Ever since COVID-19 has forced my kids to all do Zoom schooling from home, our internet connection has been strained. I want to make it better, but first things first - how can I tell if the problem is the bandwidth I’m getting from my provider, or the ability of my home Wi-Fi router to handle it? I don’t want to ask Spectrum for an upgrade only to find that my router will not take advantage of it. (Or maybe I need to upgrade both?)
I know that one answer to this is to plug directly into the modem, but if I can avoid that, I’d like to, because I’d need to do this for several hours to be sure (the lagging is occasional, not constant), and also because my router serves as a firewall (even though I have firewall software, I don’t want to give up that layer if I can avoid doing so).
Well, shutting down the router and connecting directly to the modem will allow you to run some internet speed tests which might be able to confirm what your download and upload speeds actually are. If it’s possible to do this during the times that you feel you internet service is lagging, that would be even better.
Some other things you can try:
Reboot both your modem and router. Sometimes this can help improve internet performance. If you are renting your modem from the cable company, this might also help to apply firmware upgrades which might be pending installation on your modem.
Check for firmware upgrades on your router’s manufacturer support site and apply them.
Check to make sure that your cable modem is rated for the internet performance tier that you’re paying for. If you rent yours from the cable company, you should qualify for a free modem upgrade if yours is outdated. If you bought your own modem, make sure that it’s fully supported by your cable company. If you’re still using a DOCSIS 2.0 modem and your provider is compliant with DOCSIS 3.0 or higher, you will want to get something a bit newer.
Take a look at your router’s administration page and see how many devices you have connected concurrently during these internet slowdowns. It might be possible that the number of connected clients in your house may be overwhelming your router’s ability to handle them without running into bottlenecks. You can try to reduce the number of locally-connected devices on your home network, but you might want to shell out some bucks for a more robust router.
Can you post what is typical of a time when you are experiencing the issue. You stated kid(s) doing Zoom. Is that 2, 3, 10 kids. And how many are online at a time. Also, you didn’t say what your spectrum stated speed is. Upload probably not as important as Download, but it can have an effect as well. Also, what else could be using the internet at the slow down times. Is someone on Netflix/Disney + or other services?
Right now we have a house full using spectrum 200mb. But I have several different WI-FI routers for areas of the house.
This is what I’m trying to avoid. I’d prefer to know which one is the problem, and only reboot that one. In various situations, I’ve tried rebooting one OR the other; sometimes the modem makes the improvement and sometimes the router makes the improvement. I have not found any consistent pattern.
Another reason I don’t want to reboot both is because I keep forgetting which sequence to reboot them in. I know that once they’re both up they need a few moments to handshake etc; can someone remind me the most efficient sequence to facilitate good communications between them?
Run speedtest.net, but try to run it first from a computer that is directly connected to your router, not thru WiFi. WiFi will slow it down.
This is what Spectrum is counting on. It may have been true pre-COVID19 era, but Zoom routines are pretty much 2-way, and Spectrum’s philosophy is obsolete. In my area, the dl/ul ratio is 20:1, which means I have a bottleneck in the upward direction, which is 10 mb/s. I doubt if that would handle a large household full of kids and computers.
To show how unimportant upload speed is to Spectrum, they boosted my download speed from 100 mb/s to 200 this year, but made no change in the upload speed. They extensively advertise the faster dl speed, but say nothing about the other; even their clerks who take orders don’t know what it is or why anyone should care.
Shut down router and modem. Reboot modem first and wait for the online light to come on, then power up the router. You can probably get away with just rebooting the modem, but I just do both on my setup since the router and modem are physically close to each other in my house.
They are right next to each other in my home too. But neither one has an on/off switch, so I have to reach around to the back and pull the power cord, and hold on to it like an idiot for a few seconds until I can plug it back in. And then on the other device. I think one of them has a reset button, but I don’t trust it and I want the capacitors to discharge before turning it back on. [rant] Is an on/off switch that expensive, or are they in denial about the possibility that someone might want to turn their precious invention off for some reason? [/rant]
Before clicking “submit”, I thought it might be prudent to do some fact-checking. Turns out that my router does have a convenient on/off switch in the back; I’ll have to try it next time. The modem has only a “reset” hole, and I’m not gonna go hunting for a paper clip every time I need to reset it.
I always have my next modem at home. In fact I now, due to circumstances, have 3 modem/routers. I always have my next one here because, in the past when my internet has got really ratty, it has often turned out to be that the modem has reached the end of its useful life. So in with the new and out with old.
The other advantage is, when it isn’t the modem at fault, I can tell my ISP, “No, it definitely isn’t the modem. It’s the line.”
Keep in mind that the reset hole will probably reset the entire unit to factory specs, wiping out anything you have configured it to. That’s why it is intentionally made difficult to access.
Besides, an unbent paper clip is a necessary part of any tool kit.
Just wanted to chime in that the “reset” switch that’s recessed inside of the hole in a modem or router is used to revert the device back to its factory default settings. This can be good if you’re wanting to start from scratch and rebuild a new configuration, but it can be a pain in the butt otherwise. Most routers give you the ability to save the configuration in a file on your computer so that it can restored in the event that the configuration is lost or corrupted. I’ve never had to do a reset on any of my cable modems, though. In all cases the modems were getting kind of old and needed to be replaced due to advancements in the DOCSIS standard used by my ISP.
Edit: Just noticed that Musicat wrote the same advice above, but did a much better job of keeping the answer brief. (Agreed on the bent paperclip advice, too!)