Does it make a difference?

[Scooterit]

Hi,

I am curious to know how much of a difference a router can make in a SOHO environment.

For example we have a Comcast 100 mps down cable connection and we do get the advertised speed when I use the well known speedtest website.

However there are still times that browsing the internet is not really fast at all. Often pages hang etc. Does a different router (wired) make a difference. If so what to look for?

Looking forward to read your thoughts.

Smiles across the wires,


Rogier

 

[L&LD]

I will be the first to say that a different/newer router may make a difference.

I was using a Netgear 3700 which made my eyes pop out vs. the Airport Extreme I had previously (which also overshadowed the Linksys 54G before it...).

The Asus RT-N66U that I have now which replaced the 3700 is also head and shoulders above that older model. And with the latest RMerlin 374.38_2-em or the beta Asus 374.2239 the responsiveness of the web has never been faster.

Other Asus models that I've had the chance to use are the RT-AC66U, the RT-AC56U and the RT-N56U. The RT-AC56U being the most impressive for me with the latest 374.38_2 firmware (even above the RT-N66U I own).

The difference is that the RT-AC56U has a faster processor, better radios (but internal antenna) and newer drivers vs. the RT-N66U (although the RMerlin firmware numbers are the same).

What I would be looking for is an Asus router.

If wired speeds are your number one priority - the RT-AC56U is matched fairly well for that use too.


http://forums.smallnetbuilder.com/showthread.php?p=100547#post100547


The above thread may be interesting for you - check out the $99 price for the RT-AC56U until the 27th.

 

[Scooterit]

Thanks for your very helpful reply!

I have a UNBT Edgerouter that I cant master. The darn thing is way beyond my skill level and the manual is not very helpfull either

Configuring consumer level routers is within my skills. A specially since I don't have any special needs. Other than choosing the dns server and firewall settings of my choice...

Smiles across the wires,



Rogier

 

[Terry Kennedy]

For example we have a Comcast 100 mps down cable connection and we do get the advertised speed when I use the well known speedtest website.

Be aware that speedtest.net will often default to a Comcast server when you're coming from a Comcast address. Use the "New server" button after the test completes to test with a couple different servers not on the Comcast network to get a better idea of real-life performance.

However there are still times that browsing the internet is not really fast at all. Often pages hang etc. Does a different router (wired) make a difference. If so what to look for?

Could be a number of things - you might try a different browser, particularly if you're using Internet Explorer. Older IE versions tend to exhibit strange slowdowns when dealing with modern web sites.

Also, it could be that your connection is simply faster than the sites you're accessing, which means that the slowness is on their end. There isn't such a huge difference these days, but 20 years ago I had a T3 (45Mbit/sec) Internet connection at my house, while the average corporation had a T1 (1.5Mbit/sec) or slower connection.

 

[thiggins]

I agree with Terry. 100 Mbps pipes reveal the true nature of much of the internet, i.e. it is slower than you think.

The real value of a high bandwidth connection is the ability to handle more simultaneous traffic, not to make browsing faster for one user.

 

[Scooterit]

Yeah on the Mac site I always do this to increase the web browsing experience:

1. System Preferences > Network > Location > Edit location > create a new and remove old ones (Automatic is just a name ;-)
2. System Preferences > Network > Remove all not needed connections but Wi-Fi and Ethernet. Unless you use a specific other way of connecting to a network.
3. System Preferences > Network > Click the gear weel > Set Service order > Arrange from top to bottom your preferred connection methodes.
4. System Preferences > Network > WiFi > Advanced > Wi-Fi > Remove all not needed Preferred Netrwoks > Arrange from top to bottom your preferred networks.
5. System Preferences > Network > WiFi / Ethernet > Advanced > Change DNS to what works best for you.
6. Safari > Reset Safari
7. Applications > Utilities > Terminal > Flush DNS cache (varies per OSX)

Hope this helps,

Rogier

 

[L&LD]

I appreciate and concur that some lucky users have internet connections faster than most hosted websites.

If the hardware to realize those speeds isn't also up to snuff - the limitation is still on our end (no matter how relatively fast or relatively slow the external internet is).

 

[stig]

Thanks for your very helpful reply!

I have a UNBT Edgerouter that I cant master. The darn thing is way beyond my skill level and the manual is not very helpfull either

Configuring consumer level routers is within my skills. A specially since I don't have any special needs. Other than choosing the dns server and firewall settings of my choice...

Smiles across the wires,

Scooterit, I'm sorry that you think EdgeMAX is beyond your skill level. Actually your configuration looked fine, but you weren't getting an IP address from your ISP from your DHCP request. Without that nothing will work. Same goes for any router if you don't get an address from your dhcp request.

Did you try the suggestions of powering down both the modem and router for some period of time to see if that would clear the lease? In some cases you may need to register the new mac address with the ISP, but usually that's only when you change the cable modem.

As for where a router case make a difference, this thread shows what people are getting with EdgeMAX - https://community.ubnt.com/t5/EdgeMAX/Throughput-of-ERL-on-1Gbps-FTTH-with-Dual-Stack-IPv4-amp-IPv6/m-p/532268#M12895

 

[Scooterit]

Thanks for your encouragement.
I have tried to get help on the UBNT forum and found it less then helpful...

Earlier this week I managed it to get it up and running on a different Comcast modem. Will give it an other try later on my own modem.

At least I don't feel liken an entire idiot any more ;-)

Rogier

 

[TonyH]

On speed test, choose a server you want to test against. And to find a best DNS in your area, run DNSbench freeware. Faster DNS is who has lots of cache capacity.

 

[Terry Kennedy]

If the hardware to realize those speeds isn't also up to snuff - the limitation is still on our end (no matter how relatively fast or relatively slow the external internet is).

True - but the original poster said he was seeing the full 100Mbit/sec performance when using an external speed test site. So his local router, etc. is capable of providing that speed, at least for the simple case of a single HTTP session.

 

[thiggins]

Scooter: The Edge Routers are way more powerful and complicated than you need. Good if you enjoy the challenge of learning a CLI to configure a router. But your problem most likely is not due to router limitation.

 

[Scooterit]

UPDATE:

Last night I got the router to work

To my surprise there was no difference between my 4 year old Airport Extreme. Speed test was equal between the Airport - Directly connected to Modem and Edgerouter. Ping test was also equal.
The test was done from 2 different computers.

However subjectively I had the impression that the Edgerouter was a bit snappier while browsing the web.

Meantime I disconected the Edgerouter and returned to the Airport since my next step is to figure out how to enable the firewall on this router..... Doesn't appear to be easy either.

To be continued

Rogier

 

[stig]

Scooterit,

Glad to hear you got it working. As for firewall, if you use the basic SOHO wizard it will generate a basic stateful firewall.

 

[connorm]

Thanks for your very helpful reply!

I have a UNBT Edgerouter that I cant master. The darn thing is way beyond my skill level and the manual is not very helpfull either

if u wanna sell it, plz contact me. im after one. hoping it can handle some of the DDOS attacks that people like to hit me with on call of duty. cause my asus router can handle allot of attack with HW acceleration on but i use QOS and when HW acceleration is on its easy to knock off. hoping i can use the ERL for as the router and for QOS. allowing me to have HW acceleration on my RT-AC66U and use it just as a WAP+Switch. then when shaw comes out with 250mbit in my area i will be able to handle all that download and have QOS enabled to avoid bufferbloat. actually im curious if i will even need to use QOS since the ERL now supports the 3.4 kernel.

 

[Scooterit]

I will keep it in mind.
For now I am finally got this thing started. Will see if I get so frustrated with it that I will sell it (almost did).

Rogier