ethernet connection

[JessaBella]

so I bought an ethernet adapter for my laptop with store credit from best buy... but I'm not sure it's doing what it is supposed to.
My Mbps download speed on a good day can get to 10 but with mpbs upload it barely gets over 1 when that it is on wifi. but with it plugged in it only gets up to 4/5 (sometimes less) mpbs download. and not even 1 mpbs upload speed, I am paying for the "best" internet available to my area... and I live in a city so its not like I am in the middle of nowhere... I just used a basic "interent speed test" I found on google as the one for my providers not working on the site ..don't know what to do... I am paying $80-$90 for this internet... I am pretty sure ours has a splitter in our modem... because we can connect up to 4 internet cords. I remember alexlady saying its better to get a dedicated line... but I can't afford another cost.... and my family uses the internet too. especially my husband at night when he cant sleep.

I don't know all the technical terms and don't want them to take advantage of me. so what are the exact questions do I ask?

 

[Deleted member 37064]

Couple of questions:

1) Cable or DSL?
2) How old is your device (router or modem), and is it a rental unit such as from Comcast/XFinity?

Reason for asking is that if it's an older unit, there might be some technology incompatibilities since they keep upping the speeds. For example, Comcast rental units can be changed out if it's a couple of years old. If it's DSL, you might be able to get them to swap it if you rent it.

There's some other things that might be causing it. But, if it's been a while since you've power cycled your network equipment, I'd start there. Shut everything down that connects through it such as computers, game consoles, tv, etc. Then, unplug it and let it sit for a few minutes while you dust it, blow dust out of it, or whatever. Plug it back in, let it come all the way up then slowly bring other devices online.

Sometime power cycling network devices is required. Especially if the provider might have pushed an update (rarely they do it)

 

[asafo]

I am curious, what internet plan are you paying for? You said that on a good day, you can get 10 Mbps. Is 10 Mbps the plan you paid for? Or, do you pay for a higher speed, and you have never been able to get more than 10 Mbps? For some providers, that is the bottom-of-the-barrel plan. In fact, the FCC defines 'broadband' as 25 Mbps (download) and 3 Mbps (upload). I looked at prices from my internet provider, and I see their 10 Mbps plan (their slowest plan) is only $25/month. I do not live in the city, but in the middle of corn fields and have an extremely reliable and consistent 25 Mbps connection, and have the option of 75 Mbps. So, I worry about the quality of this "best" internet available that is provided to you in the city that only gives you 10 Mbps on a good day - assuming you are, in fact, paying for a higher speed plan than 10 Mbps. I would most definitely complain if you are paying for a much higher rate.

You also mentioned other people in your home use the internet. When you experience the slow speeds, do you know for a fact you are the only one on the internet at the time? The bandwidth you are receiving to your home is shared among all the devices in the home. For example, I have a program to download a large file (like an ISO) that is great at sucking up all available bandwidth to the house. The downside of this is that while this program is downloading, I occasionally have difficult time even bringing up google.com on my web browser. Downloading any other file is out of the question.

I have not addressed your main issue of WiFi vs. ethernet connection speeds. But, I was just trying to get a bit more background information first. In addition to the above items I addressed, how long have you tested your connection with ethernet? In other words, were you able to get consistent 10 Mbps speeds for a long time (e.g. months), and then suddenly got the slower speeds for an good amount of time (maybe at least a week or longer) after switching to ethernet? I am just wondering if there was something else that changed about the same time you switched to the ethernet cable.

Regarding a preference of an ethernet cable over WiFi for your camming needs... I am estimating that WiFi is quite adequate and it is not necessary to switch to an ethernet cable. I just did a test with MFC just now. I streamed a video of a model's room and it took about 11.55 MBytes of data in 60 seconds. If I did my math correctly, the data rate for this streaming video is only about 1.6 Mbps. (I am assuming my download rate as a member would be roughly the same as your upload rate as a model.) WiFi standard 802.11b (I think this is the slowest) offers 11 Mbps. So, I believe WiFi is far from limiting your camming. If you are having problems with the ethernet connection, and WiFi works better for you, maybe you can stick with the ethernet and forget all the annoying questions I asked above?

 

[JessaBella]

Couple of questions:

1) Cable or DSL?
2) How old is your device (router or modem), and is it a rental unit such as from Comcast/XFinity?

Reason for asking is that if it's an older unit, there might be some technology incompatibilities since they keep upping the speeds. For example, Comcast rental units can be changed out if it's a couple of years old. If it's DSL, you might be able to get them to swap it if you rent it.

There's some other things that might be causing it. But, if it's been a while since you've power cycled your network equipment, I'd start there. Shut everything down that connects through it such as computers, game consoles, tv, etc. Then, unplug it and let it sit for a few minutes while you dust it, blow dust out of it, or whatever. Plug it back in, let it come all the way up then slowly bring other devices online.

Sometime power cycling network devices is required. Especially if the provider might have pushed an update (rarely they do it)

DSL
I got the modem two years ago. we don't pay a rental fee. but we have to return it once we are done with the service....
I am with Sasktel (in Canada)
I have the highest one they have for my area.... until they get fibre near me... I only have a 2 mpbs upload speed they said, and thats the highest they have right now.... they dont have anything to swap it with to help... I chatted with them after I made this post.

