Internet annoyingly slow over wireless

[Ewan]

I've just come home for the summer from University and I've noticed that over wireless the internet is slow. Download speeds themselves are fine, but it takes ages for a website to load (sometimes it will only load half way). In Continuum the ping times on the main menu are fine, but when playing I get huge ploss (>30%) and cannot play. This also happens in CS:S.

There is a PC which is wired in to the router, and everything is fine there. Websites load quickly and Continuum runs without a problem.

The signal strength is very good (5/5). I've tried several different channels in case interference was a problem, but this didn't help. I tried messing with the RTS and fragmentation thresholds in the router settings, but I didn't really know what I was doing and this just made it worse (so I've put these back to default for now).

The router is a Linksys WRT54G, I believe v.4. I've heard they have problems with tracking old connections (esp when using BitTorrent), but I don't think this is the cause as while I've been at Uni, no one would have been torrenting here (or doing anything more than browsing the internet). Also, it definitely appears to be wireless specific.

I'm running Vista Home Premium, but I'm pretty sure it's not the computer as I had no problems connecting wirelessly at Uni.

Tonight I'm probably going to try the DD-WRT firmware on the router to see if that helps with the problem. If it doesn't, I don't really know what to do.


EDIT: Also, it seems to happen in bursts, the last 5 minutes it's been fine and I'm online in Continuum with about 1% ploss.

[Pummel]

I'm not exactly sure of how to word this, but I had a problem similar to this. Apparently a few years ago my ISP switched streams/frequency without telling it's customers. The only way to get on this stream was to recieve a new modem, but they didn't inform people and waited for them to find out for themselves because they wanted to save costs.

So I called my ISP and I got a new modem. Now my packetloss is on average about 0.4, as opposed to it's previous average state of 20+

[Ewan]

Well, the internet is fine on the wired PC, and is sometimes fine on the wireless one too (I just played CS:S for an hour or so with no problem).

[a21ozcoldcup]

Out of curiosity... do you have WEP on your wireless? Maybe someone is mooching interwebs from you.

I have Vista as well and the only problem I've had with wireless (and it only happened one time) but Windows decided to search for a new wireless connection every couple minutes and my lag spiked during those moments it was searching. Its a well known problem (and already addressed in these forums) but like I said, it only happened once.. had a perfect connection since.. so I doubt it's a Vista issue (helping you narrow things down).

Good luck, hope you figure it out.

[Singularity]

I also notice a slight "delay time" before a webpage starts to load when I use wireless (half a second or so), although this isn't really bothering me. When it is going it still is as fast as my regular connection though.

The packetloss I have no experience with thank god, but did you try to update your driver? That may have some influence (it did with me at least).

[Foreign]

try turning off all the other wireless junk in your house (telephones, etc).

and if that helps, then you ought to be able to screw with the channel/frequency on the router and fix it

[DJSlayer]

I was gonna point you towards that wireless thread made not long ago about small ploss problems, then noticed you made the thread :P

Gotta admit i've been using wireless for like the past 2 years. And about once every 3 months for like a week my ploss will suddenly jump from about 1.whatever to like 20.whatever and i cant play, which is always a pain. I've never worked out what it is though, just assume it's something Bt's end and ignored plus. Oh and I lag from like 7pm onwards lol

I'd say if it only does it occasionally something between the router and your comp must be interferring. Next time it happens see whats about that might cause interference and see if its been used in the past like 10 mins? Seems pretty stupid but I can't think of anything else.

[Ronn]

I had this problem and played ss for about a year with S2C: 3.1%. Go to "Control Panel" then go to "Administrative Tools" double click on "Services" scroll down and turn off "Wireless Zero Configuration". I have to turn it off everytime I go on the net which is annoying but it works so im not going to keep fiddling about with it.

[Ewan]

Nah it's not the WZC issue.

Seems to happen at random. Last few days I've been fine, then today, back to being shitty.

[a lame duck]

First, did you use the Linksys while you were at college? If yes, then you've got about 3 choices - something environmental (interference), something specific with your ISP, or unauthorized users on your network. If no, then your list of possibilities grows to include driver issues on your card, and firmware on your router.

What kind of wireless card are you using? Where are you physically located (in relation to the router) when you experience the problems? Are you in the same room? Are you down the hall? How far away would you say you are? How many walls are between you and the router? What are the walls made of?

As previously stated, interference from other devices/networks (such as wireless phones, other routers, etc) can cause intermittent problems. This is my primary suspect.

It's also possible that your home itself may cause problems - if your home has a metal roof, is made of concrete, has steel-reinforcement in the walls, or large picture-windows, or even metal blinds.

To try to rule out interference as a cause, I would suggest the next time that you have problems, go around the house - check to see if there's a phone in use, or if someone's using the microwave. The other thing you need to check for (and you may or may not be able to find this out) is - are there any other wireless networks in range? You might be able to find this out, if you can see other SSID's (Service Set ID's) with your wireless card.

Also, check the placement of your wireless router. If you have it situated in a corner, or partially surrounded, or near something with strong EMF (such as a monitor or tv), try moving it to an open area. Ideally, it should be placed as high as possible (generally speaking, range increases with height).

If you're experiencing problems and your'e not in the same room with the router, try moving the computer into that room, and see if the problems persist. You could also try connecting your second computer directly to the router. If your problems persist even when connected directly, then the problem is with the computer - spyware, virus, failing hard drive?

I'll stop here and give you a chance to play around with this a bit.

Good luck.