# increasing wireless speed on router



## needapc (Jan 30, 2010)

I have TL-WR941ND router and it advertises 300Mbps wireless transfer rate, it says that in router settings also.
http://www.tp-link.com/products/productDetails.asp?pmodel=TL-WR941ND

Here's my problem: I plug my computer via ethernet cable directly to the modem and I'm getting speeds of 20-30Mbps depending on time of day. (I use http://www.speedtest.net/ for speed tests.) Then, I unplug the ethernet and browse the internet via wifi from the router and the speed is cut in half or sometimes one-third. (There are no other computer or wireless devices online at the time.) Is there anyway I could keep the original speed? Some way to change it from the router settings??

Extra info: There are actually two routers between my computer and the modem. I tested the internet speed from the first router and it remains just as fast as the speed with direct connection to the modem. It's the second router that's the problem. We have a first router (from our phone company) because it allows us to plug a phone line (we use internet phone) into it, but the first router doesn't have wifi.

I was wondering if someone could help me speed up my connection through the second router.


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## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

What is your speed by ethernet connected to the wireless router?

What is the brand and model of your wireless adapter?

On the router what wireless mode (e.g., n or b/g/n, etc.) and Channel Width (20 MHz or 20/40 MHz) are you using?

Please attach a screen shot of the Networks page of the Xirrus Wi-Fi Inspector.


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## needapc (Jan 30, 2010)

The speed on the ethernet, wifi, and direct connection fluctuates quite a lot now, so I'll wait until another time (maybe in a less busy time) to post the speed.

My wireless adapter is (this is copied and pasted from About This Mac):
Software Versions:
Menu Extra: 6.2.1 (621.1)
configd plug-in: 6.2.3 (623.1)
System Profiler: 6.0 (600.9)
Network Preference: 6.2.1 (621.1)
AirPort Utility: 5.5.1 (551.19)
IO80211 Family: 3.1.2 (312)
Interfaces:
en1:
Card Type: AirPort Extreme (0x14E4, 0x8D)
Firmware Version: Broadcom BCM43xx 1.0 (5.10.131.36.1)
Locale: FCC
Country Code: US
Supported PHY Modes: 802.11 a/b/g/n
Supported Channels: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 36, 40, 44, 48, 52, 56, 60, 64, 100, 104, 108, 112, 116, 120, 124, 128, 132, 136, 140, 149, 153, 157, 161, 165
Wake On Wireless: Supported
Status: Off


On router, wireless mode: 11bgn mixed.
Channel Width: it says "Automatic", (it has a choice between 20Mhz and 40Mhz)


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## needapc (Jan 30, 2010)

I can't download Xirrus WiFi Inspector, it's an .exe file. I need .dmg for OS X.


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## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

> Supported PHY Modes: 802.11 a/b/g/n


OK; wanted to make sure you had an N adapter.



> On router, wireless mode: 11bgn mixed.


When you test try N only (if that is an option).

Sorry, didn't realize you had a MAC. You could use the Xirrus Widget, but that also requires the Yahoo! Widget infrastructure. With the Xirrus output we are looking for other networks that may be interfering with yours, causing a slower speed.


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## needapc (Jan 30, 2010)

TerryNet said:


> OK; wanted to make sure you had an N adapter.
> When you test try N only (if that is an option).


On wireless settings, if I select "11n only," I get the following message: "Current encryption is WEP, which 11n only mode can not support. If you select ok, the security setting will be lost, continue?" You can choose OK or Cancel. I chose cancel because I didn't want to lose my security settings. Also, I can only use WEP encryption because my parents are using this wireless device (some crappy internet TV box where they can watch foreign TV shows) that only allows for WEP encryption. So I don't have much choice. It's either WEP or none.

I just downloaded the Xirrus widget. Which screenshot are you looking for?

