# Help pls - Router drops download speed to 0.2Mbps!



## Black Panther (Dec 15, 2010)

Problem's at my parents' house.

When any of their laptops are connected direct (without router) they get what they're paying for ie a 4Mbps download and 0.5Mbps upload PPPoE DSL.

However, when they use the router the download speed drops to a miserly 0.2Mbps while the upload speed remains fine at 0.5Mbps.

I used speedtest.net to check the above.

Now once I had a nearly identical problem though my download wasn't dropping as much (I still had ~2Mbps instead of 4 but my upload was dropping to 0.05 instead of 0.5Mbps). What I had done was turn QoS off and problem was solved...

I'm not saying it could be QoS here, but I tried that remedy first...... and cannot find any QoS settings anywhere on the router's page 

Can someone enlighten me where should I start? I clicked all the options in the screenshot below...

The router in question is a K.Corp Lifestyle Silver Series Generation II 54G.


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## brandonwh64 (Dec 15, 2010)

Change channel to 6 on both router and WlAN card to see if that helps

I also experienced this when i installed a new HD in my laptop, come to find out when i install the bluetooth drivers it messes with my WLAN signal


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## slyfox2151 (Dec 15, 2010)

connected by  ethernet or wireless to the router? could also try updating the firmware on the router.


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## Athlon2K15 (Dec 15, 2010)

Im assuming this is a recent occurence? Im also going to assume your parents have no clue how to configure a router so they probably havent messed with any settings. The first thing i thought of before reading your post was QoS but you have said there are no QoS settings in the router Admin panel. maybe look for a firmware update and see if that gives more options.Are there any other wireless devices such as bluetooth etc. that could be interfering? I find the best wireless channel to be 11 in my area maybe try that.


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## Black Panther (Dec 15, 2010)

brandonwh64 said:


> Change channel to 6 on both router and WlAN card to see if that helps
> 
> I also experienced this when i installed a new HD in my laptop, come to find out when i install the bluetooth drivers it messes with my WLAN signal



I'm not thinking that's the solution but I'll try changing channels to 6 as you suggest, and if that doesn't work to 11 as AthlonX2 suggested. 



slyfox2151 said:


> connected by  ethernet or wireless to the router? could also try updating the firmware on the router.


Both their laptops are wireless to router. There's no pc actually attached by ethernet to router at all... which makes me think I probably should have attached one of the laptops by ethernet before checking out the settings?

I'll leave the firmware update for last. It asks for another password, and they've forgotten it... 



AthlonX2 said:


> Im assuming this is a recent occurence? Im also going to assume your parents have no clue how to configure a router so they probably havent messed with any settings. The first thing i thought of before reading your post was QoS but you have said there are no QoS settings in the router Admin panel. maybe look for a firmware update and see if that gives more options.Are there any other wireless devices such as bluetooth etc. that could be interfering? I find the best wireless channel to be 11 in my area maybe try that.



Problem's been there ever since they've installed this router. But my mum then didn't go much online so my dad just used to plug his laptop direct knowing comfortably that I'll be checking out the settings someday... Now since my mum's being much more online  dad no longer has the option to remove the router since he'd kick her offline, so the issue got kinda urgent 
(Both their laptops have bluetooths but they're turned off) Their laptops are both MSI GT640, though I don't think this is relevant to the issue here. Anyway they've both got a 802.11 b/g/draft-n Wireless LAN with Bluetooth card.


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## remixedcat (Dec 15, 2010)

Is someone trying to get into thier wireless and suck off the bandwidth? I had this problem once. 

Do they have any wireless security.... I suggest they use it. 


Also there could be a lot of interferrence from microwaves, cordless phones, some kinds of ovens, wireless speakers/headphones, a dwelling with a lot of metal in it (like spiral staircases, metal beams, excessive ductwork, etc) Always check for interferrence. I lived in a place with a spiral staircase and I had a linksys router that had crappy signal and connection speed was 1Mbps. I would move upstairs and it would be somewhat better, however I switched to netgear and the problem went away. I think they might have bad antennas. 

I would suggest switching channels, and/or trying to alleviate sources of interference.

Is there also a lot of other AP's in the area?


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## newtekie1 (Dec 15, 2010)

Definitely try plugging one directly into the router with a wire to eliminate any possible wireless problems.

It could just be that the router is a POS.


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## Black Panther (Dec 15, 2010)

remixedcat said:


> Is someone trying to get into thier wireless and suck off the bandwidth? I had this problem once.
> 
> Do they have any wireless security.... I suggest they use it.
> 
> ...



