Recommended Router for Fibre Optic

[Lance]

Thanks for clarifying where the communications went, Simon. 

[kerrso05]

Thanks Simon    for updating that............I've probably been missing loads of Emails from yourselves over the years. Mind you I don't know why that happened because when I ordered the FTTP/FTTC I used the Idnet address and I have had the Newsletters coming to the Idnet address from time to time.............anyway I'm not to worried about it because you have sorted it out now and anyway, BT contacted me........so only a couple of hours to wait till I'm up and running.

Sorry for not replying to you sooner but been at my first daughter's graduation ceremony at Queens University Belfast, today. So not been thinking about Internet, just enjoying the beautiful sunny day and having strawberry's and cream on the lawn.........Great Day

[Simon]

  Harry!  I hope she does well out of it. 

[kerrso05]

Simon....thanks and I'll pass on your best wishes. She got a Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Music Technology and has just got through the first round for an Apprenticeship with the BBC for Program Production.........so fingers and toes and everything else crossed for that one. There are very few jobs out there, even for graduates.

Funnily, I was talking to a Law Lecturer today and he was saying that very few of his students had jobs lined up for them when they graduated (whereas in years gone past most of them were guaranteed a job as a solicitor.....today,they would be lucky if they got a Para-legal's job) and his Daughter who had also just graduated today, in Medicine was one of the lucky ones who was guaranteed a job for two years in the Health Service.

(Sorry guys for moving off the theme of this thread)

[Simon]

You must be very proud, Harry. 

[kerrso05]

Simon.....as the saying goes......."Proud as Punch".......

[kerrso05]

Well back on to Topic.

FTTC/FTTP was installed to-day as promised. A very helpful BT Openreach Engineer phoned around 11.00am to let me know that he was going to install the upgrade and that my phone would go down for about 10 minutes and after that he would be around to the house to install the BT Modem. About 5 minutes later he called around and asked me were I wanted the Modem installed. I had decided that I would have it installed on the wall beside the Master socket in the hall, to which he replied "No problem, I will have that done as quickly as possible" and about 10 minutes later he had the modem installed......simply and as quickly as that. I told him that I wasn't a BT Openreach/Infinity customer but he said he already knew that because the job was for Idnet. He also told me that he had checked the speed coming into the house at the Master Socket and he said it was 39.5Kbps..........WOW. I told him that with ADSL I was getting around 2.5Kbps to which he replied "then you should see a bit of difference now with this" I then asked him would I get anything near that speed at which point he noticed my Powerline Ethernet Adapters and he said "with those you should see that speed"
At that, he left. The total job was over in about 30 - 45 minutes.

I loaded up the Billion Router which was relatively quite simple and then tested the line on a computer linked to the Powerline Ethernet Adaptor and got around 37.5 Kbps Download. So I am well pleased with everything. Neat tidy installation by a very polite helpful BT Openreach Engineer............I couldn't be happier.

What I have noticed is that I'm not getting those speeds with the Belkin N Adapter......the best that I have got is 17.9Kbps Download. Do you think that is the best I'm going to hope to get with a Wireless N adapter? (should I buy a Billion N Adapter because the router is a Billion?) or can I improve that speed?. Should I download the latest Alpha Firmware from Billion for the Router?

Thanks to everyone who took part in this discussion...........your help was much appreciated


THANKS

[Steve]

I would expect a bit more from wireless N , obviously performance drops off the further you are from the router and connected legacy 'G' devices tend to drag performance down. Any idea what your 'N' connection speed is.

The 1.06d firmware seems pretty mature and stable.

[Anton]

Well back on to Topic.

the best that I have got is 17.9Kbps Download. Do you think that is the best I'm going to hope to get with a Wireless N adapter?

17.9K?

Is that really 17.9M?

If so, yes, I think it's a bit on the low side, but hey, 17M is enough to stream HD and still pick up mail, so perhaps you can live with it!


Enjoy...

[kerrso05]

Sorry Anton.........you are right 17.9 Mbps.........just shows you, I know nothing about this subject 

The Firmware that is on the Billion is this:- WHR-G300N Ver.1.82 (R1.12/B1.01) .....but there is a more recent Alpha Firmware available..........do you think I should download it and try it?

Maybe I should look at getting a Billion 'N' Adapter.....I wonder would that improve the speed because they all would be from the same manufacturer. I know I am nick-picking but I just want to squeeze every last bit of speed out of this equipment.

[Bill]

I'm confused... earlier in the thread you said you were going to get a Buffalo router, now you're talking about a Billion router (with what looks like Buffalo firmware) and a Belkin adapter... what have you got?

