Limited Speed from New Broadband

megadodge

I recently signed up for 100MB high fibre optic whatever broadband from Vodafone.

From the off I've only being getting a maximum of 25-26MB speeds on my laptop via wifi. When I connect to the modem via cable it hits up to the advertised 100MB.

Now I'm not expecting 100MB all the time but I'd expect at least 80MB on a regular basis. I've contacted the helpdesk and they have tried different lines and one or two other things. They eventually sent a 'technician' down to me, but he was no good. Just did the same as the helpdesk and spent most of the time on the phone. It seems to me he was just there to confirm what I said over the phone was true.

This obviously is a wifi issue. I have no idea if my laptop has wifi limits, but I've had two different laptops out at my house and both of them can only access low 20sMB also. I have another devise which I thought might be sharing, but even when that's completely powered off it makes no difference.

Is there anything I can do? I have no intention of continuing to pay for something I'm not getting.

keith_d99

If you are getting close to 100mb via wired ... It's your wifi network!

No idea what the Vodafone modems are like for wifi, but might be no harm to invest in a decent wifi router.

I use an Apple Airport Express - good for range and speeds

Johnboy1951

Is there anything I can do? I have no intention of continuing to pay for something I'm not getting.

You are getting it

I connect to the modem via cable it hits up to the advertised 100MB.

Are your devices capable of higher speeds over wifi?

megadodge

I know it's a wifi issue, but how do I increase what's getting through to my laptop? Are there any settings I can rejig?

Johnboy1951

megadodge wrote: »

I know it's a wifi issue, but how do I increase what's getting through to my laptop? Are there any settings I can rejig?

Find out what speed your laptop is capable of over wifi with its present hardware.
That might be a limiting factor ...... or one that should first be eliminated as a factor.

ItHurtsWhenIP

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

Find out what speed your laptop is capable of over wifi with its present hardware.
That might be a limiting factor ...... or one that should first be eliminated as a factor.

And lets be clear here ...This is not a Vodafone issue ... If you try to get out of this contract they will hit you for it.

megadodge

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

Find out what speed your laptop is capable of over wifi with its present hardware.
That might be a limiting factor ...... or one that should first be eliminated as a factor.

How do I do that?

I'm no computer wizard obviously, which is why I'm on here looking for solutions.

ED E

Start - Type Device Manager - Click - Scroll down to "network adapters" - Expand -- In there will be 2-4 adapters names, one of them is your wifi card. If you post its full name here we can advise.

Are Vodafone shipping he 658 still or did they move to the 659 to match Eir?

jca

ED E wrote: »

Start - Type Device Manager - Click - Scroll down to "network adapters" - Expand -- In there will be 2-4 adapters names, one of them is your wifi card. If you post its full name here we can advise.

Are Vodafone shipping he 658 still or did they move to the 659 to match Eir?

I got the 658c from them in February unless it's changed since then.

ED E

That being the case then you've just go a ****ty BGN single band modem. Go out and buy something decent from Argos/Amazon and off you go.

Its not a suitable reason to break contract.


NB:

For new sign ups assuming you're pricing for 18months and no longer Vodafones not really cheaper. 18mo * 39 + €60 for good wireless vs 18mo * 45 to include an F2000(HG659b). €762 vs €810 but Vodafone wont support the former.

jca

ED E wrote: »

That being the case then you've just go a ****ty BGN single band modem. Go out and buy something decent from Argos/Amazon and off you go.

Its not a suitable reason to break contract.


NB:

For new sign ups assuming you're pricing for 18months and no longer Vodafones not really cheaper. 18mo * 39 + €60 for good wireless vs 18mo * 45 to include an F2000(HG659b). €762 vs €810 but Vodafone wont support the former.

Or he could do what I did. Get a F2000 flash it with the latest firmware available from spark nz, job's oxo. All found out by accident by me, but it does work. I just got 65 dl on my phone on the 5ghz band.

megadodge

ED E wrote: »

Start - Type Device Manager - Click - Scroll down to "network adapters" - Expand -- In there will be 2-4 adapters names, one of them is your wifi card. If you post its full name here we can advise.

Are Vodafone shipping he 658 still or did they move to the 659 to match Eir?

Thanks.

'Dell Wireless 1397 WLAN Mini-Card' is the first on the 'network adapters' list.

On the back of the modem provided by Vodafone it says 'Model: HG 658c'.

Johnboy1951

megadodge wrote: »

Thanks.

'Dell Wireless 1397 WLAN Mini-Card' is the first on the 'network adapters' list.

http://www.cnet.com/products/dell-wireless-1397-pci-express-half-height-mini-card-network-adapter-series/specs/

That seems to be a 54Mb/s wireless card!

megadodge

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

http://www.cnet.com/products/dell-wireless-1397-pci-express-half-height-mini-card-network-adapter-series/specs/

That seems to be a 54Mb/s wireless card!

Forgive my ignorance, but is that very bad?

Are you recommending I buy the card featured on your link?

Johnboy1951

megadodge wrote: »

Forgive my ignorance, but is that very bad?

Are you recommending I buy the card featured on your link?

The card linked to is what you said you have, and its speed is limited to a maximum of 54Mb/s in ideal conditions.

That is probably the main reason for your slow wifi.

ED E

Internet Connection: Good for 100Mb
Router Wifi: Good for 50-65Mb (depending on many factors)
Your Laptop: Good for 10-20Mb

You can upgrade the wifi card in your laptop but with labor costs you may be better off living with it until you upgrade the laptop itself.


