what speed is realistic ?

I connect to my 2mbps cable modem connection through a Dlink DI-624 Router and a Sony VGN-S260 Vaio.

On the DI-624 I got:
super G without turbo: on
security: WEP (64bit) (I couldn`t get the other modes working)

While the speed should have been 2000 kbps, I normally get 1400-1500 when I check by speedtest.net
While I watch a game (well try to watch) which is broadcasted at 1000 or 1200 kbs I hardly get close to 900.

Is this normal ? Should I never expect to get close to 2000 ?

 

That Should be pretty close to normal. I have a 6mbps modem, and I RARELY hit 5mbps. Unless no-one else is on in my neighborhood. Then I hit 1 MB/s

 

Speed test should be very close to what the ISP says it is, provided you pick a location close to you. If not you may want to try a optomizer like cablenut. Cablenut has a aux pack with more settings. Just fine the one that closes matches your setup.

 

The realistic speed is usually 75% of the advertised speed.

 

You should get pretty close to what your paying for, if not have your line checked out. But check the speed always using wired, and at different times of the day. 90% of downloads will be capped at 200kbps, unless it a site that has large files.

 

I'm suppose to have a 15/2 Mbps line, but the fastest speed i've ever gotten was 1830KB/s, and that was during really off-peak times. Normal websites are usually capped at 200KB/s, as you've said, probaly because anything over DSL is just unneccesary for web pages.

I guess my line's fine. It's faster than what most of the internet offers in download speed.

 

Run your test on speakeasy.net, it should give you pretty close to what your ISP is. If not and running FF try IE and see if the speed changes. Then use cablenut to optimize your connection and try again. I have 5/2 and get full 5 down and avg 1.8mbps up.

 

I`m confused; isn`t 15Mbps already equal to 1875 KB/s ?

 

As I am located in Rio de Janeiro I use www.speedtest.net as they have servers that are closer to me. Funny how at different times the same server gives different speeds.

I use my router with security set at WEP (I couldn`t get other modes working). Is this secure enough or can it be that someone hacks and shares my connection ? Is there a simple way to see who else is connected to the wireless router at any time ?

 

Where did you score that line from? I'm jealous.

 

With WEP it will take a person less that 1 min to break in. You really need a min WEP(2) with a 20 chr string of numbers and letters. Best if random generated. I go to GRC.com they have key generator that is free. Copy and paste a few key to a notepad. Then copy an paste 20 chr form one. Do the setup with a wired connection and set the wireless up while connected. It should connect wireless while the wired is still active. Make sure your FW is not blocking your wireless port.

Make sure you have the latest drivers.

I have 20/5 available, but I don't need that kind of connection.

 

I'd fork out the extra cash for a WPA router anyways. I can crack 128bit WEP in less than 20 minutes while drinking beer, so I wouldn't bother with it unless you live somewhere that somebody can't hide to gather packets...

Newegg has a pretty good price on the WRT54GL routers right now with free shipping. I'd just get one of those and not worry about it.

 

I believe you owned him on that one.

 

You should easily max out a 2 Mb connection over wireless even with encryption enabled. I can easliy max out my 6 Mb connection over an encrypted wireless b network. Overcoming latency with a single registry setting is the ticket. Second, use file downloads to test speed rather than test sites.

HKLM/System/Current Control Set/Services/Tcpip/

DWORD TcpWindowSize

Modify to a decimal value of 227760

Try downloading the free version of Threat Fire for a 'speed test.' I can consistantly peg my connection with this download.

http://www.threatfire.com/download/

=============================================

If you are using Internet Explorer you can dramatically improve web page loading by adding these keys to each of your user accounts (log into account, then modify):

HKCU/Software/Microsoft/Windows/Current Version/Internet Settings/

DWORD MaxConnectionsPerServer
DWORD MaxConnectionsPer1_0Server

Modify each to a decimal value of 16

===============================================

Reboot for registry settings to take effect. These settings are applicable to W2K/XP.

