Wireless Router - Slow Download Speed.

[the scouser]

It's me again!

Right, I've now successfully got my wireless router up and running and connected wirelessly to my PC.

The router (a Netgear DG834G) has an integral firewall. Does this mean I can uninstall Zone Alarm from my PC?

Secondly, since getting up and running wirelessly, I've had a huge drop in download speed (4500 kbps to 500kbps). Anyone have any thoughts why? The wireless network is WPA encrypted, so my bandwidth is not being filtched, and there is only one PC attached to the network. The router is connected to the wireless adapter at 54Mbps and the signal strength is given as excellent.

Thanks, as ever, for your thoughts.

Scouse.

[nikster]

It's me again!

Right, I've now successfully got my wireless router up and running and connected wirelessly to my PC.

The router (a Netgear DG834G) has an integral firewall. Does this mean I can uninstall Zone Alarm from my PC?

Secondly, since getting up and running wirelessly, I've had a huge drop in download speed (4500 kbps to 500kbps). Anyone have any thoughts why? The wireless network is WPA encrypted, so my bandwidth is not being filtched, and there is only one PC attached to the network. The router is connected to the wireless adapter at 54Mbps and the signal strength is given as excellent.

Thanks, as ever, for your thoughts.

Scouse.

1 - ZoneAlarm is a full anti-virus suite. You don't need the firewall function - use Windows firewall or the just the router instead. But the AV function you still need - personally I don't like ZA but others love it so it's really up to you.

2 - It's unlikely that the wireless is causing the slowdown. Try this: Turn off wireless, connect to the router via Ethernet and see if it's any different. That will tell you if you are just in a "slow internet" situation of if its really the wireless. If it really is the wireless, get the latest firmware for the router and install it, and the latest wireless drivers for your computer and install it.

[autonomous_unit]

After checking that the speed difference really is due to wireless (by testing on wired LAN as suggested above), you might check and see if the router has a "status" page in its web interface, where you can see wireless LAN statistics. Sometimes, this will have a separate indication for transmission errors. If there is a big number, or if you can actually see the number going up when you periodically view the page, then there might be some local radio interference or other problem.

I mention this only because the wireless "signal strength" indicators sometimes give a false reading. Not always, but enough over the years with different interface cards, drivers, and access points that I'll always check before looking too far for a problem.

You might try changing the wireless channel configuration if you do see errors. Doing a scan from your PC to see what other wireless networks are in range could also be useful, if you live in an apartment or condo block. You want to be on a different channel than everyone else within range.

[the scouser]

Thanks for the replies.

It struck me that the wireless router is not connected to the master telephone socket, but an extension. I therefore tried the master socket and, lo and behold, speeds are back up to normal.

I now need to get the electrician in, as the master phone socket has no adjacent power socket to give the router its electricity supply, and I can't leave a cable trailing all over the floor.

Anyway, at least I now know the cause.

Cheers,

Scouse.