Weird LAN issues -- choppy video, ocassionally slow Internet access

[rakeshagrawal]

I'm having some strange home network issues. Basically, when I go to watch online videos (TV shows, like How I Met Your Mother, for example), I often get choppiness... audio+video will freeze and then pick-up from where it left off. This might happen as often as once every 3-4 seconds.

Here's the setup:

I've got a cable modem from Comcast (Motorola U10C018). It's connected to the "WAN" port on a D-Link DGL-4100 (gigabit wired router). Then I've got two D-Link DIR-655 wireless routers connected as switches (ie they are not connected as routers -- they are connected to the DGL-4100 on regular LAN ports with DHCP turned off). And then I have a 4-port gigabit hub (located in my home office elsewhere in the house) connected to one of the other ports on the DGL-4100. Oh, and if it matters, I have a Vonage phone connected to the fourth port on the DGL-4100.

When I try to watch a video from my home office (so the Internet connection goes from Motorola cable modem to D-Link DGL-4100 to 4-port gigabit hub) or from a wireless laptop (Motorola cable modem to D-Link DGL-4100 to D-Link DIR-655), the video is choppy. But then if I connect the same laptop directly to the DGL-4100, the video plays back fine.

Also, sometimes downloads are unusually slow or completely freeze up. As a control for my cable modem connection, my parents live next door and have their own Comcast cable modem service and at times when my connection seems messed up, their cable modem service is running fine.

What could be going on here? Please help!

 

[thiggins]

Is your "home office" computer connected to the gigabit switch, which is then connected to the DGL-4100?

Have you tried disconnecting the DIR-655's when you have the problem?

 

[rakeshagrawal]

Is your "home office" computer connected to the gigabit switch, which is then connected to the DGL-4100?

Yes -- the home office computer described below connects to the gigabit switch and that is connected to the DGL-4100 ("When I try to watch a video from my home office (so the Internet connection goes from Motorola cable modem to D-Link DGL-4100 to 4-port gigabit hub)").

Have you tried disconnecting the DIR-655's when you have the problem?

I have not, but I could. How might disconnecting the DIR-655s improve the situation? What's your theory there?

(As I mentioned in my initial posting, which probably was deserving of a diagram and fewer words, I get the same choppy video when I try to view video from a laptop through one of the wireless hubs... and I'm pretty close to the wireless hub so I don't think it's a range thing.)

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

Is your wireless secured? If not, perhaps a neighbor is leaching your connection...some kid crushing it with torrent downloads.

 

[thiggins]

I have not, but I could. How might disconnecting the DIR-655s improve the situation? What's your theory there?

As YeOldeStoneCat said, it could be a possible source of network traffic.