If you have a modern (younger than 3yrs) smartphone you can speedtest with it and will probably get a bit more but as above not the full whack.

jca

ED E wrote: »

Internet Connection: Good for 100Mb
Router Wifi: Good for 50-65Mb (depending on many factors)
Your Laptop: Good for 10-20Mb

You can upgrade the wifi card in your laptop but with labor costs you may be better off living with it until you upgrade the laptop itself.


If you have a modern (younger than 3yrs) smartphone you can speedtests and will probably get a big more but as above not the full whack.

Or he could buy an "n" usb wireless dongle, disable the internal card....a lot of hassle for a few megs extra but if that's what he wants..

Mycroft H

How old is the laptop? That card used to be fitted to laptops from the 2009-10 age.

megadodge

Mycroft H wrote: »

How old is the laptop? That card used to be fitted to laptops from the 2009-10 age.

I would have bought it around that time.

mass_debater

Can you tell us what you're struggling top do with 20-30 mbit? Is it really necessary to spend money when that laptop is near the end of its days being 7-8 years old.

megadodge

ED E wrote: »

Internet Connection: Good for 100Mb
Router Wifi: Good for 50-65Mb (depending on many factors)
Your Laptop: Good for 10-20Mb

You can upgrade the wifi card in your laptop but with labor costs you may be better off living with it until you upgrade the laptop itself.


If you have a modern (younger than 3yrs) smartphone you can speedtest with it and will probably get a bit more but as above not the full whack.

When you say the Router Wifi is good for 50-65MB, is that because of the particular model provided by Vodafone? Would it be possible to get them to provide me with the more modern one you mentioned earlier (659)? Or would it make much difference?

mass_debater

megadodge wrote: »

When you say the Router Wifi is good for 50-65MB, is that because of the particular model provided by Vodafone? Would it be possible to get them to provide me with the more modern one you mentioned earlier (659)? Or would it make much difference?

Your laptop is running as fast as it can with the hardware it has. This has nothing to do with Vodafone, their service gives full speed wired which is all they support

megadodge

mass_debater wrote: »

Can you tell us what you're struggling top do with 20-30 mbit? Is it really necessary to spend money when that laptop is near the end of its days being 7-8 years old.

I find when I'm playing games online, especially if I have multiple tabs open, there are quite a few 'pauses' which are extremely annoying.

My laptop is fine and if it stays the way it is I don't see any need to buy a new one.

megadodge

mass_debater wrote: »

Your laptop is running as fast as it can with the hardware it has. This has nothing to do with Vodafone, their service gives full speed wired which is all they support

Fair enough. Stupid question.

mass_debater

megadodge wrote: »

I find when I'm playing games online, especially if I have multiple tabs open, there are quite a few 'pauses' which are extremely annoying.

My laptop is fine and if it stays the way it is I don't see any need to buy a new one.

That doesn't sound like a bandwidth issue.

megadodge

mass_debater wrote: »

That doesn't sound like a bandwidth issue.

What do you think could be the cause then?

mass_debater

megadodge wrote: »

What do you think could be the cause then?

Games use very little bandwidth, open tabs will use none unless you're streaming. Get a bandwidth meter so you can watch bandwidth usage history while it's happening

More likely running out of ram or paging. Open task manager and keep an eye.

Jack Killian

megadodge wrote: »

When you say the Router Wifi is good for 50-65MB, is that because of the particular model provided by Vodafone? Would it be possible to get them to provide me with the more modern one you mentioned earlier (659)? Or would it make much difference?

It won't, because your laptop is only capable of slower again.

You'll also never realistically use more than 50-65, and - because all devices in a house share the connection - if you have other devices online at the time you wouldn't have the bandwidth anyway.

Best options are to either get a wireless N dongle for under €15 - €20 as mentioned or else get a Powerline pair for about €35.

The latter will offer a full cabled connection at 100 meg speed, but as I said you will probably never use more than the 65 anyway.

Nonoperational

The 658 actually provides ok speeds on the n band. It's not a rocketship but its not terrible either. The issue here is the old wifi card in your laptop.

Also, don't get a technician out, the broadband is performing perfectly. You need to either get a new computer, or a new dongle for your computer, or put up with the speeds which are probably more than adequate.

Johnboy1951

megadodge wrote: »

I find when I'm playing games online, especially if I have multiple tabs open, there are quite a few 'pauses' which are extremely annoying.

My laptop is fine and if it stays the way it is I don't see any need to buy a new one.

Your laptop is not capable of doing all you want 'immediately' so it pauses.
That is an old laptop and is to be expected.

megadodge

Thanks for all the replies. At least I know more now than before I started the thread.


I also have another problem and since you've been so knowledgable see what you think - I have another devise, which I stream the TV through. It was installed in the days before Sky plus, so I could pause live TV and record series etc. Anyway, I only use the internet on this devise when I'm using Netflix, so I can watch on the big screen and good sound system. There was no problem with the old provider, however, since I've switched to Vodafone, although the internet is 'connected' with 'excellent' strength, when I go into the search engine it cannot connect to the server. I cannot connect to the internet on this devise. Any ideas why not?

Nonoperational

You should go into internet settings and forget the network and find your new network and enter the password again.

megadodge

Nonoperational wrote: »

You should go into internet settings and forget the network and find your new network and enter the password again.

Do you mean connect it to the new Vodafone network, cos I've done that with the new password and it's 'connected' with 'excellent' strength.