Super slow internet in my new house

rgrebby

rgrebby

Messages
2,835
Name
Richard
Edit My Images
Yes
I just moved into the top floor of an old house, the internet has just been added by the guy who owns the place and im using the wireless. However its really slow, maybe 0.2mbps. Is this due to the distance I am from the hub and would a better hub sort this out?

How can I find out what speed the hub is etc?

Thanks in advance.
 
You should be able to tell what speed your wireless connection to the broadband router is by looking in the network properties in Control Panel (assuming you are on Windows) or by looking in the properties on the wireless icon on the OSX 'task bar'

If this is really low, then it'll be that, that is causing your slow speed. It can be fixed by either moving closer to the router (obviously!) or by using a wireless repeated... a little info here

:)

I forgot to add what if it is giving a strong signal :D If you have a strong signal, then it will be the actual broadband connection. It may be a poor connection if you are far from the BT exchange, or it could be due to a high number of users. If there is no other users currently connected in the household, someone may be hijacking the connection if it is not a secure (passworded) one.
 
Noone else is using the hub right now as im on my own throughout the week.
Im in vista, says signal stregth fair, with 2 bars, not so good then.

I also need to buy a wireless dongle for my main computer as its not a laptop and I cant run a cable. Any suggestions?
 
You need to work out if its the internet being slow or the wireless before spending money on more hardware.
 
OK.

As said above - first thing to work out is if the internet or the router / wireless is slow.

First things. Plug your laptop into the router using the Ethernet cable. Try a speedtest at www.thinkbroadband.co.uk or similar.

If it is fast then it could be interference on the wireless channel. If you view available wireless networks can you see other networks - say neighbours or other wireless devices? If you can there could be interference from the other networks. Best way to sort this is to change the wireless channel. You'll need to access the router settings to do this.
 
Yeah there are about 7 others here that I can see, i'll get a bit of cable from home tomorrow and see if it makes a difference.
 
It is worth trying the connection at different distances from the router too.
And its the simplist test. Start stood next to it. if its as bad next to it as in your apartment then you need to try cable.
 
it'll be the distance you are from the router and the materials the house is made of.
 
First check is as others suggest checking what speed broadband is available to the property. My new house only got 256k from a reported max 2MB service from BT. Doing the BT broadband checker with telephone number, postcode and house number should give you a good idea: Broadband speed prediction from BT

I switched to O2 and now get 1.8MB over the same line purely because they have unbundled ADSL2+ equipment in the exchange.

If your broadband service to the property isnt the issue then direct CAT5 connection to the router will confirm if its the wireless in the property thats the problem. Then you could look at trying to borrow some network homeplugs if it is the wireless network thats your problem. The 200mbs ones are pretty cheap to pick up now and then run the network through the wiring in the property rather than wifi. They should give much more acceptable network performance.
 
connection quality relates to wireless speed.
the laptop will deliberately degrade the speed if the signal is weak.

in standard wireless networking, it's the client that controls the speed based on the snr. this is not something the router handles.
 
JustinParker said:
First check is as others suggest checking what speed broadband is available to the property. My new house only got 256k from a reported max 2MB service from BT. Doing the BT broadband checker with telephone number, postcode and house number should give you a good idea: Broadband speed prediction from BT

I switched to O2 and now get 1.8MB over the same line purely because they have unbundled ADSL2+ equipment in the exchange.

If your broadband service to the property isnt the issue then direct CAT5 connection to the router will confirm if its the wireless in the property thats the problem. Then you could look at trying to borrow some network homeplugs if it is the wireless network thats your problem. The 200mbs ones are pretty cheap to pick up now and then run the network through the wiring in the property rather than wifi. They should give much more acceptable network performance.
Click to expand...

Hmmm network homeplugs? I seem to remember something like this. Plug cat5 into the plug at the hub end and then the computer at another main plug somewhere in the house.

Question though, it wasnt all that reliable but then it could be that the house was very old and it was an outside building. It sounds like its pretty quick at 200mbps max. Im going to search for some but how cheap are they?

One more, do they work on 4 way extention sockets?
 
rgrebby said:
Hmmm network homeplugs? I seem to remember something like this. Plug cat5 into the plug at the hub end and then the computer at another main plug somewhere in the house.

Question though, it wasnt all that reliable but then it could be that the house was very old and it was an outside building. It sounds like its pretty quick at 200mbps max. Im going to search for some but how cheap are they?

One more, do they work on 4 way extention sockets?
Click to expand...

They are great, about £20 each, so £40 for a pair. Depending on the extension, works better straight into the wall.
 
You still need to check that you dont just have a crappy broadband service first before you buy anything.

