WiFi Speed

I have just read the sticky about WiFi performance. It recommended using the website "Speedtest.net". I have done this and I have my results; however, it doesn't say whether the performance was poor, average, good, etc. How do I know how my WiFi router compares if it doesn't say what the results mean. If any one knows what is a good or poor performance I give my results below:

Ping: 37 ms
Download speed: 5.46 Mbps
Upload speed: 0.69 Mbps

 

See the line with the "B+" grade just below the download speed and just above the ISP name followed by the stars?

That gives you an indication of how that particular speed test stands. It really depends on what level(tier) service you are paying for.

You need to make several tests at different times of the day and to different servers to get a good idea of what level of performance your actually getting.

 

When I performed the test there was no grade. I didn't just glance at the results and post here. I had a good look to see if there was anything. I shall have to perform the test again.

 

Try clicking on the "Share This Result" button(thumbnail #1) or "Compare Your Results"(thumbnail #2) in the middle of the screen.

 

I would trust Speedtest.net as much as I trust the morning weatherman. Also, it is not a true measure of your wireless speed, it is a measure of your connection from your modem through your provider's congested LAN, to a backbone that is also congested, which in turn gets routed somewhere else, because there has been a switch that just went down on the 405, because of poor maintenance, then on to the 5, over to the 80, back to 75, then down to 10 and to the server the you are testing off of.

Get my drift here? Speedtest is like traveling across the country through places like D.C., Chicago, St. Louis, the Minneapolis/St. Paul, etc., while construction and traffic accidents are causing rerouting of traffic, and delays. That is about as simple as I can describe it.

If you want to know how your wifi is doing, you need to do an internal LAN test from one computer to another on your LAN, either uploading a small, medium, large file, and then downloading the same. That will tell you how your wifi is performing to a wired connection on your LAN.

 

Two completely different things are being muddled here. You asked about WiFi speed, which is the speed at which your computer communicates wirelessly with your router and which, for those on copper rather than fibre networks, is normally several times faster than the speed at which your router connects to your ISP. When people complain of low speeds it isn't usually their WiFi speed that is the problem, it's the speed of their router's wired connection to the internet, and that is what speedtest.net is measuring - nothing at all to do with your WiFi speed and I'm puzzled as to why it's mentioned at all in the sticky.

If it is your internet speed you really want to know about, rather than your WiFi speed, on copper networks that is heavily influenced by your distance from your local exchange. Users in the UK can get some idea of how their line should be performing by visiting the Kitz website.

 

Here's a more useful link to Kitz -

http://www.kitz.co.uk/adsl/adslchecker.php

(I guess you are in UK from your spelling)

 

Another thing to check out is here:

|MG| http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/speedguide_net_tcp_optimizer.html

Be sure to take note of the suggested reading it refers you to as well...

 

If from the UK, check Dangermouse75's post # 1 at:

http://forum.webuser.co.uk/showthread.php?t=80533

Info there on determining distance from your exchange...

 

I posted the second link to Kitz as that does the same.

 

:-o OK, sorry 'bout that...

 

no prob cipher, you need to be able to put in a uk phone number and postcode to see what happens. The SamKnows site hasn't kept up, Kitz has.

@mark59 - you may need help finding out how to determine your theoretical speed. Post back if necssary

 

I am indeed in the UK. I've done the speed check you recommended. There's a lot of information provided in the report. Which bits of it would it be useful for me to post?

 

Use the snipping tool to post a screenshot of the test results

 

Please find attached two JPEG images. The Kitz results couldn't be captured in a single screen shot.

 

Thanks Mark. Which service are you on, DSLMax or 21CN WBC/ADSL2+ ? The relevant numbers are at the top of the second image and are telling you what speed your router could sync at, which is not quite the same thing as speedtest.net is reporting. To get the speed your router is actually syncing at you need to open your router config pages in your browser and look at its ADSL status. If you aren't sure how to access your router just give us the make and model.

 

Looking at your stats, you are very close to the exchange and if you are ADSL2+ you should be getting actual d/load speeds more than double that reported by speedtest.net. I'm on ADSL2+ and 1.7km from the exchange but my actual d/load speed is about 12mbps.

If you are still on DSL Max your speed is reasonable.

 

Thank you for looking at my results. My router is a Linksys Wireless-G ASDL Home Gateway Model No. WAG200G.

