Vodafone Fibre broadband Slow Speed

II Man City II

Hi, I got a engineer come to my house and install the fibre broadband yesterday and he was saying that most of the lines he set up for fibre broadband near my area were getting 40mbs minimum speed nothing less and I had checked it my self later on using couple of speed testing websites (incl. vodafones) and the max speed I was getting was 27mb, I called vodafone today and they said that my line can take up to 50mb, but they said it could be either that my wireless adapter is old or something.
I have a desktop and it is upstairs and my vodafone modem is downstairs, 4 devices are connected to the modem(xbox,mobile,pc,satelite box) but the vodafone agent who I was talking to earlier said he doubts that could lower the speed, my desktop is been using a ''Wireless LAN Antenna'' which I was given by BT 3 years ago, so I was wondering could this be the problem and should I buy this adapter(http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/9126332/c_1/1%7Ccategory_root%7COffice%2C+PCs+and+phones%7C14418968/c_2/3%7C19780850%7CWireless+networking%7C14419015/c_3/4%7Ccat_14419015%7CWireless+peripherals+and+adaptors%7C14419016.htm#tabrev) ???
Would it make the speed any faster ??
Thanks
(P.S. I posted this on the vodafone forum as well, but I thought there would be a better response here

davo2001

can you not just take the PC downstairs and test it directly to the router? (just for a speed test?)

II Man City II

davo2001 wrote: »

can you not just take the PC downstairs and test it directly to the router? (just for a speed test?)

Yeah that is what they told me as well
Ah I guess it is worth it :pac:
I will do it now so and try how it goes on, and plug it via ethernet cable if the case is that I get 45 or 50mb with downstairs plugged by ethernet does that mean I need to get a wireless adapter ??

II Man City II

Ok I plugged it via ethernet cable and I seem to be getting 50mb !!
So what conclusion can be drawn from this
I need a new Wireless adapter ??

Freddy Smelly

II Man City II wrote: »

Ok I plugged it via ethernet cable and I seem to be getting 50mb !!
So what conclusion can be drawn from this
I need a new Wireless adapter ??

wireless is sh!t!!!! buy home plugs and connect your desktop via those especially if you use your desktop for gaming

II Man City II

Freddy Smelly wrote: »

wireless is sh!t!!!! buy home plugs and connect your desktop via those especially if you use your desktop for gaming

Well the cheapest one are going for 33E I was looking for some cheaperr alternatives will the argos wireless usb adapter not work ??

Freddy Smelly

II Man City II wrote: »

Well the cheapest one are going for 33E I was looking for some cheaperr alternatives will the argos wireless usb adapter not work ??

it would but if you are a gamer wireless is crap cos you get horrific rubber-banding due to wifi's horrible latency and most game servers will boot ya off if your ping times go above 100ms because rubberbanding players ruin the game for everyone else playing

200mb rated home plugs or better are the way to. avoid homeplugs rated less than 200mb cos they are crap

Cuddlesworth

Freddy Smelly wrote: »

it would but if you are a gamer wireless is crap cos you get horrific rubber-banding due to wifi's horrible latency and most game servers will boot ya off if your ping times go above 100ms because rubberbanding players ruin the game for everyone else playing

200mb rated home plugs or better are the way to. avoid homeplugs rated less than 200mb cos they are crap

Bad advise.

The 200mb is the rated theoretical switching speed. You can get speeds anywhere from 15-60mb's depending on your wiring. And they are half duplex, so in theory not much better than wireless apart from handling distance better.

If he is getting the max out of wireless G, then a new dual band AC/N router and dongle would suit him far better as a investment.

II Man City II

Cuddlesworth wrote: »

Bad advise.

The 200mb is the rated theoretical switching speed. You can get speeds anywhere from 15-60mb's depending on your wiring. And they are half duplex, so in theory not much better than wireless apart from handling distance better.

If he is getting the max out of wireless G, then a new dual band AC/N router and dongle would suit him far better as a investment.

Sorry, I do not get what you are saying are you saying getting the wireless adapter is better off, the one that I posted a link of on argos ??

II Man City II

I am using a wireless LAN antenna for my desktop which I was given my BT 3 years ago, and I was told by vodafone to get the N wireless adapter which suited the modem, vodafone gave me a new router

Cuddlesworth

If the have given you a new router that's N compatible, then purchase a wireless N adapter like the one linked to in your other thread. You should see speeds up to 50mb's.

wheresmybeaver

As cuddlesworth said, get yourself a wireless n adapter for your PC. The bigger the antenna the better. Vodafone supply wireless n routers with all their new fibre products so the router is not the bottleneck. If you can get an adapter with a extensible antenna (ie where the anetnna can be placed somewhere with better reception, not necessarily at the back of the PC), then you will get faster speeds.

