Network Speeds Dropping Out Randomly - Router Dead or bad config?

[lifereinspired]

Hello,

We moved into a 2br apt (well built, concrete floors, no neighbor noise) and happily left a 3mb DSL connection as that was the best to be had. Nonetheless, the networking system was rock solid with only 1 or 2 problems in two years & even Netflix looked decent. Now, we've gone through two providers (the same as at the old place and now cable broadband). It's been an internet nightmare since we moved in with tech service calls galore.

Now, our current speeds should be 13/5 and, occasionally our router gives those speeds but MOST of the time, it gives speeds of 1-3/0.5-1...very unusable. I've tried everything I know to fix it to no avail. I've plugged in directly to the modem/router from the cable co and get speeds as advertised but the wireless is unusable. So, I assumed it was the router after trying changing the channel to ck for interference, MAC address cloning, DHCP release and renew, even changing the mode from gateway to router. Have done numerous power cycles of all the equipment involved and except for a few moments of success, wireless goes back to SLOW. I've seriously begun to wonder if our Linksys WRT54GS was simply dying and began the confusing look for a new system, which proves to be confusing - to say the least.

I've searched the forums and read in the FAQ's (thank for those, got a simple answer that I've been trying to get an answer to for days) and came across a recent thread of a newbie setting up a networking system and one of the posters talked about the modem being a router and had him run a cmd ipconfig. I decided to do this and came across something interesting...both my Linksys WRT54GS and the modem/wired router from cable co give gateway ip addresses...though very different. Linksys gives the predictable 192.168.1.1 but the modem gives 10.1.10.1. Here's the output of the two ipconfigs:

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.1.7601]
Copyright (c) 2009 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

D:\Users\R>ipconfig

Windows IP Configuration


Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection 2:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :

Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::f8a2:1413:2836:317%16
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.104
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1

Ethernet adapter Bluetooth Network Connection:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :

Tunnel adapter isatap.{34B3C553-CF05-46AA-ABBB-D6CD1AD0AB78}:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :

Tunnel adapter Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
IPv6 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 2001:0:4137:9e76:2f:9a3:9d1a:fafc
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::2f:9a3:9d1a:fafc%11
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : ::

Tunnel adapter isatap.{E345E858-2CC4-4955-B65D-D607FA8D5A3F}:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :

Tunnel adapter isatap.{9C504220-17A0-4B0F-B622-CDC86114D068}:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :

D:\Users\R>ipconfig

Windows IP Configuration


Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection 2:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :

Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::89af:d708:76fd:d3b4%2
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 10.1.10.12
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 10.1.10.1

Tunnel adapter isatap.{34B3C553-CF05-46AA-ABBB-D6CD1AD0AB78}:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :

Tunnel adapter Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
IPv6 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 2001:0:4137:9e76:2024:398b:9d1a:fafc
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::2024:398b:9d1a:fafc%11
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : ::

Tunnel adapter isatap.{E345E858-2CC4-4955-B65D-D607FA8D5A3F}:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :

In order to try to make our streaming Netflix work (which has been abysmal), we decided to plug the networked Bluray player ahead of the Linksys router so it's plugged directly into the modem but STILL get's awful speeds (huge blocking on Netflix to where people and places are completely indistinguishable and it still stops due to slow connection. Our old 3mb was better than this (& that was with an awful co). So, even though directly plugging into the modem SEEMS to give correct results, clearly something is still wrong for the Netflix output to be so poor. My patch cables are all Cat6 which I know is overkill but the price difference was just a few cents at Monoprice.

In addition to the networked bluray we have a media player, VOIP, two laptops, another WRT54G setup with Sveasoft firmware running it as a media bridge. Into that, I have a 2nd networked bluray and media player, plus a separate wireless printer and two android phones. That's my complete setup.

So, are the dual gateways a problem? I'd imagine they are. Would I benefit from a new router setup with "n" wireless?

Any assistance or advice would be MUCH appreciated. Thanks in advance,
Rae

 

[thiggins]

Sorry, but I'm having trouble following your post. I'm not sure whether you are saying your speeds are not as promised when you connect directly to the modem or not.

Start by confirming whether you are getting the speeds that your ISP has sold you by connecting a computer directly to the modem and using your ISPs speed test tools to check and / or contact the ISP service.

After you confirm that ISP bandwidth is correct, then we can work on your other issues.

 

[lifereinspired]

Sorry, but I'm having trouble following your post. I'm not sure whether you are saying your speeds are not as promised when you connect directly to the modem or not.

Start by confirming whether you are getting the speeds that your ISP has sold you by connecting a computer directly to the modem and using your ISPs speed test tools to check and / or contact the ISP service.

