Wireless ADSL Users...help?

[cameront120]

Hopefully someone who is more computer literate than I can help. Up until a few days ago, my wireless connection has been fine. Now, it is worse than dial up...seriously. It gets even more bogged down when I reply to a post or create a new post, requiring many attempts to post. Even when I check the connection properties and it says I have a connection speed of 54.4 Mbps, it ispainfully slow, or completely non-responsive. Does anyone have any suggestions? I'm ready to give up on wireless and go back to a regular ADSL connection. Thanks in advance!

Cheers!

[wahoonc]

I don't claim to be computer literate...but do you have your wireless network secured? My parents were having issues similar to yours and it turned out to be a several people taking advantage of the fact they weren't secured. Add that on an the issue went a way. Try running a "repair connection" on it. Also I have had to reboot mine on occasion. What OS are you running and which browser? If you have the lastest and greatest from Microcrap and got the latest updates there have been a few issues with those patches vs HP products.

Aaron

[GreatPumpkin]

Mbps or Kbps? I've got standard 256 Kbps DSL, and I love it. There are faster speeds availabel of course, but this is so much faster thatn dial-up. If your speed is really 54.4 Mbps, then it's somethin else that is bogging down the computer - this is going to sound obvious, and you've probably already checked - have you scanned for a virus or spyware? If that turns up negative, I would contact your service provider to trouble shoot.

[GreatPumpkin]

wahoonc is correct - that's definitely another thing to check, if your network isn't protected, it would be simple for neighbors to piggyback onto your connection thereby slowing it down. The more users, the slower it goes. I've got my wireless network 128 bit encrypted, but I still check once in awhile to see if there are any other users - all but impossible with 128 bit encryption!

[wahoonc]

Originally Posted by GreatPumpkin

Mbps or Kbps? I've got standard 256 Kbps DSL, and I love it. There are faster speeds availabel of course, but this is so much faster thatn dial-up. If your speed is really 54.4 Mbps, then it's somethin else that is bogging down the computer - this is going to sound obvious, and you've probably already checked - have you scanned for a virus or spyware? If that turns up negative, I would contact your service provider to trouble shoot.

54.0Mbps is standard for a "g" wireless system. My typical download speeds are in the 1.5Mbps range on the wireless (I have 3.0Mbps ADSL) but that is limited by the router and I haven't gotten around to changing the settings on it. My desktop that is hardwired hits around 2.9Mbps

Aaron

[GreatPumpkin]

Originally Posted by wahoonc

..... My desktop that is hardwired hits around 2.9Mbps

Aaron

You're flying!!!! I can't imagine that fast. I've always had 56K dial-up, connecting around 42 if I was lucky. Moved to Colville, and nothing but dialup available. I could barely connect at 28! Finally a year and a half later Qwest added DSL to this little town. I was the first person to sign up! I opted for the cheaper package of only 256K, but it's so much faster than what I had

[flyfisher]

I'm the last person in the world you'd want to get computer advice from, but I was having similar problems to yours a little over a week ago.

I called the tech suppport people from my internet provider (Comast), and after about 5 minutes on the telephone, and describing to them that some of the lights on my Motorola modem were blinking on and off, they sent out one of their service technicians to check their wires coming into my home. They arrived about 3 hours after I made the call.

The service guy found some bad wiring coming into my house, which he replaced in about 10 minutes. He also said the underground wires needed to be replaced coming from the street in front of my home. As an interim measure, he laid new wires above ground, and sometime during the past 2 days they ran new wires underground.

My problems were thusly fixed quickly.

I guess that's a reason why I pay ungodly high monthly fees to Comcast, and how they just made something like $400 million profit for their past fiscal quarter, claiming to have signed up a couple hundred thousand new internet customers (suckers) like me.

John

[wahoonc]

FWIW I use www.internetfrog.com for my speed/response time/service quality checks. (thanks to Janet ) It has proven very handy. It really proved to my boss that it was better for me to telecomute than drive the 43 miles to the office for internet

Aaron

[silverback]

Usually you can access your modem with a web browser by putting it's IP address into the browser address bar (try http://192.186.0.1). My DSL provider Qwest has all this documented on thier support web site. When you connect to the modem you should see something like this:
Connection Status

Speed (down/up): 7168 / 896 Kbps
PPP Connection: Connected

If that doesn't show the speed your paying for call your ISP. I had to do that with Qwest.

-KL

[Van]

Originally Posted by wahoonc

My desktop that is hardwired hits around 2.9Mbps

Here is a fun site for the PC geeks and those that like to post bragging rights...

http://www.dslreports.com/stest


Test your speed and compare to others.



dslreports.com speed test result on 2006-05-08 01:59:32 EST:
6617 / 348
Your download speed : 6617 kbps or 827.2 KB/sec.

[Chaplain Kent]

Originally Posted by cameront120

It gets even more bogged down when I reply to a post or create a new post, requiring many attempts to post.
Cheers!

For some reason I have always had this problem . What I do is save the response or post first then post it and it always works.

[cameront120]

Thanks for the tips everyone. I do have a secured network, so I don't think that has been the problem. I did a complete system shut down and restart and that seems to have helped. I'll see if the system stays stable. I don't have any spyware removal software on my machine at present, what is everyone using on their PCs?

[Chuck]

I've found that these little devices we use to make these connections (wired or wireless routers, dsl or cable modems) are kind of crappy. they need frequent re-boots. Unplug the unit(s), count to 10, and plug them back in.

the "54mbps" speed is only between the router and your pc; that is NOT the speed you have to the internet. the speed from the router to the internet is at best, whatever you paid for. and the indication that you see is really only the speed at which the network interface "thinks" it can communicate; not what it really can do.

