The confused and/or disappointed thread
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My internet--I pay for 20MBps--is bouncing between 10 and 115. It's awesome but I bet it won't last.
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It's awesome but I bet it won't last.
I'll bet you $5 it will.
Filed under: "between 10 and 20" is still "between 10 and 115"
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Looks like you've accidentally moved half the internet to your local network and get Fast Ethernet speeds on that. It happens...
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I think you should piss on a spark plug and see if it does any good.
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I think you should piss on a spark plug and see if it does any good.
Move your shit out of my thread.
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My brother recently called his ISP to complain that he was only getting 14 Mbit/s max when he was paying for 50 Mbit/s. He then proceeded to scoff at her notions that WLAN had to do anything with this.
I reminded him that he was still using a 802.11 g router.
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I reminded him that he was still using a 802.11 g router.
at least he's upgraded past Wireless B.
finally got a chance to sort out the internet for my grandmother recently, now that my grandfather can no longer get in my way..... (grumble mutter)
they were paying for the 50Mbit internet and constantly complaining to their ISP that they weren't getting it....
turns out the reason they weren't getting it was the modem's wifi was turned off and the antenna physically cut off (that's going to take some explaining to replace, it's a rental) and he has connected the wifi router to the modem using Cat2 cable! I didn't even know they made cat2 with RJ45 plugs!
the fact that the router was only capable of 802.11b didn't help either. I didn't do speed tests on it, but i suspect the cable was more a limiting factor than the 802.11b connection.
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that's going to take some explaining to replace, it's a rental
That's Grandpa's problem, not yours. But you should try to find out why he did it, because it sounds like there's the potential for a great story, hopefully involving belt-onions.
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if it's his problem they're going to need a necromancer to sort it out now.
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it was the modem's wifi was turned off and the antenna physically cut off (that's going to take some explaining to replace, it's a rental)
rental
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if it's his problem they're going to need a necromancer to sort it out now.
I find that that actually tends to help solve certain classes of problems. My dad got a letter from NY 3-4 years after he died demanding payment from a speeding ticket that had to have been 8-10 years old, or they'd suspend his driver's license. We told them to go ahead, as he didn't need it any longer.
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While i agree with you there, the rental equipment from your ISP is a scam anyway. it costs $40 to get a passible piece of hardware and $80 to get a quite decent one, they have you pay $10/mo on every bill for the entire duration of the time you use their service, even though you've paid for the device outright by month 4 or 8.
.... that got away from me..... sorry. Prior to a recent event I was not part of the internet process at all for that household.
That will change now.
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Or worse--I am billed $8/mo for the router and another $5 for wifi.
I need to get around to replacing that, but I need something fairly powerful: our apartment layout is as follows, where the router is in red and my son's desktop is in orange, and he gets fairly crappy signal.
I'm hoping a router with a larger (or aftermarket) antenna and/or NIC with same will give him better signal. He gets about 10Mbit but quite a bit fo dropout, so (for example) web browsing a page with a lot of pictures winds up with a ton of missing or partially-loaded images.
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Put the router in the toilet, it's centrally located
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So put the modem by the cable jack and get a 100' ethernet cable...
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So put the modem by the cable jack and get a 100' ethernet cable...
Should I run the cable along the floor, where it's both a trip hazard and blocks doors, or up into the air ducts, where it's extra unsightly?
Either way there's still walls in the way of the signal. It turns out that guy in Serenity was wrong, and you can stop the signal.
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Both!
I should snap a pic sometime -- to get from the cable hookup in the laundry nook off the kitchen to the entertainment center, I've had to run an Ethernet cable across two doorways near the ceiling, then drop it down to floor level and run along behind the entertainment center to where we have the router.
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What about Power-line communication?
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Just buy a cheap repeater.
Then put that in the toilet.
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What about Power-line communication?
Judging from the state of all the outlets, I'm not sure that would be an improvement.
Just buy a cheap repeater.
