Wireless Internet Intermittent

Hello all, I seem to be having some issues with my Wireless internet. Recently, we moved our router from downstairs to upstairs (where we could plug our iMac in directly, as it doesn't have Wifi) However, while I'm downstairs on my MacBook, the connection speed seems to vary A LOT. Streaming a video or playing a game is almost impossible, it seems to just freeze and not start back up until I run network diagnostics, or reconnect. A quick test confirmed my suspicions, our internet connection is very intermittent, we're paying for 7mbps, I've clocked it as low as .20mbps

My theory is that moving our router somehow caused these issues, then again, our DSL was never horribly stable to begin with, but I don't recall it being this bad. We extended our router by going from the phone jack downstairs, and running a standard phone line outside, and in through the 2nd floor, where it's plugged directly into the router. Searching for solutions online, I did find that it's recommended instead of using a longer phone line, we probably should've left the router and just run an ethernet cable up there, although I didn't know that at the time.


Any clue why this is happening? Is it our ISP, or did moving the router really cause all of this to happen? I should mention that the iMac appears to be running just fine, no cut-outs at all.

Pictures attached. Thanks.

MacDude121 said:

I did find that it's recommended instead of using a longer phone line, we probably should've left the router and just run an ethernet cable up there, although I didn't know that at the time.

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I'm no expert, but that's exactly what I would try if you can't find any other solutions. So the MB used to have decent speeds before you moved the router? If so, it's probably interference from the ceiling/floor or other obstacles between your MB and your router.

MYmacROX said:

I'm no expert, but that's exactly what I would try if you can't find any other solutions. So the MB used to have decent speeds before you moved the router? If so, it's probably interference from the ceiling/floor or other obstacles between your MB and your router.

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Perhaps you're right, I'll move the router back to it's original spot tomorrow and see if performance improves. If so, I'll go with the long ethernet cable solution.

MacDude121 said:

We extended our router by going from the phone jack downstairs, and running a standard phone line outside, and in through the 2nd floor, where it's plugged directly into the router.

Click to expand...

I do think that this is fundamentally the problem although you can test the signal strength quickly in situ if you wish. There are lots of variables working on a WLAN to affect signal strength quality.

Hold the Option (alt) key down and left click the wireless icon. You'll find a figure called RSSI greyed out and this is the Radio (Received) Signal Strength Indicator shown in a negative dBm value. A high figure here say will indicate a poor signal strength. The closer to nought the better the signal.You can also run the 'Open Wireless Diagnostics' app at the bottom of the drop down list.
You can also use free apps such as iStumbler to monitor signal to noise ratios. Positioning of the router is very important as MYmacROX describes. I innocently placed a jar of metal screw fixings near my router and had no end of problems for days until it twigged.