BT Voyager 2000 Wireless Router

I am writing this on behalf of my brother who has recently installed the
Voyager 2000 ADSL Wireless router. He is not very technical and I am not
able to get to his flat to have a look at the configuration, but he says
that the network is painfully slow and unworkable.

He is trying to route his 512K broadband connection (BT) to a Dell laptop
with built in wireless network card. The router operates on the 802.11.b
system, as does the card.

Obviously the router and network card can find each other but I am puzzled
by the slowness of the connection. My understanding of 802.11.b is that it
should be able to share a 512K broadband connection easily.

I suspect either the firewall in the router or his software has not been
configured properly or he is suffering from local interference.

He also has a Panasonic cordless phone system which may be the cause. He
lives in a small flat.

Is it possible to reconfigure the channel that the wireless network operates
on in order to avoid any possible clash with the cordless phone?

Has anyone had any experience of this model of router and if so how fast is
the connection?

Thanks in advance.

On Wed, 25 Aug 2004 19:11:45 GMT, "JamesUK"
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>He also has a Panasonic cordless phone system which may be the cause.

DECT phone? that's a possible source of interference.

>Is it possible to reconfigure the channel that the wireless network operates
>on in order to avoid any possible clash with the cordless phone?

Yes, via the wireless lan configuration part of the router's setup.

>Has anyone had any experience of this model of router and if so how fast is
>the connection?

They'll handle a broadband connection easily.

Derek
--
"We deal in the moral equivalent of black holes, where the normal
laws of right and wrong break down; beyond those metaphysical
event horizons there exist ... special circumstances" - Use Of Weapons

"JamesUK" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:Rv5Xc.737$(E-Mail Removed)...
> I am writing this on behalf of my brother who has recently installed the
> Voyager 2000 ADSL Wireless router. He is not very technical and I am not
> able to get to his flat to have a look at the configuration, but he says
> that the network is painfully slow and unworkable.
>
> He is trying to route his 512K broadband connection (BT) to a Dell laptop
> with built in wireless network card. The router operates on the 802.11.b
> system, as does the card.

What card is he using? Is it the BT Voyager one?

> Obviously the router and network card can find each other but I am puzzled
> by the slowness of the connection. My understanding of 802.11.b is that it
> should be able to share a 512K broadband connection easily.

ADSL via wireless from a Voyager 2000 *should* be virtually the same as a
wired ADSL connection to the PC using the default Voyager 2000 (well it was
for me IMHE). If he's turned on SSID hiding and 128bit WEP then the
throughput on PC connected wirelessly drops to around 4 times faster than
diallup (as opposed to 10x dialup for directly connected ADSL).

> I suspect either the firewall in the router or his software has not been
> configured properly or he is suffering from local interference.

I'd agree, something is wrong!

> He also has a Panasonic cordless phone system which may be the cause. He
> lives in a small flat.

No idea.

> Is it possible to reconfigure the channel that the wireless network
operates
> on in order to avoid any possible clash with the cordless phone?

No idea, but an 'on-site visit' sounds in order....

> Has anyone had any experience of this model of router and if so how fast
is
> the connection?

As said above, my experience is that ADSL via wireless is virtually the same
as a wired ADSL connection. If you turn on the security features then
throughput drops to around 4 times faster than diallup (as opposed to 10x
dialup for directly connected ADSL).

> Thanks in advance.

YW, HTH

<snip>

Thanks for the advice (and to Derek), very helpful, and I will pass it on
pending an onsite visit!

> What card is he using? Is it the BT Voyager one?

As far as I know he's using the built in wireless card that was supplied
with the Dell laptop.

> > Obviously the router and network card can find each other but I am
puzzled
> > by the slowness of the connection. My understanding of 802.11.b is that
it
> > should be able to share a 512K broadband connection easily.

> ADSL via wireless from a Voyager 2000 *should* be virtually the same as a
> wired ADSL connection to the PC using the default Voyager 2000 (well it
was
> for me IMHE). If he's turned on SSID hiding and 128bit WEP then the
> throughput on PC connected wirelessly drops to around 4 times faster than
> diallup (as opposed to 10x dialup for directly connected ADSL).

I bet that is at least part of the problem.

Presumably these security settings are located somewhere within the Voyager
2000 software setup? If he turned them off will the system be secure enough?

> > I suspect either the firewall in the router or his software has not been
> > configured properly or he is suffering from local interference.
>
> I'd agree, something is wrong!
>
> > He also has a Panasonic cordless phone system which may be the cause. He
> > lives in a small flat.
>
> No idea.

The reason I mentioned it is that I did some research and found that DECT
cordless phones operating on 2.4 ghz (the same spectrum as 802.11.b) can and
do cause interference, so I will try and get my bro to switch off the phone
base station and see if that helps. If it does then he will have to select
another channel for the wireless network.


> YW, HTH

Cheers!

"JamesUK" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:USNXc.94$(E-Mail Removed)...
> <snip>
>
> Thanks for the advice (and to Derek), very helpful, and I will pass it on
> pending an onsite visit!
>
> > What card is he using? Is it the BT Voyager one?
>
> As far as I know he's using the built in wireless card that was supplied
> with the Dell laptop.
>
> > > Obviously the router and network card can find each other but I am
> puzzled
> > > by the slowness of the connection. My understanding of 802.11.b is
that
> it
> > > should be able to share a 512K broadband connection easily.
>
> > ADSL via wireless from a Voyager 2000 *should* be virtually the same as
a
> > wired ADSL connection to the PC using the default Voyager 2000 (well it
> was
> > for me IMHE). If he's turned on SSID hiding and 128bit WEP then the
> > throughput on PC connected wirelessly drops to around 4 times faster
than
> > diallup (as opposed to 10x dialup for directly connected ADSL).
>
> I bet that is at least part of the problem.
>
> Presumably these security settings are located somewhere within the
Voyager
> 2000 software setup? If he turned them off will the system be secure
enough?
>
> > > I suspect either the firewall in the router or his software has not
been
> > > configured properly or he is suffering from local interference.
> >
> > I'd agree, something is wrong!
> >
> > > He also has a Panasonic cordless phone system which may be the cause.
He
> > > lives in a small flat.
> >
> > No idea.
>
> The reason I mentioned it is that I did some research and found that DECT
> cordless phones operating on 2.4 ghz (the same spectrum as 802.11.b) can
and
> do cause interference, so I will try and get my bro to switch off the
phone
> base station and see if that helps. If it does then he will have to select
> another channel for the wireless network.
>
>
> > YW, HTH
>
> Cheers!
>
>

If he has just installed the 2000 system then it is not a simple task to set
up hide SSID and WEP encryption, so I would say it's not these. Certainly
you have to go into settings and configure the WEP settings on the 2000
router and the computer to match each other. I think he would have recalled
doing this.
I have SSID and WEP 64 enabled and have a very good throughput 50/60kb/s.

When you say slowness of connection have you done a speedtest to check the
line etc.

http://www.btopenworld.com/speedtest

It may not be your system that is at fault, it might be the BT line or a
server problem in your area. I can speak from experience with this little
problem.

run all 3 tests, use the Open tab not Save and see if your figures match
those specified. If they fall well short then its a call to the BT help
line.

dj