Download speeds so slow?!?

[silvercroc]

Hi there,

Have windows vista on a dell laptop with AOL wireless broadband, netgear router.

Up until 2 weeks ago I was obtaining 250kb/s from sites such as download.com. However, for no reason at all it just dropped to around 80kb/s and would not go higher. It has been like this for 2 weeks with no improvement. Please note I have not in any way altered the configuration of my computer, location/connection of the wireless router etc, i.e I have not changed anything at all in my setup. I hoped it would sort itself out but still no joy, so I tried plugging into my old modem and going through that way (ethernet cable etc), which brought my speeds back to 250kb/s. Therefore it must be something to do with my router no? I have tried turning it on and off but nothing works, my ps3 also had problems connecting recently so it must be the netgear wireless router.

Can anyone please offer any advice / help?? Do I need a new router or is there an easy solution I am missing?!

Thanks in advance for any help!


Tom

[tauman5263]

maybe update the routers firmware. if that doesn't work, then get a new router. or wait for other suggestions in this topic.

[silvercroc]

Originally Posted by tauman5263

maybe update the routers firmware. if that doesn't work, then get a new router. or wait for other suggestions in this topic.

Thanks for the advice tauman, I tried updating the firmware but still the same. I have a feeling I may have to invest in a new router though, as the ethernet connection is still giving me up to 290kb/s now!?

[renegade600]

talk to your isp Maybe you have been throttled for doing too much downloading.

[silvercroc]

Originally Posted by renegade600

talk to your isp Maybe you have been throttled for doing too much downloading.

No they aren't from what i can see, as my modem works fine when i use that instead.

Can anyone help please?

I spoke to AOL, they tested my line and then said my router was not communicating with the server properly, so they told me to reset the router and reconfigure it, which i did 3 times to their exact instructions but still to no avail. I explained that using the old modem and ethernet I was getting 400kbs but with wireless only 70kbs (dropped overnight from about 250kbs). They arranged a call back for me on tuesday night, they called and basically said there's nothing wrong with the line i should contact netgear to tell them the problem.

This is a joke, they supplied me the router and its not even a year old, I haven't told netgear about the issue yet, is it worth it? Or do you think i need to get a new router?

Thing is i don't want to splash out on a decent router only to find that it wasn't the problem.

It's annoying the hell out of me as my ps3 is rubbish when I can't play online, the speed i get gives constant lag!

[guzer666]

First,

Get rid of AOL, they suck big time, all they marketing comes from mass spamming CDs and other rubbish.

Get a good provider like:

BT ----Best povider i know of.

Virgin Media ----not great but works.

Tiscali --Ok when it works, but when it doesn't its down for months.