Ok Question About Possible Reasons For Slow Internet

[Sabum]

At my apartment they have highspeed (ya right) from true that is provided through a horrible middle man so that my apartment can make money off our internet connection (they sell us cards with codes). Now the land line with the cheapo modem they sell us is adequate, but the wifi they have available on every floor is really slow and laggy, but its all from the same place. My question is, why is the wifi so much slower than the landline (same price of course). And, is there something they can fix to change the wifi and make it as fast as the landline? We keep complaining but they say the wifi is fine (did anyone expect a different answer?) What is the reasons for slow wifi over ok landline? Can they fix it?

Thanks.

[sniffdog]

Quite simple. There is one line coming in a central point (in your apartment) and is then distributed to many other points. So many people share the Wifi connection. Hence it's slower than your personal landline where you share a connection (with a larger bandwidth) with the outside world.

Solution is to buy a wireless router connected to your landline and use that for Wifi access.

Edited October 19, 2008 by sniffdog

[TopDogger]

OR get your own ADSL connection?

[Sabum]

Quite simple. There is one line coming in a central point (in your apartment) and is then distributed to many other points. So many people share the Wifi connection. Hence it's slower than your personal landline where you share a connection (with a larger bandwidth) with the outside world.

Solution is to buy a wireless router connected to your landline and use that for Wifi access.

Ok, but the landline is ALSO a line brought into the building and then distributed amongst other tenants just like the wifi line... in fact I always assumed it was the SAME single line they brought in and distributed for both the landlines and wifi. But Im just guessing.... ok I didnt think of a wireless router, that sounds like an idea but can I use that and still go through their user name and password setup?...... The situation is that their old land line modems (usb) they sell us are not compatible or supported by Windows Vista which I have to use (so Im forced to buy a wirelss card and use their crappy wifi). Could I replace their crappy modem with one that is supported by windows vista so I can use the landline?! Please let me know as that would solve my problem, I'll run over to pantip right now. Actually I have one of Trues adsl modems that connects using a crossover? cable, can I use that? Its actually True that the middle man uses.

OR get your own ADSL connection?

Ya Im looking into it... but for the longest time my apartment WOULDNT LET ME.... when I brought it up they actually said "but.... how would we make money if you got your own line?!" These guys...... are also the ones charging me 7 baht per unit for electricity. But I think I have them on the ropes and willing to let me get my own line because I and a few others bother them so much.

Edited October 20, 2008 by Sabum

[Crushdepth]

Another possible reason for slow wireless is interference. If your condo block has several access points all operating on the same or nearby channels, they will intefere with each other and reduce the available wireless bandwidth. For good performance access points need to operate on widely separated channels (eg. 1, 6 and 11) because channels actually overlap their neighbours to a fair degree.

[sniffdog]

Ah, I thought you had your own dedicated landline.

Anyway, yes, the reason why Wifi is slower is that, depending on the size of the building, interference can be a problem. Also repeaters might be necessary.

[Sabum]

Well is it possible to use a modem I buy at pantip to utilize the land line or does it have to be their crap modem that is not compatible with Vista?

Or the idea of a wireless router connected from the landline?

Which of these is viable and will improve performance?

Thanks alot

[unomi]

the thing about 'having to use a modem' internally sounds very weird

the cable that goes from your wall, are you sure its a telephone line? ie relatively thin and few wires that are hooked up?

The prepaid card you use probably has some limitations on it regarding speed, could be that someone is using your codes and hence stealing your bandwidth.

unless you have only 1 or 2 bars of signal with your wifi it should be much faster than the adsl line anyway.

Sounds like a dodgy setup but no good way to find out whats wrong without looking at it closer.

[Antimony]

OR get your own ADSL connection?

But True internet is so slow. I have my own connection (2 M I think) and my friend told me not to upgrade to 5 M because it wouldnt make a difference ... since there is a "bottleneck" in Thailand. Not really sure what that means.

[sniffdog]

Your friend is not totally correct.

Your possible top speed would be higher on a 5Mb package. But you have to change your surfing times and stay up during the early hours. During 'normal' times it's not unlikely that those with a 5Mb speed get the same speed as you with a 2Mb speed. Although I am sure that my speed on TOT Goldcybe (2Mb) is higher than those with the Silvercybe (1Mb) every time of the day.

But if you want to download stuff like movies etc, get a 5Mb account, a Rapidshare account and a Download Manager. Then schedule your downloads from 2am-9am.

Edited October 20, 2008 by sniffdog

[Sabum]

the thing about 'having to use a modem' internally sounds very weird

the cable that goes from your wall, are you sure its a telephone line? ie relatively thin and few wires that are hooked up?

The prepaid card you use probably has some limitations on it regarding speed, could be that someone is using your codes and hence stealing your bandwidth.

unless you have only 1 or 2 bars of signal with your wifi it should be much faster than the adsl line anyway.

Sounds like a dodgy setup but no good way to find out whats wrong without looking at it closer.

Ya the phone line is connected to the modem and the modem is connected to my phone and pc. The reason the setup is wierd is because its a money making scam by my apartment. They found a middle man supplier to charge us 900 baht a month for 512 speed and the apartment gets a cut of each card they sell. The card has a username and code on it that can only be logged on by one person at any one time (If I try to log on with another pc it wont let me until I log out with my other pc, to use that same code I mean). The wifi signal is very strong, its just much laggier than the land line through the modem. There are wifi boxes on each floor to provide the wifi signal for people using laptops or like me using vista.

So nobody really knows if I can replace their crappy modem with one that vista supports so I can go back to using the faster land line?

[unomi]

It really is hard to say, simply because I almost cannot believe that it is a 'real' modem, do you have to call an internal number?

It sounds like a huge cost if they really installed an internal dialup system. Sorry, no idea.

You might consider using something like trueWifi if you can see a hotspot.

Its not a guarantee that you can use just any modem, PBX lines have been known to fry at least older modems, but honestly I haven't been keeping track of modems for ages.

What kind of a scammy place is it that you live? might consider just finding another place hey.

[quiksilva]

I wonder if this is the reason for your problems logging in to WAR?

Like others said, I'd move.