Support NeoGAF

[DarkKyo]

So my girlfriend and I just moved into a small apartment above a store. The owner of the store says we don't have to pay her anything to use the water, electricity, or wifi. It's nice having free internet, but man the speeds are terrible... I had been living in my parents house before this and they paid for 100 Mbps download rate and about 10 Mbps upload rate through Comcast. It was probably more than I ever needed for gaming, downloading, streaming, and general surfing. From what I can tell the store owner here pays for 5 Mbps download rate and less than 1 Mbps upload rate through Verizon... which wouldn't be that bad of a problem except that the speed of the internet wildly varies and I usually get anywhere between .8 and 3 Mbps download(3-4 on the best days) and .5-.7 Mbps upload. At its absolute worst(and its at it's worst probably 20% of the time) it's barely usable. Things take forever to download, gaming is extremely laggy and unreliable(and from what I understand you don't need a super fast download/upload rate to be able to play most games, just have good ping), and streaming things in a timely and smooth manner can be a joke. It might be better if I could hard wire my own router and ethernet cords from the downstairs connection and get the most stable connection possible but I feel like it would be crossing the line to go downstairs behind the store desk and mess with her internet like that, plus it would take a lot of ethernet cord to go up the stairs and into our living room and it's not really feasible in a store setting like this.

So after a week of living here we are considering trying to get better internet.. maybe asking the store owner if we could pay a good chunk of the bill for better speed, or finding a way to get our own private connection up here. I guess before I do that though, I want to explore my other options since like I said, it's real nice to have free internet at the moment since we don't have a ton of money. I was wondering if anyone here had any tips for working with crappy wireless to get the best or most stable possible connection. Any way to boost the signal from the wireless router or my receiver?

A couple facts about the setup.

1) I use a Netgear WNA3100 Genie receiver to get the signal into my main PC. I also have a laptop and PS4 that I use to connect online but I'm most concerned about the connection into the PC.
2) The wireless router is the GT784WNV model. Firmware: GT784WN-VZ-1.1.18
3) I just gained access into the Verizon hub through 192.168.1.1(I guessed the password), but I'm not sure what I could possibly change in there to get a better connection if anything. I have very little experience with wifi as I've been hardwired pretty much my entire life up until now.
4) My computer and receiver are set up RIGHT ABOVE where the modem is downstairs so it would be hard to get any closer than I am right now.

If there's really nothing I can do to make the situation better then I will probably pay to make it better, but I figured GAF might have some tips since there are a lot of tech wizards here. I'm willing to include more information from the router settings page if it's going to make a difference. Thanks in advance!

 

[Concrete Charlie]

What kind of store is it? This will make a huge difference.

 

[DarkKyo]

What kind of store is it? This will make a huge difference.

It's a consignment store with mostly ladies clothing... what difference does that make?

 

[Fatalah]

If you have an Android phone, use WiFi Analyzer to figure out which channel your router should be set to, for the least competition.

 

[Smokey]

It's a consignment store with mostly ladies clothing... what difference does that make?

If it were a store with a lot of electronics or interference, that could be a huge reason why you are experiencing such speeds.

 

[DarkKyo]

If you have an Android phone, use WiFi Analyzer to figure out which channel your router should be set to, for the least competition.

Hmm I do have an android phone.. this is interesting, I'll get back to this thread about this once I figure it out.

If it were a store with a lot of electronics or interference, that could be a huge reason why you are experiencing such speeds.

Oh interesting! I hadn't considered that.

 

[DarkKyo]

Made a little gif of readings from WiFi Analyzer.. can you gleam anything from this?

In the router settings for channel it is set to "Auto Detect".

 

[LumpOfCole]

I just gained access into the Verizon hub through 192.168.1.1(I guessed the password), but I'm not sure what I could possibly change in there to get a better connection if anything.

You could try changing the Wi-Fi to a 5Ghz band, which might be much less crowded. Or change the 2.4Ghz Wi-Fi channel to 8 or 9 instead of letting it choose one automatically.

