Question about my Router/Internet Connection and playing PS3

[Khryz]

Tonight I was playing my PS3 and in a game I noticed that my ping was very high (400) when it is usually 120.

My brother was sitting next to me with his Macbook open so I told him to shut his Macbook for a second. Sure enough we watched as my ping dropped from 400 to the 100's. He went upstairs and then opened his Macbook again and then my ping went back up to the 300's. I went upstairs and noticed that my mother was on her laptop too .. and my Macbook was on upstairs, not to mention my iPhone was on too.

I currently have a 3-4 year old Linksys Wireless-G router - do I need to upgrade? There's obviously too much people using the wireless network which is clogging it up right? What about the N-routers? I know Mac's are configured for them but not sure about our non-Mac laptops in the house, and I know the PS3 only supports the G routers.

Also, I noticed that since my brothers have been home from college with their laptops I have a hard time viewing HD videos on Youtube and whatnot.

I was looking at the Apple AEBSwGE or the Linksys that support 2.4GHz and 5GHz together but not sure if those would be overkill.

Can someone help?!

Thanks!

 

[Minimoose 360]

This is what I have:

Linksys Ultra RangePlus Wireless-N Broadband Router

Works great, no problems, supports multiple laptops, iPhones, and game consoles in my house at the same time without any latency issues.
Supports all 802.11 protocol b/g/n devices. It will work with your Windows PC, you PS3, and any Mac that has wireless-n. (or Windows machine with wireless-n for that matter)

Also supports latest WPA2 security which really everyone should have, it isn't on the old routers.

Hope this helps.

EDIT: Also if you could describe the event more. Is the recurring or did it just happen once? You should probably invest in a new router anyway, but it could have been a server hiccup from your ISP. It's happened to me before (judging by my speedtest.net graph) there is a nice line of 26,000 kbps to 30,000 kbps (down) and then a two day span where it was down to just 7500 kbps, quite a dramatic drop. I called Optimum Services, they said they were expanding the network for more HDTV bandwidth and new customers, so there would be some latency issues for a few days. Next day I was back to my usual speed. Had them flush the line out and everything (we're the first home connected to the branch of the network in my neighborhood so I get the fastest speeds haha.) Check with your internet service provider to see if they are having issues. Another culprit could be your Cable/DSL modem. I have had mine replaced three times since living in this house. Sometimes you forget that they come out with new technology and your modem is like 4 years out of date including it's firmware. Cheers!!

 

[Khryz]

Thanks for the reply. As far as I noticed it only happened once, when it seemed my whole family were on their computers I guess sucking up more bandwidth?

I've been doing some more research on router's and it seems the Airport Extreme Base Station w/ Gigabit Ethernet is getting pretty good reviews, but also another Linksys like a 600 series that can do 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz at the same time got good reviews too. But those routers are $150-200 so not sure we need to go that far.

I just don't know what routers to get to help with bandwidth .. there seems to be so many different models.

 

[phrehdd]

Thanks for the reply. As far as I noticed it only happened once, when it seemed my whole family were on their computers I guess sucking up more bandwidth?

I've been doing some more research on router's and it seems the Airport Extreme Base Station w/ Gigabit Ethernet is getting pretty good reviews, but also another Linksys like a 600 series that can do 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz at the same time got good reviews too. But those routers are $150-200 so not sure we need to go that far.

I just don't know what routers to get to help with bandwidth .. there seems to be so many different models.

I might recommend you look at SmallNetBuilder. That site has several reviews and tests on wireless routers and, as you pointed out, the Apple Airport Extreme does quite well.

Btw, I wouldn't just yet throw out your present router. You might consider using it as your connection to your internet then cable it to the new router.

In my case I have the following

Internet->Modem>--[Dlink 655]-->[Airport1] <wireless Bridge>[Airport2]

The Dlink has most of my internet security settings.
The first Airport (1), has my computers and NAS(cabled)
The second Airport being wirelessly bridged has my entertainment stuff which is basically the PS3 for blu ray disc play and streaming movies from my NAS. The PS3 is gig cabled to the Airport which is far faster than the wireless G built into the PS3. I can stream higher bitrate media including several M2TS files archived from blu ray discs I own.

I do have an airport express but there are two reasons it is not used for the bridging on the PS3 side - a) it is slower than Extreme and b) single ethernet line out. It remains as an emergency backup.

The bridged network runs only at 5ghrz by my choice. When people come by with their own equipment, I can quickly get them in as a "guest" on the Dlink and avoid my network entirely. As well I of course can put them in my network if needed.

As far as wireless speed goes,

Mac Pro - Fast
iMac - Fast
family members' Dell laptop - VERY FAST
PS3 thru the bridge - Fast

The real deal is to make sure you set up the bridge correctly. Both base stations will show up on the computer you used to set them up with and thats pretty good for getting your logs and other info and such.

Hope this is helpful.

Regards,

- Phrehdd