WWRA



Get the most from your internet connectionOK, so first of all I have to give you two analogies to get a feel for the communication technologies involved. Analogy 1119270811447AbsorbedEchoEchoAbsorbedEchoEchoSo you’re inside a concrete tunnel and… Oh come on, you have never played in a water main just before they fill it, you’ve never played in the storm drains, been down the sewers, really – must be just me. Ok so you’re in the hellfire caves... Someone at the entrance shouts your name. Some of the high frequency sounds get absorbed before it gets to you, some of it echoes off the back wall and some of it echoes off the side caves. But because they only shouted two words (and you are very good at recognising your own name) you could make the words out.But now they start talking quickly and telling you about the history of the caves. The sound is quiet and all the echoes from everywhere overlap what they are trying to say. You pick up the odd word or partial word and give up.Your partner starts hanging curtains, “Curtains in a cave!!?” yes curtaining off all the caves leaving just the entrance. Now although the person at the entrance it’s quiet and the syllables are difficult to hear, you CAN just make out what they are saying.You have a telephone connection from your provider to your router carrying digital signals (Known as a ‘Digital Subscriber Line’ - DSL). If you have telephone extensions in your house then these create echoes and your router cannot hear the digital signal. You should attach the filters given to you by your internet provider to put on each extension to absorb the echoes. Better still – if you disconnect all the extensions then there are no echoes at all.You have a wireless connection from your router to your device (Wi-Fi). The Wi-Fi signal bounces of the walls, floors and ceilings creating echoes. This limits the Wi-Fi communication bandwidth. Analogy 2So someone redesigned and rebuilt your house. 99391334594Everywhere they found a double wall; they replaced it with dark smoked glass. Where you had a single wall: they replaced it with smoked glass, the ceilings and floors were replaced with just tinted glass (“Oooer missus”) and metal objects were all coated in mirrors. This way, they say, you can light your home with just the power of sunlight and one lamp.They left you the dilemma of where to position the lamp so you could see! P.S. You now live in a glass house – don’t throw stones.So in this analogy, the sun is the transmitter mast for your Mobile signal (and there is not much you can do to move it), and the single lamp is your Wi-Fi router. Choosing where to put the router massively affects how well the Wi-Fi devices in your home can see it. Unfortunately, unlike the analogy, we cannot see those pesky Wi-Fi signals.What follows is a plan to see if you have a communication problem and how to fix it if you do.Someone famous said “If you don’t measure it then you don’t care about speed”There are three things that I care about when measuring my internet connectionLatency – the time from when I make a request to when I get a result.Bandwidth – how quickly I can download a large fileStability – does the network stall for a period where one or all my devices have no access to the internet.In my home I have a single router supplied by my internet provider with a DSL connection to the internet and three types of connection within my home; Ethernet, Wi-Fi (at 2400 MHz and at 5000 MHz) So the tools I use for measuring areMy mobile phoneMy PCTo measure the bandwidth at key locations in my home, I use the app:‘Speedtest’ by Ookla (available for Microsoft , Apple and Android)Measuring with ‘Speedtest’ on my PCLatencyBandwidth (Down)Bandwidth (Up)9 milliseconds36.80 Megabits per second10.91 Megabits per secondMeasuring with ‘Speedtest’ on my phoneLocationLatencyBandwidth (Down)Bandwidth (Up)Office935.75.82Bedroom936.25.85Lounge935.95.85Dining room 933.35.86Garden936.35.89NOTE: your phone is directional point the back of it roughly towards your router.So, in this area, if you have no stability problems and your readings are: LatencyBandwidth (Down)Bandwidth (Up)less than 20 millisecondsMore than 30 Megabits per secondMore than 3 Megabits per secondThen relax, sit back, this is about as much as you are going to get. If you want more, talk to your committee about community investment, or if you have REALLY deep pockets order fibre to your home.Nope, on second thoughts, skip to (7b)-“insidious and possibly illegal”OK, so you have a communication problem if you got this far…If you are getting these readings but are having stability (loss of internet) problems thenIf the problem is on all devices