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upc 20mb is next to useless

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  • 08-09-2008 6:32pm
    #1
    expatoz
    Registered Users Posts: 57 ✭✭


    hi i'm in limerick and for the last 3 days my 20mb connection is pathetic, down to 3mb and one time down to 1mb. rapidshare seems to blocked, utorrent won't connect, dc++ times out. all i can do is browse the web and check emails and even then its slow. tech support say everything seems ok from their end.
    anyone else having the same probs?
    can i ask for a reduction on my bill
    where to now? i changed from bt because of the lousy cap, 30gb and 3mb speed (at least with them everything wasn't throttled) but if this keeps up i'm changing to someone but i'm not sure who,
    anyone got any recommendations
    cheers
    Tagged:


«13456

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    #2
    tman
    Closed Accounts Posts: 16,339 ✭✭✭✭tman


    Are you using the free netgear wireless router by any chance?

    No problems in Galway, it kind of looks like they've blocked uploading to rs, but downloads work fine... Torrents definitely aren't capped either.


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    #3
    expatoz
    Registered Users Posts: 57 ✭✭expatoz


    hey tman
    i'm using the netgear router, at the moment i'm plugged straight into the cable modem but thats no good when i want to use wireless
    any recommendations on router, i'm willing to buy one if that can sort things out. torrents usually work pretty well but it seems as if they block the upload so the ratio can't be kept up. dc++ won't connect at all and soulseek forget it. the dc++ hub i use is out of print soul stuff so piracy isn't an issue but its still blocked


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    #4
    tman
    Closed Accounts Posts: 16,339 ✭✭✭✭tman


    I have the Linksys WRT54GS myself and would consider it the wisest upgrade that I've ever done. (had a netgear freebie beforehand and it gave me no end of headaches)
    I'd say go for pretty much any Linksys router you can afford, but I'm sure others will have more suggestions

    Uploads on torrents seem to work fine on mine, they normally max out the upload speed anyway. If you have it set to unlimited upload speed, perhaps try changing it to 80K or so
    For soulseek, disabling the upnp option seemed to work for me iirc (think it's the very last one in the settings screen)


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    #5
    Stone
    Registered Users Posts: 236 ✭✭Stone


    expatoz,

    I had severe issues with the Netgear 614 myself / disabling the Statefull Inspection firewall helps on this, but is obviously not a real solution.
    So I bought a Linksys WRT54G2 (€ 41 from komplett.ie) which works like a REAL charm ....
    Problem btw is
    a) The limited processing power if the Netgear
    b) The Netgear has way too bad Wan-to-Lan throughput .... see http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/component/option,com_chart/Itemid,189/ for a good contemporary list

    Hope this helps,
    Stone

    PS. Needless to say - but never connect using USB .... always use ethernet !


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    #6
    Stone
    Registered Users Posts: 236 ✭✭Stone


    Sorry tman - you were posting your reply while I was writing mine (didn't want to doublepost)... however seems we offer good advice since it is similar :D


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    #7
    Liamario
    Registered Users Posts: 2,094 ✭✭✭Liamario


    I'm in dublin and i'm having the exact same problems with my 20mb. The spped download wise come 7 o eight o'clock drops to 1-3 mb. That being the case, it's unlikely that the problem is with my router (which is also a WRT54GS). I don't know what ntl/upc are up to, but it's impossible to get through to them. There phones were down today for chrissakes :mad:


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    #8
    expatoz
    Registered Users Posts: 57 ✭✭expatoz


    thanks for the quick replies tman and stone, i was actually looking at a linksys at www.dabs.ie the other day, looks like i'll give that a try, have to buy an external hard drive also
    at the moment my rapidshare d/l (premium account is dowm to 25kbs)
    arrgh!


  • Options
    #9
    cahirhennessy
    Closed Accounts Posts: 83 ✭✭cahirhennessy


    expatoz wrote: »
    hi i'm in limerick and for the last 3 days my 20mb connection is pathetic, down to 3mb and one time down to 1mb. rapidshare seems to blocked, utorrent won't connect, dc++ times out. all i can do is browse the web and check emails and even then its slow. tech support say everything seems ok from their end.
    anyone else having the same probs?
    can i ask for a reduction on my bill
    where to now? i changed from bt because of the lousy cap, 30gb and 3mb speed (at least with them everything wasn't throttled) but if this keeps up i'm changing to someone but i'm not sure who,
    anyone got any recommendations
    cheers

    The connection is absolutely cat today. It's normally very bad(a 20 meg "ultra" connection,lucky if I get 4/5 meg in the evening),but this evening I'm getting the princely download speed of 965 kpbs. Just phoned them and to my shock there was nobody available to talk to me. Abysmal.


