Got 50Mbit broadband recently and have a problem!

[azcomposer]

I have searched the forums and cannot seem to find someone else who has this problem.

Problem Description:
My PC, connected via a LAN cable to the router, can only download a maximum of 2Mb/s. My wife's laptop (using the same LAN cable) is usually downloading at 6Mb/s.

Information:
We both have Windows XP with SP3. We both have ZoneAlarm and AVG, and we have the same types of programs on our systems except I have extra ones but these shouldn't interfere with connections, either wireless or cabled. I don't have any super-duper software and/or tweaking stuff, just a bog standard PC with bog-standard software.

We both have TCP Optimiser running.

What has been done:
I have another h/d with Vista Ultimate 64-bit on it, and I was told Vista doesn't need the TCP Optimiser software. I get 6Mb/s without any problems. So, it shouldn't be the onboard NIC. I have downloaded the latest drivers for the NIC - no change. I only use Vista to write music and render it, and I do use the internet connection but it's not my working OS.

I installed the wireless dongle on my wife's laptop and she gets 6Mb/s. I did the same on my PC and get 6Mb/s. So, if I use the wireless dongle, I get much faster speeds than using a LAN cable and a NIC, but my wife gets the fast speeds using her NIC and LAN cable or the dongle. The results on both her laptop and my PC are irrespective of Firewall and AV being turned on or off.

My Equipment:
AMD Athlon 64 X2 (dual core) 3000+ 3GHz
4Gb memory
XP 32-bit, SP3
Atheros L1 1Gbit Ethernet Controller (onboard)
Various programs including Firewall and AV.

In Conclusion:
My Vista partition gives me high speeds. My wife's laptop (same OS and so on) gets high speeds with LAN or dongle. I only get fast speeds with the wireless dongle on my machine. LAN = slow speeds usually around 1-1.5Mb/s download.

I can use the wireless dongle, but my wife will require one for her laptop and it means another £30 which I would rather not spend. The other thing is, I will get better speeds/stability through LAN than through encrypted wireless. So there is a workaround, but I would rather sort out the problem.

Note: When I say "6Mb/s" I mean generally. There are times it drops to 20Mbits/s and sometimes below that, due to capping, 'slow internet' etc... I never always get 6Mb/s download.

Note 2: Uploads are always the same whatever the OS, set up, dongle or LAN. Uploads are around 1.6Mb/s. They are not affected.

Anyone come across this problem before or knows of this problem, and most importantly, a cure?

I would appreciate some help in sorting this out, and thank anyone for their time on this matter.

If you require any further info, either reply or PM me.

[azcomposer]

Bump...

[Ben B]

On TCPOptimizer did you make sure you clicked modify all network adapters before clicking optimal settings?

[azcomposer]

Oh yes. The VM installation engineer did it and I triple-checked (re-did it once more) that was the case.

[broadbandking]

Sounds like somethings wrong with your TCP stack within XP have you tryed reinstalling?

[azcomposer]

Yep. No difference.

So far, dongle wins and getting some rather nice high speeds.

What my dongle is getting... (http://speed.io/pics/2221/0877/speed.io.png)

[bigsinky]

Note: When I say "6Mb/s" I mean generally. There are times it drops to 20Mbits/s and sometimes below that, due to capping, 'slow internet' etc... I never always get 6Mb/s download.



AFAIK 50Mbit is not capped or STM'd

[azcomposer]

AFAIK 50Mbit is not capped or STM'd

Then what could be the problem? I NEVER get a 50Mbits connection. It fluctuates between 22 and 42 (once got 45) and this is at various times of the day.

I assume that even if I use the dongle I should be getting the full 50Mbits or as close to it?

Upload speed not a problem. Always 1.6Mbits (200Kb/s).

[mark ilford]

in your browser type 192.168.100.1 then copy and paste stats on here and im sure theres people in the know that might see a problem. might help might not?

[azcomposer]

in your browser type 192.168.100.1 then copy and paste stats on here and im sure theres people in the know that might see a problem. might help might not?

OK:

Cable Modem : DOCSIS 1.0/1.1/2.0/3.0 Compliant
Serial Number : MYOB!!
Boot Code Version : 6.1.1c
Software Version : 3.11.1011
Hardware Version : 1.39
CA Key : Installed

Cable Modem Status
Item Status Comments
Acquired Downstream Channel 299.001343 MHz Primary Downstream Locked
Ranged Upstream Channel 47.401333 MHz Success
Provisioning State OK Operational
Ethernet Link Status Up 100 Mbps/Full duplex

Cable Modem Downstream
DS-1 DS-2 DS-3 DS-4
Frequency 299000000 307000000 315000000 323000000
Lock Status
(QAM Lock/FEC Sync/MPEG Lock) Y/Y/Y Y/Y/Y Y/Y/Y Y/Y/Y
Channel Id 13 14 15 16
Modulation 256QAM 256QAM 256QAM 256QAM
Symbol Rate
(Msym/sec) 6.952 6.952 6.952 6.952
Interleave Depth I=12
J=17 I=12
J=17 I=12
J=17 I=12
J=17
Power Level
(dBmV) 4.11 3.71 3.67 3.27
RxMER
(dB) 38.26 38.26 39.40 38.61
Correctable
Codewords 121 48 64 28
Uncorrectable
Codewords 277 248 281 273

