Effects of Poor Wireless Signal?

My wireless connection isn't really slow but when I'm in a certain room it 'stutters' and has gaps of activity. So a download will momentarily freeze for half a second many times during its progress. These stutters happen during speed test downloads as well, so they bring down the average I'm presented with at the end of the test.

I had previously assumed there was slower speed when you're a bit further from the router... but not stuttering and intermittent throughput. My question is whether stuttering actually is a normal phenomenon of being at the outer edges of a router's range?

It can be.

But you will also find that just moving the router or angling its aerial, or moving the laptop(?) a few cms or rotating it a fraction can make a huge difference.

InSSIDer is a great little monitor to show your signal strength and also all other wireless networks around you.

You can see on the graph what channels are in use and how much overlap with yours there is. Then you can set your router to the least overlapped. It can help.

Thanks. I have used InSSIDer and I changed my channel but that didn't help. It seems that nowhere in my room gets reliable connection quality.

I'm looking into getting a wireless extender. My only worry was that it might turn out not to be because of poor signal, and therefore after spending £70 on an extender, I get the same stuttering probs.

If I can establish that it's likely to be because I'm slightly too far from the router, I can go ahead and get the extender.

Hi,

ref 'stuttering' why don't you use wireshark and see if there's re-transmissions of the same packets... this could be a symptom of line-of-sight and RF signals bouncing off objects.

WR

In reply to a post by Anonymous:

Hi,

ref 'stuttering' why don't you use wireshark and see if there's re-transmissions of the same packets... this could be a symptom of line-of-sight and RF signals bouncing off objects.

WR

That's a more sensible suggestion. Rooms contain lots of metalwork which can bounce signals around, and if two signals arrive out of phase they will cancel each other out. Just moving the aerial a few inches can make dramatic differences. Other wireless networks are unlikely to interfere unless they're under continuous heavy usage.

keep an eye on the wireless link speed, 802.11g has a habit of flapping between speeds and setting a lower speed it can achieve consistently may achieve a better outcome overall.

I've tried adjusting the antennae in all different directions and unfortunately I can't move the router much. I understand there may turn out to be cheaper solutions, but should a wireless range extender in or right near the room help?

Sorry, should have mentioned it's an 'n' router that virgin media gave me.

same problem with n as with g. b tends to be more stable due to limited capability - check the connection speed in the wireless utility or hover over the icon to see.

how are you expecting to connect the range extender ? have you found one compatible with your router ?