 

[clav]

Made a little gif of readings from WiFi Analyzer.. can you gleam anything from this?

In the router settings for channel it is set to "Auto Detect".

I'd put it on Channel 11.

1, 6, or 11 are the channels available. If you put them in between, you cause interference for the channels in between that number (e.g. if you choose channel 3, then you disturb channel 1 and channel 6). 1, 6, and 11 are solid channels.

 

[Horsemama1956]

See if you can run a few long ethernet cables from the router.

 

[clav]

Since the situation appears you have the 3 / 0.768 DSL package from Verizon, and Verizon has zero interest in investing in landlines, you're boned. Get cable if you want faster Internet since you most likely don't have FiOS.

 

[btrboyev]

See if you can run a few long ethernet cables from the router.

That's only going to be good if the OP can live with 5Mbps..which is sounds like that is the main issue. That is very slow for broadband in 2016.

 

[clav]

That's only going to be good if the OP can live with 5Mbps..which is sounds like that is the main issue. That is very slow for broadband in 2016.

10/1 is the benchmark for acceptable ADSL. Anything lower is bad.

 

[Tal Shiar Agent]

That's only going to be good if the OP can live with 5Mbps..which is sounds like that is the main issue. That is very slow for broadband in 2016.

Well anything below 25/5 isn't legally classified as broadband anymore.

 

[Fatalah]

Made a little gif of readings from WiFi Analyzer.. can you gleam anything from this?

In the router settings for channel it is set to "Auto Detect".

Wow, such congestion!

Also try and walk around your apartment with the signal meter! If you unmute it, it can beep as you walk to an area with stronger connection. Pretty cool.

 

[PlayALLtheGames]

I don't think running cables is going to do a lot here.

It sounds like you have shitty internet and there really isn't anything that's going to improve it to any significant degree, assuming everything is working properly.

I'd see if you can pay for an upgrade or get your own connection, as you mentioned.

 

[DarkKyo]

Thanks for the input all! There's lots of stuff to try here so I'll get back to the thread with results after some tests. In the end I probably will try to get my own internet connection in here, but it's nice to get some helpful tips for even a little improvement in the meantime.

 

[Persona7]

Is the connection encrypted and how many users are on it?

 

[StarCreator]

It's probably too expensive a solution for a stopgap, but it's possible powerline adapters would get you a better connection to the router without having to run new wires. It depends on how the power is wired within the building.

This is, of course, assuming you have a PC or laptop you want to hardwire for a more reliable connection. Given the congestion, I don't think wireless is ever going to work great for you, even if you do end up putting up a hotspot in the apartment itself.

 

[Starviper]

It's probably too expensive a solution for a stopgap, but it's possible powerline adapters would get you a better connection to the router without having to run new wires. It depends on how the power is wired within the building.

This is, of course, assuming you have a PC or laptop you want to hardwire for a more reliable connection. Given the congestion, I don't think wireless is ever going to work great for you, even if you do end up putting up a hotspot in the apartment itself.

Yup, Powerline adapters would do the trick in a situation like this. Seems the WiFi spectrum is pretty congested (guessing it's an urban setting) so you aren't going to have much luck there, and especially if you're above a store which could cause a lot of electrical interference for the WiFi.

And definitely check with the owner and see if you can pay for better speeds. I doubt they would have a problem with that if you're willing to pony up (and the ISP can do it)

 

[StarCreator]

And definitely check with the owner and see if you can pay for better speeds. I doubt they would have a problem with that if you're willing to pony up (and the ISP can do it)

I think a serious problem with that is the fact the it's likely a business account at the ISP, which is a totally different cost structure; you generally get multiple static IPs but a really crappy speedrice ratio compared to residential. I wouldn't rush to volunteer paying for speed upgrades in this scenario. It's much more cost effective to find out if an ISP would wire the apartment separately with residential service (which might not be possible depending on the building's zoning...)