 

[JessaBella]

I am curious, what internet plan are you paying for? You said that on a good day, you can get 10 Mbps. Is 10 Mbps the plan you paid for? Or, do you pay for a higher speed, and you have never been able to get more than 10 Mbps? For some providers, that is the bottom-of-the-barrel plan. In fact, the FCC defines 'broadband' as 25 Mbps (download) and 3 Mbps (upload). I looked at prices from my internet provider, and I see their 10 Mbps plan (their slowest plan) is only $25/month. I do not live in the city, but in the middle of corn fields and have an extremely reliable and consistent 25 Mbps connection, and have the option of 75 Mbps. So, I worry about the quality of this "best" internet available that is provided to you in the city that only gives you 10 Mbps on a good day - assuming you are, in fact, paying for a higher speed plan than 10 Mbps. I would most definitely complain if you are paying for a much higher rate.

You also mentioned other people in your home use the internet. When you experience the slow speeds, do you know for a fact you are the only one on the internet at the time? The bandwidth you are receiving to your home is shared among all the devices in the home. For example, I have a program to download a large file (like an ISO) that is great at sucking up all available bandwidth to the house. The downside of this is that while this program is downloading, I occasionally have difficult time even bringing up google.com on my web browser. Downloading any other file is out of the question.

I have not addressed your main issue of WiFi vs. ethernet connection speeds. But, I was just trying to get a bit more background information first. In addition to the above items I addressed, how long have you tested your connection with ethernet? In other words, were you able to get consistent 10 Mbps speeds for a long time (e.g. months), and then suddenly got the slower speeds for an good amount of time (maybe at least a week or longer) after switching to ethernet? I am just wondering if there was something else that changed about the same time you switched to the ethernet cable.

Regarding a preference of an ethernet cable over WiFi for your camming needs... I am estimating that WiFi is quite adequate and it is not necessary to switch to an ethernet cable. I just did a test with MFC just now. I streamed a video of a model's room and it took about 11.55 MBytes of data in 60 seconds. If I did my math correctly, the data rate for this streaming video is only about 1.6 Mbps. (I am assuming my download rate as a member would be roughly the same as your upload rate as a model.) WiFi standard 802.11b (I think this is the slowest) offers 11 Mbps. So, I believe WiFi is far from limiting your camming. If you are having problems with the ethernet connection, and WiFi works better for you, maybe you can stick with the ethernet and forget all the annoying questions I asked above?

their highest is 10mpbs download and only 2 mpbs upload.... until they get fibre in my area which won't be until 2018!.... and I am paying $80-$90 for that speed. yes hubby is either watching youtube and going down the wikihole or playing a game on the internet (this cookie game) and the kids might be watching netflixs.... I guess that could be it too....I am with Sasktel..... I am thinking of switching to shaw.... but I dont have the money to switch right now....

 

[asafo]

Aw OK. And that 2 Mbps upload they are providing is just the theoretical speed you will probably never actually achieve. That, and the fact that you have others doing games and Netflix and the like is going to be an issue.

I am still not quite sure why you got slower speeds with ethernet. (Maybe the cable is bad? Unlikely, but not impossible.) That bothers me. I do not like unsolved mysteries.

I am thinking that you should simply stick with the WiFi connection since you had better luck with it.

 

[Deleted member 37064]

DSL
I got the modem two years ago. we don't pay a rental fee. but we have to return it once we are done with the service....
I am with Sasktel (in Canada)
I have the highest one they have for my area.... until they get fibre near me... I only have a 2 mpbs upload speed they said, and thats the highest they have right now.... they dont have anything to swap it with to help... I chatted with them after I made this post.

Okay, that helps some. Thanks for the reply. Most home services are asynchronous speeds. meaning, your download will always be much faster than your upload. For yours, your download seems good overall. While your upload may be improved on some things you might be able to do. When I was on a 10/2 DSL plan, I think mine was fairly similar to your speeds you get now. However, I was never really too worried about upload speeds.

As to differences between wired and wireless, depending upon the wireless devices you have, you may be maxed out as wifi will share the connection speeds. For example, 10Mbs home wifi will cut down equally based upon the total number of devices connected. Of course, things such as distance, interferance, QoS, etc will impact those speeds.
Ethernet should always be faster, and more reliable, than wireless. Was it an old cable you used, or was it new that came with your ethernet adapter? Did you need to load any drivers, or make any configuraiton changes, for the adapter? Did you disable your wifi connection when it was plugged in?

If you can, log into your DSL modem and check your settings. You want to ensure that your firewall is enabled so that your network isn't wide open to incoming attacks. There are some inbound traffic you need to allow for gaming, etc. But, should be able to shut almost everything off. Then, you want to look into "Quality of Service" (QoS) and see what it might be set to. Sometimes, the defaults are wrong for your needs and you need to tweak them.

I would highly recommend video outbound for QoS, while throttling nearly everything else while you cam. You might be able to tune it so that during specific times, QoS traffice shaping is set for camming. Then, other times, it's optimized for your "normal" family use of gaming, browsing, etc.