check if the router has crashed or you have lost DSL connection (use the webpages on your router to confirm)In this case there is only one reason that you could be the cause, so you should eliminate this then complain to your network provider:In the cave analogy above, the reason you might be the cause of internet failures is if you forgot to put the curtains (Filters sorry…) on each of your telephone extensions.Find the master socket (the one that leads outside.) In my house it is the socket next to the front door. Don’t muck about, disconnect all the extensions and plug the router in here. If the problem goes away then it’s your fault, fix it (with filters). If the problem is on some devices then you can probably rule out the router. Ethernet never goes wrong so it is probably a Wi-Fi issue. If the problem is on one device then this is either a communication issue specific to this machine, or the device is faulty. For devices connected via Ethernet; plug another device in the same port. For devices connected via Wi-Fi then try another device in the same location. If the problem goes away then the device is faulty.If your bandwidth is too low on all devices then the problem is eitherYou have a Scrooge like mentality and you are not paying enough. Check to see if your contract states you have paid for “Up to 36 or 38 Megabits per second”Your DSL connection from the router to the internet is too slow. View the router’s web pages to discover what bandwidth it thinks it is delivering. There is only one reason that you could be the cause:In the cave analogy above, you might be the cause of internet failures; if you forgot to put filters on each of your telephone extensions. Find the master, disconnect all the extensions and plug the router in here. If the problem goes away then it’s your fault, fix it. You have a Wi-Fi issue.So we have discounted everything from the internet to the router. Nobody ever has Ethernet problems, so let’s look at Wi-Fi. For those of you, who just want to fix your Wi-Fi issues and don’t care why, feel free to skip the following explanation.Just like the VW Golf, the Wi-Fi brand has the same name but has evolved massively over time.New Brand NameStandardYearFrequency (MHz)Band-width (MHz)Max Through-put (Mb/s)Power (mW)Guard Bandwidth (MHz)Available ChannelsWi-Fi 1802.11b(1999)Surely no-one are using these devices now?Wi-Fi 2802.11a(1999)Wi-Fi 3802.11g(2003)2400 – 2500 20 5410022 1,6,11,14Wi-Fi 4802.11n(2008 / 2009)2400 – 25002040 290600100441,6,11,143, 11Wi-Fi 5802.11ac(2014)5150 – 58504080 160 80017303470100 - 10004488 172 42, 58, 106, 122, 138, 15550, 114Wi-Fi 6802.11ax(2018 / 2019)80 160 10,530100 - 100088 172 42, 58, 106, 122, 138, 15550, 114Of course those maximum throughput figures are idealised, (not true in the real world) but provide a rough estimate of the difference depending on the version of Wi-Fi and the configuration you choose. Even without walls and fridges, these throughput values vary with distance (just like the lamp in analogy 2) In fact the signal is inversely proportional to the square of the distance. This means:If you have 16 Mb/s at 3 metres from the router then expect4 Mb/s at 6 metres from the router and2 Mb/sat 9 metres from the routerAlso (like analogy 1) the high frequencies get absorbed more than the low frequencies, so Wi-Fi 5 might not make it to the far end of your garden, but indoors it is way quicker.The bandwidth you select determines how many bits arrive in parallel, and the channel you select allows you to position your channel away from your neighbours 23058824765Channel 3 40 MHzChannel 1140 MHzChannel 120 MHzChannel 620 MHzChannel 1120 MHzChannel 14 20MHz2400 MHz2500 MHzChannel 820 MHzWi-Fi at 2400 MHzChannel 3 40 MHzChannel 1140 MHzChannel 120 MHzChannel 620 MHzChannel 1120 MHzChannel 14 20MHz2400 MHz2500 MHzChannel 820 MHzWi-Fi at 2400 MHzHopefully, you can see that selecting channel 8 when your neighbours are on the correct channels is bad for you and all your neighbours.The same issue occurs at the 5 GHz (5000 MHz) Wi-Fi frequency band34027720044Channel 50 160 MHzChannel 114160 MHzChannel 4280 MHzChannel 5880 MHzChannel …80 MHzChannel 155 80MHz5150 MHz5850 MHzChannel 5080 MHzWi-Fi at 5000 MHzChannel 50 160 MHzChannel 114160 MHzChannel 4280 MHzChannel 5880 MHzChannel …80 MHzChannel 155 80MHz5150 MHz5850 MHzChannel 5080 MHzWi-Fi at 5000 MHzAgain, you can see that selecting channel 50 when your neighbours are on the correct channels is bad for you and all your neighbours.Measuring the Wi-FiAs Wi-Fi is difficult to see, we need a tool:“Wifi Analyser” by Kevin Yuan (available for android)I am not sure this is available for IPhone users, but I probably lost you at the “glass house” anyway Ask one of those poor android users to help you. The app has a number of viewing modes, but you are looking for the channel graph.