Does router affects connection speed?

[dionisisd]

Hello guys.
My ISP provides me 24mbps speed internet. but i only get around 5 of them while a lot of my friends get around 13. My router device is an old netfaster IAD2. Should I call My isp to ask for a better router which would propably come with wireless G connection too?

Here is my speed test

 

[mcnumpty23]

read the speed in the router config page--its more accurate than online speed tests

your speed will depend how far from the telephone exchange you are--the quality of your phone line etc

 

[Pooneil]

If the ISP provides a nominal or "up to" rating of 24mbps, the way to know the actual speed is to test it with a wired connection to the modem. That is, with a computer directly connected to the modem with an Ethernet cable. "Up to" ratings, particularly on DSL are just marketing talk and the actual speed can be much slower. There is no harm in buying a new router to see if it will make a difference, just make sure it is returnable. The fastest wifi standard is AC, but with an internet speed of 24 mbps, practically any N standard wifi router would do the job. Many times an N 150 mbps router can be found in the US$15 price range.

 

[bill001g]

You want to test with a ethernet connected cable. If you are using old 802.11b or 802.11g it is pretty slow but you can only go as fast as the connection to your house. So if you get the same speed on wireless as wired it is like not going to help a lot to get a new router. 802.11g stuff will not run much over 5-10m in most people houses and 802.11b is lucky to get over 1m.

Still a 802.11n router is not really expensive anymore. You would also need to be sure your pc can run 802.11n also, any phone or tablet you have likely can already run 802.11n.

 

[Solandri]

Some of the really old routers (Linksys WRT54-era, late 1990s) were limited by the router CPU speed to about 10 Mbps on the WAN port. Unfortunately I can't find any info on your router in English to see if this is the case. If you speedtest it over an ethernet cable, you should get your answer.

802.11b can deliver up to about 5 Mbps, though 2-3 Mbps is more typical. Were your friends testing over wifi too? 802.11g should be able to hit up to 20-25 Mbps. So it sounds like you've already got a b/g router, and maybe your computer is connecting via b while your friends' computers are connecting via g?

However, both these b and g default to the speed of the slowest device on your network. So if you've got an old 802.11b webcam which is connecting at 5 Mbps, then all your devices will connect at 5 Mbps. 802.11n and ac do not suffer from this limitation. So that's what you should aim for if your ISP provides it (assuming your devices also support n or ac).