200mbs homeplugs will only mean the connection to the router is good first. You can even use 85mbs homeplugs if you dont want to do any HD media streaming to a PS3 etc.

It also depends if the whole house is on the same mains fuse box or seperate boxes. If it goes through seperate fuse boxes then you can get issues. Thats why I suggest you find a friend to borrow them from to try before you buy. BT were giving them away to BT vision customers some time late last year and they had a passthru feature which meant you dont lose a power socket. They were £50 a pair at the time. Best to buy a matched pair as there are different formats of the homeplug standards so not all manufacturers device will talk to each other. comtrend do passthru version or the expensive solwise version.
 
aligibbs said:
They are great, about £20 each, so £40 for a pair. Depending on the extension, works better straight into the wall.
Click to expand...

Im having a look on ebuyer.com do you think its better to shell out for the 200 ones over the lesser speed models or would 85 be enough?
 
ok, internet access so far is UP TO 50mbps, wirelessg is 54mbps. therefore, unless you're transferring mahoosive files, 100mbps is more than enough for home use. you're very very very unlikely to even hit the top end of a 100mbps network in general usage.
 
recrudesce said:
ok, internet access so far is UP TO 50mbps, wirelessg is 54mbps. therefore, unless you're transferring mahoosive files, 100mbps is more than enough for home use. you're very very very unlikely to even hit the top end of a 100mbps network in general usage.
Click to expand...

ok cool, ive been having a good hunt and cant find any for less than £50 for a pair unless they are low speed.
 
but, as per above, it makes no sense spending money just yet. get a cable and plug yourself into the router and see if the speed is still dire.

if it isn't, unplug the cable and see what the wireless signal strength is like when you're about 6-8ft away from the router (wireless signal is basically a donut, with the "hole" around the antenna, too close and your signal is affected). if the speed is still pretty decent, go one level up until you find the height at which the speed degrades.

you will find that the material the building is made out of is likely to be a root cause. as an example, glass is one of the hardest materials to get a wireless signal through. i should know, half our internal walls in our building are made of glass, and i have wireless ap's absolutely bloody everywhere to combat low signal !
 
recrudesce said:
but, as per above, it makes no sense spending money just yet. get a cable and plug yourself into the router and see if the speed is still dire.

if it isn't, unplug the cable and see what the wireless signal strength is like when you're about 6-8ft away from the router (wireless signal is basically a donut, with the "hole" around the antenna, too close and your signal is affected). if the speed is still pretty decent, go one level up until you find the height at which the speed degrades.

you will find that the material the building is made out of is likely to be a root cause. as an example, glass is one of the hardest materials to get a wireless signal through. i should know, half our internal walls in our building are made of glass, and i have wireless ap's absolutely bloody everywhere to combat low signal !
Click to expand...

hmm I have my laptop on a glass table.....
 
Can you post what the BT speed checker says should be your connection speeds so we know we're not wasting time trying to sort out an issue thats actually caused by just being in a poor broadband area. No amount of new equipment or advice will make a difference if your broadband service to your house is crap. (I assume you have ADSL service rather than cable modem)
 
just went downstairs and checked the speed, full signal 0.27mbps download 0.67mbps upload.

So what do I do now?
 
recrudesce said:
connection quality relates to wireless speed.
the laptop will deliberately degrade the speed if the signal is weak.

in standard wireless networking, it's the client that controls the speed based on the snr. this is not something the router handles.
Click to expand...

Sorry but no, the signal strength has no bearing on the speed attained, agreed the snr may evoke a stepdown but generally a low snr will just stop the connection before this happens. With a low SNR tt will either sync with the exchange or it wont. Low SNR can be from a variety of sources from the ADSL filter to the router to Christmas tree lights to the exchange or even to the microwave next door.

Moving it closer will not increase the speed or improve a low snr.
 
Nigey said:
Sorry but no, the signal strength has no bearing on the speed attained, agreed the snr may evoke a stepdown but generally a low snr will just stop the connection before this happens. With a low SNR tt will either sync with the exchange or it wont. Low SNR can be from a variety of sources from the ADSL filter to the router to Christmas tree lights to the exchange or even to the microwave next door.

Moving it closer will not increase the speed or improve a low snr.
Click to expand...

You're confusing wireless connection speed that was being originally referred to with the ADSL speed, which they're trying to determine.

In a Wireless connection, the speed of that connection is attenuated when a low signal, or poor quality signal is encountered. Whilst this has no bearing on the ADSL connection speed, it will have a bearing on the "whole system" speed.

Each point needs to be checked in isolation, and the offending section addressed.
 
