Help with Virgin 50mb Broadband Router

[scrappysphinx]

Hi All, i'm a bit stuck and i'm hoping someone around here might be able to help me out.

I'm a subscriber to Virgin Media's 50Mb broadband service.

If i connect directly to the modem via Ethernet i can get around 48Mb doing speedtest at various different sites.

If i connect the modem to the D-Link DIR-615 N class router supplied by virgin media and connect my laptop via Ethernet that 48Mb drops to around 24MB

If i connect Wirelessly using the Realtek RTL8191SE 802.11n built into my laptop then the speed drops again to around 8Mb.

One other thing i've noticed is that the wireless devices i'm running (Laptop & Xbox 360 Slim) are both N class devices but if i switch the router to N only then neither of them even pickup the wifi signal?

After 6 months of ridiculously poor internet I believe the router to be the problem so have sourced another of these DIR-615's that has been flashed with DD-WRT Open Source Firmware and that has made no difference to the speed and now i have to constantly reboot the router every hour or so as is just seems to lose internet connectivity.

I've had various calls to VM's customer service and everytime they send someone out (which apparently they have to do with the 50Mb service) and he tests the line and does a speed test with me (but only connected directly to the modem) and it comes in at 48-52Mb which is perfectly acceptable.

So i am looking to replace the router and am unsure as to what to get, any suggestions would be great here please.

I am looking to run my laptop which is N capable, my Xbox 360 Slim which is N capable, my ps3 which is G capable but is usually wired anyway and a few original Xbox consoles which are all wired.

So can anyone suggest a decent Wireless N capable router that will play nicely and allow me to browse the internet successfully?

Thanks

Mike

 

[Ed.D]

Mike,

I only have the 20Mb connection and it's pretty steady about 99% of the time for wired and wireless connection. I use a Linksys WRT610N located at the front of the house on the first floor. I can connect from my back garden.

When I used to have my HP laptop with work it used to drop connection when I was using battery power (in the room below), but that was on a wireless G router. I wonder if your power saving settings might have something to do with your connection speed?

Cheers,
Ed.

 

[scrappysphinx]

Hi Ed, to be honest i run the laptop on the charger the majority of the time and the wifi on the 360 is completely unplayable, it drops the connection every 2-3 minutes.
I've read on a few Virgin related forums that the DIR-615 they supply should be replaced as its a very basic n class router.
I'm just tired of poor performance.

Mike

 

[Harrison]

I also highly recommend you look at Linksys cable routers. I've been using Linksys networking hardware for many years and never had any major problems with it.

 

[Tajmaster]

Hi Mike

If Virgin supplied the router and the techie only tests with the modem directly connected, Id tell him to get his lazy arse back out and test ALL the equipment they supplied, ie, the router as well. If the speeds show as unacceptably low when he does that then I would expect a new router since they supplied it and its not fit for purpose.

I would expect speed variances on the wireless but when its plugged in via ethernet I would expect the full whack. Does the router have some odd duplex setting for your ethernet ports?? Ive never really liked DLink TBH, Ive stuck with Linksys here and never had an issue

Taj

 

[scrappysphinx]

Hi Taj, thats the thing. They provide the router free of charge but they don't actually offer any sort of support for it.
I've even tried DLink themselves for support and they just advised me to try upgrading the firmware on the router and resetting to factory settings but its already on the latest version and even on factory settings without any sort of security its very poor.

 

[imnogeek]

Have a play with this SG TCP Optimizer

Gary

 

[StrontiumDog]

Have a play with this SG TCP Optimizer

Gary

But not if you are using Windows Vista or 7 as they manage their TCP/IP settings by themselves to give maximum connectability. You'll screw things up by running this on either OS.

 

[scrappysphinx]

Hi ING & Blankstare, i've already used the TCP Optimizer as instructed by various other members on other forums but it has made no difference to the connection.
Generally all i get is click a link and wait 20 minutes or keep clicking the link till it decides to move along and more often than not just complete disconnection from the web all together.
I think i'm gonna invest in one of the linksys models as suggested above and i like the look of the WRT610N that Ed has above.

Mike

 

[Merlin]

The Virgin routers used to be Netgear but lately they heve been using another brand. They are somewhat poo, as my son went through two of them before he got one that worked properly.

I'd get hold of a Belkin or Linksys Wireless N router and dump the Netgear and it's clones.

 

[scrappysphinx]

Hi Merl, the Netgear G router i had before with my 20Mb connection ran perfectly and never had a problem but the D-Link N router they sent has been the biggest pile of Sh*te I've ever had in my life

 

[Merlin]

D-Link, that's the ones my son had problems with.

 

[Tajmaster]

I agree with the other chaps Mike, try a new router mate If I had a spare Id send you one to test it with oh:

 

[Eclipse]

Don't know if you are still having problems or not.
But for future reference....My router (DIR-615) was virtually a different router once I had installed DD-WRT.
I can highly recommend it.

 

[StrontiumDog]

I had a run-in with the Virginmedia hardware yesterday at a friends house...

Followed the setup guide explicitly, step by step...

Lo and behold, everything including the wireless worked flawlessly

Then I moved the laptop more than 4 feet away from the wireless router...

 

[scrappysphinx]

Hi eclipse, i'm running DD-WRT on my 615 too, was working very poor till i posted on their forum and upgraded the firmware.
turns out i was running a beta version and the latest stable release is doing much better.
But i still think i might upgrade the router eventually when i have a few more pennies.