Slow Wireless Download But Fast Upload

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by vedder45, Aug 15, 2008.

  1. vedder45

    vedder45 Private E-2

    Hello All-

    I've tried researching this on the web but can't seem to find anything that matches my situation. I recently switched from DSL to Cable internet. I have a desktop and a laptop in the house. The desktop is connected directly to the router and is working very well - faster than the DSL in both download and upload speed. The laptop is wireless and is MUCH slower than the previous DSL connection. The funny thing is, the upload speeds on the laptop are consistently just as fast as the desktop. Here are my results from speedtest.net:

    Desktop (Connected Directly Through Router):
    Donwload: 24373 kb/s
    Upload: 1537 kb/s

    Laptop (Wireless):
    Download: 323 kb/s
    Upload: 1420 kb/s

    Why would my wireless Upload speed be 4.5x FASTER than my Download speed? I was getting about 5x faster with DSL.

    If it helps diagnose, the laptop is using Windows Vista with a Dell 1505 Draft 802.11n built-in wireless card. The router is a Linksys WRT160N. I've seen a wireless connection ranging anywhere from 13.0 to 104.0 (whatever that means).

    I've also considered that I have a 2.4 GHZ cordless phone in the house which could cause some interference. I've disconnected and unplugged that phone and replaced it with a corded phone and that didn't make any difference.

    Do I need to adjust my router settings somehow? I believe I have a WPA2 security on the router. What other information can I provide for further assistance?

    Really appreciate any help - So far I'm pretty unhappy that I "upgraded" to cable...
     
  2. vedder45

    vedder45 Private E-2

    Update:
    I kept searching for information since my first post and I read something about disabling the broadcasting of my SSID. I did that and now my laptop is getting a 14938 kb/s download! Unfortunately, I've now read from sources such as Microsoft that disabling SSID broadcast is a bad idea / higher security risk.
    So, for those of you willing to help, is there a way to fix my issue while broadcasting the SSID?

    I suppose it's entirely possible I inadvertently tweaked a completely different router setting which helped and it has nothing to do with the broadcast setting.

    I'm so confused...
     
  3. lbmest

    lbmest MajorGeek

    I believe you've misunderstood the source.
    Disabling the SSID broadcast can be a step in increasing wireless security, albeit not an effective one against a determined hacker. If your speeds are good now, which the test seems to indicate, then by all means keep the broadcast disabled.
    Here is a listing of wireless security steps from one of the network gurus here. Following the steps will increase your security. Also, changing the default settings of username and password on the router itself will help your security.
    Hope this helps.
     
  4. vedder45

    vedder45 Private E-2

    I very much appreciate the reply. I'll check out the security suggestions in my attempt to learn more about wireless networking.

    In the meantime, I'm hoping to steer back to the bigger issue of my download speeds. I should post that the increased speeds I previously attributed to disabling the SSID broadcast seem to have been a total fluke. Shortly after my post, the speeds went back to their 200-300k rates.

    I'm really frustrated and hope someone can point me in the right direction. I'm sure I should be getting much faster download speeds with cable service but I just don't know enough to solve the problem.

    Thanks again.
     

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