Hi Rosemary,
Regarding the speed variability – that is not necessarily down to any problem with your setup. One thing about the current zombie apocalypse has been a huge increase in NBN traffic. They have been working on increasing capacity to address this but I have certainly noticed periods where the speed dropped drastically. I also signed up for a NBN 50 package (with Internode) where they say to expect an average evening download speed of around 43. It is FTTN here, the actual achievable speeds depend on the existing copper network being used for the final connection so, after they actually connect you, they run a network check and advise you what speeds your connection is capable of – they advised me: We have checked your NBN connection, and the maximum speed your address can receive is 50.09Mbps download and 15.09Mbps upload. So, for me, the possible download speed was as per the paid package but the possible upload speed was less than the paid package speed (20 Mbps upload) and I was offered the option of downgrading to a cheaper, slower speed plan. However, since download speed (for streaming iVeiw & SBS on demand) was important to me, I was happy to stick with the NBN 50 plan. The fact that you sometimes see speeds of 47Mbps shows that your actual connection is capable of these speeds – however it does not stop the speed from dropping if there are NBN problems/congestion. I have certainly noticed this myself recently – in a series of 17 speed tests, from 4 April to today, the measured download speeds have varied form as low as 3.77 to as high as 41.74. When I first checked on 4 April (after noticing things seemed slower) the download speeds were around 24 to 25 – then things got quite erratic and from 13 April to 11 May only one result was over 20 in fact on 11 May I had 3 consecutive tests of 9.44, 22.88 & 3.77! However, since 28 May things seem to have improved to around 30 to 42. Note that my Internet has been quite useable in general and my testing has been irregular – mainly for my own curiosity. So, I think you need to try and define just what the problem is that you are experiencing – some thoughts here: Assuming that your (presumably fairly new) NBN modem is operating OK, then variability of internet connection speed if the computer is connected directly to the modem – ie no wifi network switched on - is probably due to NBN factors outside your control. A slow NBN connection speeds can give you problems with video not playing or probably getting kicked off a zoom meeting – these things tend to rely on a “buffer” of stored data to smooth out momentary glitches in transmission but if the problem persists this “buffer” will run out – I’m sure we have all seen this behaviour when watching You/tube videos. If your actual wifi connection between the computer and the modem is being dropped - either due to interference or other network problems (faulty equipment or setup) - then that is a wireless network problem that you need to troubleshoot. Hopefully the above will help you determine whether your problem is down to your wireless network or erratic internet connection speeds – however, I suspect we have reached the limit of what can be achieved by email discussion. I your problem continues I think you may need to have someone with more experience in this area investigate your actual setup, in person. HTH Cheers Neil From: <wamug.org.au-wamug-boun...@lists.wamug.org.au> on behalf of Rosemary Spark <arkaysp...@gmail.com> Reply-To: <wamug@wamug.org.au> Date: Saturday, 13 June 2020 at 11:25 To: wamug <wamug@wamug.org.au> Subject: Re: internet connectivity problems Thanks for your detailed answer. I tried what I could. The wifi with or without the modem connection to the time capsule is just as flaky. Speeds vary between 14 and 47 within minutes of each other either way. (Our NBN connection is meant to be 50) We haven't moved the modem at all or added any other equipment near it. The cordless phone is connected to the modem as we have Voip, but that hasn't changed at all. Thanks Rosemary Spark PO Box 781 South Fremantle WA 6162 Australia Phone: + 61 8 6397 6822 Mobile: 0414268043 On Sat, 6 Jun 2020 at 19:33, Neil Houghton <n...@possumology.com> wrote: Hi Rosemary, I think the first thing to work out is whether your problem is with the actual internet connection (eg the Westnet cable problems or just NBN congestion) or with your own wireless network. To check out the internet connection try running SpeedTest https://www.speedtest.net/ and see what speeds you are getting. If you get a good result straight away that should rule out your internet connection as the source of the problem. If the result is not so good then to try & make sure that the problem really is the internet connection by making your connection as direct as possible - depending on what computers you have, an ideal test would be: Turn off your wireless network. Connect a laptop directly to the modem by ethernet cable (or desktop if