Nigey said:
Sorry but no, the signal strength has no bearing on the speed attained, agreed the snr may evoke a stepdown but generally a low snr will just stop the connection before this happens. With a low SNR tt will either sync with the exchange or it wont. Low SNR can be from a variety of sources from the ADSL filter to the router to Christmas tree lights to the exchange or even to the microwave next door.

Moving it closer will not increase the speed or improve a low snr.
Click to expand...
Im bemused how you can say moving closer to the router will not improve the snr, but you seem rather convinced so the last thing im going to say on the matter is that i would genuinely be glad if you could post a link with some information that disputes what i have read countless times elsewhere. (y)
 
fezzr said:
Im bemused how you can say moving closer to the router will not improve the snr
Click to expand...

it will also depend if there are any sources of interferance near the router. for example my router is near my microwave (only choice i have) and when the microwave is on the wireless is unusable.

have we checked for sources of interferance yet? power packs/transformers, fridges, microwaves etc etc
 
Nigey said:
Sorry but no, the signal strength has no bearing on the speed attained, agreed the snr may evoke a stepdown but generally a low snr will just stop the connection before this happens. With a low SNR tt will either sync with the exchange or it wont. Low SNR can be from a variety of sources from the ADSL filter to the router to Christmas tree lights to the exchange or even to the microwave next door.

Moving it closer will not increase the speed or improve a low snr.
Click to expand...

so if you put an ap in place, and then walked away from it, or put panes of glass in between you and it, you're telling me that the speed WONT drop due to the signal degredation... ? are you seriously telling me you'll get 54mbps at the very edge of the reception from a wirelessg ap ?

i'll go back to Foundry/Brocade and tell them the week i spent in San Jose on one of their courses was in vain ?
 
fezzr said:
Im bemused how you can say moving closer to the router will not improve the snr, but you seem rather convinced so the last thing im going to say on the matter is that i would genuinely be glad if you could post a link with some information that disputes what i have read countless times elsewhere. (y)
Click to expand...

SNR can occur from any given source. It is a point of source so therefore the closer the signal is to the source of interference then the worse it will get. If you move closer to the router then no improvement will be made. If you move the router/signal away from the source of the interference then you will improve it, assuming you can locate it and you are able to move it away.

What I think is not clear is the attenuation loss in any given distance from the exchange. As the distance increases this lowers the signal strength and therefore the SNR lowers. What you have left is the SNR margin. Unless you can lower the distance to the exchange then there is nothing you can do about that particular anomaly.

This is normally factored in though when you are connected and can achieve a signal at the point of use. If not, they will generally not install it.

Once converted to a wireless signal the SNR is not so much a factor pre se, unless the signal is interfered with en route, so moving closer to the router will not enhance the snr. If the snr margin is particularly low and snr is also low at the router you are more likely to get sync problems not speed problems.I am assuming the OP can connect constantly but it is just slow. There will be a reduction in data speed do to retransmits on a digital network with a low SNR but unless you have a higher end router or switch this normally manifests itself in a dropped connection.

So Yes, there will be a reduction in speed from the exchange to the home due to attenuation loss and SNR. In the home, there should be very little SNR loss , taking into account the normal issues of walls and floors. Unless something is directly affecting the signal via interference e.g. a microwave. Moving the computer closer to the router makes no speed difference. Sources? I will have to look those up for you I guess.

One other thing the OP could try is to change the channel on the router.
 
As this is a 7 person occupancy building you may find that the provider of the broadband connection is throttling the bandwidth to share it out amongst everybody living at the house??

Tim
 
In your original post, you say that the connection has just been installed. BT have a kind of settling in period where the line goes through a variety of speed changes whilst they determine the optimal speed for the line. IIRC, this lasts around 10 days. How long ago was the connection installed? Also, unplugging the adsl line from the wall (not the router) for around 40 mins, resets the connection at the exchange end and can clear some issues. Have you tried that?

Other than that, it may well be line noise which as stated by others here can be caused by the close proximity of electrical devices. Other things that adversely affect this are:

  • Multiple phone extensions plugged in to the line
  • Presence of a FAX machine on the line
  • Sky Boxes

A helpful site to look at is http://www.dslzoneuk.net/ . It has lots of advice on these sorts of issues and a useful tool which will will tell you how far you are from the exchange which can also be a contributing factor (although the download figures you state point to more of a noise issue).

HTH and if you need a cable, I have loads and am just down the road from you.
 
There's seems to be a little dispute about whether the wireless signal quality affects the speed. I'd often wonder this myself so I've just tested it out.
One speed test with a 5 bar signal and another with a 2 bar signal....no appreciable change and this is on a system giving me 12Meg.

Bob
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top