Help me get my Internet back, please.

[xxjoeyxxeb]

I have nerdy roomates who download crap all the time and it slows my wireless down. When I start up I have 54 Mbps of speed, but it then goes down to 11 Mbps. Is there any way I can limit the downloads, or just hog it all for me to give them a taste of their own medicine?

[woldson]

Ummmm,

11m is faster than crap. Well at least the runs charged with gas.

Wireless typical sucks REALLY BAD!

Could be some new interference, but once again, that kind of speed can not be supported by you local home router.

 

Why do you suspect it is at 11m?

[xxjoeyxxeb]

When I roll my mouse over the wireless icon it shows the speed. Usually at 54, but sometimes at 11 when they are home, or late night.

[m4xwellmurd3r]

don't worry about that. at 11mbps your wireless network is running FASTER than your internet bandwidth.

 

the reason why your internet is slow is not because you're running at 11mbps but because HE is sucking up all your INTERNET bandwidth. there isn't a whole lot you can do though. I don't know of any good ways to restrict bandwidth on a per user basis

[rturbo 930]

Simple solution: break his computer.

[eec564]

That 11mbs you're seeing is the wireless connection speed between your computer and the wireless router, not your internet connection's speed. 11mbs is WAY faster than any internet connection available to the average consumer.

 

Also keep in mind that your wireless connection speed is measured in megabytes per second. Your internet connection is measured in megaBITS per second, just to make it sound bigger. That's an 8:1 ratio in how things are referred to. So if you have a 1,500k internet connection, that means you'll likely only ever see 150Kbytes download per second. It ends up being closer to 10:1 after a bunch of protocol overhead, and the math at 10:1 is easy too.

 

The only way you'll see a faster connection is if your computer has more internet bandwidth allocated to it. That means you'll have to do one of several things.

 

Get a faster internet connection: expensive, and your roommates may just suck up any faster speed you get.

 

Get your roommates to download slower: They can install throttling software that limits their download speed. But they won't do that, despite the software being free.

 

Use a router that supports load balancing: Your existing router may do that, or it may not. The cheap ones that do only support it on an application basis by port. So things like VOIP always get through. That may work for you if your roommates are using torrents that connect through a specific port range. No good if they're all using HTTP traffic. The good routers can assign equal bandwidth to each computer after the maximum possible has been reached. Use it all, and don't let anyone get left out. Ask your roommates for help.

 

You also could be trying to use websites that are slow or are using the net during peak periods or over a crowded network. Cable internet connections are highly susceptible to slowdowns during peak periods. See if other sites such as google are slow. I've seen significant slowdowns across the entire internet due to congestion, even when accessing from a root trunk.

 

Check out your computer too. Or ask your roommates to. You'd be amazed how much crap gets installed that you don't want on there. See if their computers are as slow as yours going to the same websites you use.

 

-Eric

[kelsodeez]

sounds like he is downloading torrents or even worse, playing wow. hahaha. now is a good time to learn about creating networks between computers and constantly close the ports he is using for his torrent downloads.

[AK-Z]

That 11mbs you're seeing is the wireless connection speed between your computer and the wireless router, not your internet connection's speed. 11mbs is WAY faster than any internet connection available to the average consumer.

 

Also keep in mind that your wireless connection speed is measured in megabytes per second. Your internet connection is measured in megaBITS per second, just to make it sound bigger. That's an 8:1 ratio in how things are referred to. So if you have a 1,500k internet connection, that means you'll likely only ever see 150Kbytes download per second. It ends up being closer to 10:1 after a bunch of protocol overhead, and the math at 10:1 is easy too.

 

The only way you'll see a faster connection is if your computer has more internet bandwidth allocated to it. That means you'll have to do one of several things.

 

Get a faster internet connection: expensive, and your roommates may just suck up any faster speed you get.

 

Get your roommates to download slower: They can install throttling software that limits their download speed. But they won't do that, despite the software being free.

 

Use a router that supports load balancing: Your existing router may do that, or it may not. The cheap ones that do only support it on an application basis by port. So things like VOIP always get through. That may work for you if your roommates are using torrents that connect through a specific port range. No good if they're all using HTTP traffic. The good routers can assign equal bandwidth to each computer after the maximum possible has been reached. Use it all, and don't let anyone get left out. Ask your roommates for help.

 

You also could be trying to use websites that are slow or are using the net during peak periods or over a crowded network. Cable internet connections are highly susceptible to slowdowns during peak periods. See if other sites such as google are slow. I've seen significant slowdowns across the entire internet due to congestion, even when accessing from a root trunk.

 

Check out your computer too. Or ask your roommates to. You'd be amazed how much crap gets installed that you don't want on there. See if their computers are as slow as yours going to the same websites you use.

 

-Eric

 

All of what he said, but.....

 

The 11Mbs you see is stepped down from the 54 you saw earlier, because there is a slower wireless connection on the network (I take it that you roommate is using a older 802.11"B" card) the wireless connection will step down to the lowest speed that ALL cards on the network can handle. Some of the newer routers can handle multiple variations in wireless speed.

