At the moment our internet is inconsistent and we have several computers running off of the connection from our cable company. Now, this of course is coming through a modem and the modem is communicating with the router to send these signals out wirelessly.
So, should we use an Ethernet splitter in a sense of A) One computer be directly connected to the modem and B) The Router is connected to the modem, would this function properly?
Basically, my friend thinks that Outgoing packets won’t be an issue but Incoming will be, reason being that Outgoing will be going straight to the modem, though Incoming will be coming through the modem but split and sent to both the Direct connection and the Router.
Could this cause any possible conflicts with the connection or other computers browsing the internet with the Router at the same time the Directly connected computer is in use?..
I don’t see an issue here imo, but before going through the motions of ordering a splitter we figure it wouldn’t hurt to see others’ thoughts on this.
According to my cable broadband supplier, I can only have one cable modem attached to the cable. That cable modem connects to a wireless Linksys router switch, where all of my computers (wired and wireless) connect.
You may want to contact your broadband supplier and ask them.
I’m confused. You have a modem and a router, right?
The cable comes out of the wall, then into the modem.
The modem then connects to the router.
There are several computers wirelessly connecting to the router.
Is that correct so far?
Does the router have hard-wired ports in the back? If so, and there are computers close enough, any of them can plug into the back of the router without the need for a switch.
The router should have at least one open port – from there you should be able to connect a simple $14 switch.
But I think I must be missing something. What is the router (make/model)? How many simultaneous connections do you have at one time? What are they doing? If ten computers are all, I don’t know, gaming or torrenting, it may be that wired or wireless, you’re using up your available bandwidth set by the cable company.
Just my .02 until more info or better answers come along
Many cable (and DSL as well) modems have a built-in router. That may be the point of confusion. If it does not have an internal router (multiple ethernet ports) then you should plug ONLY your router in to it, and everything else plugs in (or connects wirelessly) to the router.
The router is a linksys wusb54gs.
The modem itself has only 1 output for ethernet… Not sure what you mean by multiple ethernet ports, Kevbo. From what I recall I’ve only seen modems with one ethernet port. I’m speaking solely of modems distributed from the isp, Road Runner.
EpicNonsense, what you label a “split” in your diagram would properly be called a hub. Putting a hub behind the modem would require your modem’s DHCP server to assign separate IPs to the router and Laptop 1. ISPs generally charge extra for more than one IP. And there doesn’t appear to be any advantage to this configuration vs. putting all the machines behind the router. It also means Laptop 1 is exposed directly to the Internet instead of being behind the router’s NAT gateway on your private network.
Your best bet is to use the wired ports on your router (if available) or get a new router with enough wired ports to accommodate you.
We’ll be using this option at the moment.
I noticed when searching for the typical lifespan of linksys router some people noted the firmware will usually be out of date (Didn’t eve know routers needed these updates) and may be the reason behind it’s lack of performance. Mine is in fact a little out of date so I’m hoping this update will help.
Well that’s interesting. It looks like the WUSB54GS is a Wireless-G USB Adapter, not a router.
I would say your best bet is to contact Linksys tech support directly. They’re fantastic at solving problems and making recommendations. Of course tech suppport can be hit or miss, but generally, I’ve had great experiences with them. You can visit their chat page if you’re still connected.
You dont need to split anything. Your router is a hub or a switch already. Plug your computer into there.
What exactly is your performance issue? What do you mean by “inconsistent?” The cable company only gives you so much bandwidth, so if your friend is leeching it all with a torrent then the issue is one of bandwidth management not lack of equipment. So in this case, your friend would have to throttle his torrent.
Another issue is that a lot of these wireless routers cant handle more than 8 or so simultaneous connections without wireless interference problems. How many machines do you have on at the same time?
That was a mistake. The base model is WRT54G Ver. 6.
Performance issue: The past 2 weeks, the internet is not behaving normally. The past 2 years I’ve not had any issue like I am seeing now even with the same set-up. Actually, the past year there were 2 more laptops using the connection as well and there were no issues like right now.
