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Guide - Getting the most out of your high speed Virgin Media (UPC) 240mb/s service

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    #272
    TheDoc
    Registered Users Posts: 23,137 ✭✭✭✭TheDoc


    griffdaddy wrote: »
    Just get an Archer C7 or C8 and ac wireless card or USB adapter. Probably cost about 120 all in. If you get a USB adapter it's probably something you'll use for a long time to come, assuming the pc has Usb 3 ports.

    Yeah I've a fair few USB 3 ports.

    That would be a decent enough price to get consistent speeds of the sort others are talking. My house doesn't have overly thick walls. As is I get decent wifi speeds on my phone in the Pc room, so I'd say the PC could get good ones.

    Going to tinker with the 5ghz speeds later see how it gets on. Will need to check devices though to ensure they are compatable.

    Nexus 4 original release, Nexus 7 original release and an iPhone 5 are the wireless devices we use, along with a PS4 upstairs. The 5ghz thing sounds interesting, never bothered changing it as I only use wifi in the front room, where the router is itself.

    My only concern with wifi as always, is potential drop outs and dropped signals.

    I must also check what router I have from UPC provided, to see if its eligible for this messing :) To be honest it sounds like the investment would pay off itself considering it would be my own router and wireless card, useable down the line also.

    Just remember trying to solve an internet crisis with Eircom two years ago, I bought a Linksys WRT610N Dual N Band Wireless Router , wonder if that would be any use


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    #273
    k123456
    Registered Users Posts: 2,181 ✭✭✭k123456


    TheDoc wrote: »
    This thread is really interesting.

    I have been on 240mbps since it came out, and have been pretty chuffed with the performance. Down by the router my HTPC and NAS are hooked in via Ethernet and my HTPC fetches speeds just on the 240mb, which is brilliant considering its my main download manager etc.

    however I've been getting tetchy with my main pc, which is running via power/homeplugs. Below is my latest speedtest.
    4559130662.png


    To be honest I don't suffer lag or issues in games, which is my main purpose for my PC, but being the main Pc, I'm just greedy and want more.
    The homeplugs are doing the best they can.

    I'm in rented accommodation, and not sure if I can/should drill holes for Ethernet. Would be dead handy. Cable could go outside the house, up the back wall, into the room above, where my main PC is. I'd prefer to go out and in, rather then up through the ceiling, since god knows what cabling etc. is there.

    But seeing people report on 200mb speeds over wifi is really impressive. Maybe to avoid hassle of cabling and drilling holes, I might look into this. What sort of outlay are we talking when it comes to buying the TPlink modem/router and then a wifi adaptor to harness the speeds in myPC?

    To be honest I keep posting about this every so often, think I need to stop being lazy, and just cable the ****ing thing.


    Borrow or buy a network cable cat5e or greater
    test using the network cable, if the speed is not much better over cable, you might have a problem with your ETH Nic, ; update drivers , Nic FW and Bios


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    #274
    TheDoc
    Registered Users Posts: 23,137 ✭✭✭✭TheDoc


    k123456 wrote: »
    Borrow or buy a network cable cat5e or greater
    test using the network cable, if the speed is not much better over cable, you might have a problem with your ETH Nic, ; update drivers , Nic FW and Bios

    PC speeds have been consistent like the above. To be honest I keep my drivers up to date, and just went through a clean windows 10 install there over the weekend, where all drivers were updated. I'm like 100% sure its just a limitation of the home plugs.

    The speed to my HTPc is perfect which is connected by Ethernet, typically 230-235mbps, its really an incredible stable service. I just want to optimise the main PC upstairs.


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    #275
    k123456
    Registered Users Posts: 2,181 ✭✭✭k123456


    TheDoc wrote: »
    Yeah I've a fair few USB 3 ports.

    That would be a decent enough price to get consistent speeds of the sort others are talking. My house doesn't have overly thick walls. As is I get decent wifi speeds on my phone in the Pc room, so I'd say the PC could get good ones.

    Going to tinker with the 5ghz speeds later see how it gets on. Will need to check devices though to ensure they are compatable.

    Nexus 4 original release, Nexus 7 original release and an iPhone 5 are the wireless devices we use, along with a PS4 upstairs. The 5ghz thing sounds interesting, never bothered changing it as I only use wifi in the front room, where the router is itself.

    My only concern with wifi as always, is potential drop outs and dropped signals.

    I must also check what router I have from UPC provided, to see if its eligible for this messing :) To be honest it sounds like the investment would pay off itself considering it would be my own router and wireless card, useable down the line also.