After you confirm that ISP bandwidth is correct, then we can work on your other issues.

Sorry for the confusing post.

Yes, when I plug my laptop directly into the modem, I get correct ISP bandwidth when using their speedtest. Conclusively.

Second part, because the routed speeds were so bad, we tried to compensate by plugging the networked bluray player ahead of the router to sort of manually do QoS. However, we must not be getting good speeds directly to the bluray because we can't watch a Netflix episode w/o blocking or buffering constantly. I don't know where the problem for that part lies.

In doing extra searching and learning it seems I have a case of double NAT as both the modem and router have gateway addresses. How to fix that is still unclear to me.

Thanks for your quick reply. Hope that answered your question.

 

[stevech]

If your ISP provided a modem/Router combo, and you must use your own router, or want to, then...

call your ISP and ask them to reconfig their combo to be in bridge mode
(disabling the router). Or get the ISP to swapout and give you a modem/bridge.

Then the double NAT goes away.

 

[thiggins]

Double NAT should not be a problem unless the second router you are using doesn't have enough bandwidth.

What make /model is the modem / router?

The DHCP server for each device (modem and router) will hand out that device's IP address as the gateway address. Which is what it looks like is happening.

A WRT54GS is pretty old. But when I tested it, it supported > 30 Mbps throughput both up and down, which should support your 13 down / 5 up internet connection.

Start by stripping the network down to a simple test configuration. Reset the WRT54GS to factory defaults, then let it get WAN IP info from the modem.

If your modem has a wireless AP built into it, shut it off. Also shut off your bridge Sveasoft WRT54GS.

Pick a notebook or computer with both Ethernet and wireless adapters. Delete all existing wireless profiles. Connect it via Ethernet to the WRT54GS, shut off the wireless adapter, and run your throughput tests.

 

[lifereinspired]

Thanks for your reply.

I actually did as you suggested late last night trying to be proactive. The modem/router/gateway from Comcast is a SMC Networks SMCD3G-CCR. I unplugged the router, did the reset as you said, turned off wireless on my laptop, connected one to the gigabit ports on Comcast gateway...only got 9/5. Looked at several settings in the SMC setup and the lack of options is staggering...no choice of bridge mode or anything like that. Could change the speed of the ethernet LAN ports on the back but not much else of benefit that I could see.

When I got the linksys back up and running the really strange part happened, on my computer I got 16/5 via WIRELESS which was faster than wired. I'm seriously beginning to wonder if there's a problem with the modem/gateway from Comcast. When the last tech came out his orders from tech support were to put a new modem in place but he wouldn't. I guess I need to call and see if I can get that sorted out. Do you see anything else I'm overlooking?

 

[thiggins]

If you can reliably get the proper throughput when you connect your client directly to the modem port, it's unlikely that there is something wrong with it.

But there is a possible clue in that you said you could mess with the modem's LAN port speed. That should be set to auto or 100 Mbps full duplex.

If you still have a problem, there could be a problem with the WRT54GS and the modem not properly negotiating Ethernet link speed and mode. I used to see this from time to time with older routers, which I'd say your WRT54GS qualifies as.

I'd buy or borrow another make/model router of more current vintage.

 

[lifereinspired]

If you can reliably get the proper throughput when you connect your client directly to the modem port, it's unlikely that there is something wrong with it.

But there is a possible clue in that you said you could mess with the modem's LAN port speed. That should be set to auto or 100 Mbps full duplex.

If you still have a problem, there could be a problem with the WRT54GS and the modem not properly negotiating Ethernet link speed and mode. I used to see this from time to time with older routers, which I'd say your WRT54GS qualifies as.

I'd buy or borrow another make/model router of more current vintage.

I was about to call the cable co today to try to get a new modem/gateway but I decided to see what current speeds were directly connected. It was showing 58/5 (which is abt 5x more than I expected ). So, given the fact that we're currently receiving more speed than we should...I decided *not* to make that phone call. Obviously, the problem lies elsewhere (lest you should, like me, think it was a fluke, I tried it on three computers and three different speedtest sites per computer). I was pretty much coming to the conclusion that after 7 years, the router is tired and, even though it's built like a tank, just wasn't built for the bandwidth and connected devices we're all using now. I really appreciate hearing your opinion to confirm that.

 

[thiggins]

I was pretty much coming to the conclusion that after 7 years, the router is tired and, even though it's built like a tank, just wasn't built for the bandwidth and connected devices we're all using now. I really appreciate hearing your opinion to confirm that.

Asked and answered above.

 

[lifereinspired]

Asked and answered above.

Sorry, I was trying to thank you, I just worded it awkwardly.

Thanks for all your help.