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[steveo]

OK, so I recently picked up this router on clearance to replace a Linksys WRT54GS in the hopes that I would get better speeds for streaming multi-media (NETFLIX).  I live in a single story home with a room over the garage (this is where my cable modem and Dlink router are located).  To increase signal strength throughout my house I had previously purchased an EnGenius ERB9250 range extender (which supports 802.11N 300mbs), now all my wireless devices show full bars anywhere in the house.  Unfortunately when I test my connection to the wireless network I seem to only be registering about 5 - 8 mbs.  This really isn't any better than I was getting with my older Linksys, but I thought the Dlink could do up to 150mbs.  I have verified that both my range extender and the router are configured correctly, and have tried disabling the QoS (read somewhere that it might drop signals).  So far nothing I do seems to increase performance.  Is this normal for this router?  Am I being unrealistic in trying to get better performance?  Is there anything special I need to do to increase performance?  I downloaded several wireless sniffers and have set my router to wireless channel 6 as this is the least used by my neighbors (actually shows as 6+2).

[FurryNutz]

hat HW version is your router?
What FW version is currently loaded?

What ISP Service do you have? Cable or DSL?
What ISP Modem do you have? Stand Alone or built in router?
What ISP Modem make and model do you have?

Ensure DNS IP addresses are being filled in under Setup/Internet/Manual?
Turn off QoS options.
Turn off Advanced DNS Services if you have this option.
Turn on DNS Relay under Setup/Networking.
Setup DHCP reserved IP addresses for all devices on the router.
Ensure devices are set to auto obtain an IP address.
Set Firewall settings to Endpoint Independent for TCP and UDP.

What wireless modes are you using?
Try single mode G or N or mixed G and N?
What security mode are you using? WEP, WPA or WPA2? Preferred is WPA2.
What wireless devices do you have connected?
Any cordless house phones?
Any other WiFi routers in the area?

Turn off all anti virus and firewall programs on PC while testing.
Turn off all devices accept for one wired PC while testing.

[steveo]

FurryNutz:: Thanks for the reply, sorry I didn't provide all the required information.
Router HW version: 1A
Router FW version: 1.0.2NA
ISP: Cox Communications (cable)
Modem: Motorola Surfboard SB6120 (standalone not built in router)

I have tried turning off QoS with not noticable effect.  I have not however tried turning of WMM which my understanding is QoS for wireless.
I have turned off advanced DNS, however if I turn off DNS relay I am unable to surf the internet on any device, even though my router does infact obtain and show the proper DNS entries from my Service provider.

Currently router is set for G,N as I have both adapter types.  Security mode is configured for WPA/WPA2 (AES).

I have multiple devices that can connect but during the tests it was only my TV (which has built in 802.11N DualBand), and of course the Range extender though I did try turning of the extender and connecting to the router directly (speeds dropped lower (saw them go as low as 300kbs), probably due to weaker wireless signal).
I use the TV to test, because it is the only device I have that actually shows me the connection speeds (I'm assuming these are the speeds from the TV wireless card to the dir-601).  Speeds fluctuate and dip as low as 2mbs, and as high as 10mbs.  However for the most part they tend to stay in the 4 -6 mbs range.

[FurryNutz]

Yes DNS relay need to remain on. Advanced DNS can be turned off.
At most, WiFi will about only get 10-15mb actual speed transfers, and these differ from the connection speeds.
If you have a SB6120 then you should be good to go there. I have one and love it.
You should only do speed testing over a wired connection with all other devices off.
What connections speeds do you see when you set for Single mode G then N?

Ensure DNS IP addresses are being filled in under Setup/Internet/Manual?
Setup DHCP reserved IP addresses for all devices on the router.
Ensure devices are set to auto obtain an IP address.
Set Firewall settings to Endpoint Independent for TCP and UDP.

[steveo]

Thanks for the info.  Im confussed however, the router claims 150mbs over wireless, then why with an 802.11n nic am i olny able to about 10 - 15mbs to the router?  Shouldn't i be able to get much better speed between the router and the wiress nic?  If not wireless throughput then what is the 150mbs a rating of?
Sorry for all the questions?

[FurryNutz]

Are you referring to connection speed or file xfer speeds? These are 2 different things and connections should see a hight speed. When you doing a file xfer, say between 2 pcs on the same network, over wireless, at most, you'll only see 10-20Mb per sec speeds. Just the nature of the beast here.

[steveo]

I believe I’m talking about connection speeds, but could be wrong.  When my device connects to the wireless network I have an option to test the connection, now to be honest I'm not sure how it's testing the connection speed so it could be attempting to transfer a small packet.  Generally what I get is it attempts to renegotiate its IP information, it then displays a speed (I'm assuming connection speed).  What I've been seeing is between 6000kbs and 11000kbs (6 - 11 mbs).  I'm assuming that’s simply the connection speed between the device and the wireless router, so based on the specs of the DIR-601 I was expecting connection speeds more I the 150mbs range.  Is this not correct?
Thanks again for helping to educate.

[FurryNutz]

Yes, the connection speeds are between the device and the router and if your device or wireless adaptor that you use to connect to the router supports the higher speeds then you should be getting higher speeds, however, those speeds can be effected by interference, configurations and other factors that possibly impact how they interact and connect. It's possible that due to something, that the router or the device is automatically choosing a slower speed for a reason and you'll need to track this down or try some changes to the routers WiFi setup or your wireless adaptor settings to hopefully find a faster connection.

Why I always start with Single modes with out any security and test them to see what you get. Then add on security, AES is preferred and seems to operate the best for higher speeds.

[steveo]

Thanks for all your help.  Looks like I have some troubleshooting to do, but at least now I have a better understanding what I should be seeing. 

[FurryNutz]

Keep us posted...

[kargo27]

SteveO, any word?  Did you find the problem?

[steveo]

Not really, I've tried configuring different wireless channels, but so far all I've been able to do is degrade performance not improve it.  
Main problems I'm seeing are my wireless devices seem to take more and more time to connect to the wireless router, and Netflix has started having to re-load or re-cache in the middle of streaming.
I've started looking into ways to run CAT 6 to my devices that I use for video streaming / gaming.
Either way I'll keep everyone posted.