Thread: About router - speed problems

Hello people. I could use a little help on this one. I've bought a router, RPC IP2105, and have connected two computers in it(with cable, fiberlink), mine and my father's .. He seldom uses the pc, so it's like having only one connected ( the speed divides if we download/upload sth the same time, right?).


The problem is that my bandwidth is 100 Mbps which means about 12.5 MB/s but let's say that there are no ideal conditions, so, at least a 9 MBytes/s would be good (am talking about utorrent speeds), but I have never seen a speed higher than 3.2 MBps ... so, is this a router problem or something?

I am connectable (added into the virtual server of the router's site, the utorrent port), so what else can I do ? I know someone with the same internet connection (one fiberlink connection and 2 wireless laptops on that network) and a msi router, and the internet speed reaches 9 MBps.. So, is this a router problem?


Please, if you have a solution, explain it so that even a user with medium network knowledge like me can understand..Thanks a lot

Without knowing much about your particular router (seems to be a Romanian manufacturer, and not widely available elsewhere?), I'd say the best way to get started troubleshooting the issue would be to eliminate possibilities.

Firstly, sometimes it can be quite hard to reach the upper MBps speeds due to the limitations of the sources where you are getting your data.

I assume you are torrenting... do you mind if I ask what site you are using and what sort of files you are getting? Depending on userbase, type of files (i.e. popularity, etc) some simply struggle with higher speeds. Alternatively, have you attempted to download a large file from an FTP with *many* streams going at once (would recommend BitKinex for this) or a HTTP download from a known fast site (maybe nVidia site) again, with multiple streams (use one of those download manager programs)?

Also, what sort of results are you getting from speedtest.net?

Secondly, you say that you know someone who can attain 9MBps... do you know where they are getting these speeds and whether or not they are constant? If so, is this somewhere that you can access yourself (or even ask them to access for you... for the purpose of testing... if that doesn't put them at a disadvantage in any way)?

Finally, is this the same behaviour on both your computer and your father's computer? i.e. have you tested downloads on his machine as well?


If you can clarify some of this it should help to point in the right direction. Hard to say what it could be without some of the many possible factors being narrowed down. Let us know how you go!

It would also help that you limit your upload speed. Clogging up your upload bandwidth would mean your client (uTorrent) would have a hard time sending request to the peer and thus limiting your download speed.

If in the future you ran into problems like you cannot open a new website but your current downloads/uploads are working. Try limiting the number of connections uTorrent is making. I am having this problem right now. My router can't handle too much connections (2 PC's torrenting, IM, and HTTP downloads).

I'm assuming you're talking about a max download speed from the internet of 3.2MBps right? And you've done a speedtest?

The 100mbps is the speed of the line between your computer and the router so that is always a maximum ceiling for transfers within your local network. When you go online, a massive number of variables and problems can affect your download speed. Things like the distance you are from the local exchange, exchange congestion, line quality, the setup of your ISP in the area and other things can all cause your internet to perform below it's maximum speed.

Your friend may be able to get 9MBps with the same ISP, but that may be because he is in a better area, closer to his local exchange or something.

So really, what I'm saying is your internet speed can be affected by things beyond your control and there's nothing you can do about it, unfortunately. If you're sure you should be getting a higher speed, make sure your router is a relatively up to date model. You could also try calling your ISP to ask what speeds you should be expecting.

I usually download from romanian trackers, torrents with over 500 seeds for example, with the same speed, 3-3.2MB ..let's say, an example, a tv show, Dexter, from freshon.tv. When I start downloading, the seeds are about 500 like I said, from which, peers are more than 60%. My ISP (rds) is the biggest in Romania. I believe that the problem is from the router or from my ISP (they limited my connection, although speedtests don't show that..)

My friend's speeds reach up to 9 MB and at least 7MB in the same conditions, at the same torrent, with the same ISP, the same type of package, everything (different area though, about 10km away from me, not that far away..but who knows). I also have some other friends on RDS, with higher speeds than mine. One even has a lower package than me, and still has 5 MB..

I have at least 10 trackers and from all of them, my dwl speed does not go beyond 3MB. (of course, with lots of peers/seeds). I haven't used a FTP client to download, I've been using utorrent 1.8.2. I've downloaded a driver from nvidia with 1.2 MB on average

yes, my father's computer reaches 2-3MB.

Maybe I'll try changing the router..maybe it does not support more than 3mb. Too bad my cable is too short to plug it into my computer without the router. I'll see what I can do regarding that..



it looks ok, right? I should get better speeds than 3mb. I mean, it's not that bad, but the fact that I pay a higher package to have higher speeds and I don't get any, is annoying..

Thanks. awaiting any other suggestions.

I can't really answer quickly, I am at school. cheers

If you're getting 9MBps on your speedtest, your router must support 9MBps. There's a good chance you're simply being limited by the peers you download from or by a poorly configured torrent client. Try the steps here..

Yeah. Hard one though.

Given that your friend is using the same ISP with the same results AND your speedtest is giving results that you should generally expect *at least* 7MBps from, it pretty much comes down to a client-side issue. Though the same speeds experienced on your dad's machine make this a bit more odd... but then again, it's not that unlikely for 2 machines in the same household to act the same!!

All that blabbering aside -- most likely culprit is going to be your modem. Obviously it can get decent enough speeds via speedtest.net so it's not that it can't achieve more than 3MBps, it's more a problem with the way it is interacting with torrents. I think if you could find a good HTTP or FTP test (i.e. one with a very large file that you can get a large number of connections on) you'll most likely get a download speed greater than 3MBps.

I'm not sure how much information is available on your device or how confident you are poking around in its config pages but I would definitely have a look for anything to do with concurrent connections or similar... as devices with limits on this can have a significant impact on torrent speeds. Also note that some modems simply have a hard, built-in cap on number of connections (often the cheaper ones, being limited by ram/cpu of the device). If you can't find this information anywhere then it may be worth contacting the manufacturer about it.

I don't suppose it's also worth asking the obvious question: Are you connectable? Any chance of a firewall (on your modem or on your PC) interfering?

thanks for the pieces of advice. I am not firewalled and am connectable, as I said in my first post. I shall check the router's book or the steps from callum.

thanks. I'll be in touch when I've got the time to check out these solutions.

Oh right... sorry mate, I must have forgotten about the connectable thing -- my bad!

Best of luck with your attempts at the suggestions given. Hopefully one of them will sort you out!

If it comes down to it and you do end up looking at the possibility of buying a new router, maybe see if you can borrow your friend's one to test first (if compatible, which I assume it would be)?