ISP / Router / Setup advice

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
2,506
Location
London
I have been living in a house-share with very slow internet (see image below). We struggle to stream video at times and extremely show with two users, very frustrating.


3026nt5.jpg


We now have the opportunity to change the setup. Currently the ISP is EE and paying £1 for month for internet excluding line rental. Unfortunately it doesn't look like cable is available after phoning Virgin broadband. Obviously a limit to speed using landline so may be bad router or service?

From reading threads and links Plusnet seems like a good choice? Is it best to purchase a separate router? Any recommendations if so?

Any advice greatly appreciated.
 
Soldato
Joined
1 Apr 2014
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18,535
Location
Aberdeen
7 Mb/s isn't exactly fast, but it's not slow. You might look into getting a router with QoS / bandwidth management. This would stop one person (e.g. the video streamer) hogging all the bandwidth to the detriment of everyone else.
 
Associate
Joined
27 Jun 2008
Posts
1,536
Any router that allows third party firmware (WRT) to be installed will be good enough. The connection isn't fast enough to warrant buying a high end router if all you're doing is using the Internet and don't use the LAN/WLAN for anything else. Even the ancient WRT54G would be adequate unless you really need WIFI. You can then apply QoS which'll balance connection load and stop one device hogging all the available bandwidth.

It isn't going to solve bandwidth restraints because you're all trying to watch video streams all at once but instead allow for example someone to stream a video and someone else play games online at the same time while not have latency go sky high.
 
Soldato
Joined
11 Oct 2009
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16,548
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Greater London
Soldato
Joined
20 Oct 2008
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12,096
Any router that allows third party firmware (WRT) to be installed will be good enough. The connection isn't fast enough to warrant buying a high end router if all you're doing is using the Internet and don't use the LAN/WLAN for anything else. Even the ancient WRT54G would be adequate unless you really need WIFI. You can then apply QoS which'll balance connection load and stop one device hogging all the available bandwidth.

It isn't going to solve bandwidth restraints because you're all trying to watch video streams all at once but instead allow for example someone to stream a video and someone else play games online at the same time while not have latency go sky high.

WRT isn't really a straightforward option for an ADSL connection.
 
Soldato
OP
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
2,506
Location
London
According to this it seems you're limited to ADSL, not even the better ADSL2+. Any chance you can post some router stats?

EE is a poor provider anyway, Plusnet ADSL is pretty good for the price. Router is basic but for your speed it will do the job.

Thanks. How do I get router stats?

Think I'm going to go with Plusnet ADSL with Plusnet router.
 
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