topic Re: Slow download speeds since holiday in Broadband

Slow download speeds since holiday

briantrumpet1 — Sat, 24 Sep 2022 12:59:05 GMT

Hi - could someone check my broadband connection speed/stability from the TT end please? Since I got back from a long holiday, it's been quite a way off the subscribed speed, and quite unstable from the laptop end for downloading, having frequent misfires on loading pages.

Thanks.

Re: Slow download speeds since holiday

Karl-TalkTalk — Mon, 26 Sep 2022 06:09:28 GMT

Your router is in sync at 60mb, which is correct for your line. Are you using the laptop wired or over WiFi ?

Thanks

Karl.

Re: Slow download speeds since holiday

briantrumpet1 — Mon, 26 Sep 2022 16:40:45 GMT

Thanks for checking Karl. That was via wifi... since your reply, I've run a long ethernet cable downstairs, and yes, that's zipping along nicely, though the wifi from where I work is still very spotty, which it wasn't before I had my hols... very weird. I might try some experiments by moving my router around a bit and seeing if that improves it on wifi.

Re: Slow download speeds since holiday

ferguson — Mon, 26 Sep 2022 16:57:23 GMT

There are things you can do to improve WiFi performance and we are lucky to have an expert in the field amongst our ranks. @KeithFrench could you oblige, please?

Re: Slow download speeds since holiday

Anonymous — Tue, 27 Sep 2022 05:40:29 GMT

Morning,

Thanks for confirming and please let us know how you get on 🙂

Thanks

Re: Slow download speeds since holiday

KeithFrench — Tue, 27 Sep 2022 09:24:31 GMT

Hi @briantrumpet1

Slow speed, intermittent dropouts, breaks in the signal, no signal on some or all devices or no internet access might be caused by Wi-Fi interference from other local networks, which can also lead to a permanent reduction in speed. No ISP can be responsible for your local environment, this is mainly a byproduct of the popularity of Wi-Fi.

Generally speaking, the 2.4GHz band suffers much more from interference than the 5GHz band, but the 2.4GHz one can sometimes have a better range, but this all depends on your local area.

If you would like me to help you, please can you specify the make/model of TalkTalk router that you are using?

Re: Slow download speeds since holiday

briantrumpet1 — Tue, 27 Sep 2022 09:36:46 GMT

Thanks @KeithFrench Sounds entirely plausible! It's a TT Huawei DG8041W-2.TS

Re: Slow download speeds since holiday

KeithFrench — Tue, 27 Sep 2022 09:38:57 GMT

Hi @briantrumpet1

I will PM you a link for a guide of mine on Wi-Fi interference & initially look at the section called "Are you suffering from interference – prove it first". This section includes full details of Wi-Fi analysers that I recommend for Windows, Windows phone, Android and Apple operating systems. However, I have no way of testing the Apple product. Do not worry about interpreting the results, I will do that for you.

Please post the screenshots that I have requested in my guide (no photos please they can be difficult to read as text can get out of focus when zoomed in), from the analyser you are using (also in my attached guide). Please ensure that the analyser window is maximised (if Windows) before taking the screenshots & upload them via the "Insert Photos" button (in a mobile browser it's the picture icon) on the post editor's toolbar with the Size parameter set to Large. If they are too small, I will not be able to read them & although I can enlarge them, this puts the text out of focus. If you prefer PM them to me. If you do PM me, then please add a link in there to this thread, so that I can find it easily.

Re: Slow download speeds since holiday

briantrumpet1 — Wed, 28 Sep 2022 19:45:15 GMT

Hi @KeithFrench - thanks for the clear guide... I hope I've followed the instructions properly!!

Re: Slow download speeds since holiday

KeithFrench — Wed, 28 Sep 2022 21:34:52 GMT

Hi @briantrumpet1

I'll have a look at these tomorrow and get back to you.

Re: Slow download speeds since holiday

KeithFrench — Fri, 30 Sep 2022 21:04:31 GMT

Hi @briantrumpet1

They are fine thank-you.

A couple of recommendations:-

Please move the 2.4GHz band to channel 11. You can only use channels 1, 6 or 11 in this band as they are classed as the only non-overlapping channels.
You can try moving the 5GHz band to channel 52. When you do so, you will have to wait at least 60 seconds before the network will be available again. Then you must check that all of your 5GHz devices can still use this band. Whilst totally permitted to use channels 52 - 140, not all Wi-Fi network adapters have the additional circuitry in them to use these channels.

Re: Slow download speeds since holiday

briantrumpet1 — Fri, 30 Sep 2022 16:41:38 GMT

Thanks Keith - I'll have a play with that over the weekend, and will report once done!

Re: Slow download speeds since holiday

ferguson — Fri, 30 Sep 2022 17:55:51 GMT

Hey @KeithFrench I don't think you meant switch the 5GHz band to 11 also, did you? 😉

Re: Slow download speeds since holiday

KeithFrench — Fri, 30 Sep 2022 21:04:00 GMT

Oops, thanks @ferguson for pointing out my typo!

Hi @briantrumpet1

The 5GHz channel I meant you to use was 52, sorry about that.

Re: Slow download speeds since holiday

briantrumpet1 — Sat, 01 Oct 2022 07:46:29 GMT

Thanks Keith. A job for later today or tomorrow, when it's raining!

Re: Slow download speeds since holiday

briantrumpet1 — Sat, 01 Oct 2022 12:29:14 GMT

Right, deeds done, and here are the new readings...

Re: Slow download speeds since holiday

briantrumpet1 — Sat, 01 Oct 2022 12:37:59 GMT

FWIW, here are two speedtests, the first on wifi, the second wiredwifiethernet

Re: Slow download speeds since holiday

briantrumpet1 — Sat, 01 Oct 2022 13:17:56 GMT

And FWIW, 15 minutes later, wifi and wired... is the variability of 'loaded latency' of any interest? My uninformed observation is that pages quite often take two goes to load, even on wired connection...

Re: Slow download speeds since holiday

KeithFrench — Sat, 01 Oct 2022 13:54:12 GMT

To work out exactly what is right also I will need to know what Wi-Fi network adapter you have in your PC. What happened at 13:17 in your signal strength/time graph? You might need to look at the Windows Power Management settings:-

Where USB or PCIe-connected WiFi adapters are concerned, power management is best disabled if running in Windows to keep a reliable Wi-Fi connection working at full speed. Once having made the changes outlined below, it is probably best to restart the PC.

To do this in Windows 10 or 11, open Device Manager and expand Network adapters. Then right-click your WiFi card & select Properties. Next, click on the Power Management tab and untick Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power. If the adapter is connected via USB, then expand the USB section in Device Manager and the same option can be found in the Power Management tab in most Root Hubs and USB Controllers. Untick it in there as well.

Re: Slow download speeds since holiday

briantrumpet1 — Sat, 01 Oct 2022 18:35:01 GMT

It's a Realtek RTL8821CE 802.11ac PCIe Adapter - I've done as suggested re power management. Should I run the wifi analyser again?