Then put that in the toilet.
I can do one better--I'll just get a small rock from outside. It'll be even cheaper.
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Make your lazy ass kid pay for it.
Wait a sec, how many people live in that apartment?
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Judging from the state of all the outlets, I'm not sure that would be an improvement.
It works quite well for my parents' home and they've had some geniuses lay the power cables:
One room has a a light switch on both doors. If you switch on the light on one you can't switch it off on the other and vice versa.
Another room's light switch only works if you plug something into a certain power socket in the adjacent roomIn essence: Give it a try. Can't be that bad.
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One room has a a light switch on both doors. If you switch on the light on one you can't switch it off on the other and vice versa.
That's even better than
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WYGdstEVJQ
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Should I run the cable along the floor, where it's both a trip hazard and blocks doors, or up into the air ducts, where it's extra unsightly?
Either way there's still walls in the way of the signal. It turns out that guy in Serenity was wrong, and you can stop the signal.
Cable trays.
They are cheap, and less ugly than nailing the cable to the wall.
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Set up a cheap repeater halfway between the two points.
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Set up a cheap repeater halfway between the two points.
I've seen sites that say repeaters aren't a good idea because they generally cut your bandwidth in half (for reasons I am not going to bother to type here but do understand. The way to get around that seems to be a router that speaks on both bands, and make sure a repeater transmits on one and broadcasts on the other (or similar variations)). I'd probably have to replace the modem/router to do that.
We're considering taking his computer out of his room and putting it in the living room so he can have a wired connection.
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Should I run the cable along the floor, where it's both a trip hazard and blocks doors, or up into the air ducts, where it's extra unsightly?
Along the baseboard and over the door frame. Cables and air ducts don't mix well. (Do you want an apartment full of Ethernet-cable smoke? It's a lot worse for you than wood smoke ever would be)
Either way there's still walls in the way of the signal. It turns out that guy in Serenity was wrong, and you can stop the signal.
I'd use the dining-room wall opposite the toilet, although that raises a question: what are the partitions in your apartment made from, anyway?P.S. aftermarket antennae do help a bit, but they're only a band-aid at best.
One room has a a light switch on both doors. If you switch on the light on one you can't switch it off on the other and vice versa.
It sounds like an idiot wired the switches in parallel (wired OR) vs three-way (which is essentially an XNOR). Why!?Another room's light switch only works if you plug something into a certain power socket in the adjacent room
Uh oh...that smells like a loose connection on the power socket.Cable trays.They are cheap, and less ugly than nailing the cable to the wall.
Surface raceway, actually -- I'm not sure if full-blown trays would be acceptable in a dwelling unit.In my case, I'm in a similar boat to FrostCat here, because my router lives in the basement (roughly underneath the kitchen stove, parked atop an HVAC duct in the furnace room), but the two PCs in the house are both in bedrooms, and neither of them gets a stellar signal. I'm not sure if the router is going belly-up or what, either, because I have had intermittent connection issues for months now.
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I'm not sure if full-blown trays
These can contain three Ethernet cables, and can be attached with screws or tape. I have some of these in my apartment.
http://www.traelastogbyggemarked.dk/images/stories/virtuemart/product/JO-EL_EL-LISTE_25_MTR-5777210.jpg
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I'd use the dining-room wall opposite the toilet, although that raises a question: what are the partitions in your apartment made from, anyway?
The cable jack is right behind the red box, so I'd have to run the cable up and over the doorway. It would look unsightly.
Considering they've jacked my rent up $50/year every year, so I'm now facing $1025 this fall when my lease renews on an apartment I was originally paying $775 for, and certainly not getting a couple of hundred dollars a month extra service or whatever[1], I think what I need to do is move to a place with a less rococo floor plan.
[1] the drawback of living in the state where everyone wants to move is that it's a seller's market, and rents seem to be generally going through the roof.
