time for an upgrade?
 

Hi

I just upgraded my broadband from 2MB to 20MB.
I'm having problems with this upgrade.

If I connect directly to the cable modem and do various speed tests from speedtesting site I get 20mb. If I connect my wireless router to it and wire it to my pc I get 20mb but if I use wireless instead of the cable I only get if I'm lucky 7mb.

I have a safecom SWBR-5400. I know its known for being slow. I ve not had a problem while I've been using 2mb. Is it compatible with a 20mb surely the only thing that may not be compatible would be the modem which if I connect to 192.168.100.1 it says that it is receiving 20mb
Any ideas as to why wireless does not give me a 20mb connection?

Or is it time to upgradE?

Re: time for an upgrade?
 

Time to upgrade what?
You've pretty much isolated the problem - ie wireless throughput. (You get 20Mb wired but only 7Mb wireless)
Is the wireless adapter a b or g adapter? If it is a b adapter, then 7Mb is good. If it is a g adapter, it should be capable of 20Mb throughput in the right circumstances (no interference, no other networks on same channel, etc). Also if you are only using one g adapter on your network, you need to make sure the router is transmitting in 'g mode', not in 'b/g mixed' mode.

Re: time for an upgrade?
 

Hi Aragorn,

I was asking whether I should upgrade my router. Isn't 11b surpose to reach 11MB and g 54mb?

I cant see any setting in my router that would allow me to change whether it accepted b or g. I know some g devices support b. On the website they just say the following as part of the spec

High speed for wireless LAN connection: support both IEEE 802.11b and 802.11g. Up to 54 Mbps data rate when operates in 802.11g mode.

I have a wireless USB adaptor. Its a Safecom ZD1211 b+g adaptor. I looked through the setting and did not see anything saying b or g though I did see something Tx Rate that mentioned a list of different Mbs so I set it to 54MB before it was set to auto. the strength is really low though.

Let me know try and boot up into ubuntu and check I tend to get better signal stregth I dont know why as the router is only about 3 meters away from pc and is in the same room.

Re: time for an upgrade?
 

I think your wireless USB adaptor may be the weak link in the chain here ...

Re: time for an upgrade?
 

In ubuntu my signal strength is 88%
I run www.speedtest.net

and get the following
d/l 8401kbps
upload 727kbps

Re: time for an upgrade?
 

Still running in Ubuntu? If so, open a 'terminal' window and type
'sudo iwconfig' .
This should tell you what speed the wireless is using, eg Bit Rate:1 Mb/s

Re: time for an upgrade?
 

The Bit Rate = 48Mb/s

Re: time for an upgrade?
 

Hmm, it could be a number of things slowing it down - the router throttling the wireless, contention on the wireless channel, interference, etc.
Easiest to change would be the wireless channel.
You could try a different router/adapter but that would obviously cost money and may not make a difference. Also a new adapter 'may' not be supported by Ubuntu!

Re: time for an upgrade?
 

is getting an n router/adaptor worth upgrading to ?

Re: time for an upgrade?
 

If you are not sharing files or streaming media within your own network - ie between your own computers - then not really. A 54G wireless network should be capable to up to 20Mb/s which is all you have on the other side of the modem. An N router may get the data from the router to the PC quicker but will still be limited by the 20Mb broadband.
If you feel the need to change hardware, look for a 54G with speedboost (same make router and adapter), such as a WRT54GS and equivalent adapter.
That's my opinion.

Re: time for an upgrade?
 

Here's my experience with wireless and why i don't recommend unless their is no alternative.

1. 20mb virgin BB connected to a 54g router via wireless i got 10mb max
2. 20mb virgin BB connected to a belkin n router via wireless 14mb max

when i connected via ethernet i got the 18.70mb fastest you will get when downloading on the, 20mb service when using newsgroups etc the 54g router only had 1 lan port out which i had to split for, my xbox 360 and ps3 the router was 2 foot away from my pc and still couldn't give max speed via wireless.

after around 2 months with the 54g router i bought a belkin n router which everyday dropped, the connection to the modem and i had to reboot both router and modem.

i am now connected to 50mb broadband as my dad tests it and i get 48.79mb max when downloading, we tried it on a 54g using wireless and i got 35mb we are going to be testing it on a n router soon but i don't hold my breath.

all i will say is if you have the option to use a ethernet cable use it reasons being:

no need for wireless protection.
fastest speed possible.
no need to replace adaptors if they go faulty.
no driver issues.
no connecting to other peoples network without you knowing.
no risk of interference from other routers around you.

i don't trust wireless and never will i wont use it to many issues with it and not worth the money, or effort imho unless there is no alternative if you can use ethernet then use it.