Cable Modem Upstream
US-1 US-2 US-3 US-4
Channel Type 1.0 N/A N/A N/A
Channel ID 1 N/A N/A N/A
Frequency
(Hz) 47400000 N/A N/A N/A
Ranging Status Success N/A N/A N/A
Modulation 16QAM N/A N/A N/A
Symbol Rate
(KSym/sec) 2560 N/A N/A N/A
Mini-Slot Size 2 N/A N/A N/A
Power Level
(dBmV) 49.25 N/A N/A N/A
T1 Timeouts 0
T2 Timeouts 0 0 0 0
T3 Timeouts 0 0 0 0
T4 Timeouts 0 0 0 0

Cable Modem Upstream Burst
US-1
Req
Init Maint
Per Maint
Short Data
Long Data

(1)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)



Modulation Type QPSK QPSK QPSK 16QAM 16QAM

Differential Encoding OFF OFF OFF OFF OFF
Preamble Length 64 128 128 144 160
Preamble Value Offset 140 6 6 216 216
FEC Error Correction (T) 0 5 5 5 10
FEC Codeword Information Bytes (k) 16 34 34 78 235
Maximum Burst Size 2 0 0 8 0
Guard Time Size 8 48 48 8 8
Last Codeword Length FIX FIX FIX SHORT SHORT
Scrambler on/off ON ON ON ON ON

Cable Modem Operation Configuration
General Configuration
Network Access : Allowed
Maximum Number of CPEs : 1
Baseline Privacy : Enabled
DOCSIS Mode : DOCSIS 3.0
Config File : A97b8f77ed873b735.cm
Primary Downstream Service Flow
SFID : 518
Max Traffic Rate : 53000000 bps
Max Traffic Burst : 10000 bytes
Min Traffic Rate : 0 bps
Primary Upstream Service Flow
SFID : 517
Max Traffic Rate : 1750000 bps
Max Traffic Burst : 3044 bytes
Min Traffic Rate : 0 bps
Max Concatenated Burst : 0 bytes
Scheduling Type : Best Effort

[Peter_]

Cable Modem Downstream

Power Level
(dBmV) 4.11 3.71 3.67 3.27 Within specs
RxMER ( SNR )
(dB) 38.26 38.26 39.40 38.61 Within specs


Cable Modem Upstream
Power Level
(dBmV) 49.25 Within specs

Your power levels are fine so any issue must be elsewhere either on your equipment or the network if you are happy with your set up then you need to call the 50Mb support line on 0800 052 0431

[azcomposer]

Your power levels are fine so any issue must be elsewhere either on your equipment or the network if you are happy with your set up then you need to call the 50Mb support line on 0800 052 0431

Thanks.

Might just do that.

Maybe there is something not quite right with the router...

[beanie]

Have you tried plugging a computer directly into the Cable Modem???

----------------------

Start > Settings > Network Connections

Find your Lan Connection. Right Click and Properties. Click on Configure....

Advanced Tab, Speed & Duplex, make sure this is set to auto.

This caused me massive hastle. The conclusion is that the WNR2000 does not like any setting other than auto.

Did this help? Have you got the same Wireless Router?

----------------------

Have you got a friend that can pop round with a laptop and test the wireless router?

Also, which website are you using for the speed test?? This works fine for me: www.speedtest.bbmax.co.uk

[bigsinky]

I assume that even if I use the dongle I should be getting the full 50Mbits or as close to it?.

With a wireless dongle it will be unlikely that you will get the full 50Mbit. I have been told that to expect the full 50Mbit 24/7 is unreasonable (i don't agree). VM quote UP TO 50MBit

[beanie]

I asked this question to a Principle Tech and he said he had never seen anything better than 42MB out of a Wireless N USB Card, apparently the average is about 30mb. But this is due to the physical make-up of the building.


With a wireless dongle it will be unlikely that you will get the full 50Mbit. I have been told that to expect the full 50Mbit 24/7 is unreasonable (i don't agree). VM quote UP TO 50MBit

[bigsinky]

I asked this question to a Principle Tech and he said he had never seen anything better than 42MB out of a Wireless N USB Card, apparently the average is about 30mb. But this is due to the physical make-up of the building.

42Mbit is damn good. i can't get 42Mbit with the laptop sitting on top of the router. not really worried as i only use the laptop for browsing downstairs, not power downloading

[Sephiroth]

beanie has, in principle, pointed you in the right direction IMHO.

If your "Speed & Duplex" setting for the LAN card is not Auto-Negotiate, you can get into real doo-doo.

If beanie's suggestion doesn't work, then posting a comparison of your LAN card settings with those of your wife might provide a clue if you can't solve it yourself by this means.

[beanie]

I know this really is going know where, but have you tried moving cordless phones and changing channels on the router.

