Extremely slow Internet over Wireless *Help Needed*

[Speed]

Hi Guys,

I'm currently stuck using wireless as my room is being decorated which involves moving everything elsewhere, where there is no network cabling.

I have a Linksys WRT320N (Gigabit and Wireless N Router) and I purchased a Edimax EW-7727 specifically for this problem.

I'm currently getting according to the status page, between 108 and 135Mbps for the wireless connection but the internet is still painfully slow. The signal strength appears to flux between 2 and 4 bars, but I've not seen it dip below 108Mbps. Power saving is off etc.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Mark

 

[adamknox]

Hi Guys,

I'm currently stuck using wireless as my room is being decorated which involves moving everything elsewhere, where there is no network cabling.

I have a Linksys WRT320N (Gigabit and Wireless N Router) and I purchased a Edimax EW-7727 specifically for this problem.

I'm currently getting according to the status page, between 108 and 135Mbps for the wireless connection but the internet is still painfully slow. The signal strength appears to flux between 2 and 4 bars, but I've not seen it dip below 108Mbps. Power saving is off etc.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Mark

If you can log onto your router and see how many devices are connected to your wireless network. Some one may be stealing it That will hamper your net
Also (i know you may have tryed this allready you sound like you know what ur doing but if not) try running some free spyware programs from www.download.com I had the same sort of trouble when i was fixing my parents laptop. Sorted it a treat hope this helps some!

 

[Speed]

If you can log onto your router and see how many devices are connected to your wireless network. Some one may be stealing it That will hamper your net
Also (i know you may have tryed this allready you sound like you know what ur doing but if not) try running some free spyware programs from www.download.com I had the same sort of trouble when i was fixing my parents laptop. Sorted it a treat hope this helps some!

Thanks for the reply.

As far as I'm aware it is only me who is connected via wireless, there are various security measures in place, WPA 2 Personal, Permit Only Mac address filtering etc. I'm sure there are ways of bypassing these, but at least according to the connected devices this computer is the only one connected.

This computer was also fine using the wired connection the other day, so I don't think it is spyware, but like you say worth doing a scan anyways.

The internet is Virgin Cable Broadband 20Mbit and the wired computers are not experiencing the slow down problems. I think it may be down to router settings but I'm not sure. I mean at the moment its not bad, having just plugged the modem and router back in, so it may be a case of it getting progressively worse over time.

Just ran Speedtest and got 0.88Mbps Down and 0.20Mbps up which can't be right as the stated badwidth for the connection never goes below 108Mbps. Giving it more than enough room for a faster internet speeds than I'm getting.

 

[tolien]

Instead of trying to examine about a million different parts with a test that's at best useless, look at the part you think is causing the issue (hint: if it's fine with a machine that's using a cable, it's probably not the router, modem or internet connection).
The "stated bandwidth" is nonsense, especially for wireless networks.

 

[Speed]

Instead of trying to examine about a million different parts with a test that's at best useless, look at the part you think is causing the issue (hint: if it's fine with a machine that's using a cable, it's probably not the router, modem or internet connection).
The "stated bandwidth" is nonsense, especially for wireless networks.

Err thanks for that, not really helpful. The use of speedtest was to help show how slow the internet connection is, not to try and find the problem.

It could just as easily be the router or the routers wireless configuration than the wireless network card.

I've also had it drop the connection recently and be unable to find it again until I reboot the pc or reboot the router. Not really sure whats going on.

 

[edscdk]

1) plug in with a cable is it faster? if so its a wireless issue (i doubt it is)
2) when you do nothing is there a lot of activity on the network (ie you might have a virus)
3) log into the router see what speed its sync'd at

 

[edscdk]

the lost signal may be the wireless managment software crashing, are you using the lastest drivers, if you are using the mfg's wireless utility try the MS one and, if you are using teh MS one try the MFG's one..

those box's that beam TV from one room to another will knock out wireless some times.. (incause you ahve one)

 

[tolien]

You're welcome, though if you don't want troubleshooting suggestions perhaps this thread has more than run its course.

The use of speedtest was to help show how slow the internet connection is, not to try and find the problem.

So what's the point? At some random point in time, you got a slow result from an unreliable speedtest over wireless and at some other time you got a higher result using a cable.
Erm, great. Maybe it was some issue with either VM's network or the internet in general, Speedtest.net being crap, the cable modem, router, its wireless AP, your wireless adapter or the machine its connected to. That really narrows things down so much.

It could just as easily be the router or the routers wireless configuration than the wireless network card.

Of course it could. It might be that there's the wrong kind of leaves somewhere nearby too.
It's not going to be the router per se but rather the wireless AP or switch that's built into it but speedtest.net is going to test the whole damned thing without giving any clues.

Like I hinted, you may want to narrow it down to the wireless network regardless of which end the issue is at.
If you've got more than one machine you can connect with cables, try shifting files between them (or better still, use iperf) and see if that's slow. Then try shifting from one wired machine over the wireless and if that's bad and using a cable is not then you know it's an issue with the wireless network connection...

 

[Speed]

1) plug in with a cable is it faster? if so its a wireless issue (i doubt it is)
2) when you do nothing is there a lot of activity on the network (ie you might have a virus)
3) log into the router see what speed its sync'd at

1) Yes it runs at full speed, to clarify this system was connected via network cable directly to the router. As the system is now in a different room from the router, wireless was the only solution. So I purchased a wireless network card.

2) No, very little/no activity when I'm not doing anything.

3) Doesn't say, the wireless setting is currently set to Mixed, forcing it to Wireless-N only caused more problems.

the lost signal may be the wireless managment software crashing, are you using the lastest drivers, if you are using the mfg's wireless utility try the MS one and, if you are using teh MS one try the MFG's one..

those box's that beam TV from one room to another will knock out wireless some times.. (incause you ahve one)

Software seems fine, although its more just config software than anythign else. Tried the windows stuff, same issues.

No Tv beaming boxes that are plugged in or in use.

You're welcome, though if you don't want troubleshooting suggestions perhaps this thread has more than run its course.

Hinting at what might be causing the problem isn't helpful. Of course I want troubleshooting suggestions, but they need to be something like "Turn X setting off etc".

So what's the point? At some random point in time, you got a slow result from an unreliable speedtest over wireless and at some other time you got a higher result using a cable.
Erm, great. Maybe it was some issue with either VM's network or the internet in general, Speedtest.net being crap, the cable modem, router, its wireless AP, your wireless adapter or the machine its connected to. That really narrows things down so much.

If you've got more than one machine you can connect with cables, try shifting files between them (or better still, use iperf) and see if that's slow. Then try shifting from one wired machine over the wireless and if that's bad and using a cable is not then you know it's an issue with the wireless network connection...

Thats true, but it is definately just the wireless. I've ruled out modem, VMs network etc as other PC's in the house connected via cable are fine. I knew the connection was slow, just wondered how slow and used Speedtest to find out. All of the other systems get the full 20Mb on download.

To clarify, everything is slow, from using the internet, to downloading, to transferring and viewing files on other PCs.

 

[Speed]

Well I've found and connected up my PS3 using wireless and it appears to be working fine. Much faster download speeds than my Pc and it’s located only a few feet away. Only time will tell if this lasts however.

I've also removed all security settings for testing and the PC still isn't reliably picking up or connecting to the wireless. When it is connected the speeds are extremely slow, so that implies that the Edimax EW-7727, its software or drivers is somehow at fault.

I noticed that the Windows 7 drivers from the Edimax site are actually in a file called "EW-11n" which might be the model number for another device. I have therefore tried the Vista drivers but still had problems. Going to e-mail them to see what they say.