Wifi speed, very odd...

[SimonCarloC]

My wifi speed drops dramatically despite not actually losing the connection. This is very irritating as the speed drop is intermittant and so it's difficult to pin-point a cause. Is this a general problem with wifi on an Intel 802.1 b/g card? I tried switching to a different channel but that didn't help...


S.

[bill bolton]

My wifi speed drops dramatically despite not actually losing the connection.

WiFi uses a "radio" carrier for connection and that in turn means its prone to interference from all sorts of sources.

Do you experience the problem in only one location, or does it occurs at all locations?

Does the problem appear with a particular periodicity of occurance, i.e every 15 minutes or whatever?

Do you live in an apartment, town house or lsimilar location where there may be appliances in another household literally "on the other side of the wall"?

Do you have a cordless household phone, or other "remote" device, that uses the 2.4Ghz frequency band?

(etc etc)

Cheers,

Bill B.

[SimonCarloC]

Hi there Bill,

I live in an apartment block and I notice that right now, the speed seems to be very good and I have no problems at all - I guess it's because most of the people in my block are out.

So I guess there is nothing I can do to help the situation then? As I said, I don't think the slow-down happens at regular intervals...

[RealBlackStuff]

Since you live in an apartment, I would suggest to use a CAT5 cable instead of wireless. If your own wifi-network is not protected with at least a WEP-key or better, a WPA key, your neighbours might be 'tapping in' your broadband connection, hence the slow-down.
Make sure to protect your home network from intruders!

[SimonCarloC]

I'm using WPA2 at the moment, that's enough protection right?

[SHoTTa35]

that's more than enough protection.

You said you changed the channel but did you go from 1 - 2 or from 1 to 11 or 14. USe a scanner and see what channels other people are using. Most people use only default channels which is 6 or 11. If yours is close to one of those then drop it down to 1 and test then. If still having a problem you can get a wired connection or you can just go the 802.11A route. This would require a new card for your laptop also, the Intel 2915 or the IBM Thinkpad Card II.

That way you'll be in the 5Ghz range and out of the 2.4Ghz one. Most interference is in the 2.4 and only a few cordless phones use the 5Ghz range.

[SimonCarloC]

I went from 11 to 6, then to 1. I didn't really notice any difference...

I tried used a network scanner (network stumbler) and I couldn't get it to work. Can you recommend another? May as well try the channel switching route again.

I just don't get it, one minute i'm zipping along at speed, the next a page won't load and I have to press refresh 5 times...

[RealBlackStuff]

Sounds like you may be on Tiscali. Perhaps change your ISP?

[SimonCarloC]

That's just it, it's fine when I use the ethernet cable - no speed blips at all...

Plus, i'm not with Tiscali, i'm with Virgin.

[censored], maybe it's just that i'm in an apartment block with a lot of radio equipment in it!

[Bob34]

Does it happen when you run your Microwave

[SimonCarloC]

LOL! Nope, I wish it did!