Wireless Router Advice

[C']

I currently use a Belkin wireless router with the following:

2 PCs connected wirelessly
1 PC connected wired
Xbox360 connected wired
PS3 connected wirelessly
Wii connected wirelessly

A few weeks ago we had our old STB cable modem replaced with the new Virin Media + box with a separate cable modem supposedly on a 10MB line.

For the first few days I ran speed tests on my PC (wireless connection) and the speeds were coming out at 1-2MB mark. Gave this a few days then contacted Virgin who confirmed the line was setup for 2MB and upgraded it. Over the next few weeks further speed tests showed the line would never go beyond 2MB.

Earlier this week my Dad was running speedtests on the line on the PC connected to the router via a network cable (no other machines in the network were switched on or connecting to the network). The tests came out at various speeds but were much higher (going up to 9MB+). Immediately after seeing this I booted up my PC, connected wirelessly and ran a speedtest. Again this came out at less than 2MB but when it was connected the speed on the PC connected via a cable also dropped dramatically.

Any suggestions what could be causing this? Once I find a network cable (the ones in use I cannot unplug and reroute easily) I will hook my PC up via a cable and see what speeds I get but was hoping someone could shed some light on this.

Is a replacement router in order (My previous wireless router died in similar fashion wherein it would allow connections via cable, but not wirelessly).

[EvilBoris]

if the PCs were connecting via 802.11b then it would only be able to transfer 2megabytesish.

Try switching the Belkin router from b/G mixed to only G

[C']

Switched over to G only which never seemed to help.

However I've currently switched my PC over to a cabled connection (which due to my setup, cannot be a permanent solution) and Speed tests are coming out much higher (just got a 7MB download) so I guess it is a wireless issue.

Checked both PCs and they both have 802.11G wireless network cards installed.

[C']

Hmmm, just had a rather pessimistic thought.

If a 802.11b connection was tapping into my network that would limit the speed of all of the other connections I believe? If so, then if someone was leeching onto my network with a 802.11b that would cause this issue.

I think

[Magnakai]

I doubt that's the problem, plus if you've disabled 802.11b then they should only be able to connect on 802.11g. It's more likely an issue with wireless channels. Maybe try switching to a different one.

Still, if you're worried about someone tapping into your network then stop broadcasting your SSID and start using a WPA password. I'd recommend doing that anyway, tbh. You'll have to type in the SSID (network name) instead of selecting it from a menu, but it means that anyone without the name won't be able to connect. And then the password will put a stop to the bizarre psychic/lucky invaders.

If you want to totally lock down your network so that only certain computers (which you'll set) will be able to access it, you can enable MAC address filtering. I don't personally do that, as it's a bit fiddly on my router and I don't think it's necessary.

On my Belkin router, you click on MAC address filtering on the left hand bar.
A MAC address is a serial number that's unique to each network interface. So by filtering out any foreign MAC addresses, you'll be totally blocking anyone unknown from connecting to your network.

You can see the different MAC addresses of the systems that are currently connected to your network by clicking on DHCP client list at the top of the menu.

[C']

Yeah, it wasn't that. I brought up the Client List connected at the time and was able to narrow down each connection to something in my house via either IP address or MAC address.

[C']

I doubt that's the problem, plus if you've disabled 802.11b then they should only be able to connect on 802.11g. It's more likely an issue with wireless channels. Maybe try switching to a different one.

Thanks man

Changed to a different wireless channel and just got 5MB speed test result. Not perfect yet but clearly an indication I'm in the right direction.

[EvilBoris]

Supposedly channels 1 and 11 are the best channels as they don't overlap as many other channels.

[C']

I went to 7. 11 was what it was on before