Re: time for an upgrade?
 

This post from the other thread created on the matter probably sheds the most light on this issue http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/34727126-post13.html

Wireless is never likely to perform quite as well as a wired connection. Local interference on the channel, overall signal strength, etc, will all have an impact on degradation. However you should still see a reasonable speed if all other aspects of the hardware and their drivers are working correctly, and you at least have "g" speed connetivity.

Re: time for an upgrade?
 

Most likely cause (imho) - channels.

Around me, there's about 5 or 6 APs. Most of them are showing strong signal, BUT, they're all on channel 11 or 6. They'll see packet dropouts, and other random things. I, however, have my AP on channel 9, which nobody else is using. I get full-tilt throughput, and my network is all B/G.

It's quite often something really simple. I get full signal all over the house too, up and downstairs. Another simple thing you can do, is make sure the aerial is pointing the right way; the signal radiates out the sides mostly - top and bottom, you don't get a lot of signal. So if you have your AP downstairs, and you are upstairs, say, you need to tilt the aerial so the signal is thrown up more. Diverse antenna are good for that as you can have one sitting vertical, to cover the area where the AP is, and another at say 45 degrees to give coverage up and down. Mine is at about 45 degrees, so it covers the living room and dining room, as well as upstairs. It improved the signal all over the house when I did that!

Re: time for an upgrade?
 

I tried netstumbler and strangely when I use the software that came with the adaptor it does not show any other networks I then used the default windows zero config service and found some other networks.

I'm on channel 11 the only other network in range is on channel 1. Netstumbler is reporting my network as using WEP even though I'm using WPA and the channel says 11+ then changes to 11* and then back to + again and just keeps doing that. The graph seems to go up and down and have blank spaces as well. I tried other channels but none of the others but my adaptor will not connect to the router.

Re: time for an upgrade?
 

I presume you are running the latest firmware for your router?

Re: time for an upgrade?
 

If you really want to see what else is out there, including hidden networks, drop back into Ubuntu and install Kismet.

Re: time for an upgrade?
 

FunkyCable,

I would suggest either borrowing a router from someone and testing or if you're feeling a little ca$h rich go out and get a new one.

How old is the router? The latest firmware is 28/10/05 (version #197e7b)

---------- Post added at 14:20 ---------- Previous post was at 13:56 ----------

The only thing I can find on the FAQ from Safecom that relates to SWBR-5400 and telewest (10Meg) is:

http://adsltech.com/portal/forum/for...?TID=6597&PN=6

Speeds fine through wired and slow on wireless (1.5Mpbs, All be it through wireless B connection). The safecom admin repling says it's a problem with wireless B talking to G. From reading the specifications the router is backwards compatible :shrug:. OK you're never going to get 11Mbps which is the max. for wireless B standard, but I would have thought it would have been higher than 1-1.5Mbps.

:idea:This might sound daft but:
On 10Meg connection the router speed is fine wired, but to Wireless B max. 11Mbps and only getting 1.5Mbps (aprrox. 13.64%)
On 20Meg connection the router speed is fine wired,but to Wireless G max. 54Mbps and only getting 7Mbps ( approx. 12.96%)

It does sound daft, but the two percentage figures are too close to be daft.

Re: time for an upgrade?
 

Before spending the money, just rerun your tests on the non overlapping channels 1, 6 and 11.

It could be another AP interfering or something else entirely.

Re: time for an upgrade?
 

Noggo, thats the version I have on my Router.

The strange thing is whe nI was on 2MB I got 2mb connection via wireless.

I'll try that test that Aragon an Geoff mention this weekend and post back my results.

thanks to everybody so far for the assistance that I've received I really appreciate it.

