My router is down on the main level and my office is on the second floor. My router is a good router and I have had it for about 4 years. Is there a life span of these things that get slower and slower? What should I do to increase the speed upstairs at my house. Any help would be appreciated.
Slow Wifi. Any help would be appreciated
- Thread starter Drew0311
- Start date
No. Those things should never 'slow down'. That said, more likely problems are 'downstream bottlenecks', 'network collisions' (ie more traffic than what is engineered for your segment), or 'throttling' somewhere. First, try speedtest.net to see if your network speed has slowed. If the router is a provider router (which most are), try to log into it. These are very informative devices. From there you can perform additional tests (ie ping, tracert, etc) which will help you diagnose slow points. I'll keep an eye on this thread for more advice and don't hesitate to message me for more specifics.
There's tons of variables involved to find the source of the issue...the first ones I'd look into are just real versus expected speed. What speed are you paying for, what speed does the WiFi give you, and (if possible) what speed does a wired connection give you?
Router model would help as well, as well as roughly how many devices are connected to it normally.
Router model would help as well, as well as roughly how many devices are connected to it normally.
They can go bad, but it's usually all or nothing. I had to replace one once when it just stopped connecting properly. And recently I replaced my in-laws with that exact one as I had lying around since I upgraded several years ago. They were complaining about connectivity issues and my older one was the same model as theirs. I swapped them out and the issues went away. But as I said, that was more connectivity than speed related.
Direct connect a machine to your router and do a speedtest, if you are getting what you are paying for at the router, but not from wifi, upgrade just that part. Go to a mesh system and you won't have to deal with it again: https://store.google.com/product/nest_wifi?hl=en-US
I can understand why you think that, but 'swapping' out a router with an identical model, more than likely forces a new IP address, which may have a different route to the main switch, which is more likely why the swap out worked. That said, I've seen routers in places they have no business being in (ie attics, wet basements, garages, etc) which, of course, will limit its lifespan. But, again, the more likely fault are adjustments/interference somewhere else. For about a year I was fighting Frontier to improve my internet. I went so far as to tell them the exact 'switch' which was causing the problem. But, 'deflection' (ie shifting blame) is a major strategy with internet companies. It was only when I got a VP of their local region that they listened. And voila, reliable consistent high speeds since.
Grr, Frontier I despise them, finally got switched to a local fiber to the home. What a benefit that was. Still working with Frontier for my final bill, but damn it's hard to 1. Talk to a person. 2.talk to a person that can help you or give you accurate information.
Most people I know feel that same pain with Frontier. Fortunately, they have excellent competition now and since the competition arrived Frontier has been jumping through hoops. That said, they're the king of 'deflection'.
If you replace it definitely go with a mesh system like Google. Put an access point on each level of your home and you'll notice a huge difference in signal strength. I've had Netgear wifi routers in the past and they usually are good but have had some after awhile where the wifi gets really bad and had to replace them eventually. They are just like any other electronics you buy, they seem fast when they are brand new and over time get worse and never hurts to replace with newer technology.
Definitely reboot the router (and any other devices like cable modems) first to see if it helps. You can also use a Wifi Analyzer to see if you have conflicts with neighbors, that can really impact performance. Here's an article with details: https://www.howtogeek.com/197268/ho...nnel-for-your-router-on-any-operating-system/
So is this the mesh system you are taking about? Like get one for each floor? That’s kind of what I was thinking of doing but wasn’t sure since I don’t know computer stuff really well
Buy Google Nest Wifi AC2200 Router & Point - Sand - GA01422 - Google Store
Wifi extenders can add some range, but degrade performance. Nest Wifi gives your whole home mesh wifi coverage, plus a signal strong enough to handle up to 200 connected devices and fast enough to stream multiple 4K videos at a time.
store.google.com
That or this is the one I have. Have one of these on all 3 levels of my home and had noticable improvement in wifi signal throughout the house compared to the single Netgear router I hadSo is this the mesh system you are taking about? Like get one for each floor? That’s kind of what I was thinking of doing but wasn’t sure since I don’t know computer stuff really well
Buy Google Nest Wifi AC2200 Router & Point - Sand - GA01422 - Google Store
Wifi extenders can add some range, but degrade performance. Nest Wifi gives your whole home mesh wifi coverage, plus a signal strong enough to handle up to 200 connected devices and fast enough to stream multiple 4K videos at a time.