Is it the router?

[lelole]

Hi

We have had an wireless internet setup for quite a while now, using an Airstation WHR - G54S.

Lately (over the last couple of weeks) it has begin to run very slow, and will often not get into certain websites at all, on any of the computers. When I connected direct to the modem wihtout the router it did not happen.

So I phoned buffalo and they basically put me through the reset process, while blaming Virgin Media. When the reboot was completed (2 hours later) the connection was improved though not perfect. I realised today (3 days later) that the network was no longer secure . So I ahve put back the WEP encryption, and everything is running slow again. This includes the computer whichis wired to the router.

Does anyone have any idea why? Buffalo didn't have a clue...

Thanks

Leah

---------- Post added at 20:15 ---------- Previous post was at 20:09 ----------

PS I tried pinging 194.168.4.100 as recommended to someone on another post with router problems and got this:
Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.

C:\Documents and Settings\Leah>ping 194.168.4.100

Pinging 194.168.4.100 with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 194.168.4.100: bytes=32 time=31ms TTL=118
Reply from 194.168.4.100: bytes=32 time=44ms TTL=118
Request timed out.
Reply from 194.168.4.100: bytes=32 time=40ms TTL=118

Ping statistics for 194.168.4.100:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 3, Lost = 1 (25% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 31ms, Maximum = 44ms, Average = 38ms

C:\Documents and Settings\Leah>ping 194.168.4.100

Pinging 194.168.4.100 with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 194.168.4.100: bytes=32 time=39ms TTL=118
Reply from 194.168.4.100: bytes=32 time=28ms TTL=118
Reply from 194.168.4.100: bytes=32 time=23ms TTL=118
Request timed out.

Ping statistics for 194.168.4.100:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 3, Lost = 1 (25% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 23ms, Maximum = 39ms, Average = 30ms

This was from the wired computer, from the laptop it was worse - 3 of them timed out.

Not sure if it relevant to my problem...

Leah x

Originally Posted by lelole

Hi

We have had an wireless internet setup for quite a while now, using an Airstation WHR - G54S.

Lately (over the last couple of weeks) it has begin to run very slow, and will often not get into certain websites at all, on any of the computers. When I connected direct to the modem wihtout the router it did not happen.

So I phoned buffalo and they basically put me through the reset process, while blaming Virgin Media. When the reboot was completed (2 hours later) the connection was improved though not perfect. I realised today (3 days later) that the network was no longer secure . So I ahve put back the WEP encryption, and everything is running slow again. This includes the computer whichis wired to the router.

Does anyone have any idea why? Buffalo didn't have a clue...

Thanks

Leah

If as you say your speeds are normal when connected direct to the modem, then it does point the router being the cause of your slow speeds.

You may be better getting yourself a new router Try PC World .http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/edi.../?int=home_nav

[lelole]

Oh dear! That's a shame...

A couple of questions then:

1st is there a brand that you recommend?
2nd in the meantime if we remove the wep encryption, are we pretty safe as long as we only put sensitive information through the wired PC?

Thanks

Leah

[Dai]

Originally Posted by lelole

Oh dear! That's a shame...


2nd in the meantime if we remove the wep encryption, are we pretty safe as long as we only put sensitive information through the wired PC?

Thanks

Leah

If I sit in the road outside your house with my laptop and connect to your wireless then basically I own your network..

Mind you, it only takes 10 minutes to break WEP.

[Vlad_Dracul]

Originally Posted by lelole

Oh dear! That's a shame...

A couple of questions then:

1st is there a brand that you recommend?
2nd in the meantime if we remove the wep encryption, are we pretty safe as long as we only put sensitive information through the wired PC?

Thanks

Leah

There are a lot of scare stories about wireless networks,hacking blah blah blah. True it is a very good idea to have security switched on,but it isnt the end of the world if it isnt. Genrally it means others can use your wireless connection to access the internet. Actually gleaning info from your PC is a whole different ball game and I'd speculate that most people couldnt do it because they dont have the technical knowledge and further,your PC and router would be doing their utmost to prevent such an occurrence.

One of the worst insecurities is to have an insecure wireless router,especially on ADSL,where the router is set to pass a username and password to the ISP. Even if these are starred out for anonymity it matters not!
I'm surprised your airstation took 2 hours to reset,sounds iffy to me.

It needs further investigation,i wouldnt bin it just yet.

[Dai]

Originally Posted by Vlad_Dracul

There are a lot of scare stories about wireless networks,hacking blah blah blah. True it is a very good idea to have security switched on,but it isnt the end of the world if it isnt. Genrally it means others can use your wireless connection to access the internet. Actually gleaning info from your PC is a whole different ball game and I'd speculate that most people couldnt do it because they dont have the technical knowledge and further,your PC and router would be doing their utmost to prevent such an occurrence.

One of my clients a few streets away from me has 2 neighbours with open wireless connections. One of these is on the default XP workgroup name and has shares exposed.
The router does absolutely nothing to protect the LAN side and the neighbour has no firewall.
The client actually found himself accidentally connected to that network one day, which is when he called me. He was looking at the files in the shared folders and wondering why he didn't know how they got on his PC.

[Graham M]

Originally Posted by DaiNasty

Mind you, it only takes 10 minutes to break WEP.

I've seen it done in less than 2!

[lillywilliam]

Yes.....It is router.



----------------------

[jcw00]

Have you updated to the latest firmware?