Download speed varies

Gary, after reading all of the above, I'm betting that your speed fall-offs have nothing to do with any routing issues.

It's probably that the main Internet speed coming from your provider is falling off whenever too many folks around you using the same provider are online - just like the average 120 Mbps from my provider can drop down to 50-60 Mbps whenever too many of my neighbors are streaming from the same provider.

enblethen wrote:
Keep in touch, Gary!

I will, the router still has not been shipped because of another winter storm, I thought I would have it today to try but it is still sitting on the shipping dock.

Keep in touch, Gary!

Nice. I recently replaced several switches as my wifi was running faster than ethernet. Old equipment can really drag you down.

enblethen wrote:
Yes, it sounds like the wireless portion of the modem/router is failing.
Get Frontier to send a new one.
An option is to buy a stand along wireless router. Connect it to modem via ethernet cable.

Yes, that is what I did this morning. Called frontier once I saw the input via the cable was 14-16 Mbps and laptop wifi was only 3 or 4 Mbps they said that it is way too much drop to just be interference from others being on the same frequency. They said the Arris router was an old version so they are sending me a new router. I should see if it works any better in a couple of days.

Yes, it sounds like the wireless portion of the modem/router is failing.
Get Frontier to send a new one.
An option is to buy a stand along wireless router. Connect it to modem via ethernet cable.

Gjac wrote:
Went and got a ethernet cable yesterday, took two days to shovel out have not seen that much snow in a while. Speed test when directly connected to router was the same as what Frontier told me between 14 and 16 Mbps. Still seems to me like a WIFI issue does it not?

May be the router access point radio (built into your DSL modem) going bad or may be too many folks around your neighborhood on the same Wifi channel.

Access your router control panel (the IP address and login information is located on the router).

In there you can run the wireless utilities per the Administrator guide I posted the link for.

The Wifi radio should be defaulted to "auto" so it should have automatically set the Wifi channel on power up.. But sometimes there may not be much congestion at power up time and it chooses the first channel as default..

It may be a simple fix to run the Wifi congestion test WHEN THE WIFI SPEED IS LOW and then manually change the Wifi channel to the one that has the least congestion.

You can do all of that from your own PC while it is connected via hard wire and I gave you a link to the manual and even gave you page numbers that may be of the most help to you.

If changing Wifi channels does not help then reach out to Frontier and have them send you a replacement Arris, in this case the radio card in the router may be going bad..

Went and got a ethernet cable yesterday, took two days to shovel out have not seen that much snow in a while. Speed test when directly connected to router was the same as what Frontier told me between 14 and 16 Mbps. Still seems to me like a WIFI issue does it not?

Gjac wrote:
As I said in my post we are having a snow storm I won't be able to get out of my driveway to get an Ethernet cable until Tuesday or Wed.

You are pretty much stuck the poor speeds and absolutely nothing you can to fix it until you get into DSL modem/router.

Some research says that you might be able to enter administrative web interface for your DSL modem/router via Wifi, typically you can't but hey, they may have added Wifi capability to them on the newer modem/routers..

All you can do is try the IP address from the Arris box along with the administrator name and password of the Arris box using Wifi connection.. (IE open browser on PC and enter the IP address of the router)

This won't help you via "speed tests" but if you can gain access to the router control panels you can view the signal strength and SN levels and other stats that the Phone Co is providing the modem..

I found the administrators guide to your modem HERE which is actually a Motorola unit made for ATT but from what I am understanding it should be the same as yours..

Page 37 is the Broadband Status page and at the bottom is the important stats like SN, Line attenuation, errors and other info..

Too much noise or too much attenuation indicates an issue on the Phone co side (wiring ect)

Page 41 has info on your Home connection status which includes your Wireless stats..

On that page there is also a "Wireless Congestion detection" that you can run that will check all 11 channels of the Wifi frequencies and it will give you a 1-10 score on the congestion of those channels. This will allow you to decide if the channel yours is set on has too much congestion (although the default typically is set to "auto" and typically the Wifi Radio will automatically choose)..

Page 51 tells you how to have the wireless do a scan of Wifi channels to determine the best one to use..

However, if you run this while you are connected to the administrator pages through Wifi, you WILL get disconnected..

Be aware, if you make ANY changes to the Wifi while connected to the router administrative pages those changes CAN disconnect you from the router and you will have to log back in..

Which it is always a good idea to connect to the router settings via hardwired connections.

Gdetrailer wrote:

Gjac wrote:
Just tested this morning and I see 13.71 mbps, and we are having a snow storm so everyone is home. Tested 5 mins later and it is down to 3.71. So if I get 13.71 doesn't that say that it is a wifi issue rather than an issue of lines coming to my house?

NO.

Why don't you listen?

PLUG AT LEAST ONE PC INTO ROUTER THEN CHECK SPEED.

Your Wifi speed is only as good as the DSL speed coming into your modem/router.

As they say, GARBAGE IN = MORE GARBAGE OUT

Just because the Phone Co "says" your modem is good and they "detect" no problem it doesn't mean that the problem ISNT the PhonE Cos problem.

You CAN also connect to your modem/router via your PC, but in most cases to do so you MUST do it through the hardwired connection.

The IP address, administrator name and password are typically found on the underside of the modem/router.

To get in to the DSL modem/router you open your browser, type in the IP address and you should get a prompt for administrator name and password.

Once in you should be able to view the DSL line status information, run diagnostics, might even have logs of what IPs have connected to your system (open with no password or family has shared passwords with others) and so on.. Phone Co cannot access much of the router other than some of basic diagnostics if they even can do that..

Back when I had DSL, I had replaced my DSL modem with my own DSL modem and router due to lightning damage.. Phone co had absolutely no way to access my Modem/router.. They didn't care either.

As far as Wifi traffic goes, you do know that you CAN check to see how many Wifi access points are in reach of your PC.. Just do a Wifi search and all Wifi access points will show up that the SSID is not hidden.. Make sure you are connected to YOUR access point.. It is easy to get on the wrong Wifi if it is open (IE no password)..

But seriously, plug in the wired network and check speed directly. You can easily compare speed from wired vs the Wifi to figure out if it local wifi congestion (I doubt).

I really think you have a issue with the ISP line/service or possible failing DSL modem/router..

As I said in my post we are having a snow storm I won't be able to get out of my driveway to get an Ethernet cable until Tuesday or Wed.