Can too many people be using home wifi?

[theviewer1985]

Hi Guys,

Here is my issue - my sister and her kids have moved in. I have counted the amount of devices connected to our wireless network now and it is about 16! It is also important to note that my internet isn't great to begin with, I get about 4MB down and 0.7MB up.

OK, so with playing games online I visibly notice a lot more lag when the house starts to fill up with people. But it doesn't feel like it's an issue with slow internet (like if everyone was downloading torrents) - my evidence for this is if I run speed checks during these laggy moments, I am still getting a good 3MB.

No it feels like as if the router is struggling - it's just a hunch, but its only a educated guess. So hopefully someone here can give me more definitive answers.

1. Is it possible that 16 connected devices (although its not like all are running simultaneously) would make the router struggle and everything to start glitching.

2. If so, would ditching the rubbish router that the ISP gave us for free and buying a better one help?

3. If so, what router is recommended, without breaking the bank.

4. If my hunch is correct, would it be exclusive to wifi devices.. so if i connected my PC via Ethernet, I'd bypass all the congestion and be happy again?

Beyond this, Im thinking about paying for a second line so I can have my own internet again. I work from home, so internet is ultra important.

Thanks! 😀

 

[junkeymonkey]

16 connected devices '' ''that depends on your provider ? some have limits and if you got so many people online sucking up bandwidth you can start bogging things down or the provider could throttle you if you exceed there limits on that as well

 

[theviewer1985]

16 connected devices '' ''that depends on your provider ? some have limits and if you got so many people online sucking up bandwidth you can start bogging things down or the provider could throttle you if you exceed there limits on that as well

But if that were the case, I'd notice that when doing speed checks correct? However it is running at near full speed even while everyone is here.

It's another line of thinking at least - I will question my ISP concerning this tomorrow and see what they say.

 

[thx1138v2]

1. Yes.
2. Maybe, maybe not. See previous answer.
3. Try # 4, below first.
4. Maybe, unless your ISP is throttling you. A wired connection will be faster to begin with. You would bypass the radio congestion by reducing the radio traffic by 1 device but the traffic still has to go out the wire and come in the wire from your ISP. If your ISP is throttling you, you'll need another connection for work.

 

[junkeymonkey]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bandwidth_throttling

http://www.howtogeek.com/165481/how-to-test-if-your-isp-is-throttling-your-internet-connection/


the providers got there tricks for sure ?? on this network I'm limited to 10 devices so they say

 

[theviewer1985]

1. Yes.
2. Maybe, maybe not. See previous answer.
3. Try # 4, below first.
4. Maybe, unless your ISP is throttling you. A wired connection will be faster to begin with. You would bypass the radio congestion by reducing the radio traffic by 1 device but the traffic still has to go out the wire and come in the wire from your ISP. If your ISP is throttling you, you'll need another connection for work.

Thanks for the response - it seems like your answers are made a lot more grey based on the one possibility that the ISP could be throttling me. Just so I am clear, if hypothetically it is nothing to do with being throttled, would your answers have been:

1. Yes
2. Yes
3. ?
4. Yes

 

[Spectre694]

1) absolutely every device on there will want to use a little bit of your bandwidth and radio time.

2) they are almost always pretty terrible but maybe not your issue

3)lets come back to

4)only one way to find out.

 

[USAFRet]

my sister and her kids have moved in. I have counted the amount of devices connected to our wireless network now and it is about 16! It is also important to note that my internet isn't great to begin with, I get about 4MB down and 0.7MB up.

That is most of the problem.
16 devices using 4mb....it will not be good.
Especially with 'kids', on youtube all the time.

A new router does not change that 4mb from your ISP. Nor would wired directly to the router.
Your pipe coming in is simply too small.

 

[theviewer1985]

my sister and her kids have moved in. I have counted the amount of devices connected to our wireless network now and it is about 16! It is also important to note that my internet isn't great to begin with, I get about 4MB down and 0.7MB up.

