Can't get more than 1mb/s

[Josh Hitchcock]

Hi, this is a problem that's been annoying me for a while now and only just thought about trying to find out what might be causing the problem.

I'm using Sky broadband in my house with the SR 102 router which was supplied by them. I've been using Sky for well over a couple of years now, but I am never able to download anything at more than 1mb/s (Battle.et launcher is the only exception, but even that goes only to 1.5mb/s). I have used the Ookla speed test a number of times and it shows that I should be able to get up to 5mb/s download and about 700kb/s upload speeds.

What could contribute to this loss of speed and how could I find out what is actually causing it?

It is really bothering me, especially being a gamer and downloading files which are GBs in size, I don't want to have to keep waiting for hours on end every time I want to download something new.

All answers are very much appreciated.

 

[theyeti87]

What internet package are you paying for? What are the upload and download speeds they sold you on?

 

[noidea_77]

According to this, the router is simple crap: http://www.trustedreviews.com/sky-hub-2013-review Try a cable connection instead of WiFi at least for the big downloads.

 

[hdmark]

also, not sure if you knew, but the internet speeds are megabits per second, where the files are megabytes. I think its 8 megabits for 1 megabyte. so a speed of 5mbps (bits) would only get you less than 1 mb/s (bytes)



but past that, no idea :/ sorry

 

[theyeti87]

also, not sure if you knew, but the internet speeds are megabits per second, where the files are megabytes. I think its 8 megabits for 1 megabyte. so a speed of 5mbps (bits) would only get you less than 1 mb/s (bytes)



but past that, no idea :/ sorry

Internet packages are advertised and sold as X amount Mbps. Mega *bits* per second. 8 bits = 1 byte. You see anything being downloaded being transfered to the byte scale.

So for example, at my house I pay for 50Mbps down and 6Mbps up cable internet. So the 50,000 bits per second down link must be divided by 8 to get the theoretical speed your connection maxes out at. So my theoretical download speed max is 6.25 megabytes a second (6.25MB/s).

So thinking that you have a 5 "Mega-something" connection means max download speed is 5MB/s is wrong and a devious marketing tool for internet service providers.

Again, get back to us with the internet package you are subscribed for, the speeds that you should be paying for. From there we can move forward with your low speed issues.

Also, if you want to benchmark your internet connection it is always better to test over ethernet and not wifi.

If you suspect your router is to blame, try hard-lining your PC straight to the modem and leave the router out of the equation for the purpose of eliminating the router as a possible suspect.

 

[Josh Hitchcock]

What internet package are you paying for? What are the upload and download speeds they sold you on?

When we upgraded our package, they told us thta we'd be getting between 14mb/s and 20mb/s. I now know that that was mega bits, but it still seems off considering people on the same network as me in on my street are getting at least double the connection I receive.

The problem with being able to wire my computer to the router ot direvtly to the modem is thta my computer's too far away and being in a rented house I can't put any cables through walls or into the ceiling.

 

[Greenpernod]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category_6_cable max length of a cat 6 cable is 328 feet/100 meters. If nobody mind this being strung out you should be able to get from your router to your computer. After that you can use power-line adapters but i have no knowledge of those and then there's MoCA that uses coaxial cabling in your house(another thing i know very little about) but through Ethernet you would get the best speeds possible.

 

[Josh Hitchcock]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category_6_cable max length of a cat 6 cable is 328 feet/100 meters. If nobody mind this being strung out you should be able to get from your router to your computer. After that you can use power-line adapters but i have no knowledge of those and then there's MoCA that uses coaxial cabling in your house(another thing i know very little about) but through Ethernet you would get the best speeds possible.

I've got a 50m Ethernet cable, but the speed still stays the same, I've moved the router too and it's also stayed the same, so it's got nothing to do with the connection between the computer and the router, it's to do with our router's connection to our ISP I guess, either that or it's the router itself xP

I'll probably just fork out some cash and buy a new Netgear router or something, if that's not the problem, then I'll send it back and get my money back.

 

[theyeti87]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category_6_cable max length of a cat 6 cable is 328 feet/100 meters. If nobody mind this being strung out you should be able to get from your router to your computer. After that you can use power-line adapters but i have no knowledge of those and then there's MoCA that uses coaxial cabling in your house(another thing i know very little about) but through Ethernet you would get the best speeds possible.

I've got a 50m Ethernet cable, but the speed still stays the same, I've moved the router too and it's also stayed the same, so it's got nothing to do with the connection between the computer and the router, it's to do with our router's connection to our ISP I guess, either that or it's the router itself xP

I'll probably just fork out some cash and buy a new Netgear router or something, if that's not the problem, then I'll send it back and get my money back.

Save yourself the trouble and connect your PC directly to the modem and bypass the router all together, for the purposes of A) determining if your router is to blame and B) saving you time and money as far as going out and buying a new router for diagnostic purposes.

 

[Josh Hitchcock]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category_6_cable max length of a cat 6 cable is 328 feet/100 meters. If nobody mind this being strung out you should be able to get from your router to your computer. After that you can use power-line adapters but i have no knowledge of those and then there's MoCA that uses coaxial cabling in your house(another thing i know very little about) but through Ethernet you would get the best speeds possible.

I've got a 50m Ethernet cable, but the speed still stays the same, I've moved the router too and it's also stayed the same, so it's got nothing to do with the connection between the computer and the router, it's to do with our router's connection to our ISP I guess, either that or it's the router itself xP

I'll probably just fork out some cash and buy a new Netgear router or something, if that's not the problem, then I'll send it back and get my money back.

Save yourself the trouble and connect your PC directly to the modem and bypass the router all together, for the purposes of A) determining if your router is to blame and B) saving you time and money as far as going out and buying a new router for diagnostic purposes.

How would I connect directly to the modem? I have the phone line which is connected directly to the router and all the devices in the house are connected to that router.

I know next to nothing about networking...

 

[theyeti87]

I'm not the most familiar with DSL aka the present-day dial-up.

Is your modem and router an all-in-one product? If so, that would make sense that you only see a phone wire. But if they are two separate devices, there should be an ethernet out on the modem, phone line in.

Either way, it sounds like typical ISP marketing. Pay for this speed but the common user isn't aware they're paying for more than they're receiving.

It may be frustrating, but your best option may be to communicate with your ISP directly about how crappy the service is.

 

[Josh Hitchcock]

I'm not the most familiar with DSL aka the present-day dial-up.

Is your modem and router an all-in-one product? If so, that would make sense that you only see a phone wire. But if they are two separate devices, there should be an ethernet out on the modem, phone line in.

Either way, it sounds like typical ISP marketing. Pay for this speed but the common user isn't aware they're paying for more than they're receiving.

It may be frustrating, but your best option may be to communicate with your ISP directly about how crappy the service is.

I've tried a number of times to have the computer set up with a wired connection, but all I see is a more steady download and upload rate which doesn't fluctuate as much.... There's no real speed increase that I can notice.

I'd have to get the billpayer to talk to them. I know that the router which we have is a piece of crap which really shouldn't be put out by the company, but they do anyway (probably because it's so cheep and the majority of their customers wouldn't care as long as they had a connection.

We're tied to a contract at the moment for our broadband and phone, but hopefully when it's over we'll move onto fiber, which should be better