We currently have a 100MB down/100MB up network connection provided by our Internet Service provider. The most we were able to get with this router was 20Mbps down. I believe the issue could be caused by the limited MTU on the E2000 router which cannot go any higher than 1500 MTUs. Could the cause of the slow internet connection be the router and what could replace the router?
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You need to do more troubleshooting and provide more information on the kinds of testing you've done. There's not enough here to make a diagnosis.– voretaq7Aug 16, 2011 at 19:12
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What other testing needs to be done other than speed testing with network monitoring?– IshmaelAug 16, 2011 at 20:18
1 Answer
Remember that just because your ISP (claims) it gives you 100 up and 100 down, your real-world yield will be dependent on the slowest link between you and whatever you are talking to.
I would do a couple of things.
First I would run something like speedtest.net against a variety of servers. Then I would connect a laptop directly to the ISP link, configured the same way that the router is, and run the tests again. If it is faster without the router, then the router is the problem. If possible I would repeat the test with a couple of different firewalls if you have access to them.
MTU is probably not the issue here unless your ISP is doing some kind of packet handling that reduces the realizable size of the packet. If you drop your MTU to something like 1492 and things get better, then there is probably some kind of extra-ethernet protocol running -- for I believe that classic PPPoE is a trailer on the end of a packet that can cause the total packet length to exceed the MTU, meaning that the packet will get fragmented and have to be re-assembled somewhere.
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2+1 - It's very important to always remember that a "speed test" is testing the entire path between the endpoints. Unless the "speed test" server is on the network at the next hop it's unlikely that you're really measuring the bandwidth of the Internet link. I like the idea of using a laptop to rule out the Linksys device. You could also simulate the Internet (using a DHCP server you control on the WAN side of the Linksys device) and run speed tests with LAN-speed links to see what the maximum possible forwarding rate of the Linksys device is, too. Aug 17, 2011 at 1:50