Slow downloads on e1405

Question

Problem statement: Downloads are 'comparatively' slower on my new E1405 inspiron that I bought 3 days back. The speeds that I get vary between 10 kbps and 100 kbps. Some downloads that I used to at 300 kbps on my earlier Toshiba, now measure 38 or 40 kbps only :( I have a comcast internet and my router is The Linksys BEFW11S4 Router. I have the standard 1390 WLAN. Is there something that I can tweak on my system ? Its a brand new laptop, with the McAfee firewall and other software still installed. My speed tests from http://www.dslreports.com/speedtests/ are as follows: dslreports.com speed test 2006-11-11 03:41:30 EST: 134 / 355 (Kbps) (16.3 / 43.3 KB/sec) Compared to the average of 4345 tests from comcast.net: * download is 97% worse, upload is 16% worse Any suggestions ?

fireberd · Answer

Have you tried bypassing the router and connecting the PC directly to the Modem?    With some Linksys routers you have to install the Linksys software on the PC for it to work correctly.

r_a_ven · Answer

Hi Fireberd.

After seeing your mail, I used a network cable to connect my laptop directly with the *linksys router*.
I immediately saw my download speeds go up to 315 kbps !!
As soon as I took the network cable out, the speeds were down to 22 kbps :(

Even accounting for different loads at times, such a huge difference can only mean that my wireless
settings are not really optimised.

What is the exact linksys software you are referring to ?

On the linksys site there is only a firmware available for this router.

Thanks for the suggestion :)

xcator · Answer

you have a new E1405, so I would pop for a new WRT54GL or similar....your linksys befw11s4 is only wireless b anyhow.    download drtcp and tweak you tcp settings...set your rwin to 64240 and mtu to 1500   what comcast plan to you get?

r_a_ven · Answer

i set the recieve window and mtu as u said.

My new test of speed is:

dslreports.com speed test 2006-11-12 17:30:41 EST:
143 / 357 (Kbps)
(17.5 / 43.6 KB/sec)
Compared to the average of 4434 tests from comcast.net:
* download is 97% worse, upload is 15% worse

i will keep trying and update if i have a fix for this.

Davet50 · Answer

which brand of modem did comcast provide??? your speeds are way way down....you should be on either a 3 or 6 mps dl ...   do you have any splitters in you cabel line?  your modem should be either directly connected to the cable jack or with only one splitter ....   i can acheive close to the 6mps dl speeds on my systemt with a d-link router and nic...

xcator · Answer

do you still have the Toshiba to test wireless speeds to comapre?  CAn you test your notebook wireless at a hotspot or friends?   Your upload is fine, but your download is bad.... For testing turn off McAfee totally...do you have WIn XP firewall on?  any other firewalls such as zone alarm?  ...turn them off if you do (and only run one)   And if it's a new machine, have you done all the windows critical updates, etc?

r_a_ven · Answer

I am using a thomson modem. i m sure there is a problem with my wireless card. wasted an hour with dell tech support ...:(

r_a_ven · Answer

as an addtional piece of information, the dlds sometime start quite high ... like 70kbps. but then come down to 12 kbps eventually ...

r_a_ven · Answer

yup, all the updates hv be4en applied...

r_a_ven · Answer

Ok, so I tested this at my friends place and it seems that the results were the same.
www.dslreports.com/stest gave my connection as 97% worse again !
But I could swear that the test was much much faster then my own router.

Now I dont know whether to even trust those test results or not.

So I go to http://www.bandwidthplace.com/speedtest/results.php
And it shows my download speeds at almost 4.9 MBPS !

Moral of the story: I am not going to send my laptop for replacement. It could be a problem with
my routers even.

Thanks all for your suggestions.

:)

Networking, Internet, & Bluetooth

Slow downloads on e1405

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