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Question

What are potential causes of very slow internet?

Mar 11, 2015 8:18AM PDT

For several months now I have been experiencing very slow internet service (less than 1 mBps). We have had the provider technician out twice but the problem seems to worsen. All the computers in our home connect wirelessly.
I have mapped the speeds & dB levels of the signal at various locations in the house. The signal drops in dB level considerably when you get outside the room that the modem is in. I have used a range extender with limited success.
In the room directly under the modem, my computer can hardly get any download speed. I have tried the same location with a laptop, there is some improvement but not nearly enough. I can honestly say that I cannot use the internet!!
My wife wants to ditch our provider but we were having speed issues with our previous one.
How can I be sure I am getting the service I pay for & if I am getting it - how to I discover the other causes of slow speed I must contend with?

Discussion is locked

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Clarification Request
OK. Time for a test.
Mar 11, 2015 8:28AM PDT

While I see no details I would still start with the WiFi turned off and test it with a wired connection. Does that fix it?

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Difficult to answer because of location of computers.
Mar 12, 2015 2:41AM PDT

The computer having the most problem right now is downstairs from the modem & is a desktop. It seems to be permanently settled at a speed of 1 mbps & the db level is 25 lower than I measure on a laptop at the same location. I am going to contact my provider one more time!

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Answer
what type of internet
Mar 11, 2015 8:31AM PDT

what type of internet access - cable or dsl? you said all computers are connected wirelessly, how is the speed if you connect to the modem via wire?

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cable internet
Mar 12, 2015 2:37AM PDT

I have not tried hardwiring yet. It will be a pain to do so since the computer giving most trouble is a desktop & downstairs from the modem! i have checked the speeds again this am - I get a 25 dB improvement on the laptop (and near normail speed) The speed on the desktop is only 1mbps! This would cause me to suspect something wrong in the desktop but have been fighting the speed issue on all computers for several months.

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So how about a powerline network connection?
Mar 12, 2015 2:40AM PDT

Again, there is no detail about the router, if you changed the router or WiFi but words like battling it for some time.

I don't see what's been changed. Sometimes you find a client that didn't change gear. Our techs arrive with another router, USB WiFi dongles and it's done in under a hour. Some clients get chuffed that we don't try to save their router but routers are cheaper than tech time.
Bob

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Answer
Re: Potential causes of very slow internet
Mar 17, 2015 10:55PM PDT

Wireless connection may perform poorely due to signal interferance. And may be your internet connection is also getting slow because of this issue. To avoid slow internet speed because of signal interferance you can try to reposition your router and can change your wifi channel number. See if it works in your case.

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Answer
What are potential causes of very slow internet?
Apr 2, 2015 1:27AM PDT

- Make sure the wireless adapter of your desktop is up to date
- Also try changing the roaming aggressiveness of the wireless adapter of your desktop to maximum