HELP w/ WiFi internet speed (1 Viewer)

[Wisco Steve]

Up in my neck of the woods I have to use Charter (Spectrum) for an ISP. No other choices. I have their basic package that gets me 60 Mbps and pay to get the WiFi steam throughout the house. Recently did a monster upgrade to my TV Entertainment System and finally have a smart TV, etc. Want to do Netflix and HBO stuff and even utilize down loaded stuff from my DirecTV but the speed simply won't allow it. Even surfing the web get bogged down sometimes.

They provided me an Arris modem (free) and a Netgear R6300 Router. I am assuming this is the issue? I have a bunch of 'free' Best Buy cash from my purchases so want to order a router from them. Don't really care about the cost just don't wan to overspend for my speed if it is not gonna matter. Do I buy both a router and modem or just a router? Thanks much folks!

 

[2fya]

Do you have any security cameras hooked up to the router?

 

[Wisco Steve]

I do not. A home PC and my wife and I use our laptops on it in the evening...that's it

 

[robsmith32]

where do you have your router located.. location in the house for that thing is very important.
Lot of cable installers, are terribad about just placing them the easiest place they can set them and get out. had one user call in and the installer had installed in the BASEMENT, right under the customers breaker box.. guess what, very limited signal getting pass the breaker box with all that ground wire, let alone getting up to the 3rd floor.
that router isn't the beast the nighthawk is, but isnt' shabby.
go into that routers interface, and look at wireless connections, some show how much bandwidth is being used by each device. make sure aren't running a torrent server on one of your devices... run malwarebytes on all of them to be sure no bots,
also, make sure you have wi-fi secured, and isn't someone else hogging your internet.

if where you were referring that, speed won't allow from direct tv... you aren't referring to sunday ticket streaming are you?
if so, 60mb pipe isn't even close to being good for that. totally inefficient. i watch 4k streams from youtube and netflix, and was able to do this on 25mb before upgraded to 75. your 60mb should be good for just about anything else. wouldnt' suggest 25 for more than the 1 4k stream though.
but at 60 should be able to do 2x4k streams at one time.

 

[BA]

wireless speed is difficult to troubleshoot because there are so many variables. As Rob indicated, placement is crucial for both the router and the client. We just improved my son's gaming PC speed by adding a 10ft USB3 extension cable to his wlan adapter and hanging it from the ceiling. The PC is on the second floor and the router on the first but I have it about 18ft in the air.

The problem with the PC was he had it in an enclosed space so that diminished the signal enough to cause undesirable latency. While metal is the worst wood, plaster and other material can hinder propagation especially in the 1-3ft range.

The router can be a factor especially if it is an old unit. We've been through 802.11b,g,n,a,ac and probably a few others I missed so your wlan cards on these appliances like directv probably aren't being used most effectively. I haven't looked at technology in this space for a while so I can't recommend anything at the moment.

 

[greatshow25]

First I would like to say I work for a cable company. Wifi is one of the worst calls to roll on. Like everyone has said location is a factor. Also you have pay attention to the fine print most companies say up to 60 or whatever speed they are offering. In a perfect world you may get it, but most of the time wireless you won't hardly ever get 60. It also will depend on the time of day and weather you are in a highly saturated area like an apartment complex or a big subdivision. Sometimes in those areas when everyone gets off or out of school you may see slower speeds because of high utilization. I been with my company for almost 5 years and I only seen maybe once or twice a customer owned device hit the speeds wirelessly. Most of the time you about half. Anywhere from 15-30mbps depending on how far you are from the modem. Wifi is most concentrated for where the modem is located and the farther you get the slower it could get. When I go on wifi call about speeds or policy is to test Ethernet cable to the modem and run it there and if we hit the desired speed then you are getting what you are paying for. If your modem is close to your tv I suggest hooking it up with and Ethernet cable that way you can maximize your speed.

 

[buzd]

I would look at products that spread your wifi throughout your house. I use Unifi devices (Ubiquiti - ethernet required) but there are several others. I haven't tried them, but reviews look promising - Orbi, Eero, and the new Google devices (https://madeby.google.com/wifi/). Consider powerline adapters in the event a wired connection might be better and you don't want to run ethernet.

Our old house had plaster walls (and wood lathe) and wireless propagation was terrible. I had to rig a second access point with powerline adapters and it still didn't work very well (hence the new config in the current house). I think the single wireless router model just doesn't work very well for the amount of devices people are connecting and using to stream these days.

 

[Wisco Steve]

Thanks so much for the responses.

Seems like the provided router is pretty basic and getting a new one that has AC dual band will help pump that signal?

I own a newer construction split level exposed ranch home (only on main level right now). The router is located in my office which is on the far north end of the home (where the 2 smaller bedrooms are located), probably not coincidentally right where the cable co came in with the signal. Though it does kinda make sense as it is my office where my home PC is located. I have an electrician buddy that gave me a couple 175' Ethernet cables a while back, so I could run one underneath and hard wire the TV right into the connection...sounds like that might be a good idea?

