Fed up with wi-fi

[spider]

I've had right trouble lately with Talktalk and the connection keep going down, even had engineer out, done tests, said it was my router, even though I had tried my sisters Netgear router and that wouldn't work, but surprise surprise it did after the engineer went :mad2:

Anyway, I'm still getting lost connections and the wireless connection being "low" all the time and sooooo slow (plus autistic DS is getting so stressed) that I am now debating whether to just run a network ethernet cable from the router out to the desktop computer, just so that there is a constant connection and just have wireless for the laptop, though at the moment, even though I am sat right next to the router, I have had to use the ethernet cable :mad2:

I would need a long cable, roughly 10m, would there be any problems with such a long cable and the speed of the broadband??? THough tbh, it can't be any slower than it is at the moment :confused2

Can anyone tell me??

[Denny Crane]

I do the same.
I am on BT Internet and have the main computer the desktop, connected via an ethernet cable.
You should have no problems with such a length of lead, I use the same, then a Wi Fi router from the ADSL box for the rest of the house

[spider]

Blimey, that was quick!! Thanks!! Will get one ordered!!

:thumbs-up :thumbs-up :thumbs-up

[mapman]

I do the same as well . . I have a 10m ethernet cable running from the router and the Broadband speed is fine ;)

[Elsie]

A cable will always (at least for the next 10 years) be quicker, more reliable and far more secure than wireless. The problem is the general public have been "sold" the idea of wireless being this wonderful technology that can be used anywhere; you can even use your laptop in your garden. Why anyone would want to do that I'll never know!

The reality is that wireless routers, even when configured correctly, are slow and unreliable. I use a Devolo system at home (based on the Homeplug (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HomePlug_Powerline_Alliance) design) to network all of our PC's using the power lines through the house. My 3 machines are connected to the router directly, with the Devolo device networking my children's PC's and consoles throughout the rest of the house. All connected to my 20mb Virgin cable line we can all work smoothly with interference or disconnections.

[magic mouse 08]

We have loads of problems with sky and are going to be changing it to 3 wireless broardband or aol

[spider]

Thanks for all your replies, I too think we have been "sold" wireless and it seems to be more trouble than ever lately, I have 4 routers (2 Belkin and 2 Netgears!!!) , of which none work properly at the moment, and Talktalk just don't seem to care.

Have ordered my cable now, so no more stressy 12 year old hopefully!!!

[BevS97]

I had loads of bother with mine when I first got it, and then Smax suggested I change teh channel on the router and it's been great ever since.

My mum is with Sky and networked with a cable and still has the slowest connection I've ever experienced.

[pluto rules]

I've got my main desk pc connected via cable, then the laptops are via a belkin wireless router, I'm on orange broadband been with them for years, started out as freeserve, then it changed to wanadoo then to orange I've not had any problems.

[EPCOTFANROD]

Totally agree about wireless. My work has just removed wireless and is installing cables at a cost of £4000. The wireless was only installed for 6 months before we'd have enough of it.

[JAL]

I have no problem using wireless connection to a router (Belkin) at home. I often use 2 laptops downstairs and a desktop upstairs. My ISPs side of things falls over now and again but the wireless side is fine.

[spider]

It's so frustrating, my wireless Belkin was working perfectly fine for the past 2 years, then in February, the connection just kept dropping, every few days. Talktalk said it was the router, Belkin said it was the ISP.

It was weird, the Belkn router said it has a strong signal, but no phone connection, so thats when the engineer came out and the wired modem that Talktalk sent did get the broadband. Then tried the Netgear router (which hadn't worked before the engineer came) and then it worked??????

Gawd, I'm just so fed up with it all, plus Ben having major meltdowns over it all (even now he still wants the desktop computer in the conservatory instead of the laptop which is in the living room :confused2 ).

Even this evening, the signal on the Netgear kept going down, so I'm wondering if I should just get another router for the laptop (and I want to buy my own laptop next month with my redundancy money ;) ) and perhaps just get another make so then I have the full blooming set!!!! :erm:

Hopefully the cable will turn up by Friday, DH has his rest day then and can fit it round the flipping house, so at least Ben can sit in the conservatory to his hearts content then!!!!

[georgemac]

Cable will be more reliable than wireless connection.

I have been using wireless for years now, wish I could get a 20 meg connection but 4 is my fastest. I have had some minor problems with dropped connections, but these have been solved by changing the wireless channel number - if there are a lot of wi-fi networks around you, and all using the default channel they can interfere with each other.

Personally I also like to use windows (xp) to manage the connection - I find the other software supplied by router/laptop suppliers to somwtimes be a little flaky. I usually uninstall the 3rd party application on friends machines if they come with this and let windows manage the wireless connection.

[Elsie]

Cable will be more reliable than wireless connection.
But a hard wired connection is more reliable than wireless as it's less susceptible to interference? A wired connection is only likely to fail or have issues if the something happens locally, i.e. a network setting is changed, the router is turned off etc. Wireless, on the other hand, is affected by distance, other radio waves and something as simple as a wall.

As you've said, if there are a lot of wireless networks in the local area then problems will increase. If all 10 houses on my close bought wireless routers, (I know that 3 have as I can see them!), it would be a royal PITA to get them all working happily. I know that I'd get asked to help as they all know I'm a geek. If they all stuck to wired networks the problems would be minimal.

I stand by my original comment that the public have been (mis?) sold the idea of a wireless utopia where things "just work". The reality of the situation is very different as people need to be able to configure / reconfigure devices and a majority of the population wouldn't know where to start. Speaking of which, I spent almost 4 hours trying to get my PC and new Xbox 360 to talk to each other over a wired network last night and failed miserably! So not even I can get all wired connections working!

[Dabies]

I think a lot is to do with the house aswell, In our old house we had the router (Netgear) next to our desktop upstairs with the desktop on a wired connection, and we had no problems connecting via the wireless with the laptop anywhere in the house. When we moved in august last year, we set it up in exactly the same way, but now we can only get a wireless connection upstairs, occasionally it will connect downstairs but not for very long periods. I've got another router, which I'm going to try and set up in the living room to see if that will work.

[Melville]

A cable will always (at least for the next 10 years) be quicker, more reliable and far more secure than wireless. The problem is the general public have been "sold" the idea of wireless being this wonderful technology that can be used anywhere; you can even use your laptop in your garden. Why anyone would want to do that I'll never know!

The reality is that wireless routers, even when configured correctly, are slow and unreliable. I use a Devolo system at home (based on the Homeplug (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HomePlug_Powerline_Alliance) design) to network all of our PC's using the power lines through the house. My 3 machines are connected to the router directly, with the Devolo device networking my children's PC's and consoles throughout the rest of the house. All connected to my 20mb Virgin cable line we can all work smoothly with interference or disconnections.

I cant agree with this to be honest. Ive set up many wireless networks in my time and as long as they are done preoperly with good hardware then you shouldnt be able to notice whether you are on a wired or wireless connection.

Sadly the hardware that comes with the "free" internets is exactly what you would expect it to be for free - rubbish!

As for the home plug solution, it all depends on the quality and age of your electrical wiring, Ive recently converted someone from home plugs to wireless as they were lossing lots of quality over a relatively short distance.

[Melville]

Oh and forgot to say, I use my laptop in the garden to stream music from my server when we have BBQ's ;)

[georgemac]

But a hard wired connection is more reliable than wireless

thought that is what I said in my post?

[norriebhoy]

I must admit my connection and speed have improved since I changed to wireless, maybe early days yet, but keeping my fingers crossed, I'm with BT Broadband, so far they have been great.