Author Topic: Wireless internet problem  (Read 2759 times)

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Offline weathergirl

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Wireless internet problem
« on: March 14, 2012, 09:08:13 AM »
My husband swears that his wireless internet connection slows down or drops off completely when my weather computer is uploading data. We have a D-link router. Is there a workaround for this or do we need a new router?
Ann-Marie
Beamsville, Ontario, Canada

Offline DanS

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Re: Wireless internet problem
« Reply #1 on: March 14, 2012, 09:16:11 AM »
That's the first time I ever heard of something like that. Not saying it isn't happening in your case though. I use a LynkSys wireless router and it works with the wx computer, my wife's iPhone, my tablet, and the desktop simultaneously with no noticeable degradation in speed. Perhaps the ISP or the physical connection to your phone line? :?:
« Last Edit: March 14, 2012, 09:17:51 AM by DanS »

Offline Bushman

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Re: Wireless internet problem
« Reply #2 on: March 14, 2012, 09:32:13 AM »
Get one of the bandwidth meters that measures by device/MAC and you can confirm  that he's nuts.  :)
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Offline weathergirl

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Re: Wireless internet problem
« Reply #3 on: March 14, 2012, 09:56:03 AM »
Thanks guys. My poor husband isn't much of tech wiz.

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Ann-Marie
Beamsville, Ontario, Canada

Offline Beaudog

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Re: Wireless internet problem
« Reply #4 on: March 14, 2012, 10:17:33 AM »
I use Dlink routers the amount of data that a wx station sends is trivia to what else most other programs upload download. 

Offline mackbig

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Re: Wireless internet problem
« Reply #5 on: March 14, 2012, 12:32:05 PM »
I agree, I dont think your traffic would affect his wifi speeds.   Even that "T" word we discussed in your bandwidth thread shouldn't noticeably affect the speeds/capacity on his wireless device.

Andrew

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Offline d_l

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Re: Wireless internet problem
« Reply #6 on: March 14, 2012, 01:27:25 PM »
Is it possible that he is noticing a download slowdown due to ACK starvation at your modem?  If your weather computer and his uploads or even just your weather computer alone saturates your broadband's upload capacity, then ACK starvation will occur.  The assumes that you do not have symmetrical broadband and/or your modem, router, or OS are not prioritizing ACK transmissions.

If you do not have any way of prioritizing ACKs and if your router is capable of bandwidth throttling individual connections, try limiting the upload speed on your weather computer to less than the maximum of your broadband.  Say maybe 75-80% of maximum might work to alleviate any ACK starvation problem.
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Offline Dr Obbins

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Re: Wireless internet problem
« Reply #7 on: March 14, 2012, 07:57:46 PM »
What are your up/download speeds provided to your house?

Offline weathergirl

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Re: Wireless internet problem
« Reply #8 on: March 14, 2012, 09:56:11 PM »
Sorry it took me all day to reply back, would you believe my cable tv, internet and phone were down most of the day?  It was quite widespread. I just went on speedtest.com to test my download/upload sppeds and they were pretty low, so I guess things are still recovering. That was an interesting point about ACK starvation at the modem. It just so happens we had a new modem installed last week, and the problem with the internet is even worse now. I wouldn't know how to prioritize ASK transmissions or how to limit the upload speed on my computer but I am open to advice ;)
Ann-Marie
Beamsville, Ontario, Canada

Offline C5250

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Re: Wireless internet problem
« Reply #9 on: March 14, 2012, 10:37:53 PM »
"ACK starvation" could happen when the download speed is much higher than the upload speed. Generally a ratio greater that 10:1 can lead to such a problem.

The first thing to check would be your MTU, that can be done from a command prompt using the "ping -f somesite" command (replacing "somesite" with some known to work server). If that fails, you MTU is too high and IP packets are being fragmented (doubling the number of packets that have to be sent).

The later Windows versions are much better on the second possible reason, an RWIN that is too low. RWIN is the number of packets that will be sent from a server you are downloading from before it expects an ACK. Generally, the higher you download speed, the higher your RWIN can be.

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Offline mackbig

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Re: Wireless internet problem
« Reply #10 on: March 15, 2012, 06:40:36 AM »
Ann-Marie
Since this all started after you got a new modem, I would start with that.  I would call up Cogeco, explain the issue, and ask them for a new modem.  You shouldnt have to do a bunch a tweaking when your old setup worked fine.  The newer modems have a bunch of "features" the ISP's use for throttling usage, which is why I never "upgraded" mine over the years.

Andrew


Sorry it took me all day to reply back, would you believe my cable tv, internet and phone were down most of the day?  It was quite widespread. I just went on speedtest.com to test my download/upload sppeds and they were pretty low, so I guess things are still recovering. That was an interesting point about ACK starvation at the modem. It just so happens we had a new modem installed last week, and the problem with the internet is even worse now. I wouldn't know how to prioritize ASK transmissions or how to limit the upload speed on my computer but I am open to advice ;)

Andrew - Davis VP2+ 6163, serial weatherlink, wireless anemometer, running Weather Display.  Boltek PCI Stormtracker, Astrogenic Nexstorm, Strikestar - UNI, CWOP CW8618, GrLevel3, (Station 2 OS WMR968, VWS 13.01p09), Windows 7-64

Offline weathergirl

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Re: Wireless internet problem
« Reply #11 on: March 15, 2012, 07:19:46 AM »
Andrew, I have phoned Cogeco and they told me it's not their modem, it's our router, how crazy is that? Also, we had to get a new modem as we switched to their phone service :(
Ann-Marie
Beamsville, Ontario, Canada

Offline mackbig

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Re: Wireless internet problem
« Reply #12 on: March 15, 2012, 07:38:54 AM »
Sounds like a typical response from an ISP.

Easy way to debunk, or prove.  Do your speed tests. Then unplug the router and try again directly with pc plugged into modem.

Andrew

Andrew, I have phoned Cogeco and they told me it's not their modem, it's our router, how crazy is that? Also, we had to get a new modem as we switched to their phone service :(
update reason: "sp"
« Last Edit: March 15, 2012, 09:36:24 AM by mackbig »

Andrew - Davis VP2+ 6163, serial weatherlink, wireless anemometer, running Weather Display.  Boltek PCI Stormtracker, Astrogenic Nexstorm, Strikestar - UNI, CWOP CW8618, GrLevel3, (Station 2 OS WMR968, VWS 13.01p09), Windows 7-64

Offline DaculaWeather

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Re: Wireless internet problem
« Reply #13 on: March 21, 2012, 01:27:12 PM »
My two weather computers are both wireless and upload 5 GRLevel3 loops, rapid-fire to WU, 8 second updates to my site, constant Fling uploads to two sites, and WD sending data to my SQL database once a minute. I also have my IP webcam that's wireless all going back to my NetGear router.

Wireless is not your problem, at least from a bandwidth point of view.