Loosing 60% of my speed by moving 10 meters..

[markgodley]

Hey,

Ive been having great speed losses and only just figured out why.

I do a speed test while im next to the router... give's speeds of 48meg. I ran this a few times and all were 47-49meg.

I then went into my bedroom and speed tests ranged from 11meg-20meg....i did this a few times... then went back to the same room as the router and speeds again were 47-49meg.

So looks like a distance issue... howevever... i live in a bungalow and the distance from me to the router is about 10 meters (if i was to ignore the 2 walls inbetween). However my laptop shows full 5 bars (the maxium) for signal.

Im using the standard virgin media N router (Dlink)

Any suggestions? Ive tried going on different channels but still the same issue is present.

 

[Intell]

Are you using the 5Ghz band? It has a poorer range then 2.4Ghz and it doesn't like walls very much. 10 meters, about 30 feet, is enough distance to make the overall throughput drop to those levels.

 

[markgodley]

Thanks for your reply.

Is it possible to change the band? i've had a look on my router but cant find anything.

it just says:
wireless mode: n/g/b
band width: 20/40mhz

Im using a dlink DIR-615

 

[Intell]

The D-Link DIR-615 is 2.4Ghz only. One thing you could try is making the bandwidth just 20Mhz. It might change somethings. I've found that my own DIR-615 has range issues when it come to speed. Whether I'm far from it, connected via wire, or right next to it.

 

[Eric M]

Well, if it's just for browsing - shouldn't really make a difference...
If you transfer large files between the computers via WIFI...*ekhem* change the router. WIFI does not "like" walls in general. Some MIMO N routers are known for performing much better than just a standard b/g routers that are given away when you sign a contract with an ISP. Look here and here
These are pricey, but well worth the £$€.
The other factor to take in to consideration is the antenna in the computer, is it MIMO compatible, if not then there is no point in upgrading.
If it's the fie transfer rate that concerns you the most then the only solution would be wiring. I used to have a "G", then Powerline 1GB, but at the end just decided to do it properly and wired everything with a CAT5e and now have a semi-gigabit network...worked out cheaper than buying a new router/adapters and it's more reliable...just something to think about....