II Man City II

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/USB-2-0-N-Wireless-300Mbps-Networking-WIFI-Adapter-Belkin-F5D8053-366m-Range-/221195057619?pt=UK_Computing_USB_Wi_Fi_Adapters_Dongles&hash=item338040b9d3

One more thing, I am having troubles choosing which wireless adapter to buy, my price range is up to 30E but I just do not know which on to choose
The above link I found on ebay but compared to the argos one it was so cheap ??!!
But again when item's are really cheap most of them tend to be not that good
So does any one have recommendations of which one to buy(any links ??)
btw all I know is that I need 300mb up speed for wireless adapter as 150mb I heard would not do that good
Thanks

Cuddlesworth

II Man City II wrote: »

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/USB-2-0-N-Wireless-300Mbps-Networking-WIFI-Adapter-Belkin-F5D8053-366m-Range-/221195057619?pt=UK_Computing_USB_Wi_Fi_Adapters_Dongles&hash=item338040b9d3

One more thing, I am having troubles choosing which wireless adapter to buy, my price range is up to 30E but I just do not know which on to choose
The above link I found on ebay but compared to the argos one it was so cheap ??!!
But again when item's are really cheap most of them tend to be not that good
So does any one have recommendations of which one to buy(any links ??)
btw all I know is that I need 300mb up speed for wireless adapter as 150mb I heard would not do that good
Thanks

I wouldn't pick up that refurbed Belkin. Bad make and no real comeback if it fails. For a 20-30 quid part, I'd pick it up local. If it fails, drop it back to argus and get a repalcement. If that belkin fails you going to have to ship it back to England via registered post

The Tp link dongle in the other thread is fine for your use. You don't need 300mb's Wireless N, you only have a 50mb line. 150mb is fine for those speeds, plus wireless N cap's out at about 80-90mbs no matter what you do or use anyway. There tends to be a significant difference between what things are capable of in a sealed and isolated lab and what they will actually do in real life.

Freddy Smelly

Cuddlesworth wrote: »

Bad advise.

The 200mb is the rated theoretical switching speed. You can get speeds anywhere from 15-60mb's depending on your wiring. And they are half duplex, so in theory not much better than wireless apart from handling distance better.

not true... you can buy decent homeplugs that work really good plus they dont drop signal anytime someone makes a phonecall on a cordless phone

Cuddlesworth

Freddy Smelly wrote: »

not true... you can buy decent homeplugs that work really good plus they dont drop signal anytime someone makes a phonecall on a cordless phone

It's rare that I post in this forum anymore, but I hate seeing bad advise given without experience or subject knowledge. Homeplugs have their limitations, as does wireless. In this situation, it makes perfect sense to go the wireless route. If he was experiencing severe signal issues due to distance, home plugs would tend to be the better choice.

And if your crap cordless phone is spamming a 2.4ghz channel, you have options. You can change the channel of the wireless router, or the phone itself. Wireless N, with both the supplied router from Eircom and the wireless dongle linked, can both work on the 5ghz frequency which has far greater tolerance for interference and is used less frequently by devices.

BionicRasher

Cuddlesworth wrote: »

It's rare that I post in this forum anymore, but I hate seeing bad advise given without experience or subject knowledge. Homeplugs have their limitations, as does wireless. In this situation, it makes perfect sense to go the wireless route. If he was experiencing severe signal issues due to distance, home plugs would tend to be the better choice.

And if your crap cordless phone is spamming a 2.4ghz channel, you have options. You can change the channel of the wireless router, or the phone itself. Wireless N, with both the supplied router from Eircom and the wireless dongle linked, can both work on the 5ghz frequency which has far greater tolerance for interference and is used less frequently by devices.

I have just had fibre installed and have experience of both wireless and the homeplugs and I would recommend homeplugs over wireless any day - wireless can be flakey so I find that a wired connection is always better
I would be seeing transfer speeds about 20-30mbs on the homeplugs and it can be around 10-20mbs on the wireless

Cuddlesworth

tui0hcg wrote: »

I have just had fibre installed and have experience of both wireless and the homeplugs and I would recommend homeplugs over wireless any day - wireless can be flakey so I find that a wired connection is always better
I would be seeing transfer speeds about 20-30mbs on the homeplugs and it can be around 10-20mbs on the wireless

What type of wireless, on what frequency, over what distance, with how much local interference, with what devices and adapters? As I said before, he is getting full Wireless G with no issues. In that case, a Wireless N at 150mb's should be getting at least 50mb's transfer speeds easy.

In comparison to the limited 20-30mbs that homeplugs do. In my case over 4 apartments and houses, the speeds have ranged from 10-25mb's and I currently use them as range extenders for my wireless network. Which gives me 80-90mb's in my sitting room and is range limited in my bedroom, hence the homeplug into a access point. A access point limited by the speed of the homeplug.

Your recommending a solution that isn't a solution. Homeplugs will provided maybe a 10mb's fix at best when a better wireless adapter would improve his bandwidth by a considerable amount.