Also, I live in a condo apartment and there are tons of networks from neighbours all around. I didn't know that could slow down my network. (there are at least 20 networks that show up under airport)

(If I use no encryption plus MAC filtering would that be enough to keep unwanted computers off my network??)


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## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

MAC Address filtering takes a few seconds to spoof and WEP takes a few minutes to crack, so neither is exactly secure. The good news is that relatively few people know how to crack either one. Even in that crowded environment you could probably safely run unencrypted for the 5 or 10 minutes it would take to see if N-only makes any difference.

If the Xirrus widget is like the gadget on Windows it will only show 3 or 4 networks w/o scrolling. We really want to see a screen shot of all the networks together, but probably two showing yours and the strongest half dozen will suffice.

There are two reasons to look at this. First is to see if there is possible or probable interference. You've already answered this in the affirmative. The second is to see if we can determine another channel or two that may give better results.


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## needapc (Jan 30, 2010)

So I switched to the 11n on the router settings, here are the results:

router wifi:
13.91mbps
13.48
12.49

direct to modem:
19.76mbps
20.19
23.27

I tested it 3 times on each. I will post the Xirrus Widget screenshots next.

Also, I tested the ethernet on the router vs. direct to modem:

ethernet:
23.29mbps
23.31
24.04

direct to modem:
24.02mbps
25.84
19.77

There roughly doesn't seem to be that much of a difference.


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## needapc (Jan 30, 2010)

Here are the screenshots:

(This is during the day so there aren't as many networks online so it fills only two pages. During the evenings there are way more networks active. If you need me to take screenshots during the evenings, just tell me.)

http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/8611/001gz.png

http://img684.imageshack.us/img684/1765/002kt.png

(The router is still set to 11n so the encryption for my network (zzz!) is none.)


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## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

You've got such a strong signal there that it's a little surprising if the other networks are interfering. Your signal is so strong that you may be too close. Best to keep the computer at least 5 or 6 feet from the wireless router unless you know that it's OK to have it closer.

Any network that is showing green in the RSSI column could cause some interference, which could cause packets to be resent, which results in slower effective speed. Since (2nd screen shot) there are fairly strong networks on channels 1, 6 and 11 there is no optimal channel for you. You could set the Chanel Width to 20 MHz, which will then use just a single channel, and try various channels to see if any make a significant difference. Attached is a chart showing how any 2 channels whose numbers differ by less than 5 can potentially interfere with each other. N uses the same channels as B and G.

It's possible that there is an issue with your wireless adapter. It may be instructive to try another adapter (which could be a friend's laptop) to see if Wi-Fi speeds are any different.


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## needapc (Jan 30, 2010)

Well, to do the speed test, I had to go immediately from ethernet cable (connected to the modem) to wifi. My ethernet cable is not that long so I kept my computer pretty close to the modem. The modem, router and other router are kept in the same place. Normally, I don't use my laptop that close to the router.

I have to test it on another computer at another time. Will post details later.


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## needapc (Jan 30, 2010)

I just tried with another computer (another wireless adapter), it's about the same as mine. They are down to 2.44Mbps and 2.72. The internet connection we ordered and paid for is supposed to be 10Mbps.

I just tested it direct to modem, it's 28.74Mbps, so A LOT of data is lost. I always suspect that our network is hacked, but so far I'm not detecting any unusual activity on the network. There's been tons of weird stuff happening on my own computer that I will have to start a thread about.


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## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

Have you told us yet the speed you get with an ethernet connection to the wireless router?


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## needapc (Jan 30, 2010)

I posted it here: (when I tested the speed earlier), unless you want me to test the speed again with the ethernet cable



needapc said:


> So I switched to the 11n on the router settings, here are the results:
> 
> router wifi:
> 13.91mbps
> ...


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## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

Thanks, I had missed it when reviewing a little earlier. Just wanted to make sure it was a wireless, not a general router, issue.

It could be a defect in the router's wireless, but I don't know how you would check that other than going somewhere that has internet access but few, if any, other wireless networks.


