Ok so here is the situation: a student house with 7 people living here, and a 2mb cable connection from Telewest (we're in the UK) via a free Motorola SB5101E SURFBoard Cable Modem. Added to that is a Buffalo WBR2-G54 wireless router on default settings, but with WEP encryption and the administration password changed for safety. Sharing the connection is 3 PCs with third-party wireless adapters, two laptops (one with a PCMIA adapter and one with built-in wireless) and a MacBook.
Sometimes the internet will run fast, but sometimes it will run painfully slowly. Thing is, it seems that sometimes if the router and modem is switched off then back on the connection will go fast, but then end up going slowly again. I know we only have a 2mb connection, but at the moment the Anandtech homepage will take at least 30 seconds to even start displaying content, then maybe another minute to finish loading. This is when I'm assured by my friends that they're not downloading any large files (e.g. P2P, torrents etc).
We have considered upgrading our connection to 10mb, since there are a few of us sharing it, but are concerned that this is not the problem due to the range of speeds we get - sometimes rapid, sometimes excrutiatingly slow. We have also considered buying a new router, since I am not convinced that it isn't the source of the problem, especially when switching it on and off seems to make a difference.
Any advice you have would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Sometimes the internet will run fast, but sometimes it will run painfully slowly. Thing is, it seems that sometimes if the router and modem is switched off then back on the connection will go fast, but then end up going slowly again. I know we only have a 2mb connection, but at the moment the Anandtech homepage will take at least 30 seconds to even start displaying content, then maybe another minute to finish loading. This is when I'm assured by my friends that they're not downloading any large files (e.g. P2P, torrents etc).
We have considered upgrading our connection to 10mb, since there are a few of us sharing it, but are concerned that this is not the problem due to the range of speeds we get - sometimes rapid, sometimes excrutiatingly slow. We have also considered buying a new router, since I am not convinced that it isn't the source of the problem, especially when switching it on and off seems to make a difference.
Any advice you have would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
