interweb speed

[Fritz]

too much coffee, 3 threads in one day.

My mums place has 2 WiFi networks available.
Both place her at the same IP address.
One connects 2M/2M at best and the other 20M/20M.
The slow one is easiest to connect and the fast one is difficult.
The slow one requires no pw, the fast one does.

I've tried Safari and Chrome.
They have some kind of security or firewall issues that I don't get.

The page that contains the pw, for some reason, doesn't always load properly and therefore makes a connect difficult. Sometimes I've found that if I connect to the slow one then switch to the fast one, the page loads and all is well. But the next morning she is bounced off.
Trying to talk her thru this or give her instructions for it just ain't working.

Does the same IP address necessarily mean that they are off the same router and 2 different networks with one being choked and the other not?

Just trying to be ready for what ever nonsense I get back from the house "techs".

[cbelt3]

With managed switches and routers, there is always the possibility of some sort of Quality of Service settings that throttles one port and not another. With WiFi, there are other issues such as radio type and quality, signal strength, and upstream switch settings that may slow some connections down and not others.

The fact that both networks provide the same IP addresses just means they share a DHCP server.

The simplest thing to do is ask the network guru why Wifi #1 is dirt slow and Wifi #2 is a bit snappier.

[Fritz]

thanks cbelt

[deckeda]

And then ask why the fast one requires the Spanish Inquisition to connect to it.

[DRR]

It's common to have a speed throttled, "guest" network as a courtesy to visitors, to give basic internet access.

The PW protected speedy one, is usually reserved for employees (or residents in this case), and gives full access to all services (non-public servers, as an example) but of course, is access restricted.

If they have a setup like that, then they've probably got the know-how to set it up correctly. (i.e. it wasn't someone's nephew who came to set it up). I've found that in cases like this, many times it's the client wifi card that's at fault. Is there any way you can go there to test with a different computer, a phone, or a different adapter? Perhaps a small USB one?

I have one similar to this that I use as a backup to my built in airport when traveling, as I encounter wifi finickiness in hotels a lot.

http://compare.ebay.com/like/370792892103?var=lv<yp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes&var=sbar

[C(-)ris]

cbelt3 wrote:


The fact that both networks provide the same IP addresses just means they share a DHCP server.

That isn't necessarily true. They could be two different DHCP servers that just send out the same range. It might be two completely separate infrastructures. Different APs, different switches, etc.

I have witnessed this setup, as it is cheaper than doing 2 VLANs. Why they would chose the same IP range is beyond me though.

[Fritz]

it appears that one is throttled to support resident "pendants" (help I can't get down).
The tech said that the sign in page can't be cached (for whatever reason).
So he dropped Ffox on the iMac and set it to home page Google, which in theory should force the sign in page up, which is auto-filled.
I tried this method with both Chrome and Safari. Time will tell.

[cbelt3]

Usually they use different SSID's for the fast (Resident) and the slow (Pendant) systems. Just set her Network settings to forget the Pendant system.

The fact that she's in a facility (Retirement home I assume) that has Wifi is cool. I kept pushing my wife's different facilities to do that, even quoted a site survey and setting it all up. They said no.

[Fritz]

cbelt3 wrote:
Usually they use different SSID's for the fast (Resident) and the slow (Pendant) systems. Just set her Network settings to forget the Pendant system.They said no.

from what I'm told today Resident is the pendant SSID.
we'll see how it works with Ffox.