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New FTTC Customer - slow Wifi speeds, great via Ethernet

npreece
Newbie
Posts: 7
Registered: ‎29-10-2012

New FTTC Customer - slow Wifi speeds, great via Ethernet

Hi all,
Hope you've had a great Christmas.
I have recently had my fibre installed and am very happy with it. Over Ethernet, I am achieving a download speed of around 73-74Mbps, and around 19Mbps up.
However, over Wifi, with the TG582n, I can only achieve around 33-34Mbps down. The upload speed remains the same. I've tested this speed using speedtest.net and the official BT Speedchecker.
I appreciate that Ethernet generally offers better performance, but I didn't think that the speeds would be more than halved. I've logged in to my router and can see that the 'n' speeds only seem to max out at 65Mbps. I thought this router was capable of 130Mbps.
To rule out congestion, I've tried changing wireless channels but to no avail. I've turned off WPS and turned off the security temporarily to see if that made a difference, but it didn't. I have also run inSSIDer and there are two other networks in the area, both TalkTalk routers, and they use a different channel to the one I'm currently on (6).
All my devices are 'n' capable, and none of them are 'b' or 'g' only, so I don't think any of my equipment is slowing the network down. I have a Lenovo IdeaPad Z580 (2013 model), a Samsung Galaxy S3, a Nexus 7 (2012), a Nokia Lumia 520 and a Nook HD. I also have an Epson SX425W which is occasionally switched on to wirelessly print the odd page or two.
If anyone could advise me on this I'd be most grateful.
Many thanks,
Nathan
39 REPLIES 39
npreece
Newbie
Posts: 7
Registered: ‎29-10-2012

Re: New FTTC Customer - slow Wifi speeds, great via Ethernet

P.S., please ignore my signature; that was when I was on ADSL2+.
hanif248
Dabbler
Posts: 16
Registered: ‎30-12-2013

Re: New FTTC Customer - slow Wifi speeds, great via Ethernet

This is the exact same issue I am having, I'm still waiting for a resolution in my thread as well.
wilcochris
Dabbler
Posts: 20
Registered: ‎16-12-2013

Re: New FTTC Customer - slow Wifi speeds, great via Ethernet

I shall anxiously watch this thread as this is the same issue I am having. I am about to open my own thread so I can see if there is a resolve to this
hanif248
Dabbler
Posts: 16
Registered: ‎30-12-2013

Re: New FTTC Customer - slow Wifi speeds, great via Ethernet

I would recommend piling onto this thread as to not annoy the moderators, a collective might be better than individual strikes in this case (but who knows)...
art15t
Grafter
Posts: 38
Registered: ‎29-12-2013

Re: New FTTC Customer - slow Wifi speeds, great via Ethernet

Quote from: npreece
Hi all,
Hope you've had a great Christmas.
I have recently had my fibre installed and am very happy with it. Over Ethernet, I am achieving a download speed of around 73-74Mbps, and around 19Mbps up.
However, over Wifi, with the TG582n, I can only achieve around 33-34Mbps down. The upload speed remains the same. I've tested this speed using speedtest.net and the official BT Speedchecker.
I appreciate that Ethernet generally offers better performance, but I didn't think that the speeds would be more than halved. I've logged in to my router and can see that the 'n' speeds only seem to max out at 65Mbps. I thought this router was capable of 130Mbps.
To rule out congestion, I've tried changing wireless channels but to no avail. I've turned off WPS and turned off the security temporarily to see if that made a difference, but it didn't. I have also run inSSIDer and there are two other networks in the area, both TalkTalk routers, and they use a different channel to the one I'm currently on (6).
All my devices are 'n' capable, and none of them are 'b' or 'g' only, so I don't think any of my equipment is slowing the network down. I have a Lenovo IdeaPad Z580 (2013 model), a Samsung Galaxy S3, a Nexus 7 (2012), a Nokia Lumia 520 and a Nook HD. I also have an Epson SX425W which is occasionally switched on to wirelessly print the odd page or two.
If anyone could advise me on this I'd be most grateful.
Many thanks,
Nathan

Hi Nathan,
had to delete this as I saw you tried most things I was suggesting
wilcochris
Dabbler
Posts: 20
Registered: ‎16-12-2013

Re: New FTTC Customer - slow Wifi speeds, great via Ethernet

So, I thought id check the speed with my phone practically on the router. Here are the pics of the speedtest and the location of fibre router, pn router and iPhone
NorthEasterner
Aspiring Pro
Posts: 1,873
Thanks: 64
Fixes: 3
Registered: ‎25-09-2012

