Wireless download speed

Why is that when I download stuff from the internet is horribly slow when I see that I have good/excellent signal strength most of the time (54Mbps). Shouldn't it be fast?

The transfer speed is showing as aroung 5-10 Kbps...

I upgraded the firmware on my linksis WRT54GS router but with no apparent improvements.

Download used to be much faster before I restored my Sony laptop to factory default settings (the laptop was acting up strangely so I decided to go ahead with the restore).

Anyone have any ideas???

 

Well there are a 3 things in can think of:

1) The website you are downloading off serving is slow.
2) Firewall limiting download speeds (yes it happens).
3) Update firmware and drivers for card.

This is all I can think of for now. Hope this helps.

 

Thanks, USAFdude02.

I guess you're right, the server might be slow. But last night I was trying to download the latest driver from the Sony website for the Intel PRO/wireless 2200BG and it took close to 3 hours. To make matters worse, when I tried to run the stupid program I got an error so I'm going try to download it again tonight after I get home from work.

I did turn off the (Norton) firewall to see if it would help but not really.

This reminds me of those dreadful days when I was under dial up and I had to literally sit there for hours for the download to complete. Arghhh!!!!!!!!!!!

Maybe I'll connect my laptop directly to the ethernet cable when I want to download something quickly.

 

Your wireless and local network aregoing to be 5-10x faster than your actual internet connection can go anyway.
you'll never get anything at 54 or 100 Mbps when your cable or dsl only runs at 5 Mbps.

If it is not the server, as was suggested, and you find that downloading from anywhere is slower than before you did the restore, then I would;
1. Check your network/internet settings are set to "broadband" or "LAN" connection.
2. Download any of the many available Connection Tweaker programs that are available, and run it on your computer. The restore may have reset some registry setttings that slow down your capability.
Start with these- http://www.dslreports.com/tweaks
http://www.speedguide.net/
http://www.tweakxp.com/article37124.aspx (little dated, but still applicable)

 

Thanks, Elminst. I'll try your suggestions. I also suspect that the restore somehow has slowed down my laptop. Maybe it wasn't the smartest thing to do but the laptop wouldn't even shut down until I held the power button for a few seconds.

 

It also could be your internet service provider - if you're not getting a fast rate from them wired, you'll suffer even more when you're wireless.

 

I have cable modem from Time Warner Road Runner. I have no complaints really. My regular desktop PC connected via ethernet is ok.

 

Actually, it may be suprising but what all is located within 10 Feet of your Modem. Do you get the same slow speed sif your wired too the modem? If so, you need to move the spot of your modem. I had my cable modem 3 ft from my TV and it cut the speed down by more than half.

 

Hey Nickspohn,

That's interesting! I actually have the modem sitting very close to a TV in the bedroom...I had no idea this would somehow have any effect on the speed.

I did not try to wire my laptop directly to the modem but i'll give it a try.

BTW- Thumbs up for all your reviews. It's extremely useful stuff for newbies like me

 

Your very welcome.

Yeah move the modem, thats why your speeds are bad.

 

Really? Why would it do that?

 

Well i came to this conclusion that it was the TV. I called my ISP and wanted to see what they said, they asked if anything was near the modem. I said 'Yes there is a TV near the modem", so i ran a internet speed test before i moved it. Then i moved it across the room and tested it again. There was about a 2Mbps Download rate increase, and my Upload speed just shot up. I was at about 40Kbps upload when i was supposed to be at 786 (around there) Kbps.

The interference is because of electromagnetic charges in the TV that interfere with the modem. It is very easy to miss and its a common mistake. Even i thought since there is a coxial cable right were a tv is, so why just hook the tv and modem up through a splitter? - Not a good idea.

 

I just noticed something weird this morning. I decided to play with my laptop after I got up. Lo and behold, its download speeds are much, much faster...

Why is that?? I know that after I get home from work in the evening, my brother is in his room with the PC connected via ethernet. Maybe he downloads stuff too from the internet. Does that affect my laptop? But I noticed that even after he shuts the PC off, my speed doesn't really show any improvements...

Is somebody using my wireless connection? But I have WEP set up.

 

It depends on many things. Most have already been stated such as ISP and bandwidth of the site you're downloading from. Usually at night or very early (maybe like when you wake up), your downloads will spike because people are ASLEEP and not using the website's you're downloading from bandwidth, hence the spike. It also depends whether your ISP gives you a private or public IP number. Mine is private so I can't really improve much downloads when using torrents or emule.