Re: time for an upgrade?
 

Yep but you're using wireless g standard both at router and on laptop. Where as the person who posted on asdltech.com forum is G for router and B for laptop. I was pointing out that it was uncanny that both throughput percentages on B and G standards are near enough the same (approx. 13%) on your model of router, so it's the wireless capability of the router letting you down with a maximum throughput of around 7Mb regardless of what internet connection speed you're got.

So on 2Mb connection you're not going to see any problems, as the max throughput of the router wirelessly is 7Mb. The problem only becomes apparent when you're either got a higher speed internet connection than 7Mb or you transfer files from one network PC to another other using wireless.

Re: time for an upgrade?
 

Aragon can you help me with installing Kismet?

I have ubuntu 8.10. I tried to follow this http://mihirknows.blogspot.com/2008/...buntu-810.html but when I run sudo kismet it displays this

I edited the config file and uncommented the suiduser line to and entered in my username I use to login to ubuntu I then changed the source to the following source=zd1211,eth0,wifi

---------- Post added at 16:24 ---------- Previous post was at 16:15 ----------

Some speed tests

https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/...2009/02/36.png
https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/...2009/02/37.png
https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/...2009/02/38.png

Re: time for an upgrade?
 

Have a look through this old Ubuntu forum thread - it might help. Or this guide. Otherwise - pass!

Re: time for an upgrade?
 

Have you found out why the adapter won't connect to the router once you change with router channel? Changing and then testing other channels will be the best option, if you can't borrow a another router to test or get netstumbler / Kismet to run. Just run through all available channels and then choose the one with the best speed.

Re: time for an upgrade?
 

Just tried Kismet running under BackTrack and it worked first time with my laptop. Also told me there are two other networks on my channel plus two in range on different channels (one unsecured and one using WEP!). You can't get it running on Ubuntu, try downloading either the ISO or USB install for BT3.

Re: time for an upgrade?
 

Hi Noggo

I log into the router and change the wireless channel I then reboot the router repair the connection but it will not connect. Any ideas?

Today when running netstumbler I saw two other networks. So I am stil on channel 11. The other netowrk that I knew about is on channel 1 and I noticed two other networks on channel 11. I just hope I can get it to work without having to buy another router.

---------- Post added at 12:30 ---------- Previous post was at 12:29 ----------

Aragon I could not get kismet to work.

Re: time for an upgrade?
 

I've no idea why you can't pick up the connection after you change the wireless channel. What wireless adapter card have you got, may be they have support pages or forum which would shed some light onto why.

But by the looks of it with two other local networks on 11, you're got to try and move it.

Re: time for an upgrade?
 

Strangely I got channel 1 working. I changed it to channel1 restarted the router. Tried to repair connection and it would not connect so I plugged the wire in so that I could connect to router and chnage the channel back and when I connected the cable the wireless seemed to connect to the router. I did some speed again I got below 10mb but it was a little improvement. There is another network on channel 1.

I tried channel 6 but it would not connect even with the wire plugged in like I managed to get channel 1 to work.

With the cable only plugged in
https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/...2009/02/31.png

On channel 1 with wireless only connected.

https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/...2009/02/32.png

https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/...2009/02/33.png

Re: time for an upgrade?
 

OK it's an improvement but 8Meg still isn't right. Try with other channels if you can get them to work or is there anyone you can borrow a more up to date router from to test?

I think what Popper mention over in your other thread post 13 applies http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/12...eck-speed.html

Re: time for an upgrade?
 

Unfortunately all my mates are on ASDL and the ones that are on CABLE dont have wireless routers.

I think I will just have to get a new router and possibly adaptor.

I was thinking of getting a D-LINK DKT400 N router with usb adaptor but I wanted to get soem views on it here http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/87...-any-good.html

I cant find any reviews for this product though so not sure if its worth the £46.

Re: time for an upgrade?
 

Check ebuyer they have some really good routers

Re: time for an upgrade?
 

Try: http://www.testfreaks.co.uk/wireless...rk/?sort=score
For D-link DKt-400: http://www.testfreaks.co.uk/wireless...-link-dkt-400/

WOW mines listed TRENDnet TEW-633GR