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@tarunik said:
I'm not sure if full-blown trays
These can contain three Ethernet cables, and can be attached with screws or tape. I have some of these in my apartment.
http://www.traelastogbyggemarked.dk/images/stories/virtuemart/product/JO-EL_EL-LISTE_25_MTR-5777210.jpgThis seems like the least unreasonable solution. I'll probably need a 30-40' cable, though, due to geometry.
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These can contain three Ethernet cables, and can be attached with screws or tape. I have some of these in my apartment.
Those are raceways, not cable trays ;)
FPN: cable trays are open-topped, raceways are enclosed.
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Those are raceways, not cable trays
Translation snafu. Literal translation from Danish 😏
Also it's a tray for a cablerent up
Word of warning: attaching things with tape to painted things is a bad idea, if you ever need to remove it. I've had this happen, only worse.
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attaching things with tape to painted things is a bad idea
Yeah. All the relevant doors have wood surrounds, and there's baseboards. White paint's relatively easy to touch up (and tbh I've been here long enough some wear like that should be expected.)
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Word of warning: attaching things with tape to painted things is a bad idea, if you ever need to remove it
3M Command Strips work great, though.
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But lacks a cable jack.
Ethernet over the power lines? I saw they even offer wifi extenders you just plug into the mains.
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r worse--I am billed $8/mo for the router and another $5 for wifi.
I need to get around to replacing that, but I need something fairly powerful: our apartment layout is as follows, where the router is in red and my son's desktop is in orange, and he gets fairly crappy signal.
I'm hoping a router with a larger (or aftermarket) antenna and/or NIC with same will give him better signal. He gets about 10Mbit but quite a bit fo dropout, so (for example) web browsing a page with a lot of pictures winds up with a ton of missing or partially-loaded images.
I'm lucky.. I don't need it but my ISP sells an ECHO option that hard-wires additional 2-port/wireless (upto 300mbps) repeater(s) around the weak/non-existent signal area
Don't need it but if I did..
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Ethernet over the power lines?
Someone above suggested that. It may come down to that.
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I was skeptical too but it worked out of the box with a medium priced set. Only trick is to do the initial setup on two outlets on the same circuit. Afterwards you can move them. The speed and stability are as expected.
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I had a similar issue, I went with powerline networking + 2nd wireless router and it's spot on. The TV/Roku/Digibox are cat5'ed into the 2nd router and they run netflix/youtube with no issues even while I'm browsing this site on the tablet.
This setup replaced a repeater which worked, but with speed/range issues.
Alternatively, have you tried the old opened-up-soda-can-behind-the-antennae trick?
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While i agree with you there, the rental equipment from your ISP is a scam anyway. it costs $40 to get a passible piece of hardware and $80 to get a quite decent one, they have you pay $10/mo on every bill for the entire duration of the time you use their service, even though you've paid for the device outright by month 4 or 8.
This always gets me about American Internet. Over here, you get given the ISP's router as part of the initial setup for no extra charge and you get to keep it if you end the contract. You guys really get shafted by the whole regional monopoly thing
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You guys really get shafted by the whole regional monopoly thing
Preaching to the choir there.
why i have half a mind to start a competining ISP with actual decent business practices!
if i actually do it i estimate about three weeks until bankrupcy
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Alternatively, have you tried the old opened-up-soda-can-behind-the-antennae trick?
The POS consumer-grade Arris modem/router Time Warner is overcharging me for doesn't have external antennae.
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Someone above suggested that. It may come down to that.
It's good for all sorts of reasons. One of the best ones is that if you move, taking them with you is the work of a few seconds. Long ducted cabling… not so.
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Alternatively, have you tried the old opened-up-soda-can-behind-the-antennae trick?
I've tried the PRINGLES potato chip can one.. But with 80 mbit servce in the house, without it, and a single story, 2056 square foot house, I can reach anywhere. When my two tech-families (son and daughter, their spouses and 3-techo-using, texting/game-playing granddaughters) visit everyone reaches where-ever without any real speed/signsl degradation.