Any of youse guys know of a network speed monitor available as freeware or
shareware that measures network speeds and upload/download speeds in real
time. like a gas gauge?
I've been chasing a problem with speeds and connection here at the Dream
Farm for months. Here's some of the info involved.
We live in the boonies. No cable, no DSL out here. We have a significant
tower at the house. At the top is a radio receiver, pointed to another tower
in line of sight 12.5 miles away. This is a radio wireless wi-fi broadband
signal.. not a satellite signal. The wire from the radio comes into the
house on the second floor, on the north wall, facing the shop, into what has
been transformed into a "data closet". The Linksys wireless router is there.
I have one of the antenna leads connected to a directional flat wall
antennae on the outside wall that points straight to the shop. The shop is
160' feet away, a metal, well insulated pole building. My wireless signal
out there was great with the side door open, but as Wisconsin winter
approaches, I added a Linksys range extender in between the house and the
shop.
Wireless. my connection speed varies from minute to minute. from 54 mbps
down to 1 mbps. My connection strength varies from excellent down to poor,
even down to no connectivity.
This takes place even when any other computer on the network, and any VOIP
phones are disconnected from the router. My radio/wi fi ISP provider thought
the fairly regular drops in connection speed (this happens just momentarily,
for a few seconds, between 10 and 30 second intervals) could be as a result
of a virus or a Trojan horse. Since the problem happens with even just my
brand new laptop (with AVG virus 7.0, Microsoft antiSpyWare, SpyBot, and
Trojan horse scans completed) only, I doubt it's some mysterious nefarious
program choking my network in the background. Just in case, I uninstalled
the majority of the intrusive HP software version checking processes that
come loaded these days.
The problem is so bad, that I ended up running a wired connection out to the
shop, which entailed sistering it with the heavy phone line that runs to a
utility pole then to the shop. It was a particular joy to be standing (in
the rain), on the top of an 8' step ladder, placed in the back of my pick up
truck, about 1' from the power lines, at the edge of my reach as I taped the
Ethernet cable to the phone line, and into the shop. I now have a wired
connection in the shop.
The wireless issue, however, shows up even in the house, sitting 12' away
from the router.
I'd like to isolate this as a "wireless only" issue, or find out if the
wired network is choking simultaneous to the wireless. Know of any utility
that might help? Know what might be choking the wireless signal? FYI, it
happens even at 5 AM, when no cordless phones (they're 5.8ghtz), no
microwaves are on. Closest neighbors are a significant distance out here in
dairyland country. I'm baffled.
Ideas? Speak to me you geeky bastards.
|