 

That being said, that is not you issue on the slow down. Your ACTUAL internet connection is A LOT slower than your network connection. Most likely, your roommate is using a filesharing program of some sort (most likely a torrent program). Such programs uses channels to transfer (ports), you can block such ports in your router settings. Look on your roommates computer and go into the settings of the program he is using and look for ports, that is the number that you want to block. Then look in your router settings and input the number in the respected fields.

 

But because of you describing your roommate as "nerdy" in nature, he would just have to change which port to use, but if he's not clever enough to remember this, it can help. Also you can set it to block a RANGE of ports (like ports 2000-3000) so if he does change the numbers, he would have to be outside of the range. I would keep the lower 2000 ports opened and then see what port the programs that you use utilize and work around those numbers.

 

any more questions just ask

 

oh and also, if the router gives you the option to backup the settings, DO IT, after you have everything the way you like it. You never know if your roommate might "happen to hit the reset" on the router Also change the password on the router.

[xxjoeyxxeb]

Thanks guys. Both of my roomates download TV shows and movies and play games all the time. I can sometimes hear 1 roomate asking the other when he sits at his computer if he is downloading something because his computer is slow. I know nothing about computers, so I'll have to have one of my other friends come check it out.

My computer is 3 yrs old, but I try to keep it up to date, and clean as possible. I use Spybot and Lavasoft Ad-ware... any other suggestions for easy-to-use computer cleanup programs or anything to see if there's anything else to be cleaned up?

[naviathan]

A good antivirus like Avast! or AVG would be a really good idea. They both have free for personal use versions that will keep you virus free. I prefer Avast!, but they're both good.

 

As for your network slow down problems, call your ISP (assuming you're the primary on the account) and ask them to monitor and block any P2P file sharing activities. Most ISPs do this randomly anyway (I know Time Warner does on business accounts), but waiting for them to catch it without prompting is going to take a while. Another thing that helps with bandwidth issues is reseting your cable modem every couple of weeks. Keeps your ISP info up to date and clears any data cache in the modem.

[eec564]

The 11Mbs you see is stepped down from the 54 you saw earlier, because there is a slower wireless connection on the network (I take it that you roommate is using a older 802.11"B" card) the wireless connection will step down to the lowest speed that ALL cards on the network can handle. Some of the newer routers can handle multiple variations in wireless speed.

 

I highly doubt there is a B card floating around on that network, especially with nerdy roommates. You will still see speeds other than 54mbs (including 48mbs, 36mbs, 11mbs, 5.5mbs and 1mbs) depending on signal quality. The slower speeds are more forgiving of an imperfect wireless connection, either from signal strength of interference. Sitting directly next to my router I frequently see 48mbs and 54mbs back and forth. This is partially due to my having aimed the antennas to serve difficult to reach parts of the house better, and partly because the signal strength is too high, causing saturation and degradation of signal quality, or signal to noise ratio. My wireless adapter actually normally runs at 25% transmit power. Changing it to full power when too near the base results in frequent drops to 11mbs data rate. Having a B card on the network won't actually cause all the other wireless connections to drop their speed, but will change the way the G cards take turns transmitting.

 

 

Also, blocking the ports used by your roommates would just piss them off. A far better solution is to assign a higher priority to web traffic (both yours and theirs) than torrent or p2p traffic. Let the downloads take a back seat to web browsing. That should be a good way to keep the peace and won't affect them when you aren't online.

 

You really may be in need of a faster connection if your nerdy roommates talk to each other about having a slow connection when one of them is downloading.

 

-Eric

[AK-Z]

Having a B card on the network won't actually cause all the other wireless connections to drop their speed, but will change the way the G cards take turns transmitting.

 

 

Also, blocking the ports used by your roommates would just piss them off. A far better solution is to assign a higher priority to web traffic (both yours and theirs) than torrent or p2p traffic. Let the downloads take a back seat to web browsing. That should be a good way to keep the peace and won't affect them when you aren't online.

 

You really may be in need of a faster connection if your nerdy roommates talk to each other about having a slow connection when one of them is downloading.

 

-Eric

 

Are you sure? That is the whole reason why they came out with the whole MIMO tech (multiple in, multiple out).

 

As far as blocking ports, it won't stop them from downloading, it will just slow it down. Most, if not all, torrent programs will going in NAT mode, which means the program can't get efficient traffic because its behind a firewall (blocked port).

[naviathan]

Intersting thought from NET+, when your wireless connection drops to 11Mbs are your roommates or you heating anything up in the microwave?

 

Actual Exam Question:

 

Scenario: In an office building with both wired and wireless network connections. Around 12 o'clock every day the wireless users complain of network drop outs and slow downs while the wired users have no problems. What is happening?

 

Answer: The microwave is disrupting the signal. Move the wireless AP out of range of the microwave to improve connection quality.

[eec564]

naviatham: So true! My house has lath and plaster in the walls and ceilings, with a chicken wire frame. That chicken wire disrupts radio signal to no end. Wireless, cell phones, FM radio, doesn't seem to do much to AM.

 

AK-Z: MIMO is the use of several antennas in a wireless device so that the antenna with the best connection is used, or the signal is spread across several. It has nothing to do with B vs G, although there is a component of it in Draft-N.

 

Blocking ports will either stop something from working or have no effect it at all. Congestion issues occur due to a lack of resources. Either too many connections, or connections requiring too much bandwidth. Hence the recommendation to use throttling and prioritize packets.