Cable speed sucks - router to blame?

[Adcadet]

Hey gang,
My wife and I recently upgraded our cable internet from 5 Mbps to 10 Mbps. Never had trouble with the 5 Mbps. For the first few months of the 10 Mbps things were great. Frequently tested the internet connection from 6-8 Mbps. Recently, though, the internet has felt really slow, and when I test my speed it clocks in from 300-700 Kbps with a latency of around 700 ms (tested by the Flash-based test at DSLReports.com). When I directly connect to the cable modem with my computer I get download speeds from 4-6 Mbps with a latency around 73 ms (tested through the DSLReports.com Flash-based test), and when I connect my computer to the router I get 400 Kbps with a latency of around 700 ms. WTF? This persists with the wireless portion of the router turned off. I haven't changed anything lately on the router. Any ideas on how to trouble shoot this?

Thanks,
Adcadet

 

[Adcadet]

Well, apparently when Linksys says that to reset the router you need to hold down the reset button, what they really mean is that you need to unplug it and hold down the reset button. Turns out I wasn't actually resetting the router, just warm-rebooting it. I figured it out when I did ipconfig and realized that instead of getting a default IP address (192.168.1.1xx), I was still getting my special little IP address. After doing a true reset I'm back to latencies of 25-50 ms and download speeds of around 5 M. Muuuuuuch better.

 

[mubs]

If your package is 10 mbps,why are you still getting 5? 7 or 8 or 9 I can understand, but half the rated speed sucks.

 

[Adcadet]

In the past I've noticed that connecting through the router (vs directly do the modem) cuts 1-2 M off my top speed. I don't know why, but right now I'm just glad I'm getting 5 M and not 500 k.

 

[Handruin]

I complained of the same problem with my netgear in another thread some where here. I have 16MB down and only can get 6-8 through my router.

I really only wanted the package for the 2MB upload which I get close to, so I haven't really gone crazy trying to find a better router that could possibly handle the faster speeds.

 

[ddrueding]

It's all about the SmoothWall

 

[Handruin]

I know, but that means I have to build another system to run it. I looked around for cheap ways but I couldn't find anything clear cut. Do you have any recommendations. I don't have an old system to use for this task, so it would have to be new.

 

[ddrueding]

Low power consumption and low noise are the key to making it practical. If you also need something small it will cost more, and something pretty will be even more.

Look for a motherboard with 2 NICs on it and a CPU that consumes as little as possible. Use a CF card (256MB is plenty) with an IDE adapter instead of a hard drive. Once it is set up you can console/web interface into it for all changes, so you won't need a KVM or somesuch.

The VIA EPIA boards are nice, small, and fanless. If you aren't doing SPAM/Content filtering they should have plenty of horsepower. They can be a bit pricey.

These guys are near me and I have had good luck with them.

This is the most bare-bone board they have with 2 ethernet ports, but I don't even know if Geode CPUs are x86.

Something more like what I build would look like this:

PicoPSU - $50
VIA EPIA-EK10000G Mobo/CPU - $200
256MB DDR - $25
256MB CF Card + CF to IDE adapter - $25

Simple enough to build. If you want a seperate, secure wireless network (Blue Interface) or a DMZ (Orange Interface), you will need more NICs.

If you can stand a fan and a larger case, stick to regular components and you will save some money, at the expense of using more power.