Hello all,
On VM 30Mb package for the last 5 years and everything has been brilliant until early December 2013. VM Superhub (SH) is downstairs in lounge and my PC upstairs was functioning perfectly (29Mb -31Mb down, 1.9Mb - 2.1Mb up). I noticed that my PC started to have very low speeds. At this stage I was on SH1 in Modem mode using the previous DLINK routers as my connection owing to substantially better signal.
After rebooting everything, put on my spare DLINK, no improvement. Switched SH1 to router mode. No improvement. Switched my Endimax Dongle to my spare Tenda dongle. Then uninstalled the Endimax software and installed the Tenda software. No improvement. I will add that I can occasionally get bursts of normal speed but then things go back to slow.
Called VM who sent me out a SH2. Installed it as a router. Signal much better and can select 2G or 5G. Everything seems to work ok, sign up for another year and very soon afterwards now back to square one. DL as low as 1Mb, UL 0.2Mb, pings of 1000+ms then normal sometimes.
I then tried changing out my USB cables. Normal then not. Changed USB ports. Normal then not. I have run TCP Optimiser and normal then not. Two mobile phones connected. I have switched them between 2G and 5G. There have been times when they are also pig slow but usually speeds are as advertised - just ran Speedtest after typing that sentence and phone is giving 13.22Mb DL and 1.79Mb UL (17ms ping). Desktop is 3.4Mb DL, 0.86 UL (332ms ping).
I have unplugged the cordless phone in the entrance hall and no improvement.
1. My data usage is mostly constant (I cannot see any real increases due to a worm and Avast does not pick anything up).
2. I am not using a network card as the dongles are USB based.
3. I am using Channel 11 (changed from 13 because I thought that may be an issue.
4. My signal strength is 70% - 80%. The closest neighbours to me are 39% (channel 2) and 29% (channel 1). The only other neighbour using channel 11 is at 5% so I do not think that is the issue.
5. The link quality is 90%-100%, Signal strength 1 and 2 are between -51dBm to -54dBm, transmit speed is 162Mb - 270Mb and receive speed is 108Mb - 216Mb. There are sometimes brief fluctuations outside of these bands but these figures are like 95% of the time.
6. I have run tests at different times of the day and can be fast or slow. No real pattern
I am now at wits end. There have been only two constants here - my desktop and the fibre. The Dlinks are out, the SH1 is now SH2. The Wifi Dongle software is new, the dongles have been switched, I have switched USB cables and ports.
What am I doing wrong?
What have I missed? PC or Fibre? Me or VM? What further information can I provide you for help before going down to the local post office for a rampage 
Thanks for the help
NB
As an addendum, I think it must be my desktop. Just used the wifes laptop in my office connecting to London Web via Speedtest. 14ms/31.2Mb/2.05Mb.
My connection about 20 seconds prior had been 333ms/3.48Mb/1.72Mb
On VM 30Mb package for the last 5 years and everything has been brilliant until early December 2013. VM Superhub (SH) is downstairs in lounge and my PC upstairs was functioning perfectly (29Mb -31Mb down, 1.9Mb - 2.1Mb up). I noticed that my PC started to have very low speeds. At this stage I was on SH1 in Modem mode using the previous DLINK routers as my connection owing to substantially better signal.
After rebooting everything, put on my spare DLINK, no improvement. Switched SH1 to router mode. No improvement. Switched my Endimax Dongle to my spare Tenda dongle. Then uninstalled the Endimax software and installed the Tenda software. No improvement. I will add that I can occasionally get bursts of normal speed but then things go back to slow.
Called VM who sent me out a SH2. Installed it as a router. Signal much better and can select 2G or 5G. Everything seems to work ok, sign up for another year and very soon afterwards now back to square one. DL as low as 1Mb, UL 0.2Mb, pings of 1000+ms then normal sometimes.
I then tried changing out my USB cables. Normal then not. Changed USB ports. Normal then not. I have run TCP Optimiser and normal then not. Two mobile phones connected. I have switched them between 2G and 5G. There have been times when they are also pig slow but usually speeds are as advertised - just ran Speedtest after typing that sentence and phone is giving 13.22Mb DL and 1.79Mb UL (17ms ping). Desktop is 3.4Mb DL, 0.86 UL (332ms ping).
I have unplugged the cordless phone in the entrance hall and no improvement.
1. My data usage is mostly constant (I cannot see any real increases due to a worm and Avast does not pick anything up).
2. I am not using a network card as the dongles are USB based.
3. I am using Channel 11 (changed from 13 because I thought that may be an issue.
4. My signal strength is 70% - 80%. The closest neighbours to me are 39% (channel 2) and 29% (channel 1). The only other neighbour using channel 11 is at 5% so I do not think that is the issue.
5. The link quality is 90%-100%, Signal strength 1 and 2 are between -51dBm to -54dBm, transmit speed is 162Mb - 270Mb and receive speed is 108Mb - 216Mb. There are sometimes brief fluctuations outside of these bands but these figures are like 95% of the time.
6. I have run tests at different times of the day and can be fast or slow. No real pattern
I am now at wits end. There have been only two constants here - my desktop and the fibre. The Dlinks are out, the SH1 is now SH2. The Wifi Dongle software is new, the dongles have been switched, I have switched USB cables and ports.
What am I doing wrong?
What have I missed? PC or Fibre? Me or VM? What further information can I provide you for help before going down to the local post office for a rampage Thanks for the help
NB
As an addendum, I think it must be my desktop. Just used the wifes laptop in my office connecting to London Web via Speedtest. 14ms/31.2Mb/2.05Mb.
My connection about 20 seconds prior had been 333ms/3.48Mb/1.72Mb