-333955387dBm-80 -60 -40 1 6 11 14ChannelThis is my routerThis is my neighbour’s routerThis is my other neighbour’s router2.4GThis is the frequency of Wi-Fi I am testing0dBm-80 -60 -40 1 6 11 14ChannelThis is my routerThis is my neighbour’s routerThis is my other neighbour’s router2.4GThis is the frequency of Wi-Fi I am testingIt is time to measure again! This time the back of the phone is pointing away from my router. Remember the phone is directional so this represents worst case. Wi-Fi signal strength at 2.4 GHz (2400 MHz)Locationchannel 1channel 6channel 11Office75 dBm BTHub575 dBm Shednet45 dBm (me)80 dBm BT Wifi KSKSBedroom85 dBm BTHub585 dBm Genbyte Sunflowers HP printer65 dBm (me)80 dBm Plusnet85 dBm BT SKY SKYLounge90 dBm BTHub595 Sunflowers65 dBm (me)90 dBm SKYDining room 78 dBm BTHub555 dBm (me)Garden80 dBm TalkTalk BTHUB70 dBm Shednet Actually on channel 8!! 80 dBm (me) BTHUB BTHUBOn the app, if you press the [2.4G] button on the top left, it will toggle to [5 G] and allow you to take measurements for that frequency also.Locationchannel42Office50 dBm (me)90 dBm BTHUB5BTHUB5Bedroom65 dBm (me)90 dBm BTHUB5Lounge-65 dBm (me)Dining room -75 dBm (me)Garden85 dBm (me)90 dBm othersIf some or all of your Wi-Fi devices are suffering from stability issues (loss of internet) Then the router could be transmitting on a channel which is being drowned out by other routers:Your neighbours – Pick the widest bandwidth your router will allow.20 MHz then you should use any of channels 1, 6, 11, 1440 MHz then choose either of channels 3, 1180 MHz (Wi-Fi 5) choose any of channels 42, 58, 106, 122, 138, 155160 MHz *Wi-Fi 5) choose either of channels 50, 114With your router off, determine which of these bands has the lowest signal. Then turn your router on and configure it for that channel.Another Wi-Fi router you forgot about (it happens) – turn it off.Other helpful Wi-Fi devices (printers, TVs, chromecast, alexa, homepod) that transmit on your channel all the time or when they lose connection to your Wi-Fi.Configure these just to use your routers Wi-Fi.If the bandwidth is low on all Wi-Fi devices then follow the same instructions for (5)On some Wi-Fi devices but devices nearer the router are OKIn this case the position of your router within your house is a problem. If you mix the cave analogy with the glass house analogy (above) then you will see this is a tricky problem to solve. If you have no money (like me) then unplug it from the telephone line, and move it around the house, each time testing with the “Wifi Analyser” until you reach the best compromise for where you access the internet.When you find the best place, run a telephone extension to that place and shrug “That’s the best I can get!” If you have enough money for a mesh Wi-Fi system, then buy as many as you can afford and sprinkle them around your home.If the measurements seem OK, but browsing the internet seems slow sometimes.Use ‘Speedtest’ straight away, and compare against your original reading. If the reading is significantly lower, your network provider is possibly sharing their total bandwidth with too many customers (contention ratio) complain.If the reading is roughly the same then something insidious and possibly illegal is going on. Your provider knows that you might use the “Speedtest” app, so they have found another way to limit your connection using the ‘Domain Name Service’ (DNS). This is a service that converts your human readable request;“google.co.uk”And converts it to a machine readable (IPv4 address)216.58.201.3Your network provider might provide this service. If they answer after a small delay then all its customers get a small delay before requesting data from the website. This increases the latency of the web without affecting bandwidth. If you have child protection enabled then this is just something you have to live with. If you have no children to protect then you can manually change your DNS servers to Google’s free service at:8.8.8.88.8.4.4To summariseMake sure you have no telephone extensions or, if you do- make sure they have filters onUse Ethernet when you care about bandwidth within your home (streaming to your TV)Configure your router for Choose the best frequency compatible with your Wi-Fi devicesChoose the widest bandwidth compatible with your Wi-Fi devicesChoose the best channel from the ‘Available Channels’ on the table abovePosition your router carefullyUse Google’s DNS servers ................
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