If it isn't a hardware problem, the slow-down could be as others already mentioned...segment congestion from people stealing your bandwidth, or local loop congestion. (i.e., you and the neighbors are sharing the carrier's bandwidth, and the line is just too congested).

check all that, and then call the isp. DSL is highly susceptible to "bad connection" problems, from wiring flaws, noise on the lines, and distance from the local switch...all of which can make it "fussy".

[SafeHarbor]

Hi, guys,

Well, the 54 megaBITS is the speed of the wireless part of the connection itself. It's not megaBYTES, and it's not the connection speed of the modem itself.

I agree with the other advice in this thread. First go to Start -> Connect to -> Show All Connections

Then right-click "Wireless Network Connection" and select "Repair." Okay, did that give any errors?

If not, did your wireless modem (which I guess is really just a DSL modem with a simple wireless router) come with an ethernet port? If so, try connecting from that port to your PC bypassing the wireless part.

You might need to go to the same Settings screen and choose "Repair" for "Local Area Connection" to get it working.

If it's still slow, I would try unhooking the power plug, waiting a couple of minutes and hooking it back up.

Still slow?

It's time to call the phone company.

Good luck.

Lamar

[wahoonc]

Originally Posted by cameront120

Thanks for the tips everyone. I do have a secured network, so I don't think that has been the problem. I did a complete system shut down and restart and that seems to have helped. I'll see if the system stays stable. I don't have any spyware removal software on my machine at present, what is everyone using on their PCs?

For spyware I use Spybot and Ad-AwareSE between the two of them they do a good job of keeping things clean. I use AVG from www.grisoft.com for my Antivirus program again another good one, it found a couple that McAffee had let slip thru I also periodically clear out the cache and toss the cookies and start over. 'puter don't like spoiled cookies

Aaron

[jcanavera]

I deal with wireless here at the convention center. Your connection to your access point is 56 mega bits per second. Wireless 802.11 technology is not really efficient so your actual throughput to your access point is probably in the 30+ mega bit range. Plenty fast though and normally faster than your Internet connection.

What you are describing sounds a lot like interference issues. Either from another 2.4 gigahertz device or potentially someone else near you with their own access point that is transmitting on the same or close by channel.

Wireless telephones, microwaves, and other devices using the 2.4 gigahertz bandwidth are known problem makers. Just last week we had an exhibitor who brought in a wireless mike and an access point, sat them side by side and couldn't understand why her Internet connection went to pot every time she started talking.

If you have not relocated your access point recently or added another wireless device near the access point, the problem could be a neighbor who just added their own.

Go into the set up of your access point and see what channel you are using. The channels run from 1-11. We normally advise folks to use 1, 6, or 11. By the nature of the bandwidth and channels, use of these 3 provides the optimum of separation. So in effect if you use channel 2, it will most likely bleed from 1 and 3. If you are on 1 right now, go to one of the other two, 6 or 11 and see if that takes care of the problem.

Jack

[Jim & Susan]

That's pretty scary, Aaron. That's the exact same softeware I use. If anybody needs to get copies of that software, look at Kim Komando's Web Site: www.komando.com, look under Kim's shareware, favorite picks. Be careful to spell the name of the website correctly, from what I understand, you can end up in the (really) wrong place with various misspellings.

Lamar also has some good advice, try bypassing the wireless and go a wired connection. This will eleminate some type of RF problem or intruders. Make sure the wireless is set up to disallow outside intrusion by your neighbors. The instructions that came with the wireless equipment should tell you how to do that.

Somebody else mentioned that DSL is susceptible to interference from outside radio/electronic noise. When you got your equipment from the phone company, you should have gotten several "filters" that plug into the other phone jacks in your house. Check and make sure that each phone has this filter, and that it is plugged into the phone jack securely. You might try disconnecting them one at a time around the house and see if possibly one of the filters has gone bad for some reason.

Hope this helps.

Jim

[jcanavera]

Originally Posted by Jim & Susan

. When you got your equipment from the phone company, you should have gotten several "filters" that plug into the other phone jacks in your house. Check and make sure that each phone has this filter, and that it is plugged into the phone jack securely. You might try disconnecting them one at a time around the house and see if possibly one of the filters has gone bad for some reason.

Hope this helps.

Jim

Actually the filter is to remove the tone produced by the DSL modem. If you don't have the filter in on the line servicing the telephone, you will hear the tone that the modem puts out. That does remind me also of someone who reversed the plugs. They had the DSL modem plugged in the phone side of the filter and the phone in the DSL modem side. The DSL modem worked although it was extremely slow.

Jack

[wahoonc]

Originally Posted by Jim & Susan

That's pretty scary, Aaron. That's the exact same softeware I use.

Great minds... I have been on AVG for about 5 years and the antispyware for about 4.

Originally Posted by Jim & Susan

Somebody else mentioned that DSL is susceptible to interference from outside radio/electronic noise. When you got your equipment from the phone company, you should have gotten several "filters" that plug into the other phone jacks in your house. Check and make sure that each phone has this filter, and that it is plugged into the phone jack securely. You might try disconnecting them one at a time around the house and see if possibly one of the filters has gone bad for some reason.

Hope this helps.

Jim

I don't have filters on mine they ran a separate set of lines, I have two diffenent jacks in the house. One for DSL one for telephone. I had forgotten about the microwave as a source of interference. IIRC it seems to affect the "b" worse than the "g" but can get to both of them. Anyhoo amongst this vast pool of knowlege (and some of it is even true ) hopefully you will find the right answer, and they said we wouldn't amount to anything

Aaron