[kerrso05]

Sorry Bill  ............I'm having a night of it................why oh why was I talking about Billion???

Forget all that RUBBISH

It's a Buffalo Nfiniti WHR-G300N V2 that I have (were I got the billion.....I never will know)

Honestly, I haven't been drinking and no I don't abuse drugs either.

This is what I have:-

Buffalo Nfinti Router and a Belkin F7D4101ED Play Wireless USB Adapter (802.11a/g/n, 300 Mbps)

[Bill]

OK, thanks, these things happen

I'm not familiar with either the Buffalo or the Belkin, but a couple of thoughts occur-

1) is the Belkin plugged into a USB2 port? I'm not sure a USB1 port would be fast enough.

2) Check the wireless "channel width" setting on the Buffalo- on my Billion I can select either 20MHz or 20/40MHz. If yours is set to 20MHz this might explain the reduced speed.

Otherwise I'm stuck

[Glenn]

Are there any other wireless devices connecting to the router?

[Steve]

Make sure your wireless security is set to WPA2/AES, other levels of security reduce throughput apparently.

[kerrso05]

Guys, thanks again for all your help. Just been looking at all that rubbish I posted yesterday......very embarrassing........looked like I had been taking drugs. 

Steve I have the Buffalo  set at AOSS WPA/WPA2 mixedmode - PSK .....hopefully that is correct!!

Bill - The Belkin N Adapter is plugged into a USB2 port

I don't know if I can select the Buffalo on either 20 or 40MHz.........maybe Glenn would know if I can do that.

I have just checked and the Firmware that I have is up to date........so forget all that rubbish I said about downloading newer Firmware, there aren't any.

[Glenn]

Harry, have you tried configuring and using the wireless without using AOSS? I don't think you can switch between 20/40Mhz bandings using the Buffalo firmware, but I haven't looked closely.

[kerrso05]

Harry, have you tried configuring and using the wireless without using AOSS? I don't think you can switch between 20/40Mhz bandings using the Buffalo firmware, but I haven't looked closely.

Glenn...........I have just switched bandings to 40Mhz using the http://192.168.11.1/ web settings but I don't know how to use the wireless without the AOSS.....that's a mystery, which you would have to explain.

Just checked the speedtest.net and am getting the same as yesterday 14 - 16 Mbps for download using the Belkin N Adapter

[Glenn]

Is the Belkin the only wireless connection to the router, no mobiles or other laptops connecting?

[kerrso05]

Is the Belkin the only wireless connection to the router, no mobiles or other laptops connecting?

Well at the moment, it's the only one................although in saying that I have the Powerline Ethernet Adapters permanently connected but no TV or Computer that uses them is on.

No that Speedtest.net test was used with only the Belkin N Adapter connected to a USB2 in a Windows XP computer

[Glenn]

On the router under Wireless config, Advanced, is the multicast rate set to Auto, if it is maybe select 54Mbps and see what happens?

[kerrso05]

Glenn

I have seen a slight improvement since changing the banding to 40Ghz plus I have changed the setting in Wireless Config from Auto to 54Mbps............I would say the speed has gone up to 19.9 mbps..so slight improvement. Should I look at getting an N adapter from Buffalo to see if that improves it?.........or can suggest any other adjustments to the router settings?

Thanks again for your help

[Anton]

Should I look at getting an N adapter from Buffalo to see if that improves it?.........or can suggest any other adjustments to the router settings?

This is blind prejudice and I'm sure others will disagree with me, but I've not, ever, been satisfied with Belkin Network gear. IMO the guarantee is great, design is good but performance is never bette than ok. It also makes a lot of sense to match the manufacturer of your gear up, particularly where N is involved as there were so many draft specs and minor incompatibilities.

Maybe knock out the Belkin out on eBay and treat yourself! :-)

[kerrso05]

Hi Guys this is the best I can get with the Belkin Adapter



but it fluctuates like mad...............maybe that is the best I am going to get and it wouldn't matter what adapter I use. The router is positioned in the hall of the house and this computer is in one of the bedrooms upstairs in a modern detached house built about 12 yrs ago (with breeze block wall construction)

What I have noticed is that the transmission speed in the Buffalo Software "Client Manager 3" on this Windows XP computer is showing as 300Mbps......so maybe that is the best I am going to get.

Mind you, it is much faster than I was getting with ADSL................so I shoudn't complain.......should I? 

[Steve]

I think that's probably very good if your that far away,you could play with the wireless channels to try and reduce neighbourhood interference.