[RaginAsian55]

I live in a large house (~4,000sq.ft.) with 6 people total. Each person has 2-4 wireless devices that run out of the AT&T's Uverse 2Wire router. The Internet is blindingly slow. I bought an Apple Airport Express to alleviate bandwith traffic off the main router but it doesn't seem to be helping speeds. Even though the landlord says he pays for the "fastest" connection at 18Mbps, we only get an average of 2-3. The airport express is set up in bridge mode, since I don't know any other way for it to bypass the 2wire router.

I'm considering buying an Apple Airport Extreme or Asus Dark Knight Rt-N66U router to hopefully help things out because these routers are known for their strength and dependability. Also, I run two port forwarding apps from my computer so I'd like to be able to set that up simply, since right now I have a convoluted firewall workaround and only my Media Server (Plex) works, not the VNC (Screens Connect)

Please advise or recommend. Thanks for all help in advance!

[Scoops98]

Wireless is a pain to troubleshoot, especially in large areas.

What internet speeds do you get when you connect to the AT&T router via Ethernet? That is your gateway, so you are limited as to what you can do with regards to port forwarding, wireless extending, etc. The AirPort Extreme is a great router, but a large are may require multiple wifi repeaters to boost your signal sufficiently to get good coverage. Also, each person that connects to wifi takes a chuck of the wireless bandwidth the router has, so reducing your speed. This is more of an issue for networking.

Also, the AirPort Express being setup in Bridge Mode is correct. You can't bypass the 2Wire router as it is the modem/gateway. Test the internet speed directly connected to the 2Wire. If you are picking up strong wifi signal throughout your house, it might be the internet speed that is too slow. Realistically, 18 Mbps is too slow for 12-24 wifi devices.

[RaginAsian55]

Thanks for the input, Scoops!

I haven't tried connecting directly to the router because I'm an idiot and didn't really think of that. *face palm* Maybe I can use the excuse that I have a giant 27" iMac desktop so lugging it around the house isn't really a viable option?

So what kind of solutions should I be looking at?--
1) Someone recommended another access point, which the provider (ATT Uverse) can/will usually provide.
2) Do we need to amp up the internet speed?- I was told 18Mbps is the fastest Uverse offers.
3) Would buying an additional Airport Express help?
4) Would buying an Airport Extreme or Asus Dark Knight NT-66U help any (to either replace or add on)?

This house was rented out last year as well and I didn't hear any complaints from the previous tenants about the internet, but maybe they just failed to mention it. Otherwise, it can be pretty unbearable at times. :-\

Thanks in advance!!

[Cer0]

As for 2: What activities are being used the most by others on the network. If 4 of you are watching different netflix at the same time then yea that will kill down the bandwidth. But for browsing or gaming or everyday non-streaming activities that is enough.

I have 12Mbps connection in my home and can do 2 rooms running differernt netflix while playing MMO on my computer with no issues. But you have more people in my house so I'm guessing streaming may be going on or some sort of downloading that may kill a big part of bandwidth. You could bump up your connection or ask the other roomates if they are downloading stuff all the time and if they could take into consideration of others in the house when doing that.

[RaginAsian55]

Thanks, Cer0!

I'm really the only one in the house that downloads any content. They generally only take 10-15 minutes for a file <500MB, but for files that are larger and I know they will take a while, I'll only turn it on at night while everyone is asleep or while we're all away at school/work during the day. Of the people that stream shows, that would only be three of them. And they're often not here all at the same time so it'd be a rare instance if everyone is streaming plus I'm downloading at the same time.

The main issue in this house is that the internet is ALWAYS slow. I get very few, rare glimpses of actual speed and it generally doesn't last very long. When I'm saying that I download <500MB files for 10-15 minutes, if it gets interrupted/paused then it's slow for the rest of the night. :-( Or even if I get on YouTube, it'll work fine for about 20 minutes and then suddenly throttle. I find myself letting YouTube videos load and buffer over the course of 30 minutes just to watch a 5min tech clip.

Would the extra access point (like another modem?) or upgraded/additional routers help at all?

Thanks again in advance!

P.S. According to my iPhone and iPad, signal strength is strong within the entire house. I tested by walking to different areas of the house, turning off WiFi and then reconnecting and seeing the bars. I always had full bars but still slow internet speeds.

[Cer0]

Like the person said before test out a direct hook up to your modem. Then if you get ok speeds try a different router. What are you using as a router now? Something with a dual band may help. I use time capsule for my router.

[doberso]

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