Fluctuating Wireless Speeds

Hey guys. I'm not particularly knowledgeable about all the technical stuff when it comes to internet connectivity so bare with me.

Basically the router in my house and my room lie at opposite ends of my house. This basically means that my wireless strength is 1-2 bars according to Windows. When I open task manager and look at the networking tab, my speeds fluctuate often, going as low as 1Mbps and as high as 36Mbps. When I move to the kitchen, which is at the same spot as the router but one floor up, my speeds still fluctuate but instead it's from 24-48Mbps.

Is there any reason why my speeds fluctuate so heavily? Or in other words would this be considered normal?

 

You may have issues with interference. You can try a couple of things like changing the wireless channel on you router, replacing the router's antenna to something more powerful (if the router allows this), or just add an access point to cover the dead spots.

 

Good points Kosti!
Another thing worth looking at is someone piggy backing on your connection. I did some testing recently and found my wired connection was full speed, unless I turned on and connected with my 2nd machine wirelessly, then speed on both was pathetic (but i only have 1Mbs service).
If you are able to login to your router it should be fairly easy to see if others are using your connection.

 

Thanks for the tips. I'll look into these things and see if it helps.

Also, whenever I turn off and reset my router my speeds seem to improve for a few days before going back to crazy speed fluctuating.

@JOSEA, this might actually explain it. There's usually 1-2 other computers in the house that's connected wirelessly to the router. Although I've always sort of thought that someone was stealing our internet because this never happened until a few months ago. Sadly I can't login to the router since I forgot the password. Guess I'll have to find a way to reset the password or something to try the above solutions.

Thanks for the help guys.

 

amodar, Try admin/password to login to router. Or google your router model number along with the phrase 'default userid and password' (assuming it was never changed).
If these fail reseting the modem will return you to the original password, but you will lose custom settings I believe ;at least that is how verizon (westell) router/modems work.

 

I am assuming that your router was supplied by your ISP. What speeds are actually fluctuating? Your WLAN link or your Internet connection from your ISP? If it's the latter, it could be faulty wiring or a faulty router. Check the wiring coming from your ISP to your router first before doing anything else. If it's DSL, check the jack and try replacing the cable from the jack to the router.

 

It's the WLAN speeds that are going crazy.

 

Well, interference wise you have a number of options if you've ruled out piggy-backing:
Motion detecting lights
Florescent light ballasts
Cellular Phones (that are close to or between you and the AP/router)
And MANY more things...

Personally, I've found bluetooth devices to interfere significantly with the range of my WiFi devices, since both are on the 2.4Ghz spectrum. If you can plug straight into the modem (DSL or cable) with, say, a notebook, or desktop, and see the speed and ping times you're supposed to be getting... plug your notebook directly to the access point via Ethernet and see if you're still getting your speeds. If so then it's interference from something. From there I'd try to see what's causing the interference by turning off devices one by one to see which is the culprit. Or just turn off the other computers and see if your experience improves. Sometimes "always on" machines can hold a significant number of open TCP/UDP connections.

Give this a good once through

 

Thanks. I'll look into soon. I'm gonna take a guess and say that my random speeds are due to the fact that:
A. my room and router are so far from one another (opposite ends of the house, different floors)
and
B. The fact that the router sits behind a large plasma TV (don't ask why), which would probably cause interference of sorts

I'll definitely try out the things you guys said though.

 

Or you could bring your notebook right beside your router and test out your wireless connection at peak performance.