 

I realized that when I connect the modem direct (without Dlink 624, the wireless router), I can get close to the max 2000. Also when I connect through the Dlink, I get "server not found" errors for certain sites sometimes (some parts of yahoo, facebook and google -though not everytime- it happens for like 20-30 secs, then it`s ok); also when I watch stream live video the transfer sometimes stops for also 20-30 seconds. This happens both with ff and ie.
I guess some setting is wrong in the router.

 

Lower the MTU setting in the router to 1492 and those odd error will go away. Then run cablenut on your pc to optimize your connection. Get the aux pack with it, contain more settings.

 

Thanks Blue68f100, MTU = 1492 really seems to solve the connection quality.. I might even not need the extra 500 bps now, now that I can watch the stream without any problems. Cablenut looks a little bit too complicated for me.

 

A realistic full 1mbp/s is fast enough if you're using the Internet connection alone.

 

Cablenut is real easy. You pick the setting that best matches ISP. Like DLS 128k/1mbps and it does the rest for you. I had a strange problem that none of the other could fix. I had full speed with IE but 1/2 with FF. It was the only optimizer that worked for me. Go to speakeasy and test your connection, if it matches or is real close to what you are paying for, no need to run it, if not run it. Then run cablenut and test again. If no increase just restore your original settings. If you play online games optimizations is key.

 

I wa wrong, I`m still having connection problems and "server not found` errors, although in a different way.

 

I don`t think this is about my registry settings. When I`m connected directly to the cable modem through ethernet, without the DI624 router, everything works fine, and I get nearlt maximum speed.
But when I connect through the router (either wireless or through its ethernet port) the problems start. It might be about the MTU of the router, as the performance changes when I change the value. But the correct value is not 1492 as well. How do I get the correct value ? Does everyone have this problem ?

 

Did you run cablenut to see if it corrected it? And are you using IE or FF, do they both give you the same speed?

 

Yes I did. It didn`t correct it. I have the same speed and connectivity problems with both ff and ie.

 

Are you using any mac filtering or content filtering? Have your tried it with the internal FW turned off?

What happens if you put your nb in a DMZ?

 

I'm not using any filtering. The problems are still there with firewall and/or antivirus turned off. About dmz, I'm not sure if I understand correctly, but the thing is when the nb is connected directly to the modem (without the router) it's ok, there are no mproblems. As soon as the router enters (even when the nb is connected not wireless but through ethernet cable to the router) the problems start again.

Also, I bought a new HP 6230br computer with Vista home, connected to the router via a DLink DWA-110. It has the same problems too.

Feeling all this could be about DNS (because I have the problem on certain sites, e.g. goole.com or mail.yahoo.com) I changed the dns settings manually to OpenDNS, with no results either.

Finally, I turned DNS relaying on the router off, and reconnected. It seems ok for now (10 minutes). I will update.

 

It it's only related to some sites, try lowering your mtu to 1492. This can be adjusted in the router, wan advanced settings on some. I have my router set to a lower value instead of the 1500 def. DSL's require a 1492. 1500 will allow some sites to work but not all.

 

1492 hadn't worked for me before. But the latest changes - I think mainly the "DNS relay" disabling seems to be working (cross fingers) after half a day and a 90 minutes soccer game..

 

I don't know about this, it says i have 4480 kbps down and 400 up...

 

It's quite common for isp's to have a slower uplink speed than down. You use the downspeed 99.9% of the time. The uplink for most is just a request for a link, so very little is needed. This is also done to discourage setting up web servers. Uplink speed is important if you are sending large files or VPN to work.

 

Yes, it is.. I disabled the "DNS Relay" in the router's settings, and no more 'server not found' problems. And most of the time I have a good connection, with over 1900 bps.

(this is when I connect from my HP pavilion through a dlink adaptor. When I connect from my vaio then the speed is less)