Sloooow netgear router

[gas path]

Recently my Netgear DG834G wireless modem router has been running really slow.....like about 600-900 kbps as opposed to 4meg (the max my line can support is 4.5 meg). After trying reconfiguring and tinkering with the MTU settings all to no avail and several hard resets I reinstalled the BT voyager 105 ADSL modem and low and behold back up to 4 meg! So the question for the gurus is.... Could it be the cables or more than likely the router itself?
I'm a bit loathe to go buy a new one if it won't be any better. The reason for wireless is to eventually get a laptop as well!
BTW Win XP Pro and(aol)

[Saab Dastard]

If you have reverted to factory defaults and made the minimum configuration settings for it to work with your ADSL connection, and it STILL runs slowly - even with firewall and wifi access point off - then yes, it could be the router.

Could it be the cables

What cables are you referring to? RJ45 cables between router and PC? Cables between wall socket and router?

What cables are NOT used by the BT voyager that ARE used by the NetGear? I assume that the only difference would be if the Voyager is USB only.

In that case, it could be the network card on the PC. Either faulty or mis-configured. Check the system log to see if there's any errors / warnings associated with the card.

Try uninstalling the driver and reloading - ensure that you note all your network settings before doing so. See if you can find an updated driver for it.

Check the correct network settings for the NIC - if you are running the router at 100Mbps full duplex and the NIC at 10Mbps half duplex you won't get much throughput!

SD

[gas path]

Thanks for the reply SD!
It appears that the phone cable is ok (between the filter and the voyager) as I'm getting the 4 megs ok, so that leaves either the settings, the router or the ethernet cable.
I will try again tomorrow!!

[jason_slf]

Hi,

This may or may not help you, but I have a netgear DG834G router too and it started acting up a bit - would drop the connection until it was rebooted etc etc.

I upgraded the firmware on it and it fixed the problem, so you may want to give it a try. You can download later versions of the firmware from http://kbserver.netgear.com/products/dg834g.asp - make sure you pick the right one for your router - then just go to the router's web administration page (should be http://192.168.0.1/ if you have the default settings) and pick the "Router upgrade" option and follow the prompts.

As I said it may fix it, it may not - worth a try though.

Hope this helps,

Jay

[gas path]

Hhmmm!... Contacted netgear support and they suggested the firmware upgrade....Thanks Jason however it didn't work, methinks the routers modem is goosed next step is to borrow one and try that and if all ok I'll buy a new one.
Back to the old BT voyager!

[Lost_luggage34]

The clue was in the question - AOL !!

Yes, by all means upgrade your firmware but be very wary that there are some later versions of firmware, specifically for the DG834, which will not allow a login to the dreadful AOL software. Not a problem if, like most sensible people, don't use the AOL s/w.

You may already be aware that AOL have over the past months been migrating users from their own network on to the Carphone Warehouse network.

This has caused dramatic speed decreases for many AOL customers. You may have noticed your WAN IP address changing to a 92.x.x.x address.

Post your Netgear router model and I can hopefully advise a little further.

[timmcat]

Gas path - can you advise your downstream attenuation figure and also what speed your ADSL is synching at? If thats gobbledegook please let us know and one of us will talk you through it.

DG834's are generally far superior to Voyager stuff, but, yes, you might have a duff one.

[gas path]

Personally I've never had any problems with the AOL software itself and the BT Voyager is rattling along at a steady 3.5megs + (my line only supports 4.5!).
Using speedtest.net and trying different servers to test from the download rate (and the upload) ramps up steadily to the max. available with very little deviation. However using the Netgear it runs in 'fits and starts' upto a max. of well short of 1meg (usually aroud 6-800kbps)
As for the line attenuation using the Voyager it reports:
Local.....31 Remote.....20
SNR margin db:
Local...13.5 Remote...12
Line rate 5120kbps down 544 up and data 4567kbps down 448.
These last figure are reasonably close to what I'm getting with the Voyager for 2 miles from the exchange.
My gut feeling is the ADSL routers goosed as its receiving and transmitting speeds are so asthmatic

[timmcat]

You could be right.

Just one last thing to check - make sure your Netgear is using the same wireless channel as the one the Voyager is using. You could be getting interference - I get just the same effect on my Netgear if I select a certain couple of channels.

[gas path]

Thanks timmcat! As it happens they both throw a tantrum if they are both connected at the same time, so I have to uninstall the Voyager software each time I want to tinker with the Netgear
I'll see if I can borrow another one to try.

[Lost_luggage34]

If you download Netstumbler it will tell you about other wireless networks in the vicinity.

You can then make an informed choice on which channel(s) to use.