Router cutting Speeds in half??
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sirbum69 @ 2nd Nov 08:08PM:
Router cutting Speeds in half??
Recently i just got the new 2 year locked in price. With that came 20 megs download. Before this i had 10 megs. In my house i have three computers, and have had three for at least 6 years now.
all three computers are connected through a wireless router. The router is a LinkSys BFW11S4-B wireless router with 4 ports. The cable modem connects to the router and then the three computers in the office connect from the router using the RJ45 wire i think there called. They look like phone cords just little beefier.
when we had the 10 meg only, my computer along with my wife's would see speeds on tests here and other places of about 8megs download. Which to me was fine because i know you never get the full amount your paying for. But problem now is, we upgraded to the 20 megs, and my wife gets about 12 megs, yet i get only 8 megs still. Now if i disconnect the modem from the router and connect it direct to my wife's computer she downloads at 18-20 megs. awsome speeds.
But soon as we go through router, bam it cut in half. So my question is, is the router causing this, and if so why did it start now, and not when we were getting the 10 megs. And is there another router or something that i can do, to this one that will at least allow me and my wife to see speeds above 10 megs. Any help would be appreciated..
Oh and yes i did call charter, and spoke to there help, but at first he was totally unaware of what the problem could be. So i really got no where there, which is why i came here
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KoRnGtL15 @ 3rd Nov 01:53AM:
Re: Router cutting Speeds in half??
No offense but that router is ancient by today's standards. The router is maxed out and cannot handle the new speeds. Happened to me when I went from 10mb/1mb plan to 20mb/2mb. Mine was a Linksys BEFSR41 v4.0 wired router. Updated to a Linksys WRT54GL v1.1 and get full speeds. That is why when you go directly to the modem and pc. You get full speeds. Plus by upgrading. You will get much better all around performance by upgrading to a G or N router.
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sirbum69 @ 3rd Nov 06:44AM:
Re: Router cutting Speeds in half??
Yeh your right the modem is ancient lol. But it still worked so i didnt see a reason to upgrade it. not sure how much older yours was to mine, Mine is also a version 4.
But if you saw a differance then im hoping i will as well. You say you saw a differance, but do you have more then one person on that router, cause Charter is telling me its cause i have more then one person on the router. They say the router splits the speeds, to each computer.
Thats why i was wandering, cause no reason to buy a new one if its going to just do the same thing, because i have more then one person on the router
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cork1958 @ 3rd Nov 07:00AM:
Re: Router cutting Speeds in half??
The second poster said your ROUTER was ancient, NOT the modem.
You never mentioned what modem you have. Just making sure you know which piece of equipment we're talking about here.
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psafux @ 3rd Nov 11:16AM:
Re: Router cutting Speeds in half??
Yes, absolutely the router will divide the available speed to any clients connected to the router. If you have 10 meg service, a router will not provide 10 megs to every client behind the router.
If you have just one client connected to the router, though, you should pull pretty close to the package speed, minus 10-20% depending on TCP overhead and variables.
Off the top of my head, I would suspect your router is too old to handle 20meg though and its probably time to upgrade.
--
Yes. the cat in my avatar is indeed mine.
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KoRnGtL15 @ 3rd Nov 11:50AM:
Re: Router cutting Speeds in half??
I have 6 devices on my network both wired and wireless. Speeds are fine. But all clients cannot get the fat pipe all at once at the same exact time. If you want to manage the network even better and set up priority. QOS is the answer for that. Trust me. The router needs upgrading big time. I would not steer you wrong on that.
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viper3431 @ 3rd Nov 12:03PM:
Re: Router cutting Speeds in half??
said by sirbum69 :
But if you saw a differance then im hoping i will as well. You say you saw a differance, but do you have more then one person on that router, cause Charter is telling me its cause i have more then one person on the router. They say the router splits the speeds, to each computer.
Your router will divide available bandwidth amongst your connected devices. So if you are downloading at 12mbps, that leaves 8mbps for the other devices etc. If nobody is online then you will see the full ~20mbps at a single machine. As other posters have said, you should invest in a new router that has the ability to handle that much bandwidth. Your current router simply doesn't have the processing power to handle all that data.
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sirbum69 @ 3rd Nov 06:02PM:
Re: Router cutting Speeds in half??
Ok thanks everyone for the imput. As for me saying modem, i was typing fast this morning before work...I meant router. I know the diff between the two.
Guess i will upgrade the router, but at least now i know that no matter what, as long as we are going through a router its going to split the speeds. Kinda sucks, but oh well.
Anyone have any sugestions, as to a good one to upgrade too that isnt extremly expensive?
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Rampage522 @ 4th Nov 09:27AM:
Re: Router cutting Speeds in half??
