Question Problem with internet speeds

[Tharizdun]

I work/live at a campground during the week and the cabin I stay in is about 180ft from the modem/router. I have a wifi range extender Im using in the window to bring the internet to me. I usually get around 30-40 down.
From the extender I bring an ethernet cord and plug to my PC. I get the same speeds if I plug to my PC or laptop.

We also have a few of them ubiquiti Nano station. That brings internet to the barn a ways away.(Plan to upgrade and put these around the whole camp)
So I thought I'll buy one now for my cabin and maybe my speeds will be better. Took a little bit but I got it setup and its good to go.

When I go from that nano station with an ethernet straight to my laptop I get about 100down. But when I take that ethernet and plug into my pc I get 9 down.

I could really use some help, I can't figure it out.

Thanks

 

[bill001g]

That is strange because the device you attach to the end of the ethernet cable does not actually know there is a wifi connection in the path. It thinks it has a ethernet cable to the router.

Although highly unlikely check the speed in the status of the ethernet port. It should show you the speed it negotiated with the nano station. I think the nano stations actually have gigabit ports so it should show gigabit.

If you get "lucky?" it might show 10mbps which means you likely have a bad cable. If it shows 100mbps or gigabit speeds then it is much harder to say. You could actually put a switch in and run both machines at the same time and see what you get when you run them at the same time. Of course they will affect each other since you still have the same limited wifi bandwidth but maybe it would eliminate random wifi interference variations between your tests.

I can't think of anything that would affect 1 machine and not the other.

 

[Tharizdun]

Yeah I don't get it, Im using same ethernet cords for everything. And now that I have the nano station up, I unhooked the wii extender I was previously using.
I'll check into what you said

Ok with the same ethernet cord plugged to Laptop status shows 100mbps and then take it out and plug into PC and it shows 10mbps

 

[bill001g]

I would check the pc to be sure it is not something silly like it is set to 10mbps in the ethernet settings. You want it set to auto.

This is almost always a bad cable. The device for some reason can not negotiate a higher speed with the nano station. This is all done on electrical levels it is not really software.

It would be nice if ethernet cables just completely failed when they go bad. It is much more common lately with all the fake cable on the market. You need to be sure you are using pure copper cable (no CCA) and it have wire size 22-24 awg. There is a massive amount of that flat cable being sold that has very thin wires. This does not meet the standard for a ethernet cable and you get all kinds of strange results.

I would try a new cat5e cable, you can use cat6 or better if you can get it cheaper. Key is making sure it actually meets standards, if the vendor does not clearly tell you it is pure copper and the wire size do not buy it.

 

[gggplaya]

I would check your POE injector and ethernet cable at the laptop/pc. Clearly negotiating only 10mbps on that computer compared to the laptop. This can happen with a marginal quality cable or POE injector.

 

[Tharizdun]

Ok yeah speed already set to auto, and Ive tried to set to 100 and then 1g(Every speed I chose would just show 10mbps, but when I set it to 100 full or half it wouldnt even connect. Said cable unplugged)
Its weird that it would be a bad cable seeing as when using with the wifi extender both pc and laptop had same speeds. But when I use same ethernet cord with nano, only PC suffers.
I do have that type of cat5e cable you suggested, Id say about maybe a year old.
I will get a new cable shipped and try that.

 

[bill001g]

Bad cables are very strange. They work with some device and not others. It only takes one wire to be slightly loose internal to one of the plug ends and it can increase the resistance beyond the allowed limit. Can also be uncommon stuff like a small crack anyplace in one of the wires.
In any case unless the cable is very long it does not pay to try to fix by say replacing the ends.
You likely have 2 cable one from the nano to the power injector and a second to the device. It technically can be either but since it does not happen on all devices it is more likely the cable between the injector and the end device.