Slow wireless internet problem

[TheDude62]

Setup: DSL modem in bridged mode connected router via PPPoE

So the other day I noticed that my internet was running slowly. I did a bandwidth test from my laptop over wifi and I was only getting 5-12mb/sec despite paying for 40mb. Then I tested it on ethernet from the same laptop and got 44mb/sec. That makes it seem like a wifi problem, but my connection is strong, and there shouldn't be much congestion as there's only 1 other house within 20' of mine. So I tried copying a file from my laptop to my NAS device over wireless, and I was consistently getting over 120mb/sec for the file transfers.

So wifi seems to be working fine, and my internet connection is also fine. I have a sneaking suspicion it might have something to do with the PPPoE connection, but I don't know what I can do about it. I tried playing around with my MTU settings as well but it seems to have no affect.

 

[Harvey]

If you haven't already done so, atep #1 is to power down and reboot your cable/dsl/? modem and router. If you get the same results, contact your internet provider and/or router manufacturer's tech support about how best to configure your modem with your router.

If you have a combo device (modem/router), it's one stop shopping. Good luck.

 

[TheDude62]

If you haven't already done so, atep #1 is to power down and reboot your cable/dsl/? modem and router. If you get the same results, contact your internet provider and/or router manufacturer's tech support about how best to configure your modem with your router.

If you have a combo device (modem/router), it's one stop shopping. Good luck.

You just reminded me of 2 things I forgot to mention. I did power cycle both my modem and router, and I even went as far as to swap out my router with my old router, and I had the exact same problem. I'm not real confident in Century Link support, but I guess I'll give it a try.

 

[Harvey]

Check the manual for your wireless router about how to select/change wireless channels. The default setting may not be the best, especially if you're in an apartment or have a lot of close neighbors using the common default channels.

It helped my speed when I first set up my current system.

< update >

Here's an article on the subject.

Searching Google for change default channel wifi finds more.

 

[TheDude62]

Check the manual for your wireless router about how to select/change wireless channels. The default setting may not be the best, especially if you're in an apartment or have a lot of close neighbors using the common default channels.

It helped my speed when I first set up my current system.

But if there were actually a problem with my wifi, why would it be 6 times faster as long as I'm connecting to an internal device? That would suggest my wireless network isn't the bottleneck.

 

[Harvey]

But if there were actually a problem with my wifi, why would it be 6 times faster as long as I'm connecting to an internal device? That would suggest my wireless network isn't the bottleneck.

My speed went up x8 when I tried channel 8.

Definitely worth a try.

 

[TheDude62]

My speed went up x8 when I tried channel 8.

Definitely worth a try.

OK, I'm going to give it a shot, I can't do it now because people are watching Netflix, but I'll report back.

It doesn't make a lot of sense to me though. My wireless connection says it's strong, and my internal wireless bandwidth is perfectly fine. I also tested with different distances. My router is in my basement, and from upstairs I get the exact same internet bandwidth results as when I'm 3' from the router.

 

[Harvey]

I forgot that you said:

I did a bandwidth test from my laptop over wifi and I was only getting 5-12mb/sec despite paying for 40mb. Then I tested it on ethernet from the same laptop and got 44mb/sec.

You could try uninstalling and re-installing your wireless adapter driver. Before you do, you check for software or firmware updates for it.

Also, search Google for both updates and for your adapter make and model + key words like slow, PPOE settings, and any other key words you can think of.

 

[TheDude62]

I forgot that you said:



You could try uninstalling and re-installing your wireless adapter driver. Before you do, you check for software or firmware updates for it.

Also, search Google for both updates and for your adapter make and model + key words like slow, PPOE settings, and any other key words you can think of.

Yeah, I thought about that, but it affects all my wireless devices, both on the 2.4ghz SSID and the 5.0ghz SSID. It's truly perplexing.

I did some searching as well and I found something suggesting it might be the MTU, but I adjusted that already.

 

[Ketchup]

Do you have more than one wireless internet device? And is it also suffering from the slowness?

What bandwidth test did you run? And did you run it more than once? Tried different browsers?

 

[Gunbuster]

Sure you are not confusing one test showing Megabit with another showing Megabyte?

 

[TheDude62]

Do you have more than one wireless internet device? And is it also suffering from the slowness?

What bandwidth test did you run? And did you run it more than once? Tried different browsers?

Yeah, I have a bunch. I first noticed a problem streaming on my Roku, then I did the bandwidth test on 2 different laptops, and an android tablet. The first laptop is on the 5.0ghz AC network, and the other 2 are on 2.4ghz N. I've tested over and over since it started, both in Firefox and whatever the Android browser is. I used ookla, Century Links site, and at least one other. They all come up about the same, every time.

Sure you are not confusing one test showing Megabit with another showing Megabyte?

100%. The bandwidth tests are all ran in mb, but when copying something from one machine to another Windows uses MB. I get about 15MB/sec internally, which works out to about 120mb.

 

[Ketchup]

Do you notice a difference if there are more/fewer devices on the network at one time?

I actually had the opposite problem with my last router - internet speeds were great on just about everything in the house (save a Kindle Fire that decided it would not accept the network as having internet access), but wireless data transfer speeds were horrible, regardless of distance from the router. In my case, a new(er) router fixed that problem, even in N mode (and the aforementioned Kindle decided it could get on the Internet). Both routers gave me full expected speed on the Ethernet ports as well.

I know you tried an old router and got the same outcome, but why was the old router retired? I would be tempted to try a new one from a B&M to make sure the router isn't the problem.

 

[TheDude62]

Do you notice a difference if there are more/fewer devices on the network at one time?

I actually had the opposite problem with my last router - internet speeds were great on just about everything in the house (save a Kindle Fire that decided it would not accept the network as having internet access), but wireless data transfer speeds were horrible, regardless of distance from the router. In my case, a new(er) router fixed that problem, even in N mode (and the aforementioned Kindle decided it could get on the Internet). Both routers gave me full expected speed on the Ethernet ports as well.

I know you tried an old router and got the same outcome, but why was the old router retired? I would be tempted to try a new one from a B&M to make sure the router isn't the problem.

I've had it down to as few as 2 wireless devices (my laptop, and my phone which I wasn't using), and as high as 5 or 6, but it didn't make any difference.

The backup router I tried was a pretty new router, they're both actually AC1900 routers, one a Linksys and the other a Trendnet. I just didn't like the old router because it seemed a little unstable, but I never had speed problems with it. I also tried installing dd-wrt on my new router and I tweaked just about every wireless setting I could find to no avail.

 

[Ketchup]

Hmm. So just to make sure I have this right:
-Wired internet speed is fine.
-Wired data transfer is fine.
-Wireless data transfer is fine.
-Wireless internet is terrible.

Your story does remind me of a guy in the office who got a new AC router and was very disappointed with it until he bought AC adapters for his wireless devices.

But that's all I got (for now anyway).

 

[TheDude62]

Hmm. So just to make sure I have this right:
-Wired internet speed is fine.
-Wired data transfer is fine.
-Wireless data transfer is fine.
-Wireless internet is terrible.

Your story does remind me of a guy in the office who got a new AC router and was very disappointed with it until he bought AC adapters for his wireless devices.

But that's all I got (for now anyway).

That is correct. I've also had the same router for about 6 months and I'm using the same computers with it. One of the laptops has built in AC, and the rest are N, but they all perform about the same.