 

In order to find out what ADSL mode the router is using we need to interrogate the router config, which is done through your browser. Click the following link -

http://192.168.1.1

It looks like a web page but is in fact your router. You will be asked for a username and password and unless you have previously changed them both are admin

You may need to hunt around a little for the next bit but we are looking for a page headed Status > DSL Connection (see pic). This will tell you what DSL mode the router is using, hopefully ADSL2+, and what the download speed (sync rate) is. Once we have that info we can tell you if your speed is OK or if we need to start looking deeper to find out what's slowing it down.

Sorry for the poor quality of the pic but it's the best I could get from your User Guide

 

The DSL Modulation Mode is MultiMode. There is no download speed or sync rate. They give the following information, which I suspect is what you need: downstream rate 6469 kbps and upstream rate 850 kbps. Hopefully, that's the info you need. Anyway, I'm attaching a screen shot of what I hope is the correct window.

 

I was hoping also to see whether you are on DSL Max or ADSL2+ as the latter gives very much higher speeds. On that same page can you click the Gateway tab and see if it's there?

Considering your nearness to the exchange your stats are pretty bad and account for your relatively poor speeds. That is most often the line provider's problem but it can also be your router or your internal extension wiring, if any. If you want to take this further try removing the lower half of your main BT connection box and connecting the router, via an ADSL filter, to the test point inside. Then recheck your speed. This eliminates any wiring issues but still leaves your far from new router as a possible suspect.

Which ISP btw?

 

I should've said I looked under Gateway and the other sub-headings. Nothing says DSL or ADSL2+.

I don't want to mess with wiring. My DIY skills are on a par with Mr Bean.

My ISP is Direct Save. They're the guys who bill me. I know they purchase their service from BT Wholesale.

 

No prob Mark. A d/load speed in excess of 5Mb is perfectly usable - heck only a short time back we were delighted to get a fixed 2Mb. But the answer to your original question of whether it's good or bad is it's bad considering your nearness to the exchange. If everything connectionwise was A1 you would probably get around 15+ Mb.

 

Well thanks for your time anyway. How likely is my speed being affected by the number of devices accessing the net via the router? There's often 3 devices connected to the net through it. Or is the main issue of the ISP's side of the router, so to speak?

 

The key number is the 6469 d/load speed, aka sync, in the pic in #20. That's the theoretical maximum speed at which data can be downloaded but which would never be realised in the real world. Compared with that your 5.46Mb speedtest.net result looks pretty good. However as your ISP uses BT, and as BT has updated their service at your exchange to 20CN WBC (same as ADSL2+), you ought, given your nearness to the exchange, be syncing at way over 15Mb. So the answer to your original question as to whether the result is good or bad is it's pretty bad, all things considered. But if it's good enough for you then it really doesn't matter too much.

 

Do you think that the only way I could be enjoying speeds nearer to 15 MB would be to do what you recommended with the wiring? Another reason why I'm not getting the best speeds could be for several reasons, according to the sticky I read. I'm asking in this post to get your opinion. The first reason might be that the tests I did were on my laptop and it wasn't in the same room as the router. According to the sticky, assuming I've understood it correctly, I'd get closer to the maximum speed if my computer and router were connected by an Ethernet cable.

We live in a Victorian house so the walls and doors separating the laptop and router when I did the test are quite substantial.

I'm certainly interested in speeding things up. Would I notice the difference? I don't sit there getting annoyed waiting for things to download. They do seem to happen quickly. I imagine I'd want the greater speed if I did online gaming. In comparison to work my laptop works faster with the Internet with the router in a different room than with a set of laptops with the router in the same lab.

 

Hi Mark

If you don't get frustrated by slow d/loads or whatever then you may as well just leave it as it is. Speeding it up does give a far snappier feel to everything you do on the net or over your LAN, if you have one but that isn't going to make much difference in the real world.

But if you want to see if higher speeds may be achievable then the first thing to do is the simple test I recommended. It doesn't involve mucking about with wiring at all, just plugging your filter and router into the test socket inside your BT box and connecting your laptop, ideally with an ethernet cable to the router. If the router still says something similar to the 6469Kbps you have now then you will know there are no problems with your extension wiring and you will also know that it's your ISP causing this slowness. If you have neighbours using the net over a phone line it's also well worth asking them what speeds they are getting from speedtest.net

If you want to do these tests we can come back to this and look at the results.