Router splitting connection??

alexiusalexius
Posted:
in Genius Bar edited January 2014
Hey all,



I have a cable modem and a network everywhere router, and I'm noticing some pretty slow speeds with it. Using a bandwidth test online, I found that it is, in effect, splitting my connection directly in half with the two computers. Is this right? I reset it's settings to default, still to no avail.



any ideas?



thanks!!



al

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 7
    dmband0026dmband0026 Posts: 2,345member
    There is no reason that should be happening. Are you using both computers at the same time? If so, that would be a reason for the slowdown. The router should not give bandwidth to an unused computer though. Try unplugging one of the computers and see if that fixes the problem. What brand and model # router is it?
  • Reply 2 of 7
    thuh freakthuh freak Posts: 2,664member
    Even if both computers are up and running, a router is supposed to be an extremely efficient device. it is supposed to be able to split the connection at only a few percentage loss of bandwidth, and then only when all the connections on it are maxing out its use. a Hub, on the other hand, is not very savvy, and will just split the connection proportionally (minusing its own tiny overhead). with a hub, 2 computers going, will often half the speed. but either way, when only one computer is using the connection, it should only be minimally, negligably and not noticeably hurt (in speed) by the hardware device.



    one should note that the theoretical max of a cable modem is merely theoretical, and not common in regular use. A cable modem is shared, beyond your house and whatever mini-LAN you may have setup. It's speeds are not guaranteed, and can fluxuate wildly depending on others who are in on the share (i don't know how expansive a cable modem share goes, but i think its 10s or 100s of people; and i don't mean 10s/100s per cable modem, but 10s/100s per allocated speed which may or not may have been advertised to each individual).
  • Reply 3 of 7
    alexiusalexius Posts: 38member
    Ridiculous.



    With two computers connected and doing nothing, a toast.net bandwidth test yields roughly 700K on each computer. Disconnecting one from the net results in speeds of roughly 1400K (one computer is still connected to the router).



    Network Everywhere cheap ass cable/dsl router. Could this be the problem?



    NR 041 is the model in question. Thanks for the help!
  • Reply 4 of 7
    dobbydobby Posts: 797member
    Just a thought but you can get this type of result if you use a mini-hub (not switch). When all machines concurrently access the internet its slow but if you turn off one its faster. I had a similar situation here and I replace the router with built in 4 port 10/half duplex ports to a 4 port mini switch.



    Dobby.
  • Reply 5 of 7
    dmband0026dmband0026 Posts: 2,345member
    Yea, that brand is cheap and it may just be a hub. As noted above, hubs will split your connection a lot of times. So go out and invest in a 4 port router. They are cheap now so you can get a good deal on one. I use a Netgear wireless router. Good prices, and has been problem free.
  • Reply 6 of 7
    alexiusalexius Posts: 38member
    Hmm, this site http://networkeverywhere.com/products/nr041.asp is telling me that it is, indeed, a switch. Could it have anything to do with me using DHCP?



    Thanks for all the help!
  • Reply 7 of 7
    karl kuehnkarl kuehn Posts: 756member
    A few notes on the subject:



    You probably have a device that is somewhere in between a switch and a hub. It is actually two hubs (one 10 one 100) joined by a very simple switch (called a bridge).



    This class of devices does not deal well with mixing simplex and duplex devices together. My guess is that one of your computers is simplex, and the other duplex, and the whole system is defaulting to simplex because of it.



    A true switch (more expensive) handles this much better.
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