[PeterK]

I seem to have an odd issue, my cell phones that use the wireless at home seem extremely slow to load pages and browse in general. I get faster load speeds on the 3G network.

Question. My router an old Dlink 604G I believe, is about....8 years old.
I currently have two laptops (which sometimes also loose their connection) using the router as well as the phones (2). Could this be the culprit?

Would getting a fancy new N Router of better quality solve my issues?

 

[JamesK]

How do other computers do when connected via WiFi? If they're OK, then the problem is not with the router. However, I have also seen D-Link routers lose the connection. Routers are cheap and a new one may or may not resolve the problem.

 

[PeterK]

They lose the connection sometimes and a page has to be reloaded at times as it will time out (not often) all on the same network.

I also have a 2.4Gig home phone (3 hand sets) I heard this may possibly cause interference at times??

 

[JamesK]

^^^^
There are many things that can cause interference to WiFi. WiFi uses what's called an Industrial, Scientific, Medical (ISM) band, where unlicensed devices are allowed to operated. In homes, you'll typically find things such as cordless phones, baby monitors, microwave ovens etc. using the same band. The 2.7 GHz WiFi band also partially overlaps an amateur radio band, where licensed amateurs can legally use up to 1 KW of power.

Bottom line, when you use WiFi, you have to expect and tolerate interference. Also, licensed services, including amateur radio, are entitled to protection from interference from ISM devices.

 

[PeterK]

So switching to a better/newer router and swapping out the cordless 2.4 Gig for a 5.8 Gig may help but no guarantees?.


What about 6.0 DECT ?

From what I read –

DECT was developed by ETSI but has since been adopted by many countries all over the world. The original DECT frequency band (1880 MHz–1900 MHz) is used in all countries in Europe. Outside Europe, it is used in most of Asia, Australia and South America. In the United States, the Federal Communications Commission in 2005 changed channelization and licensing costs in a nearby band (1920 MHz–1930 MHz, or 1.9 GHz), known as Unlicensed Personal Communications Services (UPCS), allowing DECT devices to be sold in the U.S. with only minimal changes. These channels are reserved exclusively for voice communication applications and therefore are less likely to experience interference from other wireless devices such as baby monitors and wireless networks.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Enhanced_Cordless_Telecommunications

 

[recneps77]

Yes - change your phones to 5.8 or 1.9ghz, though that still may not reduce interference entirely.
Not much you can do if your neighbours are causing a large chunk of interference as well.

Also, try changing the wireless channel of your router.
2.4ghz is split into 12 wifi channels in N.A.
(14 worldwide)

If there's a lot of interference in channel 1 and you're using it, you may get around the interference by switching to channel 12 which may be unaffected by cordless phones or other wifi devices in the neighbourhood.

 

[BGY11]

Ideally you should use channel 1, 6, or 11 for your wireless network. These three channels are separate from each other. You could also try a program like InSSIDer to see how many WiFi networks are in your area (and the channel they use.

 

[majortom]

I would avoid using Channel 6.
nearly every Wireless Router known to man comes preset to channel6 out of the box, and 9 of 10 people just fire it up, set the WPA / Wep Keys (if that) and leave it on channel 6...Do a scan sometime and see how many SSID's on channel 6 u find..pretty funny. Might even wanna do a scan and find a channel noone else is using, and set urs to that.

A real test of ur router speed, is if ur using DSL or Cable, plug ur PC directly in to the WAN port of the modem, and do some bandwidth/latency tests while connected directly to the modem, to various servers. Take note of ur results. Then put ur existing router back in to the picture, and repeat the same tests. If ur results are significantly slower while going thru the router, I'd get a newer one.

Like here at my house, initially Cable Modem speeds were like 5 Mbps via old router. When direct to the modem, it was like 20 Mbps, easily.
Bought a new router (Wireless G), and easily can match the speeds I was getting while directly connected to the modem. I figure the old router's processor just couldn't switch packets quickly enough, with an older processor in it...
Point here is it doesn't have to be Wireless N to switch packets quickly...

 

[PeterK]

Thank you all for your valuable input. Greatly appreciated.