Slow internet over WLAN. Reason ?

[Yes_sir21]

When I measured my the wireless internet connection, the speed is a lot slower then normal cable connection to the desktop pc. Sometimes i get only 30 %- 50 % of the speed i pay for and sometimes i get 100% over wireless. The speed is usually best at night. My router is dlink 655.

Is the reason for slow speed the crowded 2,4 ghz signal, neighbors wlans etc? Will i then get full speed with dlink 855 who can operate at 5 ghz ?
I am a noob at networking, so I could be totally wrong so thats why im askin here before i buy anything.

I watch sometims HD videos from my desktop pc to my laptop in another room.
And thats impossible with slow internet.

 

[gimp]

get a program like NetStumbler (now called SSIDer I think?).

use it to scan for all wireless networks around, see what channels they're on.

pick a non-overlapping channel that's least used (3, 6, or 9?)

of course 2.4GHz phones will also create interference.

or upgrade to N and use something in the 5GHz range.

 

[mattjw916]

FYI: The non-overlapping channels are 1, 6, and 11.

 

[hawk82]

edit: I re-read the thread. You confuse your internet connection speed with your local area network speed (two separate networks and speeds). If your neighbor(s) have wireless network(s) or cordless phones or any device that operates in the 2.4ghz spectrum, then that might explain why your wireless network suffers. Change the channel on your wireless network to a non-overlapping channel and see if that helps. Try moving your wireless router further away from the source of the noise/interference if you can. As mentioned Netstumbler might help in diagnosing if there are other wireless networks in range and what channels they are running on. Switching to the Dlink router as you mentioned, may help, due to a separate spectrum to use. However if there are other networks in range, you might suffer the same problem. Also 802.11A isn't as tolerant of walls, trees, and floors as 802.11B/G/N is, due to the shorter wavelength. In short, switching to 802.11A might give your wireless network a shorter range than with the current one you have. Also, you'd need to pick up the compatible wireless card for each client computer if you switch to 802.11A, as the B/G/N cards would not be compatible.

 

[bigdogchris]

When I measured my the wireless internet connection, the speed is a lot slower then normal cable connection to the desktop pc. Sometimes i get only 30 %- 50 % of the speed i pay for and sometimes i get 100% over wireless. The speed is usually best at night. My router is dlink 655.

Is the reason for slow speed the crowded 2,4 ghz signal, neighbors wlans etc? Will i then get full speed with dlink 855 who can operate at 5 ghz ?
I am a noob at networking, so I could be totally wrong so thats why im askin here before i buy anything.

I watch sometims HD videos from my desktop pc to my laptop in another room.
And thats impossible with slow internet.

Make sure your wireless devices are "5ghz" compatible, aka 802.11a. Most are not.

I would start by forcing either B or G (not mixed) compliance since they use a different modulation which if there is interference with one, the other could work fine. Try one, then the other to see what results you get.

If that doesn't work, try different channels. Even if Net Stumbler doesn't show any other broadcast in a channel, doesn't mean there isn't interference. One situation I have, there are no channels under 6 being used that I can detect, yet, if I set the channel to 1 I get absolutely no signal what so ever. I'm forced to stay in a noisy channel range. Try all channels because you'd be surprised that one channel works great and the other 10 work like shit. It's happened.

If you can afford it, try grabbing Wireless N compliant hardware. All devices have to be N though or else it will just drop down to whatever the lowest is (I believe). It's probably cheaper to do this than have all .a compliant devices. .a is nice though if your making a bridge or other connection through a noisy area. I have to do this in a noisy area between buildings, then just rebroadcast a G signal inside the building I'm connecting to.