Sudden internet slowdown thru router

[snowboarding_bum]

Greetings everyone,
I have a netgear wpn824 router and all of a sudden my internet slowed down. When viewing Netflix movies through my xbox I get like 2 bars when I used to get 4. When I plug the xbox directly into the modem I get 4 bars again. This never used to happen. I've called my ISP and they said my modem and connection looks fine on their end and when I call Netflix they are reading connections speeds all over the place from good, to very poor. So I'm wondering if it's possible for a router to be partially broken, and be causing this problem because it happened out of nowhere. I've reset it, I've checked all settings and nothing will fix it. Since it still "works" I'm skeptical it's actually broken. I would think if it were broken it would just stop functioning. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Also, is there anything you can do channel wise to get a better signal when you are in an apartment building where there are at least 6 routers on every channel? Thanks!!!

 

[riser]

Channel 1 and 11 are the best channels. Default channel is 6 for all the wireless routers I have come across. 1 and 11 receive the most interference.

Make sure you have security on the router, someone may be trying to access it or surfing the net on it.

 

[snowboarding_bum]

Yeah, I've been using 11 most the time. I guess it's just part of apartment living. As far as my routers security, it's well encrypted as far as I know. And my big problem seems to be with the xbox which is hardwired. I've replaced the cable in case it was defective but I'm still getting a crappy signal. It's driving me crazy. Maybe I can borrow another router and see if it makes a difference...

 

[riser]

It may also depend on the location of the wireless router. If you are too close to it, you might be a dead zone. Walls, plants, doors, etc. in the way will reduce the signal as well. Other wireless devices could potentially interfere, including your neighbors' wireless devices.

Try moving the wireless router around to see if that helps. Directly above and below a wireless router is never a good location either.

 

[snowboarding_bum]

It may also depend on the location of the wireless router. If you are too close to it, you might be a dead zone. Walls, plants, doors, etc. in the way will reduce the signal as well. Other wireless devices could potentially interfere, including your neighbors' wireless devices.

Try moving the wireless router around to see if that helps. Directly above and below a wireless router is never a good location either.

Thanks for the advice Riser, like I said though. The xbox is hardwired via ethernet so signal is not the issue. Somehow the router seems to be bottlenecking the speed of the xbox. When the xbox is plugged directly into the modem it's fine, but thru the router the signal is reduced. And it wasn't always this way. The router used to work. Any more ideas?

 

[riser]

You have checked the cables and tried differnet ethernet cables to rule out a cabling problem?

I'm not a console user but I would check to make sure that the xbox is picking up a correct network connection speed setting. It could be setting itself slower.

If you have network settings within the xbox, you may want to list those. It could be a setting there.

As far as the router goes, it NATs the IP address to create a public/private network. Honestly, I would recommend hitting the xbox forums to see what settings need to be changed for best performance.

A quick search looking for router issues makes it a port forwarding issue. This would be the only thing I would think make sense that the router affects.

Check this out:

http://portforward.com/english/routers/port_forwarding/Linksys/WRT54G/XBox_360_Media_Center.htm

 

[snowboarding_bum]

You have checked the cables and tried differnet ethernet cables to rule out a cabling problem?

I'm not a console user but I would check to make sure that the xbox is picking up a correct network connection speed setting. It could be setting itself slower.

If you have network settings within the xbox, you may want to list those. It could be a setting there.

As far as the router goes, it NATs the IP address to create a public/private network. Honestly, I would recommend hitting the xbox forums to see what settings need to be changed for best performance.

A quick search looking for router issues makes it a port forwarding issue. This would be the only thing I would think make sense that the router affects.

Check this out:

http://portforward.com/english/routers/port_forwarding/Linksys/WRT54G/XBox_360_Media_Center.htm

Riser, you were dead on. I set up port forwarding and my connection is fine. What baffles me is why out of the blue, it would need this when it worked so well without it before. But whatever the reason, it's fixed. Thanks for taking the time to help me with this!