    Just remember trying to solve an internet crisis with Eircom two years ago, I bought a Linksys WRT610N Dual N Band Wireless Router , wonder if that would be any use

    Keep an eye on ebay too, lots of ac routers there,
    this went for stg 16
    http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/231633852311?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT


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    #276
    TheDoc
    Registered Users Posts: 23,137 ✭✭✭✭TheDoc


    k123456 wrote: »
    Keep an eye on ebay too, lots of ac routers there,
    this went for stg 16
    http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/231633852311?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

    Might try find someone who has a rake of cat5e or cat6, and just run the cable upstairs and see what speeds I get.

    I guess ideally I'd like to stay cabled. Have a switch up by the main pc, where the homeplugs go into. If I can get a cable into that from downstairs, be cool to see what the speeds look like, and if it hits the 230+ like downstairs.

    To find someone with 15-20metres of cable :D


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    #277
    k123456
    Registered Users Posts: 2,181 ✭✭✭k123456


    TheDoc wrote: »
    Might try find someone who has a rake of cat5e or cat6, and just run the cable upstairs and see what speeds I get.

    I guess ideally I'd like to stay cabled. Have a switch up by the main pc, where the homeplugs go into. If I can get a cable into that from downstairs, be cool to see what the speeds look like, and if it hits the 230+ like downstairs.

    To find someone with 15-20metres of cable :D

    Lots of cable Ebay, get cat6


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    #278
    Interested Observer
    Registered Users Posts: 13,034 ✭✭✭✭Interested Observer


    So I got a Horizon box recently and supposedly 240mb internet, but it's not getting anywhere close to that speed. Just wondering does the guide apply to the Horizon box too? Does anyone know how you log into the internet settings on Horizon? I've tried 192.162.0.1 and 192.162.1.1 but neither page loads.


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    #279
    bob11
    Registered Users Posts: 469 ✭✭bob11


    Hi there,

    Great thread here ..

    just about to buy a new wlan modem to improve my UPC wifi speeds.

    I see that there is an TP Link archer C9 now available with faster spec.
    I presume that this would be better to future proof my installation ?

    Bob


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    #280
    k123456
    Registered Users Posts: 2,181 ✭✭✭k123456


    bob11 wrote: »
    Hi there,

    Great thread here ..

    just about to buy a new wlan modem to improve my UPC wifi speeds.

    I see that there is an TP Link archer C9 now available with faster spec.
    I presume that this would be better to future proof my installation ?

    Bob


    I googled archer c7 vs c8, and c8 vs c9, not a huge amount of difference in em

    I went for the c8, as I couldn't see a massive difference between c8 and c9

    one important thing the c8 has over the c7, is usb 3


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    #281
    k123456
    Registered Users Posts: 2,181 ✭✭✭k123456


    An example of the difference a decent router will make over the UPC one

    Had UPC router, wireless was getting 10-20mb

    ON laptop ; Changed to AC compatible NIC, speed went up to 20-30 still connected to upc wifi router

    Set up Archer c8 yesterday, now getting 240mb wireless on laptop (about 4 metre away, signal travelling thru one wall)

    Android phones now averaging 50 mb
    were 30mb before

    Interestingly while the Androids are all recent enough phones, with ac compatible NICS, they are not seeing the ac 5ghz ssid, only the laptop does. Looks like an issue with the phones, and not the router.


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    #282
    TheDoc
    Registered Users Posts: 23,137 ✭✭✭✭TheDoc


    What sort of AC compatible NIC/Adapter would I be looking at for a PC?

    I've some N technology wireless adapters knocking around, might actually plug one in to get a feel for what the wireless signal is like on my PC, and how it carries from downstairs.


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    #283
    k123456
    Registered Users Posts: 2,181 ✭✭✭k123456


    TheDoc wrote: »
    What sort of AC compatible NIC/Adapter would I be looking at for a PC?

    I've some N technology wireless adapters knocking around, might actually plug one in to get a feel for what the wireless signal is like on my PC, and how it carries from downstairs.

    https://www.google.ie/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=best%20ac%20wireless%20card

    If you are looking one for a PC, you get could get a USB or PCI (slot type)

    I went for a Intel 7260HMW , but afik, they come in different form factors, to suit whatever you have , laptop , PC etc , ; USB, Pci, mini pci (laptop) etc

    I'm not sure , but I guess a USB one might lose some speed if you have USB 2 ports

    Another one, that's got good reviews is "Bigfoot" wifi adapters


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    #284
    Johnboy1951
    Registered Users Posts: 14,002 ✭✭✭✭Johnboy1951


    I wonder if this one would give consistently high speed connections

    http://www.komplett.ie/product/zkb-03netw/20221960/intel-netwerk-controller-ac-3160-mini-pci-e/details.aspx
    Data transfer rate (max) 433 Mbit/s