Inconsistent: The internet speed fluctuates. While connected wirelessly, the internet speed might be normal, but 30 mins later back to zilch, and an hour later back to normal, and 30 mins later to dial-up speed, and so on.
As far as using all of the bandwidth, no one is downloading anything. Even in the last year when I was downloading constantly with 5 other computer connected (a mix of direct-to-router and wireless) there were no issues with the same equipment/service we have now. Currently, we experience issues even when only 1 laptop is connected.
The problem seems router related so we’re going to buy a new one later to see if there are any changes which at this point I hope is the issue so we can be done dealing with this.
Actually, before you do anything with a router call your ISP. They can run a line check and do tests on the modem.
Also, its worth mentioning that your ISP can oversell their service, thus causing the symptoms you are noticing.
Lastly, are you using WPA encryption with a strong password on your wireless? It could be the case that your neighbors are using your wireless access point and using all your bandwidth.
Hold up here. You are getting way too complicated.
Do you have cable internet, or DSL, or what? That’s the first thing we need to know. Second thing, post the model/brand of your cable or DSL modem. We already know you have the wrt54g (Best consumer-level networking device ever).
If your internet is slow, there can be a host of things wrong. The neighbor could be using their cordless phone or microwave an interfering with your signal. Your ISP could be broken or throttling your connection. Your wrt54g might be running out of memory because it keeps a table of connections - especially a problem with bitorrent.
The first thing you need to do is figure out where the trouble is. Hook up a computer directly into the modem and see if the internet is still messed up. If so, call your ISP. If not, it’s probably your linksys. See if the problem is with the wireless connection itself, or if the router is slow as well (by plugging in a computer directly to the linksys – if the memory is low, the internet speed will still be slow, but if it’s just radio noise, the plugged in computer will be fast).
Either way, unless you are trying to do something special (in which case you probably wouldnt be asking about slitters on the dope), your current setup is just fine and probably only needs tweaking rather than new equipment.
PS: I suggest downloading and installing Tomato on your wrt56g. It will fix the tables issue and lets you boost power and several other nice things.
It sounds like your modem does NOT have a built in router, so never mind my previous post.
<bolding by kevbo>
There may be some device interfering with your wireless connection. Most likely are microwave ovens, cordless phones, or your neighbors wireless. It may also be physical interference if the signal is weak between the WRT54 and the laptop, this could be someone in the next room or closing a door. In either case you may benefit from trying a different channel setting on the router. Default is channel 6 on that router, which is typically very crowded, as several mfrs use 6 as the default. Also change your SSID from the default (linksys) setting, as it is possible for your PC to be trying to link to another “linksys” router…note you need to change this on the router as well as all the clients.
The WRT54 hardware is fine, but I have found loading mine with “tomato” firmware to be a significant upgrade. No more rebooting the router every week or so is needed, and tomato provides far more monitoring data than the linksys firmware. For example it will give you the signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio for each connected device, and survey the local enviroment for channel conflicts. It will also give you bandwidth vs. time graphs, so you can see if your roomate is sucking up all the BW. Google tomato+wrt54 for more info. Not all versions of WRT54 hardware can run tomato though, so do your research well if you decide to try this. There are a couple of other firmwares available as well, but I have no experience with them.
The internet type is cable. ISP is Time Warner. Modem
I checked the Tomato firmware link you placed but noticed this notice at the bottom of the Read Me table:
*This will not work on Linksys WRT54G/GS v5 or newer WRT54G/GS routers. *
The router I have is Version 6.
As far as plugging in to the modem directly there are no issues. However, plugging directly into the router we did encounter the same issues at times when the connection was sour. So, as you mention, the memory must be low.
I’ll try the channel change also when I find the time for testing is right–no one is awake yet and I want to have the other computers online also.
In the meantime, turning the router off for a few seconds and then turning it back on will help. Bittorrent is almost always the cause of this.
There is DD-WRT firmware that will run on newer routers, but I’m not sure you want to mess with that right now. You might be able to trade someone for an older version.