down the speeds that much, with firewall enabled. I get my full 8mbps down, 1mbps up, through the router, with NAT and the works enabled. Although it doesn't sound like much, I'll never hit the throughput with gaming and what not. Anyways, it really sounds like the ISP is capping the speeds. Over here, the ISP is regulated by government, or state, based on the county. One of the ISP's in the county next to me, (I think Cox or Comcast Cable?) cap their speeds, with much dispute, when their customers are consistantly using high bandwidth, such as gaming, or downloading files on a regular basis, even if they haven't surpassed their speeds that they are paying for. I've heard AT&T were or are "sharing" bandwidth, giving their customers a few MB/s a month.
 
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The hub ports on the back of my firewall are 10-base-t network speed. I have tried taking this out of my system and my bandwidth to the internet almost doubles! :D

I have a meaty new firewall to replace that with. When I get around to it. Corporate grade. Suitable for handling many thousands of users. Will crap all over the one I have at the moment.
 
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