BTW, how funny is the speed test attached??? Its not possible with the cap on the modem????

http://www.speedtest.bbmax.co.uk/results.php?t=1247711164&v=7385020

42Mbit is damn good. i can't get 42Mbit with the laptop sitting on top of the router. not really worried as i only use the laptop for browsing downstairs, not power downloading

[beanie]

It took ages to find out it was that setting. After being told I would be called back in 24 hours, 3 times by netgear support and they didnt, I started to get abit cheesed off and was polite but pointed out I wasnt happy. It was the UK VM Helpdesk that solved the issue ;)

I was abit embarrassed that I think it must of been me that changed the setting, but they said NO its not your fault, the WNR2000 should of worked with that setting.

beanie has, in principle, pointed you in the right direction IMHO.

If your "Speed & Duplex" setting for the LAN card is not Auto-Negotiate, you can get into real doo-doo.

If beanie's suggestion doesn't work, then posting a comparison of your LAN card settings with those of your wife might provide a clue if you can't solve it yourself by this means.

[bigsinky]

http://www.speedtest.bbmax.co.uk/results.php?t=1247916906&v=7402407

strange. i get 66000 odd as well through the router. never actually thought about changing the channel on the router. having said that i am happy enough with my wireless speeds

[Ignitionnet]

As a quick note ignore the speedtests that give stupid speeds like 66Mbit or even 55Mbit - they are a bug from the Ookla speed tester which bbmax, speedtest.net and some others use, they measure the peak speed achieved which on something 'bursty' like cable is inaccurate and gets even more inaccurate if there's a bit of a 'stall' in the downstream connection.

Use a more accurate one such as either Virgin's own or the Think Broadband tester.

[azcomposer]

Hi

Thanks to ALL posters who have replied.

Having done a few more things/tests, having done what people have suggested, I can:

1. Get faster speeds with the wireless dongle than my NIC, on XP 32-bit.
2. Get superfast speeds (mostly around the 50Mbit) on my Vista 64-bit
3. Not get decent speeds with my LAN card, or it fluctuates quite wildly.

So, in conclusion, I am going to install both Windows 7 RC 32-bit (once tested to make sure all the stuff is compatible0 and 64-bit on both hard drives, and go from there, but prelim testing shows fast speed on Windows 7 RC 32-bit, which in effect is Vista which was designed for faster speeds and doesn't need the TCP Optimiser like XP does.

[N3m3sis]

Hi, I got my installation on tues this week, top speeds up & down when the engineer left and after I had connected the wnr2000. Came home from work yesterday evening(weds) to find speed had dropped dramatically to about 2mb/s. After pluging the pc straight into the c/modem speeds returned to normal. Many hours of testing (until 4:30am this morning) and tweaking left me with these conclusions....
1. This is a full duplex modem so set your lan card to 100 full duplex, not auto-negotiation and not half duplex.
2. In advanced wireless settings set speed to 54mb/s (anymore than that then the combined download/reciprocating upload will make all the other(
Lan connections) underperform)
3. On windows XP sp3 32bit, untick Qos box from your lan connection if ticked. The WNR2000 routers Qos is better has has more configurable options.
4.Go to attached devices and make a note of your pc's mac address as it appears in the routers list, also which lan slot it is plugged into.
4.On the WNR2000 set tick Qos option, Set maximum upload to 2mbs. Go
into the Priorty list and a)Set your lan connection (should come up as Primary connection in the list, lan slot 1-4) to Highest priority, click apply.
Then pick the priority drop down list and set it to MAC address. Put in the discription box the name of your pc or something that will identify it to you as your pc's mac address, then put the value of the MAC address which you took note of earlier, in the boxes, set priorty to highest and then click the "add" radio button below.
Go through the application list and delete any that you dont use or will be unlikely to use. Msn messenger and or Yahoo messenger set to normal.
Skype or IP telephony leave at highest. Set all other connections to normal then click apply. Click apply again when it returns to the front page.
You are good to go.

[Stuart]

42Mbit is damn good. i can't get 42Mbit with the laptop sitting on top of the router. not really worried as i only use the laptop for browsing downstairs, not power downloading

Depends if you use the estimation that Windows or OSX gives you of the network connection speed. I have an N class router. Both OSes tell me I am connected at anywhere from 50-130Mbit, but actually downloading files from my PC (which is attached by a gigabit network and is more than fast enough) never gives me anywhere near those speeds.

[mark ilford]

As a quick note ignore the speedtests that give stupid speeds like 66Mbit or even 55Mbit - they are a bug from the Ookla speed tester which bbmax, speedtest.net and some others use, they measure the peak speed achieved which on something 'bursty' like cable is inaccurate and gets even more inaccurate if there's a bit of a 'stall' in the downstream connection.

Use a more accurate one such as either Virgin's own or the Think Broadband tester.

do a speedtest on a ps3 and u get what i get lol. usually 48ish meg on laptop

[bubblegun]

Does the processor speed affect your download speed when using an on-(mother)board network connection?

Saw a review online suggesting this might be the case, that you are limited by what the processor can handle and that xp 3000+ is a bit slow.