Wireless Slow for Some computers, not for others.

LoStNuMbErZ · Feb 9, 2014

I have some major issues with my Comcast routers not working with my computers. It works totally fine with my moms laptop and tablets, and when I speedtest on her computer I get close to 20 MBps download speed

My old laptop could barely load videos on youtube and speedtests at about 1/10th of my moms. While I complained a lot about it nothing was ever done (because it worked fine for the parents) and I generally resigned myself to jacking into the hardline instead of using the wireless

Now I have a brand new computer with completely different setup, operating system, etc, and I am still encountering the same problem, and others who have stayed at my house have had similar issues.

The Facts:

-- Doesn't matter where in the house any of the computers are
-- The router is fairly new and unlikely to be defective
-- It works fine on my parents computer, but not on mine or my friends
-- Plugging in directly to the cable results in fine internet speeds with any computer

I can't imagine its a problem with any of the computers, since this issue has come up on multiple different devices with different hardware and operating systems. I just got my new laptop today and it is a Toshiba running Windows 8, I don't know anything beyond that.

I don't know very much about computers, so if there is any other technical information that would be helpful I'll probably need an explanation of how to find it

Beezy · Feb 9, 2014

do you know about 802.11 b/g/n connectivity? maybe all the ones that do work have something in common that the other don't?,,,

LoStNuMbErZ · Feb 9, 2014

I have no idea what that means, any explanation would be helpful!

I just did another speed test using www.speedtest.net and the upload speed on my new laptop is testing as normal, but the download speed is less than 1/10th what it should be. According to speedtest my upload speed is actually much higher than my download speed on the laptop that I am having a problem with

I don't know if that's a clue as to what is wrong with my router setup?

Beezy · Feb 9, 2014

well the actual hardware that the wireless card uses Is either 802.11 b, g, n. most new routers will send out a "mixed" signal so any device with b/g/n wireless chips can connect. you should check each device for specifications and look under wireless for each device it will usually say if it uses b, g, or n.

even then this doesn't tell us a whole lot..you want to also look into learning how to log into your router, once logged in you can toggle settings in the "wireless" section and that's usually where the b/g/n and broadcasting settings are located (that are of a concern)

LoStNuMbErZ · Feb 9, 2014

Ok, when I looked it up on my computers I got the following information:

For my moms computer (where the wireless works fine) Broadcom 802.11b/g WLAN

My new computer: Realtek RTL8188E Wireless LAN 802.11n PCI-E NIC

So it looks like they are different, I have no idea what my old computer was, I'll take a look at my moms tablet if I can find it

LoStNuMbErZ · Feb 9, 2014

For the tablet its a Samsung galaxy note model GT-N8013, but I have been unable to find any wireless protocol info either on the tablet itself or by searching for it online

Beezy · Feb 9, 2014

the GT-N8013 uses 802.11 b/g/n/a , a was developed before b, but its seen a lot more support recently on business grade devices (like that tablet I suppose). there is no real way to tell which is causing what problem and why though, but the fact that the one that gives us problems is not like the others is a good indicator of compatibility issues on some level. you might be able to fix this with something as simple as a firmware update to the router.

Beezy · Feb 9, 2014

I would say first make sure its up to date. if it is up to date, then change the broadcast settings to something like "g" only, or "b & g" only, maybe that will help clear up some problems.

LoStNuMbErZ · Feb 9, 2014

How would I go about doing that? I know next to nothing about routers

Beezy · Feb 9, 2014

well what brand of router do you have, logging into routers vary by brand. if you had someone else set up the network we just have to hope its not password protected..

Beezy · Feb 9, 2014

tell me brand and exact model and ill help you even more

LoStNuMbErZ · Feb 9, 2014

Ok, thank you for all your help, I really appreciate it!

The router is a Linksys model WRT160N

It was definitely setup by someone else. I know the wifi password, but I don't know if that is the same as whatever password you would need for the router

Beezy · Feb 9, 2014

LoStNuMbErZ :

ok to log into a Linksys router I think you open your web browser. in the url box type, without quotes, "192.168.1.1" and you should see a Linksys page with user and password. I don't remember but I think the user field you leave blank and password is admin. if that doest work try
user: admin
password:admin

or

user: user
password: admin

or
user: admin
password: password

it could be any combination of the above...the "default" login information for each router can be found on google, though.

once logged into the router you see 2 main tabs one with wired info (will have DCHP info don't touch this tab) and the wireless tab that will have the broadcasting settings I mentioned above. just remember your default settings (write them down or something) so you can change settings to fix the problem, and change them back if it makes it worse

LoStNuMbErZ · Feb 9, 2014

I was able to log on succuessfully using your info, but I don't see anywhere to change the broadcast setting to g only or b/g only

The four subtabs under the wireless tab are:

Basic Wireless Settings, Wireless Security, Wirelass MAC filter, and Advanced Wireless settings

The only thing that seemed to relate to what you were talking about is under Advanced Wireless settings there is an "N Transmission Rate" which is set to auto. If I try to change it to a different value it says that changing it will disable B/G clients and the wireless settings will be in Wireless-N only mode.

Beezy · Feb 9, 2014

hmmm sounds like a picky router...that might very well be the issue as it either likes its "auto" mode which uses n connectivity. you can try that and see if it works, the b and g clients you have might still be able to connect its just worth a try. these things are generally trial and error, just keep track of your current settings so you can go back!

one last thing if you find no solace with the settings, you can look into flashing a custom firmware (called tomato or there is also DD-WRT which is what I would recommend) to the router, the custom firmware allows you to do things that the stock doesn't, like boosting the signal strength power output so you get better signal (decreases overall lifespan of router), but in the tomato/ dd-wrt settings there will surely be more options. this is a tutorial on its own though and flashing custom firmware runs the risk of bricking your router permanently. so if you do decide to look into dd-wrt or tomato make sure your router is on their compatibility list and you download the right .bin file to flash...its really more of a last resort, if they all work, albeit some slower than others, I would leave it alone because the risks and investment of time are big and the gains could be nothing, and possibly cause more problems. just depends how much the issue is killing you. keep looking through the settings and google what each term means if its confusing.

LoStNuMbErZ · Feb 10, 2014

Hey, just wanted to update, I played around with it some more and was able to find a way to manually configure things which let me change the broadcast settings. Changing to B/G resulted in a significant speed improvement, and changing to G only resulted in the speed which I was supposed to be getting! The internet appears to still work from my moms laptop also, although I haven't speed tested it yet

Thank you so much for the help!

Beezy · Feb 10, 2014

yayy, go ahead and mark the thread solved then

LoStNuMbErZ · Feb 10, 2014

well I have a new tech-support problem, when I try to pick one of your posts as the solution I get the following error:

The website declined to show this webpage

HTTP 403

Most likely causes:
•This website requires you to log in.

But I am logged in, and I've tried refreshing and reclogging in and it does the same thing

Beezy · Feb 10, 2014

ive seen the HTTP 403 error i got it when i was browsing at the work computer today...not sure about that but its not just you. and it selected my answer and solved/closed the thread so were all good.

Wireless Slow for Some computers, not for others.

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