II Man City II

I got the argos ones and it has improved my speeds upto 10mbs from 25 to 35
Thanks for all, who gave useful advice

BionicRasher

Cuddlesworth wrote: »

What type of wireless, on what frequency, over what distance, with how much local interference, with what devices and adapters? As I said before, he is getting full Wireless G with no issues. In that case, a Wireless N at 150mb's should be getting at least 50mb's transfer speeds easy.

In comparison to the limited 20-30mbs that homeplugs do. In my case over 4 apartments and houses, the speeds have ranged from 10-25mb's and I currently use them as range extenders for my wireless network. Which gives me 80-90mb's in my sitting room and is range limited in my bedroom, hence the homeplug into a access point. A access point limited by the speed of the homeplug.

Your recommending a solution that isn't a solution. Homeplugs will provided maybe a 10mb's fix at best when a better wireless adapter would improve his bandwidth by a considerable amount.

Wireless N router -Wireless N adaptors in PCs etc @2.4GHz. I have PCs and things like Xbox’s, internet radios, Wii etc scattered around the house within a normal 4 bed detached house and I can categorically say that I am getting faster speeds on the wired network than I would on the wireless. Some of the wired network is directly wired to a switch and other parts of my network use homeplugs.
Wireless is going to get interference without doubt in a house with all the other appliances around and maybe your next door neighbour etc. I would always advise a wired network over wireless even if part of it is going over my internal electrical wires. Maybe it’s different if your PC is within 10-15 feet of the router but that's not always possible. Wireless will have black spots in the house where as you are guaranteed a connection over a wire
Your recommending a solution that isn't a solution but just an option and I am also providing an option.

Freddy Smelly

Cuddlesworth wrote: »

It's rare that I post in this forum anymore, but I hate seeing bad advise given without experience or subject knowledge. Homeplugs have their limitations, as does wireless. In this situation, it makes perfect sense to go the wireless route. If he was experiencing severe signal issues due to distance, home plugs would tend to be the better choice.

And if your crap cordless phone is spamming a 2.4ghz channel, you have options. You can change the channel of the wireless router, or the phone itself. Wireless N, with both the supplied router from Eircom and the wireless dongle linked, can both work on the 5ghz frequency which has far greater tolerance for interference and is used less frequently by devices.

i work for eircom... i spend most of my day reconfiguring modems & homeplugs for customers... i can see what wifi speeds they are getting.. trust me wifi is alot ****tier than home plugs for speeds.

buy a decent brand homeplug and you will get good speeds. buy a crap brand and you wont.

a decent set of home plugs costs less than €100

a decent ac dual band wireless vdsl/adsl modem costs over €250 + the costs of new wireless ac adapters for each computer

Cuddlesworth

Freddy Smelly wrote: »

i work for eircom... i spend most of my day reconfiguring modems & homeplugs for customers... i can see what wifi speeds they are getting.. trust me wifi is alot ****tier than home plugs for speeds.

buy a decent brand homeplug and you will get good speeds. buy a crap brand and you wont.

a decent set of home plugs costs less than €100

a decent ac dual band wireless vdsl/adsl modem costs over €250 + the costs of new wireless ac adapters for each computer

Hold on, you work for Eircom and you spend your days providing and configuring homeplugs for people? I'm glad to know Eircom offer such a service.

A decent dual band N/AC router costs around 100 to 140 depending on what you want, with future upgrades to adapters if needed. The ADSL modem is provided by the ISP, its not necessary to purchase one.

Wireless N at 20hz can do 35-45mbs and wireless N at 40hz can do 90mbs. AC can double that again if needed(is it crosses both frequency ranges).

Home plugs pretty much max out at 30mbs because of the way our electrics are laid out(crossing fuse boards).

In the age of broadband speeds where the minimum is fast becoming 50+, the obvious order for me is,

Ethernet,
Wireless(to a max of 30 feet - interference objects)
Homeplugs

BTW homeplugs are also susceptible to interference along the power lines from faulty or badly made equipment. Try to identify and isolate that.

BionicRasher

Cuddlesworth wrote: »

In the age of broadband speeds where the minimum is fast becoming 50+, the obvious order for me is,

Ethernet,
Wireless(to a max of 30 feet - interference objects)
Homeplugs

My choice in my home would be
Ethernet
Homeplugs
Wireless

As you say Wireless is good in the ideal situation up to 30 feet and without too much interference - normal house will have walls, microwaves, phones, other wireless equipment, next door neighbours etc to contend with for wireless signals so in my case with an Xbox and a wireless internet radio in an upstairs room and my wireless router in the hallway the homeplugs do a much better job with the Xbox than the wireless is doing with the internet radio

midasman

Hi,

Yeah check the wireless card in your PC, it would need to be 802.11n (not b/g) for fastest Wi-Fi speeds.

In truth as other posters have concluded, a home plug is the best solution if you have a static device located away from the modem (Which for best results should be placed at the main drop point- typically the hall).

you can get home plugs in Harvey Norman/Argos etc.

My recommendation is Vodafone Powerline- capable of 200Mbps down. (but essentially won't degrade your 50Mbps service).

cheers.