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Broadband, the new dial-up!


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Posted by Xugaa
'Broadband, The New Dial-up!'
The Secret Revealed...


When broadband was first introduced to the public, we were amazed and found this new 'connection speed' atonishing, something that would certainly revolutionise the world in which we live to day, whether it general internet use, downloading, gaming etc... we all love broadband.

Except me. There are three computers with an internet connection within my lovely town house in sunny Somerset. The main box/mother connection/lord of connections on the ground floor, this being my dad and mum's computer to use, usually for work use, ecspecially with my dad. Next there is my sister's computer on the 2nd floor, her small and simple computer doing what it does best, general internet use, chugging along doing a fine job, providing my sister with a useful means fro doing entertainment and work. Then theres mine, a computer that has had literally hundereds of pounds spent on it, fully customised and now a 'state of the art' computer of which i am very proud of. It has the capability to play games and perform entertainment to the maximum of levels, also used for work, but no one cares about that.

Well, i see my computer as state of the art, but when it comes to internet connection, its as if it automatically turns into an old acorn computer (aww bless em). My dad, not caring very much anyway, simply does not give a s*** about my problem, so its up to me, dang. Just to emphasise the point i am trying to make, i decided to and completed a test based on comparing my dad's, my sisters and my computers internet connection speed. Before i show you the results to this ever so wonderful test/experiment, lets give you a little background, yet important information.

In our house we are sharing wirelessly and 512kb/10x broadband connection. When all members are using the internet, it is said that the connection should be evenly distributed amongst all. When only two people are using it should be halved, when only one, they should then get the whole connection speed to themselves, right? Which i'm sure you will agree is usually easily enough for any use. WRONG, as you will discover yourself from my results soon, my dad not surprisingly has the strongest connection, being directly next the the main box/connection sharer/spreader thingy, then you'd think i'd get it being the nest floor up, but i'm afraid the answer to that is NO. My sister gets the best of it next, leaving me with hardly any connection, if any.

The Results:

The are represent a recording of each connection done by me every 30 seconds, for 5 minutes. Recording the connection speed at each moment in Mbps.

Dad: Ground Floor - With Box

54
54
54
54
54
54
54
54
54
54

Me: 1st Floor

1
1
6
18
1
1
12
18
1
1

Sister: 2nd Floor

24
36
36
24
18
36
24
24
24
36

As you can see from the results, all sympathy should be aimed at 'me', 'me' being me... the guy telling you this crap. I am probably the biggest user of the internet in my house, well, trying to anyway. I try to game online, i try to surf online, trying to using the internet for coursework and other information. Possible... nout, no, nope, nein, none, you get the point. Why is there this perculiar problem, there is no connection, hardware or software fault, i have less walls and stairs between me and my dad than my sister being as she is one floor higher. Even when i am not having to share the connection, its still the same. If you know/understand about having a ping when playing games online (I try to play BF2 and CoD2), usually a smooth and 'playable' ping/connection is under 100, also ok to have under 200, though slight lag. Anywhere over the game is not really playable, annoying if slightly higher. I have 10x broadband... YET, my average ping on every server (UK or not) is... ... wait for it... ... around 4/5000. Yeah o-k. I tell its not fun, you can't do anything or connect the game servers to play the game, when you do manage to connect, yay 2 seconds of entering you can't do anything, constant 'There is a problem with your connection' and end up getting kicked off, or the game crashes. How fun... not.

Well thats the end of my 'little' speech, if God or the Gods in some cases could save me, i'd become Christian/Jewish/Muslim/Hindu/Budhist/Satanist/Rasti/Join A Cult/Nudist/Looney/Criminal/Volunteer for alien abduction, anything... whatever, just HELP ME PLEASE!!!

Its quite funny, just as i finsished this, my internet crashed lol Also if your wondering how i wrote this and posted it with such a crap connection... the only answer i could give you to that would be... WITH DIFFICULTY!

_________________
"The only reliable thing about the future is uncertainty"

[ This Message was edited by: Xugaa on 2006-04-25 21:03 ]

[ This Message was edited by: Xugaa on 2006-04-25 21:07 ]


Posted by scapevlocity
I'm guessing you guys have set up a wireless network? (judging from the 54Mbps and downwards speedtests - which aren't actually the actual speeds of the internet connection, basically just the signal strengths, how much data the signal can transmit.)

[ This Message was edited by: scapevlocity on 2006-04-25 20:58 ]

Posted by Xugaa
yep, but its slow 'only for me' even when i'm the only one using it. the actual internet speed should be 10x 512kb, the main pc downstairs works at practically full quick speed, even with others on, my sisters slightly slower but still very good with people on, me last with s*** connection. being wireless obviously the ones above will never be full speed since they're away from the main box thing, but mine is appauling, my sister's is better and she's another floor up...

