Question on major change in Transfer speeds over wireless network.

Hello. Thanks in advance to anyone who answers. Sorry to just jump right in
but I am desperate at this point. Here is the situation. I have four
computers on a home network. Three laptops wireless and one desktop
hardwired. I am using a Netgear MR814v2 Router and two of the cards are
Netgear cards with one other card built into one brand new laptop. Using
128bit encryption and all computers are properly configured. About a week
ago they began slowing down to the point I can barely do anything with them,
they rarely complete loading a page and hardly ever completely syncronise my
groups without locking up. I ran a speed test on the Desktop (Hardwired) and
it registered good on upload and download and on a local test it scored
"Great". Here are the results of the wireless;

Speed Test Result
dslreports.com speed test 2006-11-19 21:14:28 EST:
194 / 359 (Kbps)
(23.7 / 43.8 KB/sec)
Compared to the average of 2517 tests from rr.com:
* download is 95% worse, upload is 24% worse
Second Test Results;
dslreports.com speed test 2006-11-19 21:27:45 EST:
463 / 358 (Kbps)
(56.6 / 43.7 KB/sec)
Compared to the average of 2512 tests from rr.com:
* download is 88% worse, upload is 24% worse
I have run Spyware detection, Ad-Aware and AV programs. Have cleaned up all
the drives, defragged and done everything else I can think of. I have
purchased a new Router but before I replace routers I was hoping someone
might be able to identify some other possible solutions.

Once again. Thanks in advance.

J

"JeffinMS" <catfisherman62NOSPAM@yahoo.com> hath wroth:

>I ran a speed test on the Desktop (Hardwired) and
>it registered good on upload and download and on a local test it scored
>"Great".

That means that the router section and cable modem connection are
working normally. That leaves the wireless section. You might try
plugging the laptops directly into the router with CAT5 cable and make
sure the laptops are working.

The mostly likely candidate for a wireless slowdown is interference.
Probably one of these culprits:
http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi#Interference
The problem is to identify the source. If it's another wi-fi system
on your channel, then try a different channel (1, 6, or 11). Sniffing
with Netstumbler or Kismet may show these systems. If your router is
located near a window with a view of the city, you might try moving it
to some place that blocks outside interference.

It's also possible that the wireless section of the router has gone
insane. A hard reset followed by reloading all the values might help.
Also try updating the firmware if it's ancient.

--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@comix.santa-cruz.ca.us
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558