That is most of the problem.
16 devices using 4mb....it will not be good.
Especially with 'kids', on youtube all the time.

A new router does not change that 4mb from your ISP. Nor would wired directly to the router.
Your pipe coming in is simply too small.

So this is where my knowledge fails... if it was a speed issue, wouldn't my speed tests be coming back really low? I get 4mb max and when everyone is home using their gadgets - I get about 3mb.

For example, when I am using torrents, and the internet slows down, I see that in my speed test which drops to like 0.5mb

 

[junkeymonkey]

speed test just pings a small packet - not like 6 people downloading or streaming hi def movies . online gaming - ect...

your provider monitors your usages and all and if they see you getting your moneys worth they make there adjustments , and its not to your favor [opinion]

 

[USAFRet]

my sister and her kids have moved in. I have counted the amount of devices connected to our wireless network now and it is about 16! It is also important to note that my internet isn't great to begin with, I get about 4MB down and 0.7MB up.

That is most of the problem.
16 devices using 4mb....it will not be good.
Especially with 'kids', on youtube all the time.

A new router does not change that 4mb from your ISP. Nor would wired directly to the router.
Your pipe coming in is simply too small.

So this is where my knowledge fails... if it was a speed issue, wouldn't my speed tests be coming back really low? I get 4mb max and when everyone is home using their gadgets - I get about 3mb.

For example, when I am using torrents, and the internet slows down, I see that in my speed test which drops to like 0.5mb

WiFi congestion is but one part of the issue.
And just because a particular user or device is 'connected', does not mean actively transmitting data back and forth at that moment.

And also, the "0.7MB up" is part of the problem. All those 16 devices also have to share that.

 

[junkeymonkey]

thing is 16 on there ''home'' service they may not take too kind to that , and may say you need business /commercial service ? $$

 

[theviewer1985]

my sister and her kids have moved in. I have counted the amount of devices connected to our wireless network now and it is about 16! It is also important to note that my internet isn't great to begin with, I get about 4MB down and 0.7MB up.

That is most of the problem.
16 devices using 4mb....it will not be good.
Especially with 'kids', on youtube all the time.

A new router does not change that 4mb from your ISP. Nor would wired directly to the router.
Your pipe coming in is simply too small.

So this is where my knowledge fails... if it was a speed issue, wouldn't my speed tests be coming back really low? I get 4mb max and when everyone is home using their gadgets - I get about 3mb.

For example, when I am using torrents, and the internet slows down, I see that in my speed test which drops to like 0.5mb

WiFi congestion is but one part of the issue.
And just because a particular user or device is 'connected', does not mean actively transmitting data back and forth at that moment.

And also, the "0.7MB up" is part of the problem. All those 16 devices also have to share that.

OK, so it seems like my only way out of this is to perform every possible diagnostic step, starting from the cheapest as it seems it could possibly be anything mentioned above in this thread..

1. Ring my ISP and ask if they are throttling as I have so many users... I will presume they will say "not at all sir"

2. Try an Ethernet in case its radio congestion and see if that bypass's me out of the mayhem

3. At this point, would it be worth me buying a better router or is that so unlikely that I should skip the step...

4. Get a second phone line with separate internet.

Any other steps or recommendations..

 

[junkeymonkey]

''4. Get a second phone line with separate internet.''

your own personal and they stay off it let them pick up the bill on the old service there using

 

[theviewer1985]

So I am now using a Ethernet cable and I still suffer from the same laggy internet. Although after a conversation with the ISP I feel like "ping spikes" is the issue. That sits better with me than mere slow internet.

I have ran ping tests and I do average at 32ms then atleast once every minute or two I'll get spikes of around 200ms up to 500ms - sometimes those spikes will last 4 or 5 seconds

I actually ran these tests while the house was empty.

Any help please??

I have pinged my router and that is fine - so it isnt between me and that. I changed the wire between router and wall socket too just in case.