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Please suggest how to improve Internet performance on DSL

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  • Oct 2nd, 2014 10:31 am
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Deal Expert
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Dec 23, 2003
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Toronto

Please suggest how to improve Internet performance on DSL

I am trying to help out a 70 year old lady with her Internet access. She currently has AOL DSL Service (yes I didn't even know it was around) which is a 6 Mbps/800 kbps unlimited account. She recently got an iPad Mini and she likes to read some news and listen to Tune In Radio.

She as a Sagecom modem which is a DSL modem/Router. When I do a speedtest on her laptop connected to the router via Ethernet cable, she only gets 4.9 mbps/600 kbps speeds and on the iPad her speed drops to about 1.8 Mbps.
I ran a test using InSSIDER and scanned the area and there are no other wifi modems available (which makes sense as this is a Senior Area).

As she does not want to change services from AOL due to price reasons, can someone suggest a way to improve the speed and wifi? Is there a better modem/router combo that will improve reception?

It would be a lot easier to get a Cable Connection, decent dual band router and problem solved but that is not an option here.

any suggestions would be helpful.

Thanks
22 replies
Deal Expert
Feb 29, 2008
30106 posts
5547 upvotes
Montreal
Can you pull some line stats? If you access the router IP, you may have an info page. For example this what my Zyxel page gives:

Code: Select all

Mode:			ADSL2+ 
TPS-TC:			ATM Mode
Trellis:		U:ON /D:ON
Line Status:		No Defect
Training Status:	Showtime
		Down		Up
SNR (dB):	 7.3		 7.5
Attn(dB):	 36.5		 14.1
Pwr(dBm):	 9.8		 12.6

			ADSL2 framing
			Bearer 0
MSGc:		103		9
B:		14		103
M:		1		1
T:		9		1
R:		10		0
S:		0.0654		4.0000
L:		3060		208
D:		448		1

			Counters
			Bearer 0
SF:		3197703		61700
SFErr:		101		0
RS:		3136945062		4012507
RSCorr:		1647007		0
RSUnCorr:	2609		0

			Bearer 0
HEC:		524		0
OCD:		2		0
LCD:		2		0
Total Cells:	881233695		0
Data Cells:	28438046		0
Drop Cells:	0
Bit Errors:	53589		0

ES:		9780		152
SES:		245		25
UAS:		2174		2174
AS:		51258

			Bearer 0
INP:		5.50		0.00
INPRein:	0.00		0.00
delay:		7		1
PER:		16.02		15.00
OR:		54.40		8.00
AgR:		7315.42	828.76
Deal Expert
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Oct 13, 2002
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The actual service speed is not too bad at 4.9Mbps. It looks to me it's the wireless speed that is the concern. I think adding a standalone wireless router/AP should improve. However, is the cost going to be a problem for her ?
Deal Expert
Oct 6, 2005
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hightech wrote: She as a Sagecom modem which is a DSL modem/Router. When I do a speedtest on her laptop connected to the router via Ethernet cable, she only gets 4.9 mbps/600 kbps speeds and on the iPad her speed drops to about 1.8 Mbps.

I ran a test using InSSIDER and scanned the area and there are no other wifi modems available (which makes sense as this is a Senior Area).

4.9mbps while not ideal for 6mbps DSL is OK. As for the WiFi, it's probably slow because there are too much interference on 2.4Ghz, switch her over to a 5Ghz access point.

Also make sure she has a filter on each phone too.

Have you checked for latency and packet loss? They could be contributing to the "slowness" on the iPad rather than the bandwidth itself.
Deal Expert
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Dec 23, 2003
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Toronto
Thanks for the replies everyone.

Mr_Raider - I will try to post the line stats when I visit her again. She is in Peterborough so I get out there only on the weekends.

Willy - I was considering a new router and I can get something simple for around $50 which she is OK with. I just wanted to make sure it is worth it or if it is a line issue as Mr_Raider mentioned.

Coolspot - INSSIDER scan revealed she is the ONLY wifi in the area. Home phones are DECT 6.0 and I didn't see any issues with channel interference. In a way to improve wifi, I set the frequency to 40 Mhz as there was very little wifi congestion in her area. I never set it to 40 Mhz in congested areas as it just makes things worse for me and for others. She only has 2 phones in the home and they have filters. I ran a speedtest but forgot to do a test on www.pingtest.net to check for packet loss, jitter, etc. I will do that next time.
Deal Fanatic
Nov 1, 2006
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Toronto
DSL speed is OK. Have you tried changing wi-fi channels to see if matters improve?
Deal Expert
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Dec 23, 2003
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Jimbobs wrote: DSL speed is OK. Have you tried changing wi-fi channels to see if matters improve?
Her channel was set to Channel 1 (AUTO). As I mentioned, I ran INSSIDER to scan the area and see what channel is best and there are no other networks in the area that can be picked up.
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Aug 3, 2006
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4.9Mbps on a 6 Mbps DSL line implies that she's still on the old POTS and not FTTN. 20% overhead on a 6Mbit POTS line = ~4.8Mbit real world speed. If she were on FTTN then she would be getting the full 6Mbps.

