Can number of channels improve the connection speed? 1

[mach04]

I use a D-link 615, and I sometimes experience that I get a slower connection and sometimes its good. I was wondering if it has to do with the amount of channels under the setup of my wireless.
How does changing the amount of channels help getting a better connection?
thanks in advance

 

[vacunita]

That really depends on whether the slowness is due to a poorer signal from the router, or a poorer connection to your ISP.

Channels will help you get a better wireless signal, and therefor better performance out of the wireless connection because it prevents your wireless signal from getting interference from other wireless devices. routers, phones, etc...

Having your wireless router in a different channel that does not overlap any of the other devices' channels around will improve the wireless signal. This however will have no effect on the internet connection from the router to the ISP.

Most wireless routers offer the option of Automatically having them search for the less interference laden channel and use that for best performance.

----------------------------------
Phil AKA Vacunita
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Ignorance is not necessarily Bliss, case in point:
Unknown has caused an Unknown Error on Unknown and must be shutdown to prevent damage to Unknown.

Behind the Web, Tips and Tricks for Web Development.

http://behindtheweb.blogspot.com/

 

[mach04]

I have changed the number of channels to several numbers, including automatic detection to see if it has any impact on the connection speed. I sometimes experience that to some sites I get a good connection and almost trying at same time connecting to another site (for example google.com) it gives a long delay until the page is displayed. And sometimes it works pretty nice, with no loss of connection speed.
My ISP is providing a good speed at 2 Mbit and I am not sure whether I should upgrade the speed to somewhat higher. The router is giving signals to 3 computers as well as a VOIP phone.

 

[cdogg]

Try connecting the laptop directly to the router using an ethernet cable. Do you still have the same issue?

Also when changing the wireless channel try 1, 6 and 11 first. Obviously your success depends on what neighboring wireless networks are using, but these are typically the ones that are spaced out the most from each other.

Carl

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test
a man's character, give him power." - Abraham Lincoln
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[FredWagner]

as a follow-on to cdogg's suggestion, if you don't NEED all your equipment to be wireless, give some of them a wired connection to reduce the bandwidth demand on your wireless link.
You might also want to check to see if one or more of your units has picked up some malware, and is using bandwidth when it ought not to...

Fred Wagner

 

[Textron68]

It may not be connection related. Sounds more like slow DNS resolution/lookup.

You said: "connecting to another site (for example google.com) it gives a long delay until the page is displayed."

You could always find alternative DNS servers and see if you get better/faster name resolutions.

 

[mach04]

The direct line to the desktop pc gives a very good connection, but when I connect my laptop it gives the same slow connection. The laptop is almost new only 2 weeks old, and however the problem is when I am using the wireless.
I have so far not used the channel 11, currently is set to 10 and have tried it with 3, 6 and 9 as well as automatic, the router is also updated with the latest firmware. I regularly clean up the pc for malwares so I am almost sure that it is not the one causing the problem.

 

[FredWagner]

Since the laptop is new, and the router supports 802.11n, there could be something amiss in the configuration. How does your laptop work at other locations with 802.11n? same problem as at home, or not ? How about a friend with a wireless laptop that works at other locations - can they get good results at yours? This will help youdetermine where the problem is. do you have WPA2 set up with a passphrase ? if not, someone in the neighborhood might be 'borrowing' your connection. Take a look in the Admin setup of your router and see who else might be on your connection....

Fred Wagner

 

[vacunita]

I tend to agree with Textron.

To be completely sure, look at the Wireless connection icon. Hover the mouse over it, and see what is says. Does the Wifi link appear as Fair? or Low? It should for best results show up as Good, Very Good, or even Excellent.

Also what happens if you connect the Laptop directly using a wired connection only, no Wifi? Take the Cable from the desktop just to test. Is it still slow?

If you have a Good Wifi connection, and the website loading still appears as slow even when connected with a wire, then I would assume its either an ISP issue directly, or a DNS issue.

----------------------------------
Phil AKA Vacunita
----------------------------------
Ignorance is not necessarily Bliss, case in point:
Unknown has caused an Unknown Error on Unknown and must be shutdown to prevent damage to Unknown.

Behind the Web, Tips and Tricks for Web Development.

http://behindtheweb.blogspot.com/

 

[flyboytim]

Do a site survey to see how your signal propagates, and how those other WiFi transmitters in your locality could be interfering:

InSSIDer:

http://www.metageek.net/products/inssider/

Xirrus WiFi Inspector:

http://www.xirrus.com/uk/

Ekahau HeatMapper:

http://www.ekahau.com/products/heatmapper/overview.html

I have found that local 802.11n wireless routers seem to change channels and signal strength in sync with each other - whether this is good or not, I am not sure.

http://www.fxxxingcomputers.co.uk

 

[mach04]

I haven't tested the laptop other places except here at home. The Wifi icon shows excellent connection, and it is protected by WPA.
I have ran several internet speed test
and they show good results from 1 Mbit up to 11 Mbit, even though my line is provided to 2 Mbit.

flyboytim thanks for the links I will download and see how I can use them to find the problems.

