Low Bandwidth Problem ?

[trevnhil]

I thought I would post our internet problem on here and see if anyone can shed some light on it or have an answer for us
We have 30 mbps internet signal coming into the house.. The wired Desktop computer works fine, as does my laptop, when they are both in the lounge where the Router is placed..
However when a laptop is used at the opposite end of the house to watch catchup TV then the program stops running and the notice comes on screen.. 'Low Bandwidth', even though the internet signal is showing quite strong ie 4 bars out of 5.
We do have an internet signal booster between the Main Router in the lounge and the laptop in the bedroom.
Why will the laptop not run catchup TV.. ? Can anything be done to improve 'Bandwidth'
We are using a free VPN.. to watch the BBC and ITV IPlayers.

[PolemIan]

Trevor, you may have answered your own question, distance from router, also using a VPN will have a chunky impact on performance. If you have a dual band router and are using the 5ghz frequency it is less prone to interference than 2.4 ghz but doesn’t like doors, walls and glass so much.

If you can, you could do what we did which is to run a cable from the router to the phone point in the far room, will never be used for a phone, so there’s a direct Ethernet connection in there.

You could get a switch like this https://bionic.com.cy/products/tp-link-tl-sg1005d and then connect multiple devices, one of which could be a network access device, something like this https://bionic.com.cy/products/tp-link- ... ernet-port whcih you could connect to extend the Wi-Fi.

Be careful with those plug in power line adapters that use the mains, I’m told they are prone to interference and, if you have 3 phase electricity, the plugs usually need to be on the same phase.

Also suggest you have a chat to your internet provider who will have a breadth of networking experience and knowledge of what will and won’t work way behind most of us on here.

Ian

[Devil]

i tend to trust in a bullet proof cable as opposed to pluggin range extenders

Agreed, ten thousand percent! My cable runs directly from the CYTA router, round the house, directly to my set-top box. No problems!

[trevnhil]

Polemi Ian... Many thanks for your advice, yet again.. I will look at the links you have posted later on.
I do use home plugs to the TV box in the lounge but the rest of the house is just laptops on Wireless Broadband.

[Dominic]

We eventually opted for a mesh network. It is expensive but doesn't involve cabling. Thick stone walls will never be a friend of wireless though.

[trevnhil]

As you say, thick stone walls do not allow the wireless internet signal through them, easily. In our house, all the internal walls are timber studding with plasterboard on either side, so the signal should get through or around them

[trevnhil]

i tend to trust in a bullet proof cable as opposed to pluggin range extenders

Agreed, ten thousand percent! My cable runs directly from the CYTA router, round the house, directly to my set-top box. No problems!

I would agree that a cable is better than Wireless. But it is not possible to have a cable from one end of the house to the other

[WHL]

i tend to trust in a bullet proof cable as opposed to pluggin range extenders

Agreed, ten thousand percent! My cable runs directly from the CYTA router, round the house, directly to my set-top box. No problems!

I would agree that a cable is better than Wireless. But it is not possible to have a cable from one end of the house to the other

Could you not run it through the roof?

[71 Trans Am]

I had a similar problem when i installed high speed broadband some time ago and our wi fi engineer said that if there was a fridge or freezer in between my router and my laptop then i would almost certainly loose the signal as these appliances absorb the majority of the signal as does any large steel surface or mains powered device

If you check on google this is true

[trevnhil]

Re.. " Could you not run it through the roof?"
Sadly no as there is a flat roof between the two halves of the house

It is just so puzzling that there is a strong 5 bar internet signal on the laptop, but when watching I player a message comes up "Not enough Bandwidth"

[71 Trans Am]

That is exactly the issue that i had - Good signal but something else was knicking it on route

[trevnhil]

It is difficult (for me) to see why a strong 5 bar signal is giving Low Bandwidth on the Iplayer sites

[71 Trans Am]

Why do I have 5 bars but no internet?
How do I fix low bandwidth connection?
To improve it, you should:
Clear up your device. Remove any unnecessary files and clear your caches. ...
Reduce the number of devices connected to your network. They'll all be competing for bandwidth;
Use an ethernet cable. ...
Check your router. ...
Update your drivers on your connected devices.