Public wireless access

[traveler2010]

I am currently staying at a motel which advertises wireless internet. I have been here one week and noted that there are two channels, both unsecured but only one can be connected to. The signal was at 32% the first week with 11 mbps. Suddenly it went to 34% but would not go over 2 mbps. It has stayed that way ever since. I have asked the owner about this as to whether or not it was being blocked some kind of way. He claims it is not but will not fix the situation. My daughter has the same problem on her computer, so I know its not the computers. Any idea of whats going on here? The weather is fair.

 

[hang-the-9]

The more people on the wireless router the slower it will be, also the connection can have issues talking to your laptop and will step down the speed untill it finds a speed that is stable.

Try removing the wireless connection and re-connecting.

 

[elel]

Also, with firesheep out in the wild, remember that logging on to many services (such as facebook, twitter or even parts of amazon) on an open wifi allows other people to *easily* pose as you on the site without your knowledge.

 

[traveler2010]

The more people on the wireless router the slower it will be, also the connection can have issues talking to your laptop and will step down the speed untill it finds a speed that is stable.

Try removing the wireless connection and re-connecting.

I do the removing and reconnecting several times a day. Nothing seems to work. Are there routers that are more suitable for a home rather than a business? I have been staying in and out of motels for severals years now and never had trouble before. Management doesnt seem to care about the situation. This is so slow, I can barely get anything to load and takes almost 3 minutes for each page to load. I think that rediculous for a business router.

 

[elel]

With the signal strength that you have, I doubt that the router is the problem. Probably, like hangthe9 suggested, there are just lots of other people using the network, or the same number using it more intensively. Almost any wireless router should equal or exceed the speed of the internet link, so the internet connection is most likely the bottleneck.