router issue

M

Motorcharge

Well-Known Member
Been trying to figure this out for a couple months without any luck.

I have Comcrap for an ISP and if I'm the only one on our connection I get about 20 Mbps down, 5 up. However as soon as one of my room mate's connects, or simply opens a browser our speeds drop down to about this:

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I'm running Windows 7 on the laptop in my sig, one room mate is running OSX and the other is running Ubuntu 10.10 and we all have the same issue. Normal speeds when one person is online, but horrible speeds when more than one connects. I've got it narrowed down to being an issue with my WRT54GS. Latest firmware and it does it at factory or changed settings.

Connection to the router is perfectly fine, it's only effecting internet speed and even as something as simple as having browsers open on multiple computers slows it down dramatically. The connection is secure and only the 3 of us have access (can confirm via client table). 99% of the time they've simply got a browser open, and neither of them is downloading/uploading torrents or anything. At worst one of them watches Netflix on their xbox, but that's about it and I know they get the same issue on their xbox if they're trying to watch while I've got a browser open.

As soon as they go to sleep our speeds to shoot up back to normal. Only temporary fix I've found is power cycling the modem but that only helps for about 5 minutes at best.
 
Oh and the issue is there whether I'm on wireless or a wired connection and changing wireless channels doesn't help.

Seems a lot of people have the same issue with this router but I've yet to find a fix.
 
It sounds like you did quite a thorough investigation. I have no ideas at the mo.

Did one person go through each connected device to make sure settings are compatible? It could be an address problem for example if someone made a mistake or decided to do their own thing.

What happens if you connect a second PC with no browser running? Your comment, "However as soon as one of my room mate's connects, or simply opens a browser our speeds drop down to about this" does not make complete sense because if the speed already dropped simply by connecting, who cares about the effect of the browser running?

Are there any devices in the vicinity that could cause EMI? Does the problem occur with every combo Win7+OSX, Win7+Ubuntu, OSX+Ubuntu?
 
I would say just replace the router. Probably its just overheating when the other computers go live.
 
Nanobyte said:
It sounds like you did quite a thorough investigation. I have no ideas at the mo.

Did one person go through each connected device to make sure settings are compatible? It could be an address problem for example if someone made a mistake or decided to do their own thing.

What happens if you connect a second PC with no browser running? Your comment, "However as soon as one of my room mate's connects, or simply opens a browser our speeds drop down to about this" does not make complete sense because if the speed already dropped simply by connecting, who cares about the effect of the browser running?

Are there any devices in the vicinity that could cause EMI? Does the problem occur with every combo Win7+OSX, Win7+Ubuntu, OSX+Ubuntu?
Click to expand...
If other's computers are connect but idle there's no issue, it's only when more than one person is actively using the connection.

As for EMI, I don't think it's an issue, and if it is there's nothing I can do about it as it's in someone elses apartment. Either way I've tried several wireless channels and it hasn't helped. It's only an issue through the router, if I bypass it and connect directly into the modem there's no problems.

And yeah, it's every combo afaik. I know it's def an issue with Win7 and the other two, not sure about the other way as I'm not home when it's just those two. It effects the one's xbox and it effected mine as well when I had it. It happened with my old desktop as well, like if I ran vent on my laptop and a game on my desktop it would happen.
 
If money is an issue, when my router was overheating I bought a $10 fan at Walmart and blew it at the sucker's vents. Worked a charm. Once my ISP replaced the router I used the fan for my fanless external HDDs that were cooking. An old hairdryer would do too.

The reservation I have about heat being an issue is that adding another connection with low activity should not be a significant load increase. Try the hairdryer first before committing to the $10 fan!

The reports you've read about issues with your model of router have to be taken with a pinch of salt. You never know the competence of the complainers. The million satisfied owners don't post messages of praise.
 
I'd get a new modem/router. But before that can you go into the thing and tell us your connection stats? Connection speed, attenuation, the whole kit.

Maybe change ISP if Comcast are the source of the problem (you'll know after you change modems), they seem like the equivalent of TPG here. Oversubscribing users which means everyone gets crappy speeds and stability issues.
 
Nanobyte said:
The reports you've read about issues with your model of router have to be taken with a pinch of salt. You never know the competence of the complainers. The million satisfied owners don't post messages of praise.
Click to expand...

Normally agree, but a lot of complaints seem to be from people who halfway at least know what they're doing. Posted this over on OCN and had a lot of people say they had the same issue with this router.

linkin said:
I'd get a new modem/router. But before that can you go into the thing and tell us your connection stats? Connection speed, attenuation, the whole kit.

Maybe change ISP if Comcast are the source of the problem (you'll know after you change modems), they seem like the equivalent of TPG here. Oversubscribing users which means everyone gets crappy speeds and stability issues.
Click to expand...

Trust me, I'd LOVE to change ISPs, but Comcrap is the only cable ISP in the area, it's this or 3 mpbs DSL. I know it's not Comcrap, I spent months dealing with them to get another connection issue fixed. It's definitely a router issue.
 
I had problems with my router overheating. If you put your router on something where the bottom of it is clear for the air to circulate it my help. My router has air intakes on the bottom. Also have you tried eliminating overheating as an issue? One way to do this would be to unplug your router and put it in a sealed bag to avoid moisture then to place it in the freezer for about 20min. I know it sounds a bit mad but it actually works. I used to put my router in the freezer when I was having internet problems and it would work amazingly when it was ice cold!

At least if you try this you can rule over heating out the picture.
 
Make sure your router doesn't have some weird QoS settings enabled.

I have a couple Netgear wireless routers that have heat issues-- there are hardly any ventilation holes on them and I either pull the board out of the plastic case or hack a fan into the case with lots of additional holes.
 
Nah, QoS is disabled, only time it ever wasn't I had my computers set to highest priority lol

It's probably just overheating, though luckily I just remembered I have another router at my parents place they're not using anymore.
 
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