ACT speed through routers slow....pls suggest help

[Raj_S]

I'm having a problem with my 60mbps ACT Blaze connection in Bangalore. Ever since the speed was upgraded from 40mbps to 60mbps this problem is there.
With the ACT cable directly connected in my laptop, I get 60mbps download and upload.
On my Netgear WGR614v10 router, (sitting right next to it) I am getting only 20mbps dowload. Upload is ok at 50 mbps.
On the same router, with a LAN cable from one of the ethernet ports on the router to my laptop, I get 40mbps download and 55 mbps upload.
Previously when the plan speeds were 20mbps and later 40mbps, I was getting the full speed ( for both download and upload) on this router through wifi or lan cable.

So, the ACT technician told me that the router might have become old and advised me to buy a new one, prefarably dual band. He suggested D-Link DIR 816.
I got the D-Link DIR 816 AC750 Dual Band Router from Amazon. Now, with this router it is the same exact story as my previous router mentioned above (both with wifi and lan cable from ethernet port of router to laptop)! This is with the 2.4GHz band on D-Link 816 as my laptop only supports 2.4 GHz band. I checked on ipad mini on 2.4GHz band and same results.
Only my smart phone supports 5GHz band, I checked on this and again the download speed is only 20mbps and upload is 50mbps.

I have tried changing channels on the routers, enabling and disabling WMM option in QoS, but nothing works. Even the ACT technician does not know. He says he has even seen people with D Link 816 getting 100mbps download on 100mbps plan(on 5GHz band) and 50-60mbps on 60mbps plan (2.4GHz band). He too tried with his Linksys E1200 router,but the same story.

So, I am breaking my head on what to do next. I don't think it is a router issue. It may be issue with ACT once they upgraded their plans. Unnecessarily, I had to buy a new router.
Has anybody had else had this problem and found a solution? Pls let me know.

 

[madh123]

2.4 Ghz is susceptible to lot of interference from neighbors. 5Ghz range is lesser hence even if someone is using 5Ghz band in your vicinity the interference will be very less. Also 5Ghz throughput will be more than 2.4Ghz. If you are connected to 2.4 Ghz your speeds will be fluctuating. It would be stable on 5Ghz. If you have 5 Ghz support on your devices I would recommend you to connect to 5Ghz and avoid 2.4 Ghz

 

[Raj_S]

But as I mentioned in my post, even with the 5GHz , I am getting very low download speeds i.e. 20-25 mbps on a 60mbps connection.
Thats why I am doubtful whether it is a router issue at all. I feel something is not quite right at ACT's end.
Suggestions please.

 

[Zaphod]

There's no issue with ACT if you're getting correct speed over Ethernet. You clearly have an interference or a device issue. Get a wifi analyzer app and scan all channels including your neighbors. Manually select a channel that's free. Even microwaves and cordless phones can affect throughput.

 

[Raj_S]

I used a wifi analyser app and scanned the channels and manually set the channels and tried. Still no improvement, same issue prevails! Its blowing away my mind. Neither are the ACT field technicians, back end guys able to figure out. I feel like no point in me having this ACT connection if I get only 20 mbps on 60mbps plan. Because router is needed for pretty much everything and there are 2 others in the house. I am on ACT Blaze- 60 mbps, 100 gb for Rs 1050. Thinking of shifting to Airtel 40mbps connection for 100 gb, 1150 Rs with free unlimited calls. If I get close to 40 mbps with the router on their connection, that may be better for me. Also, there is a YOU broadband plan of 50mbps, 150 gb for 1007 Rs(with tax included). And Hathway plan of 50mbps, 100gb for 1250 Rs. I am thinking about these too. Disappointed because I have been with ACT for 5 years. Sad I may have to leave because of this un-diagnosable problem.
Pls suggest options.
Worst case, if I need to discontinue ACT, which do you guys think is better, between Airtel, YOU and Hathway in Bangalore?

 

[uberjon]

Netgear WGR614v10 is a very old, wireless G device. Not even N. Getting 60 or 40 Mbit/sec over Wifi would not be possible. 20 is possible.

Connecting the ACT cable directly to your Laptop and getting your plan speed indicates that the problem is not on ACT's end.

Connecting your Laptop to the D-Link Router via LAN cable gives you 40 Mbit/sec? Try the ethernet cable that came with the D-Link router. Remember that speedtest.net is not 100% reliable.

Try the LAN first. Then look into Wi-Fi.
The QOS setting might be enabled on the new router. Do a factory reset, check it and try again.

 

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[Raj_S]

Yes, I have tried using ethernet cable that came with the D-Link DIR 816 router only, by connecting it from the router to my laptop. The speed is 40mbps , whereas speed by connecting ACT cable to laptop is 60mbps. Router has been factory reset also. Still no use. Thats why I am unable to rule out ACT's problem in this.
I understand speedtest is not 100% reliable, but even the 60mbps speed I got from act cable was on speedtest.net . The ACT field technicians and back end technicians are themselves using speedtest.net as the reference.

 

[uberjon]

There might be a Traffic Control Option under your advanced settings.

 

[Raj_S]

ok...what to do in the traffic control options?

 

[uberjon]

How do I configure QoS (Quality of Service)/ Traffic Control settings on my router?

 

[madh123]

ok...what to do in the traffic control options?

Traffic control might not be relevant here I have 6000rs Asus gigabit router and laptop with SSD and 100 mbps from ACT I barely get 100mbps spoke to back-end team and they blame my new gigabit router. I escalated this issue to nodal officer and appellate team after that they rectified the issue got 100 mbps but later issue resurfaced and speeds were unstable so I am discontinuing ACT. Seems like they are throttling connections where routers are connected. They can see my mac address and identify whether I am on router or PC. Bad way to go.

 

[uberjon]

There are other users with speeds over 100 Mbps using routers. The idea that they are throttling connections where routers are connected seems far fetched.

 

[Zaphod]

I get the same speed on wired and wireless. It makes no business sense for any ISP to throttle. They want you to consume the FUP at the earliest and then reset it for more revenue. If wifi speeds are slow, it's clearly a local issue at the router or environment.