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    #10
    jimmycrackcorm
    Registered Users Posts: 14,331 ✭✭✭✭jimmycrackcorm


    For anyone with a WRT54GS, I'd strongly reccomend updating the firmware to DD-WRT. It makes a huge difference on 20mbps, escpecially if you want to use torrents and try surf at the same time. Alos it has way more features.


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    #11
    cahirhennessy
    Closed Accounts Posts: 83 ✭✭cahirhennessy


    connection completel y gone now. I might have to talk to a real person. not good.


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    #12
    tman
    Closed Accounts Posts: 16,339 ✭✭✭✭tman


    jimmycrackcorm wrote: »
    For anyone with a WRT54GS, I'd strongly reccomend updating the firmware to DD-WRT. It makes a huge difference on 20mbps, escpecially if you want to use torrents and try surf at the same time. Alos it has way more features.
    Cool, I've been meaning to try some custom firmware for ages now. Just stuck that on it myself, seems pretty cool so far
    Bit of a scary upgrade process though, especially when you use the MINI firmware instead of the MICRO and think you've just bricked your router:p


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    #13
    watty
    Registered Users Posts: 32,417 ✭✭✭✭watty


    Not all linksys are the same HW, or goodness.
    OpenWRT with X-WRT GUI is better than DD-WRT
    Check OpenWRT HW guide before buying (also make sure it's not an ADSL only Modem + Router).


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    #14
    dub45
    Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 12,448 Mod ✭✭✭✭dub45


    watty wrote: »
    Not all linksys are the same HW, or goodness.
    ......................

    Handy article:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linksys_WRT54G_series


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    #15
    celticfan32
    Closed Accounts Posts: 59 ✭✭celticfan32


    Im in Limerick city and have the 20mb package. My download speeds are absolute rubbish. At the moment my download speed is running at about 70-100kb,s and my upload is about 120kb. Im not well up on this but i think those speeds are not correct for the 20 mb package. I have gone on to speedtest and it says my downloads are nearly 20 mb and my upload is nearly 1.5. When im downloading anything my speeds seem to go very slow. Anyone else with this problem?


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    #16
    paulm17781
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,858 ✭✭✭paulm17781


    celticfan32 wrote: »
    Im in Limerick city and have the 20mb package. My download speeds are absolute rubbish. At the moment my download speed is running at about 70-100kb,s and my upload is about 120kb. Im not well up on this but i think those speeds are not correct for the 20 mb package. I have gone on to speedtest and it says my downloads are nearly 20 mb and my upload is nearly 1.5. When im downloading anything my speeds seem to go very slow. Anyone else with this problem?

    It depends where you are downloading from. The servers hosting the files may not be capable of faster. I've been getting slow speeds on rapidshare lately but other sites I often get much much higher.


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    #17
    celticfan32
    Closed Accounts Posts: 59 ✭✭celticfan32


    Right now im downloading from Pirate bay. Speeds still the same.


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    #18
    vibe666
    Registered Users Posts: 13,016 ✭✭✭✭vibe666


    www.linksysinfo.org is a great resource for linksys routers.

    stick with an older wrt54g or gs router and make sure it can take a 3rd party firmware, not all of them can. some ofthe newer ones might be able to, but you can't beat the old black and blue wrt's. :)


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    #19
    expatoz
    Registered Users Posts: 57 ✭✭expatoz


    thanks for all the router advice, i've found this one at dabs can someone have a look and advise if it is the right one. seems a good price
    http://www.dabs.ie/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=38DV


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    #20
    CiaranC
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,300 ✭✭✭CiaranC


    celticfan32 wrote: »
    Right now im downloading from Pirate bay. Speeds still the same.
    You are downloading from a public torrent tracker. Speeds are generally slow. Its not a bottleneck on your end, you could have a 100MB connection and you would still get those speeds.

    Download via http from HEANET and you'll see what your connection is really like.

    Too many people who dont understand the internet just automatically blame their ISP when things dont happen lightening fast everywhere.


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    #21
    celticfan32
    Closed Accounts Posts: 59 ✭✭celticfan32


    Thanks Ciaran,illtry that out..


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    #22
    CiaranC
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,300 ✭✭✭CiaranC


    When you are done with that go register with a private torrent tracker, I get 1Mb/Sec easily off them.


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    #23
    celticfan32
    Closed Accounts Posts: 59 ✭✭celticfan32


    Ciaran, whats the exact website for heanet,all im getting is some irish education site


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    #24
    CiaranC
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,300 ✭✭✭CiaranC


    celticfan32 wrote: »
    Ciaran, whats the exact website for heanet,all im getting is some irish education site
    lol

    heanet is an irish education website :)

    try this

    http://ie.releases.ubuntu.com/hardy/ubuntu-8.04.1-desktop-i386.iso


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    #25
    Blindpew
    Closed Accounts Posts: 286 ✭✭Blindpew


    CiaranC wrote: »
    When you are done with that go register with a private torrent tracker, I get 1Mb/Sec easily off them.

