# Wireless Internet Doesn't Work or Very Slow? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 9, 2014, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wireless-internet-doesnt-work-or-very-slow/704188 "2014-11-09T22:55:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Pauly01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/df705f/32.png) [@Pauly01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pauly01)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2014, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wireless-internet-doesnt-work-or-very-slow/704188/21 "2014-11-11T07:00:51Z")
No i haven’t. This happened recently so i wondered if it was just something with the internet. Then i read online that this router seems to have lot of issues. I have zero issues with any of the laptops if i connect an ethernet cable to the router. However the sager laptop wifi working just is extremely puzzling. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2014, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wireless-internet-doesnt-work-or-very-slow/704188/22 "2014-11-11T07:08:51Z")
It’s hard to troubleshoot these things without access to the devices in question. Possibilities abound (all just guesses): - Does the Sager have some special software on it that the ISP installed, letting it communicate with the router? - Did Optimum implement some sort of new device restriction, MAC address filtering, etc.? - Did a new neighbor move in recently and start a hotspot in your area, drowning out most devices but maybe letting the Sager (with a stronger antenna?) still connect? etc. It wouldn’t hurt to ask them, I guess. So basically something changed in the past few days and it’s not affecting the Sager but is affecting everything else. You gotta look at the possibilities and figure out what it is. Maybe just reset the router to Optimum defaults and start over, reconnecting every device with a new login? Router brand and models… man, that’s pretty much a holy war. Everybody you talk to has their own opinions on which companies to use, which to avoid, and often times they’re contradictory. A lot of consumer routers also use very similar chips (or sometimes the exact same chips) just inside different cases, with different antenna arrangements and software, etc. It’s all crapshoot. On the home front, ethernet is about as plug and play as you can get. Wifi takes a whole lot more to setup, especially if you enable any type of security or MIMO or different bands, etc, and that means a lot more can go wrong… ---
**Author:** ![HipGnosis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/76d3ee/32.png) [@HipGnosis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HipGnosis)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2014, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wireless-internet-doesnt-work-or-very-slow/704188/23 "2014-11-11T14:59:25Z")
There are many (many) variations of WiFi; channels and protocols, and virtually no devices support them all. Apparently your N600 stopped working on some of them, or there is interference, but still works on one (or two) that your Sager works on. I don’t understand why you’re not using the Linksys. At LEAST as a test… You don’t have to get “rid” of the N600, just like you didn’t get rid of the Linksys. But you DO NOT HAVE to use the N600! Also… since the N600 stopped connecting to most of your devices, Optimum should replace it (But I still wouldn’t use it if I had a Linksys). ---
**Author:** ![Pauly01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/df705f/32.png) [@Pauly01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pauly01)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2014, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wireless-internet-doesnt-work-or-very-slow/704188/24 "2014-11-11T15:09:31Z")
The thing is this linksys is a very old router but it is one of the best routers. Its the wrt54g and its a G router and not an N router which is why i didnt want to use it anymore. All these years we used the router and i didnt know G routers no one used anymore and thus it wasn’t fast. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2014, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wireless-internet-doesnt-work-or-very-slow/704188/25 "2014-11-11T15:15:07Z")
The WRT54G was only considered a “best” router because certain versions of it allowed 3rd-party firmware. The stock unit was nothing special, especially compared to today’s routers. BUT it’s still a quick and easy diagnostic test to figure out what the heck stopped working. There is simply not enough information here for anyone to tell you what is wrong; you have to do some tests yourself. And besides, a temporary working G router is better than a N router that most of your devices can’t connect to at all, no? If you don’t want to test with the old router, at least go through the standard basic diagnostic procedures on the new one: unplugging and rebooting everything, making sure security settings are still ok, maybe even disabling security altogether temporarily, switching bands and channels, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2014, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wireless-internet-doesnt-work-or-very-slow/704188/26 "2014-11-12T03:30:09Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > The WRT54G was only considered a “best” router because certain versions of it allowed 3rd-party firmware. The stock unit was nothing special, especially compared to today’s routers. > > BUT it’s still a quick and easy diagnostic test to figure out what the heck stopped working. There is simply not enough information here for anyone to tell you what is wrong; you have to do some tests yourself. And besides, a temporary working G router is better than a N router that most of your devices can’t connect to at all, no? IIRC, the WRT54G is also a wired router. Take **Reply’s** advice. Run an experiment with it. Also hardwire all of your machines to the router _just to see if they work_. Then test each machine’s wireless capability, _one at a time_. Do each still work or not? ---
**Author:** ![lazybratsche](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@lazybratsche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lazybratsche)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2018, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wireless-internet-doesnt-work-or-very-slow/704188/28 "2018-03-16T22:26:28Z")
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