Wi-Fi Connection Fluctuates and Slower Speeds than Displayed

[jmeyer]

Hi Everyone,

I've been experiencing a growing problem with my Wi-Fi connection.

The connection fluctuates from disappointing but tolerable speeds, to ridiculously slow speeds, to complete loss of connection.
I either wait about a minute for it to reconnect, or occasionally have to run down and restart the router.This is especially apparent in online games.

In different fps games I can join a server with a low ping and play fine, then all of a sudden the game rubber bands me, freezes, and disconnects. There is a 25 second wait time before leaving the game so I usually regain my connection before then and can resume play. My ping also skyrockets around when I start to lag. I can join a game at 20 ping and then rise to somewhere between 200-1000. I believe the issues might be related to Wi-Fi interference, but I would appreciate any advice and questions. There are 15 other routers that inSSider listed all at 2.4ghz near my computer. The 5ghz channel is empty, so if interference is the issue can you explain how I can switch to 5ghz or if my router would even let me.

I am also confused as to why speedtest, my task manager, steam download manager, and inSSider all give me different download speeds (look below). In theory I should have pretty fast download speeds of 130 Mbps but then I download a game off steam at around 2 MBps (16 Mbps).

Thank you in advance for any advice you guys can give me. I've asked questions on this forum before and was very impressed with the insight and knowledge you guys share. Below is all the information you should need to assess my problem, but if there is something you would like me to elaborate on I will gladly do so.

My setup is as follows:

Modem- Arris TM50 telephony modem (many years old)

Router- D-link Wireless N Gigabit Router (dir 655) :
2.4ghz connection (don't know how to switch to 5ghz)
http://us.dlink.com/products/connect/wireless-n-gigabit-router/
Wi-Fi extender: Cisco:
http://store.linksys.com/adapters/linksys-RE1000-range-extender-bridge_stcVVproductId136607179VVcatId554677VVviewprod.htm

Network Adapter: Netgear N300 Wireless usb adapter:
http://www.netgear.com/home/products/networking/wifi-adapters/WNA3100.aspx

PC Specs:
Motherboard- Asus PH877:
http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/P8H77I/
GPU: GTX 670
CPU:Intel i5 3570k
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium (64 bit)- most recent driver
Powersupply: Do not know

Connection:
Time Warner Cable
I believe we are suppose to get 100 Mbps but its a really old deal and the bill charges $130 and calls it "standard 2 phone and internet connection" (no tv).
Speedtest- Download:4 or 20 Mbps Upload:1.2 or 2.1
This is an example of the variation in speeds, both tests taken about 15 minutes apart
What my network adapter program says- Download: 70-130 Mbps
What inSSider home says: Max Rate of router- 300 extender- 130

There are 7 devices that connect to my wireless internet (1 PC, 2 laptops, 1 tablet, 3 smart phones)
Only one device is connected directly to the modem

Locations: This system is spread across 3 floors of my house
The bottom floor has an the modem connected to my office computer and router
The router is in the open and all 3 antennae are pointed upwards.
One floor up, almost exactly vertically aligned is the wifi range extender.
In the room right above the 2nd floor is the room with my desktop PC connected to the network adapter.

Thanks again for all the help (and for reading this far!)

 

[majic2]

Hello so 1. Speedtest tests the connection to the closest server and steams servers might be located thousands of kilometers away. This is excepted but you still have good speeds. 2. Wifi interference is not something you hear of alot but trying lan( throught ethernet ) or turning on a 5ghz network should help. To check if your router is compatible with this on your pc open comandpromt (cmd) type ipconfig. Then copy your default gateway addres into your web browser and log yourself in there- if youve never done this google the web for the default username/ password if that doesent work resseting the router to factory settings then logging in. Then go to options / settings whatever - wifi - should be a 5Ghz and 2.4 Ghz option enable the 5Ghz . Also make sure you have a password on and no one is using it when your playing as that can impact speed aswell.

 

[majic2]

Or make sure theyr not downloading anything since that will cause huge impact

 

[Paul NZ]

The USB adapter, the extender and the router dont support 5 ghz. Or dual band. Theyre all 2.4 ghz

So you wont get 5 ghz

 

[plaintuts]

Wireless repeater or extender cuts 50% connection performance from the main router due to bandwidth limitations.

Also wireless channels often get some interference from house hold appliances like the refrigerator

Adjusting the channel to 1, 6 or 11 may fix the issue

 

[majic2]

If non of that helps it could be anything from modem to the router or the extendor so its hard. But asking someone from your ISP to check everything and report the issue might help and they might bring a new modem + whatever else they supplyd which might fix the issue. Sorry for posting this answer in 3 parts.

 

[huilun02]

You need a router that that explicitly states 5GHz compatibility (usually dual band), to use the 5GHz band.

Your router does not. Neither does your wifi extender.

You can use a tool called Iperf to test the connection throughput to your router. It specifically tests the connection between the client (your computer) and your router (the server) and not the internet. As such you will be able to tell if the problem is due to your wifi network or the internet usage/service in your area. You'll have to do a little read up to learn how to use it.

You can even use it to test your true internet bandwidth by doing a timed UDP test to a public hosted Iperf server.

Also have you tried setting your router to operate on the least congested 2.4GHz channel(s)?

 

[jmeyer]

The USB adapter, the extender and the router dont support 5 ghz. Or dual band. Theyre all 2.4 ghz

So you wont get 5 ghz

Thanks for letting me know.

 

[Paul NZ]

No probs

 

[jmeyer]

If non of that helps it could be anything from modem to the router or the extendor so its hard. But asking someone from your ISP to check everything and report the issue might help and they might bring a new modem + whatever else they supplyd which might fix the issue. Sorry for posting this answer in 3 parts.

Don't worry about the triple post. I appreciate the advice.

I'll definitely contact my ISP.

Also your comment about speedtest server's vs. steam's makes a lot of sense.

Are you sure that 15 different routers wouldn't cause any interference. That might explain why my connection fluctuates since it happens even when no one else is using my wifi.

Thanks for the help!

 

[jmeyer]

You need a router that that explicitly states 5GHz compatibility (usually dual band), to use the 5GHz band.

Your router does not. Neither does your wifi extender.

You can use a tool called Iperf to test the connection throughput to your router. It specifically tests the connection between the client (your computer) and your router (the server) and not the internet. As such you will be able to tell if the problem is due to your wifi network or the internet usage/service in your area. You'll have to do a little read up to learn how to use it.

You can even use it to test your true internet bandwidth by doing a timed UDP test to a public hosted Iperf server.

Also have you tried setting your router to operate on the least congested 2.4GHz channel(s)?

Thanks for telling me about my lack of 5ghz. I was really hoping I had that capability but it seems that since all three of my pieces of hardware are incompatible with 5ghz, it would be very expensive to change. 🙁 .

That program sounds very helpful- I'll definitely give it a try.
Also I think that changing channels might work. I was checking inSSIDer and it appears that my network is channel 6 and channel 1 looks fairly empty. How do I switch channels?

Thanks again for the great answer!

 

[huilun02]

You don't have to change your network channels if it is relatively unused by other routers. You can change it in the router's configuration.

Access your router's config by going to 192.168.0.1 using any web browser. It may require a password if you have set it.

 

[majic2]

Interference should not be the problem but i wouldent rule it out. Would check other things first tho, glad was able to help