Solved - WiFi router consumes local ethernet bandwidth?

[rcgldr]

I have a cable modem with multiple ip support. The primary computer, the WiFi router (Linksys N750) and the cable modem are all connected in parallel via a switch. The primary computer and WiFi router each get their own external ip address assigned by the cable modem (my ISP supports multiple ips).

If the WiFi router is powered on, it's apparently consuming local ethernet bandwidth: if I test the download speed from one of the speed test web sites, the reported internet download speed on the primary computer decreases from 60+ mbps to about 4 mbps with the WiFi router powered on, even though no WiFi devices are powered on.

Currently I power off the WiFi router when using the primary computer, and the primary computer operates at it's normal speeds. Is there any workaround other than powering off the WiFi router?

 

[g90814]

Look for QoS settings on the cable modem. This would limit how much bandwidth the router could use, although it really shouldn't use anything if the devices connected to it are not actively using the internet.

 

[rcgldr]

Apparently our smart phone was consuming the bandwidth, perhaps some sort of automatic update, since the only running app is a weather app which is low data usage.

 

[g90814]

Glad you figured it out...