Broadband problem?

[delc]

In the last few weeks my Broadband internet had got slower and slower, to the extent that I could no longer watch YouTube clips or iPlayer programs. As a last resort before complaining to my ISP, I tried switching off my router at the mains and then rebooting it. This returned things to normal speed. I would like to know what actually caused this problem?

 

[sawtooth]

Did you do ADSL speed tests on LAN and WLAN (wired and wireless) before you rebooted the router?

What is your normal speed and again was this on wired or wireless connection?

 

[rickg]

In the last few weeks my Broadband internet had got slower and slower, to the extent that I could no longer watch YouTube clips or iPlayer programs. As a last resort before complaining to my ISP, I tried switching off my router at the mains and then rebooting it. This returned things to normal speed. I would like to know what actually caused this problem?

Brexit!

 

[Taz]

In the last few weeks my Broadband internet had got slower and slower, to the extent that I could no longer watch YouTube clips or iPlayer programs. As a last resort before complaining to my ISP, I tried switching off my router at the mains and then rebooting it. This returned things to normal speed. I would like to know what actually caused this problem?

If you have BT HH5, this is normal

 

[PhilTheFragger]

Basic Router first aid
do mine once a month even if having no problems

 

[delc]

Did you do ADSL speed tests on LAN and WLAN (wired and wireless) before you rebooted the router?

What is your normal speed and again was this on wired or wireless connection?

Wireless. I didn't measure the speeds before or after, but it now seems to be adequate.

 

[ScienceBoy]

Standard fix is to turn off router for 1 min at least and turn back on again.

This fixes many things including assigning new IPs when things stop working.

I should stop being lazy and set the important stuff to b static...

 

[Deleted member 15344]

Normally it's because of an increase in CRC errors on a router - reboot clears them. Recommend more basic wireless routers are rebooted at least once a month.

 

[sawtooth]

OK I recommend that you check speeds on both in future so that you can easily tell whether the problem is inside or outside your home. Now that it's back to normal ( hopefully optimal) get a baseline of speed on LAN and WLAN.

Also note what channel your router is using. Assuming you are using 2.4Ghz always set the channel to 1, 6 or 11. Your router may be set to Auto which means that it will do a clear channel assessment (normally only once on every power cycle) and will attempt to choose the best channel (from these 3 ) . This is OK to a point but it can only recognise and decide based on other 802.11 protocols that it sees. It can't mitigate noise or interference from non-802.11 sources so for that reason I would set the router channel manually , experimenting with each (1,6,11) and see what yields the best speed. What you really need is a spectrum analyser but you won't have access to one of these most likely!

If you have access to a Android smartphone download and use a WLAN network /protocol analyser from the play store .

This will tell you what co existing wlans you have in your environment and it can help you decide what is the best channel to use. If you are lucky you won't see too many others and you will only see channels 1 6 and 11 in use.

With a little bit of knowledge you can improve your WLAN speeds.

 

[delc]

Thanks for the advice gents. I will reboot my router more often in future.

 

[ScienceBoy]

Last night nobody in our network could find our NAS from the mobile app. A quick reboot of the router and it was fixed.

Not sure why this was the case or how long we had issues. The app switches to the remote access account if there is no local drive.

Really strange but I think I'm going to do a weekly reboot from now. Any way this can be automated?

I'm also going to go down the static IP routes for all our devices. Any advice?

Going to do my PC, the NAS, the Apple TV and the chromecast for a start if I can. Should fix the intermittent loss of connectivity between the devices and the apps on our phones which we see frequently.

 

[williamalex1]

I just did an online speed check, it said my download speed was 48.07 Mbps, upload was 3.18 Mbps, ping 18ms.

Is this considered fast or slow ?.

 

[HowlingGale]

You guys keep your router on 24/7? I switch mine off every night when we go to bed.
Seems daft keeping it on all the time unless you're hosting 'streaming services' or downloading stuff constantly. Maybe it's me that's doing it wrong.

 

[Rooter]

You guys keep your router on 24/7? I switch mine off every night when we go to bed.
Seems daft keeping it on all the time unless you're hosting 'streaming services' or downloading stuff constantly. Maybe it's me that's doing it wrong.

You sound like my dad who turns his mobile phone off after making a phone call to save the battery!

Leave it on, the power it uses is minute, no need to switch it off and on every night, will cause more stress for the electrical components and shorten the life of it.

 

[Rooter]

I just did an online speed check, it said my download speed was 48.07 Mbps, upload was 3.18 Mbps, ping 18ms.

Is this considered fast or slow ?.

Download is fast, but i am surprised by the upload, thats slow in comparison to your download. I would expect it to be about a 1/4 of your down speed, so about 10Mbps. Ping is OK, i assume you are not playing online games or online trading where nanoseconds cost you!

 

[williamalex1]

Download is fast, but i am surprised by the upload, thats slow in comparison to your download. I would expect it to be about a 1/4 of your down speed, so about 10Mbps. Ping is OK, i assume you are not playing online games or online trading where nanoseconds cost you!

No online games or trading, just used for email, watching films and sport which does tend to freeze and buffer a bit.

 

[Rooter]

No online games or trading, just used for email, watching films and sport which does tend to freeze and buffer a bit.

A little reboot every now and again is good. I assume a lot over wireless rather than wired connection, look back at sawtooths post about checking your channel and making sure you have the cleanest channel available.

 

[ScienceBoy]

I just did an online speed check, it said my download speed was 48.07 Mbps, upload was 3.18 Mbps, ping 18ms.

Is this considered fast or slow ?.

Pretty nippy, what I would give for those numbers!!!

18 ping to the gaming server for gaming is good Mr Rooter, anything under 30 is acceptable, under 40 is decent. 50+ and you are asking for trouble!

18 to the Speed checker could be considered slow if it is close but generally that is fine.

My advice to gamers is to ping test locations where your host gaming servers are.

With those numbers, assuming they are similar at peak times any slowness like buffering/stuttering might be local issues such as a busy wifi channel, local network activity or hardware problems. The last one is very unlikely however.

Best to get yourself on a quiet wifi channel and also make sure nothing is backing up wirelessly and using your local network bandwidth unnecessarily.

 

[Rooter]

so my 8ms ping is why i am so awesome on FPS games!

 

[ScienceBoy]

so my 8ms ping is why i am so awesome on FPS games!

Gosh darn it! Fibre broadband is still in the "design" phase for my area. Stuck on 8 up and 1.5 down with pings in the 30s.

I'm all wired for gaming too so no other issues there.

I'm mostly playing rocket league and the ping makes a difference in the air.
Mostly ping in the 30s so only just on the good end.