[RESOLVED] Router Selection and troubleshooting Wifi performance

Recently did a fresh XP Pro SP3 fresh installation on my Laptop and since then have been running into ALL kinds of problems. Each is unique but frustrating. This one is related to the slow web browsing and download performance I have been observing since the fresh install... So the essence of this request/post is to

• Trouble problems with my settings (if any)
• End up using the best router (please see details below)

There are 2 parts (which in my opinion are directly linked) to this posts and I will e very grateful for expert help from people in the Networking/Wifi related areas.

Problem #1:
Amongst the following routers, which one is better? I have tried to follow posts and did use Google to understand what really too look for but everything pretty much went over my head and thus I am requesting help. What are the things which a simple home user should look for when selecting amongst the following? Will appreciate if your reply will kindly keep in consideration the fact that my knowledge about these things is pretty much nil and so I am not aware of the many terminologies/abbreviations which the experts have at their finger tips.

I find it important to mention that I paid quite an amount about 2 years back for the 1st router (D-Link) while the 2nd one (TP-LinK) was purchased recently and the price was rather affordable.

Router #1: DIR-635 RangeBooster N 650 Router http://www.dlink.com/products/?pid=487
Router #2: TP-Link TL-WR740N http://www.tp-link.com/products/prod...odel=TL-WR740N

Problem #2:
The additional information that you may find useful is that

1. I am only using Wireless Zero Configuration (not using the complete features which the driver offers). Should I instead use the full features rather than simply using the WZC? Read somewhere that simple use of WZC is strongly recommended
2. The screen shots at the following link show all the screen shots that I took of my network card configuration. Don't know if these are of any use but maybe these will play an important role in trouble shooting the problem URL where screen shots are available: http://tinypic.com/m/a3h8wx/3

Many thanks for your help and guidance.
P.S
1) Just trying to learn and hope I am not ending up comparing apples and oranges.
2) My Laptop (Sony VGN-FZ140E) claims to offer N-Series Wifi compatibility

Did you reinstall your drivers after reinstalling XP?

The DIR-635 seems to be a better router, but neither router is fully 802.11n compliant.

Between the two routers listed,
Ditto to the D-Link.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by photolady

Did you reinstall your drivers after reinstalling XP?

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Yes I did. Actually I installed the latest driver from the Intel's site. Is the latest driver necessarily the best? Maybe not? I have the older driver on some CD. What is the best way to revert to/install the old driver.

1. Go to Device Manager, Select the Wifi Driver (in my case it is Intel(R) Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN and the current driver details are:
   Driver Date: 13-Jan-10
   Driver Version: 13.1.1.1
2. Click on Update Driver (from the Driver Tab)
3. And then select the location where the old driver is located?

Is the above the right way to do it?

Thanks for the replies Midknyte and Shinma. I have plugged out the TP-LInk, have upgraded the firmware and am now using D-Link. However have to say that I have not noticed any improvement in terms of downloading speed (browsing is also rather slow and what's frustrating is that I have a 2MB DSL connection :(

The options are many but Midknyte can you kindly recommend some affordable routers that are fully 802.11n compliant.

Thanks.

Did you try connecting your system via cable? Your speed problems may have nothing to do with the Wifi setup.

You are going to have a hard time finding full certified 802.11n routers. They only finalized 802.11n late last year. The closest you will find will probably be "draft 2.0" routers.

Look at this thread for suggestions:
http://discussions.virtualdr.com/sho...d.php?t=244748

Quote:

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Originally Posted by morland

... However have to say that I have not noticed any improvement in terms of downloading speed (browsing is also rather slow and what's frustrating is that I have a 2MB DSL connection :( ...

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State your download speed.
You can use websites such as the following to test,

• Speedtest.net

BTW, I think you meant to state 2 Mb/s.

Thanks again for the replies guys.

@Midknyte: Appreciate the link. Quite informative. Yes I did try a direct Ethernet connection with my DSL modem but the results are the same.

I guess the next thing I am going to try is to install the old driver for my network card and for Wifi. Maybe that will for whatever odd reason (and which I will fail to understand) solve the problem of slow browsing and download.

@Shinma: Yes I meant 2 mb/s. Sorry. I have tested speedtest and pingtest results from about 20+ locations all the way from Canada to Australia and the ping results excluding 5% of the exceptions were extremely high. I'm talking about 300+ ms here. So something is wrong.

May i please bother you for the last time (for this particular post) and request your opinion about what should the settings be for the options shown in the attached images. Thanks. I hope the attached screen shots, the arrows, and the text is self-explanatory.

Enable UPnP: Uncheck
WAN Port Speed: You can try setting of 100 Mbps, but keep in mind,
You only have a 2 Mbps service. Try/test and use whichever provides best performance.

For 802.11 Mode: First test with 802.11n only then try/test 802.11g only. Use whichever provides better performance. Issue would be quality/compatibility between the wireless router and the wireless adaptor in your Sony.

Security Mode: Select WPA-Personal
WPA Mode: Test whichever option provides best compatibility/results with your notebook's wireless adapter.

Thanks Shinma... Will try to take it from here. Thanks a lot to you and Midknyte for taking the time to reply, guide, and help.

Sincerely,