Looking for home wifi solution (Motorola SBG6580)

I recently moved into a new apartment and set up a home wifi network using a Motorola SBG6580 modem/router combo. But I'm having an odd problem:

Every couple minutes or so (very frequently) my download and upload speeds drop to zero. After a short while my speed is restored and things continue. Using a system monitor or a speed test I can actually watch this fluctuation happen.

The problem has something to do with my wifi. When I'm connected to my modem by cable I get consistently great speeds. I thought at first it was a matter of interference, but I used inSSIDer3 to tune things up, and also moved to 6 feet from my router--no dice. I still have the exact same problem.

So my question is twofold: do you have any idea what the problem is, and what should I do about it? Could the problem still be wifi signal strength? (The motorola SBG6580 is not known for signal strength.) If so, what should I buy to fix it? Or is the problem something totally different? Any help would be appreciated.

 

Did this process of tuning up include changing wireless channels?
Also- you did see signal strength on a graph within inSSIDer so if you post a screenshot or data from it (screenshot is preferable though) it would be easier to troubleshoot.

 

Yes and yes. My apartment complex is thick with routers, but I adjusted the channel as best I could. My signal varies from -36 (right next to the router) to -50 (at my desk in the next room).

 

Here's the requested screenshot. If It looks like I chose the wrong channel that's because I optimized it for a different room than I'm currently in (I'm sitting next to the modem to connect via cable, but that's not my primary workplace).

 

-36 is very good signal for being up to 6-7 feet from the router.

Two possible roots of the problem- if you have WPA2 set you can change group key renewal from whatever it is to 0 (does not update).
Another possibility is that your OS is scanning for new networks which slows down Wi-Fi.

Since it happens often you should be able to measure if it happens at random or in set intervals- if it's random it's probably interference or problematic hardware, if it happens in set intervals it's probably one of the two settings I mentioned.

Also make sure you're using the most recent Wi-Fi driver and that power-saving for Wi-Fi card is disabled.

EDIT: I just saw the screenshot- try channel one. Signal to noise ratio will be better. Obviously inSSIDer does show only Wi-Fi devices and 2.4GHz band is open so other proprietary standards, cordless phones child monitors and Bluetooth devices can still be present and are not shown on the graph, so we're working half blind here.

 

It does not seem to be happening at a regular interval. (Also, it didn't happen with my old wifi network, which perhaps suggests that it isn't the OS scanning?)

What would be a good way to correct this?

 

You could disable Wi-Fi on Motorola and connect a different router that would work only as an access point.

There are two ways of doing this actually- one is that you bridge the Motorola (if possible) meaning that it's only a modem and routing and assigning IPs and Wi-Fi is handled by a different device or you let Motorola handle it all but Wi-Fi - in this case your external device is just an access point.

Buying a new router just to test it would not make sense but if you have an old one or can at least borrow one to see if the problem persists it would make more sense.

Also make sure that you are running WPA2 +AES, WMM is enabled and that you are using 20MHz channel width.

 

Ok, it get's stranger: my wife's laptop doesn't seem to be having the problem. So it's something about my laptop's connection to the wifi router.

 

What Wi-Fi card is it and what OS and driver version?

 

My card is an Intel Centrino Wireless-N 1030

I'm running Windows 7

The driver version is 14.0.1.2

 

I think 16.1.1 is the most recent driver version- check with Intel website.
Also disable Bluetooth and see if the problem persists (BT and Wi-Fi share 2.4GHz frequency).

 

That seems to have worked. The driver update took care of it. (I should know by now never to trust Windows when it says a driver is up to date.) Thanks so much.