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    #285
    k123456
    Registered Users Posts: 2,181 ✭✭✭k123456


    Just a PS on using the 5ghz faster network with Android Phones, previously the phones were only picking up the slower 2.4g network

    Wasn't picking up the 5ghz ac faster network , on Androids , What I did : to fix, using the TP link Gui, changed the channel on 5ghz from auto to a numbered channel, on one Android got downloads on 200mb, on another 100mb , impressive speeds for a phone


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    #286
    ED E
    Registered Users Posts: 36,167 ✭✭✭✭ED E


    k123456 wrote: »
    Just a PS on using the 5ghz faster network with Android Phones, previously the phones were only picking up the slower 2.4g network

    Wasn't picking up the 5ghz ac faster network , on Androids , What I did : to fix, using the TP link Gui, changed the channel on 5ghz from auto to a numbered channel, on one Android got downloads on 200mb, on another 100mb , impressive speeds for a phone

    Handsets may not support DFS which is used in Auto mode but not static mode.


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    #287
    scrummonkey
    Registered Users Posts: 68 ✭✭scrummonkey


    So anyone any ideas why my set up with an archer 8 is constantly dropping ? I followed guide as per instructions here, it got so bad I had to revert to that tc 7200 rubbish again ..... Did I just throw €110 down the drain re the c8 ? Or what should I be looking for as a cause of the problem ? Need help guys as am not that tech savvy ......


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    #288
    MarkAnthony
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,934 ✭✭✭MarkAnthony


    scrummonkey wrote: »
    So anyone any ideas why my set up with an archer 8 is constantly dropping ? I followed guide as per instructions here, it got so bad I had to revert to that tc 7200 rubbish again ..... Did I just throw €110 down the drain re the c8 ? Or what should I be looking for as a cause of the problem ? Need help guys as am not that tech savvy ......

    Are the DHCPs enabled on both devices. That's what I did - silly me. If you dont specifiy the address range you'll get conflicts.


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    #289
    Monzo_
    Registered Users Posts: 2 ✭Monzo_


    Recently changed to the 240mb/s service as we've been struggling with slow speeds for such a long time. Unfortunately the change has done nothing. All the speed tests hover between the 30mb and 50mb mark using the ethernet cable. Using the internet upstairs is an utter pain and it's only just about bearable downstairs. I got in touch with them and they claim the modem is a new model and that the line has no issues.

    Any suggestions on what to do next? A couple of my housemates generally stick to their rooms so would getting an adapter or something for the upstairs hallway be a worthwhile option? Being honest I don't know too much about them.


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    #290
    k123456
    Registered Users Posts: 2,181 ✭✭✭k123456


    Hi, see post page one, basically you need to test your speed, using a pc or laptop with a 1gb capable network card and a 1gb capable cable (cat5e cat6), you should be seeing close to 240mb wired


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    #291
    Fakman87
    Closed Accounts Posts: 789 ✭✭✭Fakman87


    Lads I got UPC today and my test came back at 80Mbs wireless. The white box that I connected the horizon box to is an old NTL box. Could this slower speed be due to this or only down to being wireless? Thanks.


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    #292
    Johnboy1951
    Registered Users Posts: 14,002 ✭✭✭✭Johnboy1951


    Fakman87 wrote: »
    Lads I got UPC today and my test came back at 80Mbs wireless. The white box that I connected the horizon box to is an old NTL box. Could this slower speed be due to this or only down to being wireless? Thanks.

    Check it wired.

    Wireless can vary greatly depending on a lot of variables.


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    #293
    Fakman87
    Closed Accounts Posts: 789 ✭✭✭Fakman87


    Johnboy1951 wrote: »
    Check it wired.

    Wireless can vary greatly depending on a lot of variables.

    Thanks. I don't have a cable so will have to buy one.


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    #294
    k123456
    Registered Users Posts: 2,181 ✭✭✭k123456


    Hi Folks, I have a c8 and am configuring
    these Optional Extra steps 12 to 15

    If you are going to be running servers or playing games, it maybe a good idea to also implement the following optional steps:

    12) Connect to your new routers web admin interface
    13) Set the "WAN Connection Type" to Static IP (found under Network -> WAN on the Archer C7).
    14) Then enter the following:
    IP Address: 192.168.0.2
    Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
    Default Gateway: 192.168.0.1
    15) Click Save (you may need to reboot the server

    currently under dynamic
    Use These DNS Servers is unticked
    dns server ips are greyed out     and have the folowing ips
    89.101.160.5 and 89.101.160.4

    However when I changed from dynamic to static
    I am being prompted to hard code dns addresses


