DHCP v. static IP

I recently changed my 5 network pcs to static IPS rather than DHCP (Linksys router) so that I could assign ports directly to specific pcs for my Bit Torrent downloads.

I am wondering whether this would impact my cable broadband speed. I used to get consistent fast speed (3 - 4 MB); now it is very erratic, and tends to get much slower than acceptable for cable (sometimes under 1 MB, sometimes over 4).

What would cause these wide fluctuations? And should I switch back to DHCP?

Thanks,
Scott

 

Re: DHCP v. static IP update

One other thing I have discovered: If I reboot the router, speeds go way up for a while, then drop off again until I reboot the router???

My provider (TWC NC) has been out, checked/replaced cables, new modem, checked signal, says everything checks out great (the router is mine).

Stumped,
Scott

 

Re: DHCP v. static IP update

Static over DHCP will not have an impact on performance.
If your speed drops over time and picks up again on a reboot of the router, you may want to look for updated firmware for you router and see if there is any mention of problems like that being fixed in the update. Even so, it would still be a good idea to update the firmware.

 

thanks for responding.

I am actually chatting with Linksys right now. I do have the latest firmware.

They think I need to enable MTU.

Any thoughts?

We'll see.

Scott

 

that can get tricky. You need to find out what MTU Time warner is using or you will have packet loss. It's best to just leave MTU off if you don't know how to figure out what MTU twcny is using. Conversly, the typical setting is 1500, so if you do test, set it to 1500 first and see how it goes.

 

The MTU setting didn't seem to help. I noticed that there is also a setting to disable DHCP, and I am not using DHCP (I assigned IPs to my pcs through Network Properties TCP/IP settings. Should I turn off DHCP in router? Will it make a difference?

What would be causing this problem:

If I reboot my router, I get speeds of 4.7+ MB, which steadily drops off to well below 1 MB after awhile. If i reboot the router, it goes fast again for a limited time.

What would cause this to happen?

Linksys BEFSR81 wired 8-port router, 5 pcs running win2K, Time Warner RoadRunner broadband. Clean pcs.

Thanks,
Scott

 

if you're not using DHCP , then yes, disable it. As for what could be causing the slow down? I truly don't have a clue why. Something like this is very hard to track down. If all 5 pc's are downloading at the same time, then you will a slow down. Other than that, it's hard to tell.

 

It's not a slowdown from taxing my connection with downloads/uploads.

After I reboot the router, if i do a speed test I will see d/l speeds of 4.5+ MB. Within a few minutes, if I keep testing repeatedly, the speed just drops off till its 500 - 700 kbps!

If I reboot the router, the speed goes back up to over 4.5 MB again...

This is rteally frustrating me. I didn't have this problem in the past. The only thing I changed here was reconfiguring my IPs so that BitTorrent would work better. Instead of using DHCP, I manually assigned the IPs to my pcs.

I bow down to anyone who can explain/resolve this issue.

Thanks,
Scott

 

Is this with all five machines connected? What happens, when you just use one machine connected, then run your speed tests. Same results?

 

Thanks for responding.

Since I've manually assigned IPs, I can't just connect one of the pcs directly to the modem unless I reset it to use DHCP.

Do you want me to do that, or just disconnect the other four pcs from the router?

FWIW, I am not downloading on any of the other pcs; in fact, only two are even booted up right now. The high speed and subsequent dropoff happens on all pcs.

Scott

 

Actually, a network of computers, constantly spends out packets of data for communications. Not a lot of data, just some. The main reason I asked, is because maybe one of the computers is causing this issue. Just something to try. It is a long drawn out process, but at least you can say that none of the actual computers are causing this issue.

 

Actually, I just noticed your post that you didn't have these issues before you switched.....Next time I need to read a bit more closer.

 

If you're having problems with static IP assignment, then I would probably go back to DHCP. Most routers have options that let you map MAC addresses to specific IPs so that they always get the same IP. I would do that and then change the PCs back to DHCP and see if it fixes the problems.

It also gives you a single point of management. That is, you can change who gets what IP from any PC that has a web browser and can talk to thr router. You don't have to go manage each IP address on each machine.