The other possible hindrance might be the fact that I had a new dish (for my Directv) installed, they said I needed to move on from my older 3 or 4 line connection to a straight 1 line for my 4K upgrade? Who knows (lol?) but now the dish (other side of the house) comes in thru 1 line and connects to the new Directv hub device. The tech said it had to be over in my master (where dish is) and couldn't be centrally located where the main LVR TV is?

My house isn't real big or anything, and it's very open concept but these things are on total opposite ends now. It's been kind of a pain to deal with all these different techs plus Geek Squad that did my entertainment system. They all pretty much pass the buck, not surprisingly, I suppose. I've also read that another factor may be the baby monitor, one room over from router locale? It is a secure WiFi network that no neighbor is on or anything.

Thanks again, I know it's kinda convoluted and might be confusing. Just paying a fair amount of $ for all these things and would like to achieve the best performance for my $!

 

[buzd]

1. Wired is always better than wireless, so if it's not too difficult to run that cable, I would do it. That also might help install one of the systems I mentioned above.

2. Re DTV: The new single wire installations are much better than the old multiwire ones. It allows you to use some of their newer technology and simplifies the installation and troubleshooting. I don't think they needed to put the hub right be the dish - that's laziness on the part of the installer (mine is located quite a ways away, but I had pre-run the cable during construction, so the installer really didn't need to do anything).

Note that there really isn't any 4k broadcast content for DTV (3 crappy channels I think, and perhaps a few on demand items). Really the only 4k content you can get comes from Netflix (you have to upgrade your account for 4k), Amazon, and 4k Bluerays. The bandwidth needed for 4k broadcasts will likely preclude significant adoption over cable and satellite for the immediate future.

 

[jumpingoff]

I would look at products that spread your wifi throughout your house. I use Unifi devices (Ubiquiti - ethernet required) but there are several others. I haven't tried them, but reviews look promising - Orbi, Eero, and the new Google devices (https://madeby.google.com/wifi/). Consider powerline adapters in the event a wired connection might be better and you don't want to run ethernet.

Our old house had plaster walls (and wood lathe) and wireless propagation was terrible. I had to rig a second access point with powerline adapters and it still didn't work very well (hence the new config in the current house). I think the single wireless router model just doesn't work very well for the amount of devices people are connecting and using to stream these days.

Can recommend Amplifi as well - Ubiquiti home version of Unifi via mesh and second vote on the powerline adapters as a wired option.

 

[Westbank4Life]

Arris surfboard 6190 modem 100 bucks + netgear nighthawk wireless router ac2600 about 250.

Thank me later.

 

[Marty]

I purchased a cheap router and used these powerline adapters to set up wifi in my bedroom. I was getting a weak signal in my room before doing this. After setting up the adapter, I get a strong signal and have no problems streaming movies. You can use one to run ethernet to your tv also.

https://www.amazon.com/Actiontec-PWR511K01-HomePlug-Powerline-Network/dp/B00871SR68

 

[Wisco Steve]

SO finally got around to doing something here, but before I hook up what I purchased I ran a speed check. It says (mind you this is from the charter website) that I am at 63.77 Mbps download speed and 5.89 Mbps upload speed. This is not even a wired connection test, it is from my pretty old desktop pc that sits right next to the router.

I don't quite get why my stuff runs so slow when it's coming in at that speed??

I hope to hookup my new stuff tmrw. I got:

Modem- 6190 Arris
Router- Netgear Orbi AC3000--really pricey hope I didn't get upsold??

 

[Westbank4Life]

Worth a shot. Definitely stress test that router. Stream on your smart tv, stream on your pc or laptop and also your phone etc concurrently...try to stress it out. Then imagine if you had company, family etc adding to that stress.

If you are satisfied, stay with the router...if not..bring it back and get a gaming router. They are designed to be punished. They aren't appealing..mine looks like a space ship weights like 5lbs with four huge antennas, but it's a hog gets job done

Let us know your findings.

 

[MLU]

You're not going to get 60Mbs unless your connected to a hardline. That being said, in my experiences with Cox, Comcast, Brighthoise, Charter, Time Warner and CenturyLink the equipment provided by the company is almost always not geared to giving you what you want. I have always used my own equipment and immediately got far better speeds. I currently pay for 150Mbs with Cox. Prior to my own equipment, I got no better than 15Mbs after updating the firmware on their modem/router. After I installed my own, I get at least 30Mbs with almost a dozen devices streaming simultaneously. Plus, I pocket the $9 rental each month which pays for the equipment before the end of the first year.

Right now, I feel that a Motorola SB6121 and a TP-Link Archer C-7 is the best bang for your buck. If you shop around the internet you can find both for about $100 total.