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## needapc (Jan 30, 2010)

If I select 11n, it is much faster on my computer but my parents' wireless internet tv device can't connect. If I use bgn mixed it's slow. Another thing with the internet TV device is that it only accepts WEP password protection or no password at all. The other computers on the network can accept WPA and WPA2. It is really annoying using this device with a wireless router, it works optimally when it's wired, but it's in a different room than the router and there's no way we could physically move things around to make it work. 

I was wondering if it's time to get a new router?? Is there a router on the market where you could select specific router settings for each MAC address/computer/device? So one computer gets 11g only because that's the best it can do and another computer gets 11n only---this way the speed would be optimized (using bg mixed or bgn mixed always slows everybody down), and one computer requires WEP password to log into the network and another computer requires WPA2, etc. Is there such a thing on the market?

Also, something that works well despite countless wifi signals from all over the place.


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## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

What you are asking for is called a second router or another wireless access point. A router (and adapter) that supports 802.11a (5 GHz band) will avoid the congestion in a place like yours because almost everybody has only 2.4 Ghz 802.11b,g,n. The downside is expense, shorter range, and less ability to penetrate walls and other obstructions.

If you are satisfied with the current router using N and WPA or WPA2 then buy an inexpensive (could be G) router and use it as an ethernet switch and wireless access point for the TV device.

JohnWill's procedure (Aug. 30, 2008) for configuring a secondary router as a switch and, optionally, wireless access point follows.

*Connecting* two (or more) *SOHO broadband* routers together.

_*Note*: The "primary" router can be an actual router, a software gateway like Microsoft Internet Connection Sharing, or a server connection that has the capability to supply more than one IP address using DHCP server capability. No changes are made to the primary "router" configuration._

Configure the IP address of the secondary router(s) to be in the same subnet as the primary router, but out of the range of the DHCP server in the primary router. For instance DHCP server addresses 192.168.0.2 through 192.168.0.100, I'd assign the secondary router 192.168.0.254 as it's IP address, 192.168.0.253 for another router, etc.

*Note: Do this first, as you will have to reboot the computer to connect to the router again for the remaining changes.*

Disable the DHCP server in the secondary router.

Setup the wireless section just the way you would if it was the primary router, channels, encryption, etc.

Connect from the primary router's LAN port to one of the LAN ports on the secondary router. If there is no uplink port and neither of the routers have auto-sensing ports, use a cross-over cable. [You will not need a cross-over cable if one of the "routers" is a computer.] Leave the WAN port unconnected!

This procedure bypasses the routing function (NAT layer) and configures the router as a switch (or wireless access point for wireless routers).

For reference, here's a link to a Typical example config using a Netgear router


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## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

There are also *dual band* routers that have, in effect, 2 wireless access points--one 5 GHz and the other 2.4 GHz.


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## needapc (Jan 30, 2010)

Some of those options are quite expensive.

Well, if I have to buy another router, it'll have to wait until after New Year's.

Thanks for all your help. I'll inform you when I purchase another router. Also, I'm finding that 11g, channel 1 works for the TV device and it's not too slow for the other computers.


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## needapc (Jan 30, 2010)

I have to keep switching the channels every once in awhile for the TV device. If I turn it off for awhile and then turn it on, it sometimes can no longer connect with the channel that the router is set to. So I have to manually go through all the channels, from 1 to 11, to see which one works. Anyway, that second router seems like a good idea to me now.

(Everyone must be busy this time of year. Sorry if I disturb your Christmas. And happy holidays.)


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## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

Use the Xirrus output reasonably close to the TV device and reasonably close to the router to see if there is any obvious choice(s) of channel to use. In your environment there will probably be some strong signals to stay away from, but no optimal choice. And if people have their router on only part of the day or are letting the router auto choose the channel or are attempting to get a better channel as you are doing you will be shooting at a moving target. Wi-Fi is great, but not when "everybody' is using it.


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