Wireless issues

[Jeff V]

I've only been railing forever it seems about my shitty Comcrap internet service. I can't stream a damn thing without frequent pauses, interruptions, or flat-out application abortion -- when I can even get it going in the first place. I figured, well, I did ask Comcrap for their cheapest service, so maybe it was partially my fault.

When the Internet service last month ballooned to $100 per month; I couldn't take it anymore. I called them up to complain, only to be told I was getting 75 Mbps (I thought I signed up for 25)! I ran a speed test, and it hovered between 3 and 5 Mbps. 75 my ass. So I spent some quality time with India troubleshooting things (I've been through this a dozen times in the past, mind you). After re-provisioning the line and restarting my modem (which gets restarted regularly anyway), he gave me a link to what I suspect is a Comcrap-optimized speed test, and I was getting a whopping 10 Mbps. So he setup an appointment with a tech, who came out yesterday afternoon.

Well, it seems there is nothing wrong with the service, Hardwired into the modem, I get 83Mbps. The problem seems to be my neighbors. There are 11 SSIDs broadcasting from various neighbors within range. The Comcrap tech told me that each of these (including the Xfinity SSID itself) generate interference that degrade performance, which is why I am topping out at 10. My router is a 2.4GHz band, and he said if I got a 5 GHz there would be a lot less congestion. Of course, that would be functionally useless, since Amazon Fire, Google Chromecast, my PCs, tablets and cell phone all only support 2.4GHz. But hey, if I had a Mac, they support it. And for the PC I could get a 5GHz external NIC. For what little I download to the PC, though, why bother?

[wonderpug]

What you're going to want to do is do a hard reset of your router and modem. Turn off the power completely and wait 5 minutes before turning them back on. Then run a short power cord from a 240V outlet to a plug-in hybrid car in your garage. There should be plenty of outlets within easy reach.

[Isgrimnur]

Check the channels.

[Jeff V]

Check the channels.

Thanks. I'll try 6 and 11 when I get home; it was set to 1 initially and it's at 5 now (which was reporting a whopping 13 Mbps in isolated, anecdotal testing).

[Smoove_B]

I had similar issues in my old townhouse - the one with the greatest basement in the world. I did need to change the channels and that did work out great...until we upgraded our wireless house phones and was getting random disconnection every time someone would call. That took a while to figure out but has largely been fixed because of cell phones. But the kicker was when we moved to the new house and the microwave would knock my PC off the LAN every time it was used. That one took me months to figure out. Thank god for powerline network adapters, because otherwise I probably would have snapped.

[Jeff V]

Well my router only goes to 9, so switching to 11 is out. I downloaded a wifi analyzer app on my phone. Every time it refreshes, the good and bad channels seem to reverse itself. When I first started the app, 5 looked good, open and fast. A few minutes later, and it was the worst. But channel 1 was clear. So I switched to channel 1. A few minutes later, that was hosed too.

I tried watching a movie, it completely aborted 3 times; I didn't bother recovering after the last one with 10 minutes to go. Attempts to watch an old TV show then failed as well.

My boss suggested I buy a $150, dual-band, 13 antenna router from Google, he swears by it. However, in a recent effort to get full cooperation from my wife to help with the bills now that she is working, I agreed to turn over all purchasing to her. She'd rather overpay for service we can't use than spend any more money trying to fix the problem. It doesn't affect her use of You Tube on her phone. She dismisses the kids rage as "they shouldn't be spending so much time watching TV/videos anyway." My frustration concerns her not one bit. Sigh.

[Jeff V]

I had similar issues in my old townhouse - the one with the greatest basement in the world. I did need to change the channels and that did work out great...until we upgraded our wireless house phones and was getting random disconnection every time someone would call. That took a while to figure out but has largely been fixed because of cell phones. But the kicker was when we moved to the new house and the microwave would knock my PC off the LAN every time it was used. That one took me months to figure out. Thank god for powerline network adapters, because otherwise I probably would have snapped.

My problem is because we cut cable TV a year ago, I am entirely dependent on 2.4GHz devices. I suppose I can try the passive-aggressive tactic of playing more games -- wife seems to hate that more than anything since I am semi-secluded in a room away from her and the kids. Maybe she'll hate that enough to agree to give a new router a try.

[Carpet_pissr]

Well my router only goes to 9, so switching to 11 is out. I downloaded a wifi analyzer app on my phone. Every time it refreshes, the good and bad channels seem to reverse itself. When I first started the app, 5 looked good, open and fast. A few minutes later, and it was the worst. But channel 1 was clear. So I switched to channel 1. A few minutes later, that was hosed too.

I tried watching a movie, it completely aborted 3 times; I didn't bother recovering after the last one with 10 minutes to go. Attempts to watch an old TV show then failed as well.

My boss suggested I buy a $150, dual-band, 13 antenna router from Google, he swears by it. However, in a recent effort to get full cooperation from my wife to help with the bills now that she is working, I agreed to turn over all purchasing to her. She'd rather overpay for service we can't use than spend any more money trying to fix the problem. It doesn't affect her use of You Tube on her phone. She dismisses the kids rage as "they shouldn't be spending so much time watching TV/videos anyway." My frustration concerns her not one bit. Sigh.

You pay me for the shipping and I will send you a perfectly good, dual band (5Ghz and 2.4Ghz) one I just replaced.

Works great, I only replaced it because I wanted AC (and I got one for free to review).

[Jeff V]

You pay me for the shipping and I will send you a perfectly good, dual band (5Ghz and 2.4Ghz) one I just replaced.

Works great, I only replaced it because I wanted AC (and I got one for free to review).

Thanks! I'll send you my address and can I reimburse you via Paypal?

[Punisher]

You pay me for the shipping and I will send you a perfectly good, dual band (5Ghz and 2.4Ghz) one I just replaced.

Works great, I only replaced it because I wanted AC (and I got one for free to review).

Thanks! I'll send you my address and can I reimburse you via Paypal?

Shouldn't you clear the cost with your wife?

[Carpet_pissr]

You pay me for the shipping and I will send you a perfectly good, dual band (5Ghz and 2.4Ghz) one I just replaced.

Works great, I only replaced it because I wanted AC (and I got one for free to review).

Thanks! I'll send you my address and can I reimburse you via Paypal?

Yup. I just need to find the box.

[Carpet_pissr]

Check your pm, Jeff, you have a choice.

[wonderpug]

Yup. I just need to find the box.

Check your pm, Jeff, you have a choice.

The box... THE BOX!

[Z-Corn]

Well my router only goes to 9, so switching to 11 is out.

Should have bought the Spinal Tap router...

[Kasey Chang]

Run WiFi Analyzer on your Android device will let you know which channel is least likely to conflict. Remember to run it for both the 2.4 GHz and the 5 GHz band.

[Jeff V]

Run WiFi Analyzer on your Android device will let you know which channel is least likely to conflict. Remember to run it for both the 2.4 GHz and the 5 GHz band.

I did that. It says there are no recommended channels in 2.4 GHz. It shows the throughput other SSIDs in range are getting -- some of them well over 100Mbps. And mine is often teetering between 1 and 3 Mbps.

Hopefully the gift from CP will help.

[jotomades]

I do not know how to manage with that ;/