Posted by scapevlocity
do you have other wireless devices in your room? a wireless phone 2.4Ghz phone, perhaps? or a wireless print server? the wireless card you have on your PC - is it 802.11b or 802.11g? what's your dad's router's brand and model #? also check if your PC is is on the same wireless channel as your dad's. i use 4 since it's not as crowded - the default wireless channels being used by most routers are 6 and 11. but that's only a factor if you have a lot of neighboring wireless networks.

[ This Message was edited by: scapevlocity on 2006-04-25 21:07 ]

Posted by Cycovision
1. Is your computer virus and spyware free? I mean, TOTALLY virus and spyware free? It often takes more than one virus / spyware application to find out.

2. You say that your hardware is fine. Are you sure? have you plonked your base unit next to the wireless router and hooked it up to your dad's monitor, keyboard and mouse to check? Obviously, if you're all using laptops then it's even easier, please don't flame me!

3. Have you got any radio equipment in your room? a DAB that's on standby or a cordless phone? It wouldn't be the first time that I've seen radio stuff bugger up wireless internet. Even some non-radio electronic devices have been suspected to cause problems in the past, but I've never found solid proof.

4. If possible, have you tried the computer in different locations around your room? Even with minimal walls and other obstructions, power cables embedded in walls and ceilings have been known to interfere with wireless signals. It's rare and normally insignificant, but I've seen it happen! Some houses just have dead spots for no apparant reason, the remedy being a wireless signal repeater.

I appreciate that you were having a rant, but just a few suggestions anyway




Posted by Xugaa
i'm gonna try and investigate a lot of what you guys just said, thanks for the replies, will get back to you soon. thanks

Posted by Xugaa
Right i'm back...

UPDATE*

I have 802.11g

Linksys AG241

All running on the same channel, no neighboring wireless networks at all.

Computer is virus and spyware free completely... i think. I run both each week and use various programs and applications including spybot and norton.

Hardware is all fine, right ports are connected, no faults/leaks, no interference in any way there.

The only other wireless or signal emitting equipment in my room is my radio/hi-fi, is used for radio rarely, but is usually always on with computer as is used for sound. My phone is an SE K750, bluetooth is never on and i don't get too good signal with that in my area anyway, butr the occasional text etc.

These random dead spots 'could' be possible, though i wouldn't say it walls/obsticles in the way as such, since as i said, my sister is on the nest floor up/higher, meaning 'more' walls, obsticles and stairs etc, further from main box thing. Her connection is usually fine, better than mine anyway, as you can tell by the results. Perhaps buying a wireless signal repeater is a good idea, at least i could try it out.

If you read the last section in my long piece of writing, i get 5000 average ping in online gaming, specifically BF2 as i play that most, which i'm sure you'll agree is not right, and there is a problem, i stand out a bit on the servers if i get in of course, and arn't kicked to soon.

nhjbfsjn 121
fndbnf 32
smmnj 12
jnfdjbsj 141
'Xugaa' 5134
bnshhb 23
djnbfh 33

*KICKED*



Posted by Cycovision
Ok, so what does your network traffic graph show? Hit 'CTRL', 'ALT' + 'DELETE' and click the 'Networking' tab.

Is there any unusual bandwidth usage shown on the graph?

Posted by scapevlocity
cool, a modem and a router in one... but, uhh... am i mistaken or is the modem/router you mentioned not a wireless one?

Posted by Xugaa
we have 10x connection (maximum for my area, 2mins walk down road you got 20x ) we have made it wireless to three pc's.

Posted by Xugaa
networking graph:



(sorry i'm not sure what to look for exactly)

Posted by Vein
Go cable

Through CAT5 cabling round the house and a shared connection of 2mb, I have 1mb and I think my sister and dad have 1mb between them or something like that.

I'm on the pc the most so I get the most

Posted by shyam335
Hey
Hows your signal strength like and how's data transfer in your internal network (between yours and say your sisters and dads).
Maybe try to add something to increase the gain (like a directional high gain antenna) and the position/placement of your wireless equipment is important.

_________________
There are a terrible lot of lies going around the world, and the worst of it is half of them are true - Winston Churchill

We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us - Winston Churchill

[ This Message was edited by: shyam335 on 2006-04-26 05:55 ]

Posted by scapevlocity
how about a linksys range expander/repeater?

[ This Message was edited by: scapevlocity on 2006-04-26 14:47 ]

Posted by Cycovision
Yeah, if that graph is typical of normal operation then it looks like the problem is caused by either a dead spot or, less likely, a dodgy antenna or wireless card.

If possible, swap your card out for one that you know works ok (your dad's) and if that doesn't work, a repeater might solve the problem.

Posted by Xugaa
i think i've fixed it...

beacuse our house is quite new and was bought from construction, the doors are metal inside, i put the wireless ariel box thing around the front of the door and my connection is magically better. although there is the possibility that this could just be a bit of good luck, if that proves to be the case i may consider one of those repeater things to help amplify the signal.

thanks to all for help

_________________
"The only reliable thing about the future is uncertainty"

[ This Message was edited by: Xugaa on 2006-04-26 18:19 ]


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