Textroen 68, what do you mean by "DNS resolution/lookup

 

[kjv1611]

mach04,

On the DNS issue:

DNS is domain name system. It basically is how when you type in www.google.com, you get THAT instead of having to type in the numeric address, 74.125.225.19

BTW, I got the numeric address by opening a CMD prompt (Start - Run - CMD - <Enter>) and typing ping google.com - that can sometimes be a decent test to make sure when you can't connect via web, you can determine whether it's a browser issue or system issue...

Sometimes, if you use an alternative DNS address (or group of addresses), you come out better than using your Internet provider's, which is used by default. I personally use Charter Cable Internet, and there have been times that when I switched my DNS settings on my router, everything worked faster... other times, Charter's DNS settings have been best. I wish it were always one way or another, but that's the way it's been.

A reliable one to try if you want to try soemthing different is:

http://www.opendns.org

Not only do they sometimes improve your performance over what you currently have, but they also have possibly better filters in place to protect from viruses and such than your ISP. And if you sign up for an account, you can have web filters in place, as well as logs of what was accessed over your Internet connection.

Another possibility that I don't think has been mentioned is that your wireless card itself could be flaky, or the drivers for it could need to be updated/reinstalled. Somewhere between 6 and 12 months ago... just don't remember exactly when it was... I purchased 2 new wireless n adapters for our 2 laptops at home. One worked flawlessly, one had issues off and on. So, I lived with the one with issues for a while... eventually just bought another one - didn't bother with warranty, as I got off eBay. After swapping that out again, all my wireless issues were SOLVED! Oh what a happy day!

The easiest way to tell whether it's a problem localized to your wireless device(s) vs some other is to test at least one other known working wireless device on your network. As mentioned, you could have a friend test with his/her laptop, and see how they fare.

And another thing to consider - I wasn't sure from reading above - do you have the same issues on the laptop, whether you connect wireless vs wired, or is it only while on wireless? If it's either way, then it sounds like something not related to the network connection... one way to make SURE is to turn off the wireless on the laptop when connecting via wire to be sure that the computer is using the wired and not wireless connection.

Post back with your progress on testing things..

 

[mach04]

kjv1611,

thanks for the reply. I do get a better connection when laptop is connected by wire, but do not get a good connection when using wireless. I always use this laptop by wireless and have not checked at a different place whether I can get a better connection using a different wireless connection.

 

[kjv1611]

Hmm... okay, so your connection issues seem to be primarily dealing with the wireless connection.

Do you have the same issues if you're just a couple of feet from the router vs where you normally are when using the router? If not, then it's probably either:
1. Distance too far for the particular router / wireless adapter combination OR
2. Something causing interference - could be another network, but could also be an object in between... a microwave, cordless phone, oven, wiring in house, old walls in house, etc. It's not often the case that these cause enough issues to worry about, but it does happen. I helped one family where a double-oven inside a brick interior wall just flat killed their wireless signal until I moved things around to get around that oven. The difference was literally night and day. Another time, at my own house, I moved my router literally up or down - I forget exact - about 6 to 10 inches, and started getting dropped signals... moved it back again, and back to full bars.

 

[Textron68]

Is your service providor modem/router wireless enabled? Is your D-link 615 sitting by/on your service provider equipment?
If your Service providor equipment is wireless enabled, go into it's configuration and disable their wireless. Two wireless access points sitting side by side will cause connectivity issues.

 

[mach04]

kjv 1611,
I usually sit where I am only 3 feet away from the router. There is a cordless phone by the router, but the phone is almost in different places, depending where my wife is! We usually put it on its docking station to get it recharged at night.

Textron68,
The connection comes directly from a wire through the wall and into D-link router, there is no router from the provider.

Do you have any good experiences from a device called router signal booster? like this one I found on the internet:

http://www.hawkingtech.com/products/productlist.php?CatID=32&FamID=72&ProdID=187

 

[cmeagan656]

There is a cordless phone by the router, but the phone is almost in different places, depending where my wife is!

There could still be a signal emitting from your base station. Just for giggles, try moving your base station (or temporarily unplugging it).

Hope this helps.

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[FredWagner]

If you normally sit only 3 feet from the router, use the hardwired connection more or the time, particularly when your spouse is home and using the cordless phone.

The cordless phone keeps in touch with the base station in the same frequency bands as WiFi. The cradle is just for recharging - the comm link is always up. As cmeagan656 said, if you can, move the base station a good distance away from the router. Cordless phones come set up in either of two frequency bands - 2.4Ghz, and 5 Ghz.

If the problem appears to be the phone, and the connection to the landline has to be close to the router, get a cordless phone in the opposite frequency band from the one you're using now.


Fred Wagner

 

[flyboytim]

You could be too close to the router - you could be setting up a feedback loop, or the signal may be saturating the receiver. Try separating to a reasonable distance of about 4m.

These routers can easily give 50m line of sight with excellent connectivity, maybe double that, so the immediate signal must be pretty strong.

http://www.fxxxingcomputers.co.uk

 

[FredWagner]

I can use my wireless laptop within 3 feet of my router, no problems. I also have a cordless phone, and the base unit is about 15 feet away from the router. I've not had to specify channels on the router - it worked fine out of the box, after setting up WPA2.

Fred Wagner