The Sagecom modem/router is well known to have slow wi-fi speeds. There are threads on RFD talking about it and a quick Google search for "Sagecom slow wifi" shows that it's a universal complaint with no fix. The simple solution is to use a standalone wireless router instead.
Deal Fanatic
Nov 1, 2006
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hightech wrote: Her channel was set to Channel 1 (AUTO). As I mentioned, I ran INSSIDER to scan the area and see what channel is best and there are no other networks in the area that can be picked up.
Interference comes from many sources - microwave, baby monitors, cordless phones, EMF radiation, etc.
Deal Guru
Nov 19, 2010
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Just use another access point. The built in one must be garbage.
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Dec 23, 2003
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Mulder and Scully wrote: 4.9Mbps on a 6 Mbps DSL line implies that she's still on the old POTS and not FTTN. 20% overhead on a 6Mbit POTS line = ~4.8Mbit real world speed. If she were on FTTN then she would be getting the full 6Mbps.

The Sagecom modem/router is well known to have slow wi-fi speeds. There are threads on RFD talking about it and a quick Google search for "Sagecom slow wifi" shows that it's a universal complaint with no fix. The simple solution is to use a standalone wireless router instead.
Thanks for the information. I know her home is old and only has 2 phone jacks as well. I suggested moving to Teksavvy/Start for Cable (Cogeco) Internet. I had my friend move from DSL to Cable and she went from 2 mbps to 20 mbps. What a difference!
Deal Addict
Feb 6, 2012
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sorry to bump an old thread but i have a similar question;

i am also on 6mbps internet but i have no choice as its the only thing available in my area. i rarely get the full 6mbps, usually between 2-4mbps. my router is about 3 years old (dlink dir636) and modem is new (tplink). would getting a better router improve speeds? I have about 15 devices on my network on avg
Deal Expert
Feb 29, 2008
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What speed do you get when directly connected to the modem by ethernet?
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Oct 13, 2002
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discontd wrote: sorry to bump an old thread but i have a similar question;

i am also on 6mbps internet but i have no choice as its the only thing available in my area. i rarely get the full 6mbps, usually between 2-4mbps. my router is about 3 years old (dlink dir636) and modem is new (tplink). would getting a better router improve speeds? I have about 15 devices on my network on avg
First, log into the TP-Link DSL modem. You should see the speed of the connection. If you get less than 6Mbps, the problem is right there ..... If you see 6, the problem is at the router. Along the same line as mr_raider, what kind of speed are you getting when you connect to the router directly via cable ?

Just curious ... I know it may be a bit complicated to set it up .... Have you tried MLPPP (bonding 2 x 6Mbps links into 1) ? You may want to read up on that ...
Deal Addict
Feb 6, 2012
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willy wrote: First, log into the TP-Link DSL modem. You should see the speed of the connection. If you get less than 6Mbps, the problem is right there ..... If you see 6, the problem is at the router. Along the same line as mr_raider, what kind of speed are you getting when you connect to the router directly via cable ?

Just curious ... I know it may be a bit complicated to set it up .... Have you tried MLPPP (bonding 2 x 6Mbps links into 1) ? You may want to read up on that ...
Just tried at the modem directly, 2-3mbps as well. I think the problem lays with the modem I have, when I switched from bell to ts, i bought a cheap $30 dsl modem, perhaps i should of went with something better.

MLPPP sounds very interesting. I am seriously considering it. TS offers it for $4 a month and a get double speeds and bandwidth. but i have no idea how to set it up
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Oct 13, 2002
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discontd wrote: Just tried at the modem directly, 2-3mbps as well. I think the problem lays with the modem I have, when I switched from bell to ts, i bought a cheap $30 dsl modem, perhaps i should of went with something better.

MLPPP sounds very interesting. I am seriously considering it. TS offers it for $4 a month and a get double speeds and bandwidth. but i have no idea how to set it up
The TP-Link may not be the problem. They are more than capable to handle 6Mbps speed and they are fairly reliable.
Deal Addict
Feb 6, 2012
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hightech wrote: Try resetting the modem. Of the speed goes to. 6mbps and the drops it means the line has noise and modem is switching to another profile.
Called TS and there is indeed noise on my line. they told me to check and make sure there is no filters, incorrect phone plugged in etc. but the modem is connected directly to the dryloop they installed. perhaps they installed in wrong or not properly.

I am also going to go the MLPPP route. Any ideas on how to get that started? Do i have to pay for another dry loop and service?
Deal Expert
Feb 29, 2008
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discontd wrote: Just tried at the modem directly, 2-3mbps as well. I think the problem lays with the modem I have, when I switched from bell to ts, i bought a cheap $30 dsl modem, perhaps i should of went with something better.
Can you pull line stats from your modem?
Deal Expert
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Oct 13, 2002
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discontd wrote: Called TS and there is indeed noise on my line. they told me to check and make sure there is no filters, incorrect phone plugged in etc. but the modem is connected directly to the dryloop they installed. perhaps they installed in wrong or not properly.

I am also going to go the MLPPP route. Any ideas on how to get that started? Do i have to pay for another dry loop and service?
Yes, you will need to install another DSL connection to bond with the existing one. Obviously, you also need another TP-Link modem (ie. TD-8816 ~ $20-25). A MLPPP-capable modem. If you can find a cheap WRT54GL, that should do it.

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