Wireless Router

[Monk]

So, I've got 100 Mbps Internet. I have I guess a pretty old router, a Linksys WRT300N. I bought it from a Trade It store. It was fine for the most part but now I'm getting way more into the streaming shows and movies instead of watching satellite. Now that I need it, I'm looking at the speeds I'm getting over wifi.

A lot of the time it's less than 10 and crawls around 2-3. I've gone in and tried out different channels and found one where I was getting 40-50. So I was good until the next day and it was the same old sub 10 or even 5 Mbps. It's really hard to binge watch Amazon prime at those speeds.

Is this a router issue? I'm good with going and getting a decent $100 router or something if it will fix the problem. I just don't want to need to search through channels ever day to find one that works. My hard wired computer gets a good 75 - 90 Mbps every time I check so I'm guessing it's not the ISP.

 

[airtime143]

The router may be "up to" 150 mbps total throughput, but the connection speed wont be for individual devices.
I pulled these numbers off of a review... speeds of each standard for that model.
802.11b (11 Mbps)
802.11g (54 Mbps)
802.11g MIMO (extended range)
802.11n (draft)

Your router seems like it is expensive yet ancient.
I have had great luck with a crappy ass netgear I bought to replace my crappy ass linksys, and I do well with 2 tvs on netflix at the same time, both wireless.

 

[brett05]

You need to get a new router. Comcast gives me like 50-60 and I can only use about 20. Good enough for me

 

[xer0h0ur]

I download at 15 MBps. Yeah, megabytes not bits.

 

[Xuder O'Clam]

I download at 15 MBps. Yeah, megabytes not bits.

What do you pay for that, and with whom?

 

[xer0h0ur]

I get phone, internet and TV bundled together with Comcast. I would need to check my bill to see what the rate is for just the internet service. I just know my connection goes slightly over what its meant to. Its supposed to be 105Mbps but its dishing out more than that. I can also get a friend to hook me up to the 150Mps service but I don't really see the point. Its fast enough for me already.

If I was stupid rich though I would have their 2000Mbps service for a cool $299.95 a month lololol

 

[Omeletpants]

If I was stupid rich though I would have their 2000Mbps service for a cool $299.95 a month lololol

Which would allow you to upload your fascinating comments to the forum at even faster speed

 

[xer0h0ur]

Or I would be hosting my own gaming and web hosting servers instead of paying for those....hosting companies can never provide systems as top notch as I can build myself. Its the constant upkeep of them that is a pain in the ass.

 

[airtime143]

I get phone, internet and TV bundled together with Comcast. I would need to check my bill to see what the rate is for just the internet service. I just know my connection goes slightly over what its meant to. Its supposed to be 105Mbps but its dishing out more than that. I can also get a friend to hook me up to the 150Mps service but I don't really see the point. Its fast enough for me already.

If I was stupid rich though I would have their 2000Mbps service for a cool $299.95 a month lololol

If you had the bank to blow, they will gladly run you a dedicated fiber. All you have to do is split the construction cost and sign a contract.

I know of a location that has a 150 telephone office with computers for every phone running off a dedicated fiber.
The lucky bastards were right by a fiber enclosure and they paid zip for construction and zip for installation.

I could download sooooooooo much porn with that...

 

[xer0h0ur]

Right, if I had the bank for it. Perhaps once I am up and running long enough trading currencies on the Forex market.

 

[Monk]

The router may be "up to" 150 mbps total throughput, but the connection speed wont be for individual devices.
I pulled these numbers off of a review... speeds of each standard for that model.
802.11b (11 Mbps)
802.11g (54 Mbps)
802.11g MIMO (extended range)
802.11n (draft)

Your router seems like it is expensive yet ancient.
I have had great luck with a crappy ass netgear I bought to replace my crappy ass linksys, and I do well with 2 tvs on netflix at the same time, both wireless.

So should I get a new router? Maybe spend some $ on a gigabit router would solve my problem?

I think my settings or on mixed now. Would setting it to wireless g help?

 

[xer0h0ur]

The term gigabit router is referring to the wired connection speed. It has nothing to do with the wi-fi connection's speed. Specifically setting your existing router to 802.11G would at least make sure that it doesn't drop to the maximum 11Mbps speed 802.11B connection. Either way if you're trying to get your internet connection's maximum speed then it would require getting a new router. Currently you won't go past 54Mbps and that is assuming good signal strength at 802.11G.

 

[Crystallas]

Have you updated your router software? Heck, even swapping firmwares to something more powerful and better maintained. Some performance issues just come from outdated software not mitigating different attack types.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_router_firmware_projects

 

[Chief Walking Stick]

What about the modems that are also a router?

Should people still get routers then?

 

[Crystallas]

What about the modems that are also a router?

Should people still get routers then?

It all depends. Sometimes the ISP issues a very good router AND(the and is important here) they also have good router settings and policies configured out of the box. Sometimes they issue out bare features and gimped hardware (which might be fine for your needs) AND/or they charge you for equipment rental when you can bring your own and save that fee while getting more performance and paying for itself over time.

 

[clonetrooper264]

Comcast modem/routers are crap. Our wired connection is around 90mb/s download...my wifi in my room down the hall is maybe 20-25 max on a good day. Megabits, not bytes unlike Xer0 lol. In my basement our wifi drops to a cool 7-9mbps.

 

[LordKOTL]

Honestly, the only people who should use the ISP-provided router is someone who's willing to pay $5/month in perpeturity to *not* have to configure it--in other words, my dad.

Right now I'm about to update my router from a 802.11N single-band to an 802.11AC Dual-band for the sole reason that at my apt the 2.4GH band is as congested as the Eisenhower at 5pm while the 5GHZ band is very clear--which will help my wife when she tries to stream live TV to her surface.

Here's what I would suggest, McFly:

I'm willing to bet that your router is using an already-congested channel and that the 2.4GHZ band is congested as well--if you get some wifi analyzer software (Wifi Analyzer for Android is what I use) you can see a pretty good view of what's out there. There are windows solutions as well. but in general you want to see the channels that everyone around you is using and set your router to a non-congested one--if that channel is possible on your router. Play around with it, though. Auto Channel will give you one that works but I've found it often defaults to the channel everyone else is using.

For a long-term fix I would recommend a dual-band router. The 5GHz band is fairly clear and can give better speeds, but the caveat is that the band doesn't penetrate walls as well a 2.4GHZ and doesn't have the overall range, but if you're in range and on the 5GHZ band you'll usually get better speeds. You can usually get one $100 or less, but even still, if you do upgrade you'll want to make sure you set it to use the least congested and fastest channels for your home.

 

[clonetrooper264]

I should probably learn how to change my router's settings...

 

[Crystallas]

I'm a routerboard guy now. Once you go routerboard, you don't go back. I just wish BSD had drivers for the chipsets used, because I'd rather run pfsense. But they aren't plug and play and are definitely for hacker/tinkerers. IIRC, they have docsis 3 support configurations for those using a docsis ISP.

 

[Monk]

I'm a routerboard guy now. Once you go routerboard, you don't go back. I just wish BSD had drivers for the chipsets used, because I'd rather run pfsense. But they aren't plug and play and are definitely for hacker/tinkerers. IIRC, they have docsis 3 support configurations for those using a docsis ISP.

I don't think any of that is English