how to check speeds of each connection?

I am not sure what more information you need?

Exactly what was "installed" by the guy your dad paid. If he installed a long cable running down to an access point or something, then you can still replace the router with no issues.

Honestly it might be easier to make a diagram of your home network so we get a better idea of how everything is connected.
 
You're not going to be able to change their internet usage anyways.

Can you afford to get a better or another internet connection? ie faster BT package or get Virgin installed just for yourself?

I suppose you have 76Mb at the mo? if you have bog standard 24Mb or less xDSL and with 3+ other people using it heavily... that is pain lol
 
thanks guys


@ Orcvader

internet wire comes up from the road, to my bedroom upstairs, comes through the wall into a box, I then plug my router into that.
I then connect my PC directly to the router
Dad has a laptop that is in his office downstairs in a room, he is connect to my router via the electrical mains

Mum is connected to the router just like me, but hers in downstairs and there's a cable running directly into my router via the outside wall

hope that makes sense

I am on the 8Mb ADSL :(


want to get fibre now that its available, but im not allowed to drill anymore holes in the walls
 
Why would getting fibre involve drilling holes?

The majority of 'fibre' is FTTC (fibre to the cabinet) rather than FTTP (fibre to the property). With FTTC the connection still comes into the property using the existing copper phone line. It doesn't involve much more than installing a VDSL capable router (usually supplied by the ISP) in place of the ADSL router.
 
Why would getting fibre involve drilling holes?

The majority of 'fibre' is FTTC (fibre to the cabinet) rather than FTTP (fibre to the property). With FTTC the connection still comes into the property using the existing copper phone line. It doesn't involve much more than installing a VDSL capable router (usually supplied by the ISP) in place of the ADSL router.

oh cool !
thanks ! :D
 
The "router" downstairs for your mum, can you find out what the manufacturer and model number it is? If it's just a basic switch then you're fine to swap the main router in your room. If it is an actual router then you'll need to check what IP it is using. The electrical mains thing for your dad is called powerlines/homeplugs and will not affect changing the router.

I noticed you said 128-bit, is that WEP? Because WEP is pretty poor and can easily be hacked into, you'll be wanting WPA/WPA2 if possible which is far more secure.
 
The router is the netgear I said above, its in my room, it goes from there to a long cable to mums PC directly

Yeah homeplug that's it that's what dad has to his laptop


i'll check the router settings, I thought it was 128 wep, ill double check


//edit

Security option is - WPA2-PSK [AES]
 
Oh derp, misread that bit, so it's a direct cable to your mum's PC.

Then you'll have no issues swapping the router out at all.

You might as well upgrade to FTTC, even BT's HH5 will be better than your current Netgear, although it doesn't have the bandwidth tracker you want. But the FTTC speeds and latency will be a massive improvement and another PC shouldn't slow down the rest of the network.

If your parents upload files, then FTTC will be a huge improvement as well. ADSL is limited to 1mb up and when that's saturated it can heavily affect your download/ping as well. FTTC is up to 20mb upload depending on the package you pick, which will allow your parents to upload those files faster meaning less time slowing you down.
 
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