    Do I go with addresses above, or what should I put in


    Thanks


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    #295
    Johnboy1951
    Registered Users Posts: 14,002 ✭✭✭✭Johnboy1951


    k123456 wrote: »
    Hi Folks, I have a c8 and am configuring
    these Optional Extra steps 12 to 15

    If you are going to be running servers or playing games, it maybe a good idea to also implement the following optional steps:

    12) Connect to your new routers web admin interface
    13) Set the "WAN Connection Type" to Static IP (found under Network -> WAN on the Archer C7).
    14) Then enter the following:
    IP Address: 192.168.0.2
    Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
    Default Gateway: 192.168.0.1
    15) Click Save (you may need to reboot the server

    currently under dynamic
    Use These DNS Servers is unticked
    dns server ips are greyed out     and have the folowing ips
    89.101.160.5 and 89.101.160.4

    However when I changed from dynamic to static
    I am being prompted to hard code dns addresses


    Do I go with addresses above, or what should I put in


    Thanks

    Those IPs - 89.101.160.5 and 89.101.160.4 - belong to UPC.

    Unless UPC provide you with a fixed IP address for your WAN side then you cannot use it.


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    #296
    Dublin Deluge
    Registered Users Posts: 92 ✭✭Dublin Deluge


    Thanks for the excellent guide! I also bought the TP-LINK Archer C8 and my experience has been mostly positive. I just had some connectivity problems to report, which, in summary, can be solved by just putting your UPC technicolor modem in bridge mode. Hope this info might help other people in the same situation.

    Here are the details:

    I was a bit reluctant to go the whole way and put my UPC technicolor modem in bridge mode, so I kept my archer as a subnet of the technicolor network. Speeds were overall great on wireless, (depending on device and distance to router, etc) and this setup worked perfectly for about a month. This week however something weird started to happen. The Archer router started to go offline/lose connection and then recover connectivity after about 5 minutes. This would happen randomly. At the beginning I thought it was the UPC connection, but I was able to connect to the internet if connected directly to the technicolor via ethernet whilst the archer was dropping the internet. It wasn't a problem on the archer wifi, as you couldn't access the Internet during a dropout even if connected to the archer by ethernet cable..

    I concluded that either there was something in the Archer that was losing the connection to the internet OR that the Technicolor was somehow disconnecting the Archer sporadically. The Archer had a static IP on the Technicolor and this static IP address was in the DMZ in the Technicolor, so I didn't really know what to do.

    Pretty much as a stab in the dark I decided to put the Technicolor in bridge/modem-only mode following this guide (using the Linux method):

    http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057106714

    After setting the technicolor in bridge mode I stopped having connectivity issues. My internet connection has been solid for the last 36 hours or so.

    However, I'm still not sure why I started having these connectivity issues after about a month of not having problems.


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    #297
    k123456
    Registered Users Posts: 2,181 ✭✭✭k123456


    `Hi Folks, re technicolor in bridge mode

    Will this affect my LAN wired ports/ and/or the telephone port ?

    I too have an Archer c8, and have yet to bridge it

    Thanks




    An Aside

    For those that are using wired connections, I have noticed that the wired ports perform better on the Archer, than the UPc technicolor 7200 ;
    Using a Minix X8 Android TV box (Nic is limited to 100mb) and cat 6 cabling 20metre cable run
    direct to technicolor 7200, speedtest 65mb download average
    direct to Archer c8, average 95mb :)


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    #298
    beno619
    Registered Users Posts: 5,006 ✭✭✭beno619


    Archer C9 on sale as a lighting deal on Amazon for £67.99.

    http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00PK0JLCI?ref_=gb1h_tit_m-4_1087_a8ebdd9f&smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE.


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    #299
    Dublin Deluge
    Registered Users Posts: 92 ✭✭Dublin Deluge


    k123456 wrote: »
    `Hi Folks, re technicolor in bridge mode

    Will this affect my LAN wired ports/ and/or the telephone port ?

    I too have an Archer c8, and have yet to bridge it

    I don't have anything connected to the Technicolor ethernet ports other than the archer c8 router. So I don't know what would happen if I connect another device like a laptop... Haven't even tried. I assume it shouldn't get an IP address....

    The telephone port on the technicolor works fine. I can make and receive phone calls no problem.


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    #300
    k123456
    Registered Users Posts: 2,181 ✭✭✭k123456


    http://www.hindustantimes.com/gadgets-updates/google-gets-in-the-wifi-router-business/article1-1381705.aspx


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    #301
    Johnboy1951
    Registered Users Posts: 14,002 ✭✭✭✭Johnboy1951


    k123456 wrote: »
    http://www.hindustantimes.com/gadgets-updates/google-gets-in-the-wifi-router-business/article1-1381705.aspx

    Oh yeah, I really trust Google to not spy on me ...... right! :rolleyes:


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