physically close enough) With just your browser open run SpeedTest Speedtest have a FAQ on how it all works and how various things affect your measured speed https://www.speedtest.net/about/knowledge/faq However, since you say “the wifi drops out over and over again” it sounds like the problem is with your wireless network so, assuming that your internet connection is OK, then you need to troubleshoot this. I was a bit unclear as to how your wireless network is setup with regard to the modem and the time capsule – whether you were just running the modem as a modem and had the time capsule, directly connected to the modem by ethernet, running your wifi network or whether you had the modem setup to run the wireless network and were just using the time capsule as a network extender? Anyway, from your email it sounds as if everything was working fine until a few days ago and then you suddenly started having problems. So, assuming that you had not changed anything in your setup in the interim, it seems to me that there are two basic types of problem you could be looking at: A problem, possibly a hardware fault, that has resulted in an erratic performance of some component of your network setup. Wireless interference, from some external source interfering, with your wifi network. With regard to 1) above, you should be able to rule it in or out by changing between two configurations: Wireless network generated by your modem and the time capsule removed from the setup The wireless network turned off on the modem and a wireless network setup on the time capsule (directly connected to the modem by ethernet) If one works fine and the other has problems then you have identified the source of the problem. If you still have problems with both configurations then either your problem is 2) above or (possible but probably less likely) you coincidentally have more than one problem so that both configurations are compromised. With regard to 2) above, you should be looking at some new device/appliance which has been introduced into the general proximity to your network, Typical sources of wifi interference include cordless phone setups, microwave ovens etc but one other thing to consider is if you have a close neighbour who has a new or modified wifi network. Anyway, hopefully that gives you something to think about – there is also lots of useful info out there on the web – you might find this useful https://www.southernphone.com.au/Blog/2018/Mar/objects-that-interfere-with-wifi Tracking down & troubleshooting network issues is often tricky and sometimes seems part voodoo! So if you find it all too hard you can always try one of the WAMUG professionals like Daniel. HTH Cheers Neil From: <wamug.org.au-wamug-boun...@lists.wamug.org.au> on behalf of Rosemary Spark <arkaysp...@gmail.com> Reply-To: <wamug@wamug.org.au> Date: Saturday, 06 June 2020 at 17:33 To: wamug <wamug@wamug.org.au> Subject: internet connectivity problems Hi, We have multiple computers, iphone and ipads. The last few days our wifi keeps "Looking for networks" every couple of seconds. That by itself might not be a problem but the wifi drops out over and over again. I tried to join a zoom meeting and I got kicked out 3 times in 6 minutes. If you try to run a video it stops and whirls and hiccups, goes again and then stops again. Things I've done so far. re-started computers etc re-started modem (iinet broadband gateway) and old time capsule Used Airport Utility to update Time Capsule software to latest 7.8.1 Used Wireless Diagnostics to check performance. Last night all parameters (Rate, Quality and Signal) were mountain ranges, this morning for a bit they all were relatively straight. Just now there are straight bits in Rate then steep mountains run the wifi just from the modem (because the time capsule is old) Checked Westnet outages web page, it says there's a major cable that's been broken under the sea, it's being worked on. turned off and on wifi in menu bar in settings (some people online said it would fix..it didn't) turned off bluetooth (some people online said it would fix..it didn't) Rosemary Spark PO Box 781 South Fremantle WA 6162 Australia Phone: + 61 8 6397 6822 Mobile: 0414268043 -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List -- Archives - Guidelines - Settings & Unsubscribe - -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List -- Archives - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml> Guidelines - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml> Settings & Unsubscribe - <http://lists.wamug.org.au/listinfo/wamug.org.au-wamug> -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List -- Archives - Guidelines - Settings & Unsubscribe -
-- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List -- Archives - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml> Guidelines - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml> Settings & Unsubscribe - <http://lists.wamug.org.au/listinfo/wamug.org.au-wamug>