It's WPA-TKIP something... better than WEP so they should be covered. Not a lot of AP's in the area either, only around 2 more.

___________________________

I forgot to mention that when dad saw the signal was poor he just bought an antenna, so now their setup goes like this:

Wall socket wired to ---> modem wired to ---> router wired to ----> antenna placed 8 ft further so as to get the best straight line between both laptops.

Then the antenna wirelessly feeds both of their laptops. Problem isn't in the antenna - with or without it's just the same, perhaps a bit worse without it. And weirdly enough dad's got a slightly better signal going through 2 ten-inch stone walls than mum gets in a straight line (antenna is visible when on her pc if the door to the room is open). 

Moreover dad's connection rarely drops. Mum's is disastrous though, she'd be 5 minutes online and 1 minute offline, rinse and repeat.


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## 95Viper (Dec 15, 2010)

Depending on how they set-up windows power options and the wlan adapter settings; the wireless adapter, probably, is using power saving mode, which, decreases the power transmitting by the output amp.

If, they are plugged in directly it would not affect the connection that much, as , no radio transmitter is used.

Try going into the control panel under the power options and turn off any power savings modes; and, in the device manager for the wlan adapter turn transmitted power to 100% and turn off any green or power saving options.

Now, doing this will results in decreased battery usage time, but... you gotta give to take.


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## Black Panther (Dec 15, 2010)

95Viper said:


> Depending on how they set-up windows power options and the wlan adapter settings; the wireless adapter, probably, is using power saving mode, which, decreases the power transmitting by the output amp.
> 
> If, they are plugged in directly it would not affect the connection that much, as , no radio transmitter is used.
> 
> ...



I don't think the issue is with their own pc's. I made their both laptops getting power straight from the wall socket, removed their batteries and also removed any power-saving settings.

Also, this problem was still present way back when my dad had an Airis which he scrapped for being to slow and my mum had a Qosmio which is also in my 'trash room' for having a dead graphics card. In the meantime I installed one of my old P4's at my mum's while dad was still using the airis and there still was this problem, which at that time didn't bother her much since she rarely was online.

I'm pretty sure the issue lies within the router settings, something which I'm not picking up...
Here's a quick diagram of their current setup:


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## travva (Dec 15, 2010)

definitely experiment with the channels, brandon i think is spot on with this advice. tbh i'd be shocked if you plugged into the router and had the same issue quite honestly. seems to me like it's a wireless issue.


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## Black Panther (Dec 16, 2010)

About changing the channel to 6 or 11, do I do it only from the router's settings or do I also have to change something in both laptops' settings as well?


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## Yukikaze (Dec 16, 2010)

Black Panther said:


> About changing the channel to 6 or 11, do I do it only from the router's settings or do I also have to change something in both laptops' settings as well?



Usually, you don't have to. They autodetect.


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## Black Panther (Dec 16, 2010)

travva said:


> definitely experiment with the channels, brandon i think is spot on with this advice.



I'm back where I started.

The router is defaulted to channel 11, and when I click it only channel 11 is available. So changing the channels is not an option.

Any other suggestions please?


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## remixedcat (Dec 16, 2010)

Firmware upgrades?

mabye you can try one of the linux router distros and see if you can chalk it up to being bad firmware. 

If they won't approve see if there is an upgrade to the firmware.

No channel options???? wow! That's a red flag. LOL.


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## slyfox2151 (Dec 16, 2010)

what  model router is it exacly? does it support DD-WRT or Tomato?


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## Red_Machine (Dec 16, 2010)

I expect you've already looked here, but here is the product page for your router.

http://www.kcorplifestyle.com/products/silverSeriesG2/KLS-6615/KLS-6615.htm

Firmware download is a bit further down the page.


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## brandonwh64 (Dec 16, 2010)

Tell us the model of the router and we can see if its DD-WRT ready. in DD-WRT you can change the signal power but dont go too high or the router gets VERY hot. 84mW is what i have mine at


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## Black Panther (Dec 16, 2010)

I did the last resort, downloaded the firmware and upgraded it. The problem seems to have been solved now - both laptops are getting between 2.5 and 3.5Mbps wireless.

This is the router I have (Red_Machine got it right!). I am not seeing any DD-WRT options... perhaps I'm missing them out.. if there is options to increase the signal I will try it


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## Red_Machine (Dec 16, 2010)

No problem, Panther.  Glad to be of help!


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## remixedcat (Dec 16, 2010)

No problems Panther!! Glad to help yah!


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