    CiaranC is right, I can download a 700mb file is under 5 min from a private wrestling site, but yet from a public tracker it could take two days for the same file. If you have the right source UPC can deliver their part.


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    #26
    Freddie59
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,679 ✭✭✭Freddie59


    vibe666 wrote: »
    www.linksysinfo.org is a great resource for linksys routers.

    stick with an older wrt54g or gs router and make sure it can take a 3rd party firmware, not all of them can. some ofthe newer ones might be able to, but you can't beat the old black and blue wrt's. :)

    I ordered this one from Komplett.ie the other day. Fed up with Netgear. Opinions anyone? Seems to have gotten good reviews.:)


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    #27
    vibe666
    Registered Users Posts: 13,016 ✭✭✭✭vibe666


    part of the difficulty in getting a decent linksys router is that there are so many different models and there's no way of telling which one is which when you buy from an online retailer like dabs or komplett as they all 'look' the same externally and it's normally just a stock photo and most suppliers won't see any difference when selling them.

    the only way really to be sure is to grab one from somewhere like PC world where you can check the serial number on the box, or buy one off ebay and ask the seller before you bid/buy what the serial is.

    all the relevant info about available 3rd party firmwares and hardware revisions is available on the wiki page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wrt54g

    oh, and the HEANET server you want is the FTP one, not the HTTP one. :)

    ftp://ftp.heanet.ie/

    just pick a decent sized linux distro to download and see how quick the speed is.

    this one would do it: ftp://ftp.heanet.ie/pub/ubuntu-cdimage/dvd/current/intrepid-dvd-i386.iso


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    #28
    bk
    Moderators, Motoring & Transport Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 22,597 Mod ✭✭✭✭bk


    expatoz wrote: »
    thanks for all the router advice, i've found this one at dabs can someone have a look and advise if it is the right one. seems a good price
    http://www.dabs.ie/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=38DV

    I wouldn't get that one, the newer versions of it have less memory and aren't linux firmware compatible.

    I'd go for this one:
    http://www.dabs.ie/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=3YRT&CategorySelectedId=11177&NavigationKey=11177&ExposedRefinement=11005

    WRT54GL, the L means it has more memory and is Linux firmware compatible (but not with the mega version firmware which has all features).

    the WRTSL54GS would be even better, it has 8mb of flash memory, therefore compatible with the most feature rich linux firmwares.


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    #29
    expatoz
    Registered Users Posts: 57 ✭✭expatoz


    bk wrote: »
    I wouldn't get that one, the newer versions of it have less memory and aren't linux firmware compatible.

    I'd go for this one:
    http://www.dabs.ie/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=3YRT&CategorySelectedId=11177&NavigationKey=11177&ExposedRefinement=11005

    WRT54GL, the L means it has more memory and is Linux firmware compatible (but not with the mega version firmware which has all features).

    the WRTSL54GS would be even better, it has 8mb of flash memory, therefore compatible with the most feature rich linux firmwares.
    hi bk
    thanks for the advice, i've gone for this one WRT54GL, will be running 3 computers off it, xp, ubuntu and server 2003, plan to upgrade my networking skills. i hope it sorts my upc probs tho i suspect a lot has to do with traffic shaping


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    #30
    bk
    Moderators, Motoring & Transport Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 22,597 Mod ✭✭✭✭bk


    expatoz wrote: »
    hi bk
    thanks for the advice, i've gone for this one WRT54GL, will be running 3 computers off it, xp, ubuntu and server 2003, plan to upgrade my networking skills. i hope it sorts my upc probs tho i suspect a lot has to do with traffic shaping

    Either way it is one of the best routers around and it will serve you well no matter who you are with.


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    #31
    Davo D
    Closed Accounts Posts: 142 ✭✭Davo D


    vibe666 wrote: »
    just pick a decent sized linux distro to download and see how quick the speed is.

    this one would do it: ftp://ftp.heanet.ie/pub/ubuntu-cdimage/dvd/current/intrepid-dvd-i386.iso

    I'm on the 20MB package (Dublin 3 area) and I'm downloading the file above at the moment and getting 150KB/s, earlier on today i was getting 1.5MB/s for the same file. This has been happening for the past few weeks now. UPC are denying that there are any problems.

    Has anybody got any ideas as to why there are some people getting crap download speeds at night time? It was down to 17KB/s last night. Not good.


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