Re: New FTTC Customer - slow Wifi speeds, great via Ethernet

The TG582n is known for having slow wireless speeds.
Whatever you do it's not going to improve.  They are basically not worth anything although I managed to sell one for £40.
What I would do is buy a cable router.  Replace the router supplied and replace with the new cable router.  I would strongly advise a well known branded router like Netgear or Belkin or an Asus.
Set it up (I'll provide steps if necessary)
Even buy an BT hub 5 or 4 as they will be good.  Just the router supplied by Plusnet is not good quality
Ex Plusnet Fibre customer. Sky Ultrafast (G.Fast) Customer using a Sky Hub 4.2. If you wish to say thanks, please click the thumbs up Thumbs_Up
hanif248
Dabbler
Posts: 16
Registered: ‎30-12-2013

Re: New FTTC Customer - slow Wifi speeds, great via Ethernet

Lucky, for some, this is me at the router with the laptop (wireless)

Via Ethernet is the full whack ofcourse...
kmilburn
Grafter
Posts: 911
Thanks: 6
Registered: ‎30-07-2007

Re: New FTTC Customer - slow Wifi speeds, great via Ethernet

There are a number of  factors that impact on the wireless performance, while you eliminated some of them, you're left with the ones you can do little about!
To get the 150 and 300 Mbps figures, the routers use an number of tricks utilising multiple channels (20MHz - 40MHz  and MIMO), but it requires all devices to cooperate.
Any device which uses a single antenna and a 20MHz channel width will be limited to a maximum of 64Mbps,  which in reality gives a transfer figure closer to 40mbps (max).  This will include most mobile phones, tablets and printers.
Your Lenovo Z580 has a wireless card that should support 300Mbps  (using MIMO 2x2, which the TG582n also supports), so in theory, you should get a download speed equivalent of the wired connection.  If you don't, it's likely the presence of the other devices connected to the router, causing the router to drop back to single channel mode.
hanif248
Dabbler
Posts: 16
Registered: ‎30-12-2013

Re: New FTTC Customer - slow Wifi speeds, great via Ethernet

Quote from: NorthEasterner
I would strongly advise a well known branded router like Netgear or Belkin or an Asus.

I purchased this one: http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing-accessories/networking/cable-wireless-routers/netgear-wnr2200...
However, the speed was the same? Even at close distances. I made sure it was broadcasting at maximum. Am I doing something wrong, or could it be my connection that is problematic?
NorthEasterner
Aspiring Pro
Posts: 1,873
Thanks: 64
Fixes: 3
Registered: ‎25-09-2012

Re: New FTTC Customer - slow Wifi speeds, great via Ethernet

Maybe the channel is congested.
Netgear do sometimes have congestion issues on WiFi channels and not the greatest brand.
I get full 57mb on my 60mb connection with BT via their home hubs.  Not sure if thats because i'm using the 5ghz band
Ex Plusnet Fibre customer. Sky Ultrafast (G.Fast) Customer using a Sky Hub 4.2. If you wish to say thanks, please click the thumbs up Thumbs_Up
kmilburn
Grafter
Posts: 911
Thanks: 6
Registered: ‎30-07-2007

Re: New FTTC Customer - slow Wifi speeds, great via Ethernet

Another thing to watch out for is problem with the speed test service itself.
I've just run a few tests on using speedtest.net and got different results each time, 15Mbps from the server it picked in London,  40Mbps from Preston, and 72Mbps from Bristol (which is what I expected).
Think Broadband's speed test was consistent each time around 72Mbps
ajbrown1965
Grafter
Posts: 121
Registered: ‎27-02-2009

Re: New FTTC Customer - slow Wifi speeds, great via Ethernet

In my experience the only way to get a reliable speed test result is from a computer connected directly to the router by a minimum length of cable. I have one machine connected in such a way and three connected via an ethernet switch, each on no more than 3 metres of cable. The switch itself is connected to the router via only 2 metres of cable. On the 'main' computer I get consistent test results of 72000 down and 18000 up, but on  the other machines I only get 66000 up and 16000 down. On a laptop connected wirelessly via 802.11n I rarely get downloads above 50000 and uploads of about 12000.
jimbof
Grafter
Posts: 348
Thanks: 2
Registered: ‎02-05-2013

Re: New FTTC Customer - slow Wifi speeds, great via Ethernet

I personally find the wireless capability of the TG582N quite good - though I use it just as a wireless access point as I have a router I built myself.  The following is a test result from my Macbook Pro over wifi to the TG582N, you can see I can get almost line rate.  I am in a City Centre location, with over 15 networks visible, and the TG582N is 2 floors below where I am, located in a cupboard under the stairs - though I believe there aren't any brick walls in between.  This performs much better than the 3 antenna TPLINK TL-WR1043ND gigabit router I was using previously.

The cable length is more or less irrelevant for Ethernet in the home environment - with a quality cable, correctly terminated, 330ft from device to device (ie device to switch) should be able to achieve gigabit line rate and negligible latency.  If the switch is located midspan between two devices that should mean you can get gigabit rates over 660ft.
Now of course, there is a lot of poor cable out there and dodgy crimp tools etc...!  Classic examples of "epic fail" are using solid core cable with any kind or RJ45 terminated onto its ends - even the "true" solid core connectors are junk.