netricity broadband router and virgin 20mb

garyw · 14-07-2008, 23:02

I have a Netricity 4-port broadband router connected to a Scientific Atlanta modem (supplied by Virgin). My (Vista) pc is connected to the router via a Netricity 85M Homeplug. The whole setup worked 'out of the box' without any configuration from myself. Since then I have upgraded from Virgins 2Mbit to their 20Mbit. Virgin have checked and confirmed the modem is operating at 20Mbit however the various online 'speed checkers' all report 2Mbit or thereabout.
Virgin will not assist with 'router' problems and I am clueless about anything to do with networks, so any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

**Graham M** · 14-07-2008, 23:04

The first thing I would do is take the Router and Homeplug system out of the loop to make sure you get 20meg directly connected to the router

chickendippers · 14-07-2008, 23:05

Turn computer and modem off
Plug computer directly into modem via ethernet cable
Turn modem on, wait for lights to stop flashing
Turn computer on

Do you get 20Mb speeds now?

EDIT: Beaten to it by 1 minute

**Graham M** · 14-07-2008, 23:06

Oh also, bearing in mind that it's 20Megabits (2 Megabyte's Per Second) and not 20 Megabytes Per Second!

garyw · 14-07-2008, 23:54

Graham/Chickendippers. Thanks for the speedy response. I have connected the modem directly to the pc and seem to be getting the same connection speed of around 1960kbps. At least I now know the problem isn't with the Homeplug.
The pc network card is 1gbit so I presume that isn't the problem. Are their any settings in Windows which might restrict the connection speed?

v0id · 15-07-2008, 00:04

Have you done a little dance to the broadband fairy?

garyw · 15-07-2008, 00:16

Yes

15-07-2008, 07:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by garyw

Graham/Chickendippers. Thanks for the speedy response. I have connected the modem directly to the pc and seem to be getting the same connection speed of around 1960kbps. At least I now know the problem isn't with the Homeplug.
The pc network card is 1gbit so I presume that isn't the problem. Are their any settings in Windows which might restrict the connection speed?

1960kbps x 8 = 15.680Mb

Have you tried going to this link to check your speeds http://gamefiles.virginmedia.com/

click on blueyondergames>demos>then click on at least 2 large files and run them wait a couple of minutes then write down the transfer rates on the files that are running> times them by 8 and you will get a truer download speed.

**Graham M** · 15-07-2008, 08:28

I think we're mixing kbps and kB/s here

15-07-2008, 08:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by Graham M

I think we're mixing kbps and kB/s here

Maybe, but the only speedtest recognized by Virgin is the one I have posted and the poster would be asked to run it if he rang up.

chickendippers · 15-07-2008, 10:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by garyw

seem to be getting the same connection speed of around 1960kbps.

Sounds perfect to me

garyw · 15-07-2008, 21:26

Thanks for your comments. I think you need to divide the kilobits by 8 to find the kilobytes not multiply.
I tried the Virgin download link and get a steady transfer of 254kilobytes which equates to 2032kilobits or 2megabit. I assume I should be getting around 10x this rate.
My upload speed is around 235kilobits or 0.25megabit. I understand from reading other threads that with a 20Mb connection I should be getting about 3x this upload speed.

garyw · 16-07-2008, 11:38

Just in case anybody reads this thread, I have been onto Virgin again and the problem was a firmware upgrade for the modem which they did from their end so my download is now around 17Mb and upload 0.7Mb. Thanks for everyones replies.

ceedee · 16-07-2008, 11:58

Excellent news, gary.

That's why you see folks recommending shutting down the power to *all* equipment and then restarting them in order -- any modem firmware update should then be done automatically before your router/pc attempts a connection.