Router/Bandwidth question

avelanchefan

Okay my wife and I are connected to the same router with our computers. But here is the problem....my wifes computer downloads at the set speed of 6 megabytes per second. My computer hooked to the same router, and 4 years newer than my wifes has download speeds of about 1 megabyte per second. Can someone help me with this?

michael_w

Is there maybe a firewall restricting the speed on your computer ?

avelanchefan

No..... no firewall that would restrict access. In fact my wife and my computer are configured about the same.

Mike682

Wired or wireless?

janmike

Unplug your wife's computer. - Try the test
Plug you computer into the port where your wife's computer is plugged in on the router. - Try the test
Any difference in the NIC's?

BlueMDPicker

Check that the Tx rate on your machine's network interface card config is set to AUTO.

flason

Doesn't a T1 transmit at around 1.5MB per second? Broadband doesn't transmit near that 7MB per second speed you are suggesting. Typical broadband D/L speeds for a good single connected PC is around 450kb/sec. A router means you would be sharing that D/L speed. At least think I'm right, but I'm sure there are more network saavy people on the board than me.

avelanchefan

Yep I have tried everything. NiC card is set to auto. Even plugging directly to modem receives same results.

I have no idea what is going on.

disneyjoe7

Are you getting ADSL from the phone company or DSL from the Cable company?

avelanchefan

It's cable internet from Cox.

disneyjoe7

Cable internet is shared so when more people have Cable internet also they are sharing the same 6 meg's.

Cable internet work on the same channel like any other channel is. Another way to say this is NBC is channel 2, CBS is channel 6 your internet channel is like 78 is whatever it's the same channel for everyone. The channel has the same bandwidth as any other channel is. A channel bandwidth is 6 mhz wide so you may have been one of the first people around you to get cable internet.

So for the short info your "Trouble" maybe nothing really or not your computer at all.


BTW ADSL from the phone company is not shared like cable so your speed could be the same down the road as when you first got it.

Jstas

You need to check your router and see if the individual ports are configured properly. There should be a utility to help you do that. If AUTO NEGOTIATE is not working for your connection and you are getting a slow speed, you may have to force the duplexing to FULL. It will most likely be an option where the AUTO is set for port negotiation.

Some newer NICs (Network Interface Cards) have the option to set thier port speed too. The problem then arises, especially if they are made by a different company than the router, where the NIC cannot negotiate with the router because they do not recognize the same protocol. At that point, you need to manually configure the port speed to what you need. This should be in the Control Panel for your network.

Above all, if you still have the manual to the NIC and Router read through it. Also, update any and all drivers for the hardware on the computer. The router may also have a firmware update. You will need to either call a customer service line for the company that made your router or go to the site and get a firmware update utility with the latest updates in it. They are usually very easy to run with simple instructions.

If this is wireless, you need to check what standard your card is running at. Some of the newere Wireless-G standard routers do not auto-negotiate down to a Wireless-B standard. If it is the older Wireless-A standard, you will need to find out how to configure your card to work properly. Both Wireless-B and Wireless-G standards use an encryption method that is not always available on a Wireless-A system and it results in reduced network performance.

I can't really give much more help without seeing the hardware in person. If you can't get it working, you might want to see if you have a local computer repair service available to you. It will cost money but they should be able to get it working. If you can't find anything, call your local Best Buy and ask for the Geek Squad guys. They can usually help out and unlike the rest of the store, those guys have a clue about what they are doing.

Also, you may have spyware/adware on your system that is lousing up your connection status. You need to get rid of it and protect your computer from it. Some useful ones are:

AdAware SE from Lavasoft

Spybot Search and Destroy

Spyware Blaster

The first two I run and they compliment each other well. I have had zero issues with them and Spybot also has a feature that immunizes malacious software and will not let it reinfect your system. The third one is extremely useful because all it does is take away the ability for a malacious program to take advantage of ActiveX controls that get utilized by Java Applets and Javascript software.

Also, if you don't have one, get one. Get a virus checker and a firewall. I am very fond of McAfee's product. It is easy to use and reasonable in price. If you have one already, update it, scan your system and let it do its thing. Keep it updated and scan regularly. Get a firewall up and keep it up. Adjust settings so that it affords you the protection you need and still allows you to do what you want to do. McAfee has a firewall called Guardian which is one of the best on the market and it also has a trace-route software which tracks malacious activity and gives you the info so you can know who is doing what and report them if you have to.

That's about all the heelp I can give right now. Sorry I couldn't offer more.

avelanchefan

See that was the problem though. I am assured I can get 5mbps download. So when my wife is on the same router, and she gets it yet I don't I knew something was amiss.

What I ended up doing was going into my system restore (f10) at the boot-up. I re-installed all the needed CPU files (but saved all my old files) hoping that would help...well it did. I was missing something important, what i have no idea, but my download speeds are back at 5mbps +

Jstas

Originally posted by avelanchefan

What I ended up doing was going into my system restore (f10) at the boot-up. I re-installed all the needed CPU files (but saved all my old files) hoping that would help...well it did. I was missing something important, what i have no idea, but my download speeds are back at 5mbps +

There are viruses out there that will change configuration files that control your upload/download speeds through the system resources that your networking gear is allocated in the system. If you changed nothing since the slow-down occurred, you may have picked up something in your travels that would cause the problem.