Yeah, it will split if all connected devices are pulling data simultaneously. But if you have 4 devices on a 10 meg connection and only one is pulling data, that one device will get (roughly) the full 10 megs of speed. You don't split the speed simply by having a connected device; it has to get pulling at the same time to matter.
You may have already understood that, but I wanted to clarify in case you didn't.
As for router recommendations, you can't hardly go wrong with a Linksys WRT54GL. These can be picked up pretty easily on Newegg or at a local store for less than 2 months of your Internet service.
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bozzy @ 4th Nov 03:10PM:
Re: Router cutting Speeds in half??
It's doubtful that all your connected clients would be downloading data at the same time unless they are streaming video all the time. Most requests are very short and if one client is streaming video and the other is browsing the web, it is doubtful that that one streaming video will see much degradation as most downloads from users browsing the web are short lived.
Old routers do not prioritize traffic very well so you will certainly see poor speeds if you have several clients. Any decent wireless router these days does a much better job of QoS and will certainly be beneficial over your old router.
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sirbum69 @ 4th Nov 05:16PM:
Re: Router cutting Speeds in half??
well, i can say that right now, im the only one surfing the internet as im the only one home, yet my speeds are still only 8 megs on the test, yet we get 20 megs.
So if your saying that it only splits them when more then one person is actully using the internet, then it must just be that my router is too old. Cause i get less then 10 megs on a 20 meg service no matter who is on..
Think im gonna go with that one you said, the wrt54 either way, as the one i have is old. Ive had it at least 6 years and im sure it wasnt the first year it came out.
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DaSneaky1D @ 4th Nov 09:32PM:
Re: Router cutting Speeds in half??
Everyone is saying "old", but that's a statement that's without explanation of what "old" really means....
The port that connects to your cable modem (the WAN port) is only rated as 10baseT. That means it's only able to run at 10mbps. You now have a 20mbps connection so your WAN port will needed to be rated as 100baseT.
Newer firewalls have a WAN port that support that speed.
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Rampage522 @ 5th Nov 08:38AM:
Re: Router cutting Speeds in half??
Thank you for pointing that out, DaSneaky1D. That's what we've all been hinting at, but no one ever came out and said it. :)
OP, that's the whole problem most likely. Not the "age" of your router, necessarily, but the capabilities. Everything you've posted points to the likelihood that your WAN (Internet) port is rated at 10 megabits. So if you're going through that router, that's the fastest any connected devices can go.
We got kinda lost in the weeds explaining switches, QOS, etc. :)
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sirbum69 @ 5th Nov 05:32PM:
Re: Router cutting Speeds in half??
ahh i see...Ok cause i know that the ethernet card that i use in my computer is a 10/100 So another words it can handle either 10 megs or up to 100...
but the wan port on my router is most likly rated only for 10 megs. kk...Is there anyway to make that 100 or is the only way to buy the new one.
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Darkk @ 5th Nov 05:51PM:
Re: Router cutting Speeds in half??
No.
It can do either 10 megs, *or* 100 megs.
The speed is not variable.
10baseT(x) and 100baseT(x) are the two Ethernet standards. The (x) variant being full duplex, which yours undoubtedly are.
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MrFixit1 @ 5th Nov 06:04PM:
Re: Router cutting Speeds in half??
Just took a look at the specs for your router .
The lan ports are 10/100 and can run at 100 megabits .
However , the wan port is hardware limited to 10 meg .
the only way for you to make full use of your connection is to get a new router that has the wan port rated for 100 mb , or for 1 gig . Make sure the rating is for the WAN port :)
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Jerm @ 5th Nov 09:05PM:
Re: Router cutting Speeds in half??
said by sirbum69 :
Is there anyway to make that 100
$30 shipped and can run DD-WRT (a must IMNSHO):
»www.techsunny.com/3237498/airlin···ess.html
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MrFixit1 @ 6th Nov 07:14AM:
Re: Router cutting Speeds in half??
Price looks good :)
Don't like the fact that there is no reference to the rating of the wan port though :(
»www.airlink101.com/download/down···670w.pdf
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tnt @ 7th Nov 07:34AM:
Re: Router cutting Speeds in half??
»www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a···33127241
»www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a···33162026
»www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a···33124190
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sirbum69 @ 7th Nov 11:55AM:
Re: Router cutting Speeds in half??
well from what ive been seeing on the internet and here, it sounds like the WRT54G router will do what i need and be a fairly good one for the price.
Ive seen some that say you can crossflash them or open flash them, im really not that big into networking and all that so dont really know what that means.
I just want a router that will run my three computers and my wifes laptop that runs on a wireless B connection i assume sence she connects to my current router.
I looked at the ones you guys linked, and thought about getting the first one linked.
Really appreciate all the help everyone has given me
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