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Question

Help With Network

Mar 31, 2018 10:35AM PDT

I have Spectrum for my internet. They provide 100Mbps to my home. I was getting up to 75 Mbps and was satisfied with it. Something has pushed me back to about 20Mbps and so far Spectrum is not helping me. I had a tech helping me and he seemed to know what he was doing and I let him access my computer but he was no help. My computer has a 10/100/1000 Mbps integrated network card and a wireless 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi card. I have the modem that was put in by Spectrum and from that modem there is a network wire to my Vonage phone router. From the Vonage router there is a network wire to the Wi-Fi card on the back of my computer and another wire to my Smart TV and another wire that connects to my Netgear Nighthawk WiFi router for my home WiFi. I don't know much about networks but I thought that if I connected a wire from the back of the Spectrum modem directly to the back of the computer which would effectively eliminate all the other routers and wiring that I now should now get a good download speed. That didn't work. What was strange is that the internet connection icon in the lower right corner of my screen changed from reflecting a wired connection to a wireless connection and my internet speed went down more. Can anyone make any sense out of this or help me do a few things to possibly get back to 75Mbps that I had before?

Discussion is locked

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Clarification Request
2.4GHz is crowded today. What modem and router from Spec?
Mar 31, 2018 11:13AM PDT

On 802.11 b/g/n I never see much over 60 so yours did OK. But and this is a biggy, there is a lot of traffic and neighbors on the 2.4GHz band so it won't take much for the speed to plummet today.

For Windows 10 you need to find all those PCs and turn the next thing off:
https://www.howtogeek.com/224981/how-to-stop-windows-10-from-uploading-updates-to-other-pcs-over-the-internet/

Sorry but I can't guess which Modem and Router package you have here. There are folk that didn't take Spectrum's modem upgrade and are very upset. I can't help those folk.

Which modem+router did Spectrum supply you?

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Help With Network
Mar 31, 2018 11:40AM PDT

The Spectrum modem is Arris/Motorola(Surfboard Model SB6141) My Vonage router is a Linksys RT31P2. I an running Win 8.1.

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OK. Cable modem (arris or Moto)
Mar 31, 2018 11:49AM PDT
https://www.google.com/search?q=RT31P2 no WiFi.
and a Nighthawk for WiFi.

So the usual setup is the internet goes to the arris moto cable modem and then that Ethernet goes to the router WAN port. Since the RT3IP2 is dated I worry you won't reach top speeds but hey, you work with what you got. For VOIP it would get the first connection.

Then for WiFi you would not use the WAN port on the Netgear Nighthawk but GOOGLE THIS: "How to use a router as a WAP?"

If you want to test a direct connect to the Arris/Moto modem, the power must go off on the modem, the cable moved and then power up the modem and then later the PC.

Now we connect a LAN port on the Nighthawk to an open LAN port on the RT3IP2. Setup is a little advanced so I can't give you a step by step but only a guide to setup and why I think your speed will take a hit.
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Help With Network
Mar 31, 2018 12:58PM PDT

Would it make any sense to upgrade the current WiFi Card 802.11 b/g/n to 802.11 ac which I think is the latest?

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Here that would make a huge difference. Why?
Mar 31, 2018 1:50PM PDT

While we may hit limits in the first router as it's dated and not made for today's 100+ megabit speeds here's my 802.11ac link speed is currently 866 Mbps and my 802.11n speed is OK at 144 Mbps. My machine has a current WiFi card as well as the router.

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Help With Network
Apr 1, 2018 12:37PM PDT

R. Proffitt,
I eliminated everything behind the Spectrum modem and plugged it directly into my computer and after following your instructions to reboot the modem and then restart the computer I was getting from 112 to 120 Mbps connection speed. So Spectrum is doing it's thing. Remember I am not knowledgeable about networking. So that being said I decided to make a direct connection from the modem to the Nighthawk internet port instead of to the Vonage router internet port figuring that the Nighthawk would have the latest technology on it and then feed the dated Vonage router with only one wire from a LAN port on the back of the Nighthawk. Well that doesn't work but of course I don't know why. I don't have a working phone if I do that. Somehow I have to get away from making my direct internet connection to that Vonage router and then feed it an internet connection in some other manner so I'm not losing bandwidth. Is there away around this problem? I'm back down to 20Mbps.

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A few things.
Apr 1, 2018 2:14PM PDT

1. When you change connections to the Arris Moto modem, you must power it off, connect the new device then power up the modem so it can register the new connection. If you don't it usually doesn't work.

2. As noted the RT31P2 looks dated. You may find limits as it was from the time of 10 megabit days. While https://wikidevi.com/wiki/Linksys_RT31P2 points out a 10/100 WAN port, it's dated design seems to find a lot of folk complaining about throughput to the Internet.

3. Because of changes to high speed Internet my next test would be like they note at https://support.wessexinternet.com/hc/en-gb/articles/200631292-Vonage-Box-Adapter-Performance-Issues
Get your newer Nighthawk working per Netgear setup instructions. Remember we have power off modems when we change setups.
After the Nighthawk is up put the Vonage on a LAN port on the Netfear per the link in this section and test.

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Help With Network
Apr 4, 2018 3:14PM PDT

Well I had Vonage send me a new adapter. I ran a Ethernet wire out of the back of the Spectrum modem and into the WAN port of my Nighthawk and then plugged in my computer and the Vonage adapter into the LAN ports of the Nighthawk. Speed increased to 60-62 Mbps which was better than the 20 that I was getting before. But it bothered me that I couldn't get the 120 Mbps that I got when the modem was just connected to the computer and nothing else. One interesting thing that I noticed when the modem was connected straight into the computer was that the blinking red light on the modem was now blue. When I hooked everything back up today when I got the new Vonage adapter I noticed that the modem light was blinking red again and as mentioned above I was only getting 60-62 Mbps. I sat and thought about this and I knew something wasn't right. Blinking red light on the modem means less speed than blinking blue light. The only thing I could think of was replace the cable so I had a new one that was never used stored away and when I plugged that one in and went through the process of starting everything up the first thing I noticed on the modem was that the light was blinking blue. Started the computer up and I now have speed up to 118 Mbps. I don't think the wire I replaced was a CAT5 wire. It was old and it looked thinner than a CAT5 and when I counted the wires there were four wires. I do think that R. Proffitt hit the nail on the head about the old Vonage adapter being dated and I new I had to get rid of it and I do thank him for his time and expertise in helping me out. I came out of this knowing a bit more about networking than I did before.

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consider Magic Jack
Apr 4, 2018 3:25PM PDT

Used it for years and never had that problem. Cheaper too.

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Glad it got worked out.
Apr 4, 2018 3:50PM PDT

Always nice to read the final results.

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Help With Network
May 18, 2018 5:35AM PDT

Yeah Its really Impressive. I liked your solution giving to this problem.I am working at Linksys.If you need any Linksys support then you can call me at my Toll free number(18882395201)