"Dead Zone" in DSL Network

Third Sight · 10-26-2006, 11:03 PM

I'm a college student living in on-campus dorms. We get free access to the school's network, but it's unreliable. And now, me and my roommates are living in a building that is what some describe as a "dead zone" for the network; while other buildings are surfing and browsing at normal speeds, our DSL connection is incredibly slow.

In the mornings, it's fine, the speed is wonderful and there's nothing wrong with the network; this continues on into the mid afternoon. By the time 3-4pm rolls around, the connection speed drops dramatically, and lag in games is horrible. We believe the problem to be because other students are logged on, making the connection slower than normal standards.

I thought that a possible solution would be to simply buy a router, use it in our room, and set it up for a private connection for me and my friends. It would avoid the traffic that the other students are using, possibly making our connection run at nearly normal/optimal speeds.

I simply wanted to know if this was the correct course of action to take, if my thinking is off, etc. I'm new to networking, but I have a basic understanding of how it operates. Also, would there be any other way to increase the performance of the network; contacting the school is out of the question, so I'm on my own.

Any suggestions?

**Fr4665** · 10-27-2006, 05:23 AM

the router wont help i think because its the connection to the school thats used by too many students causing lagg. all the router would do is creat a little network that hooks up to the big network. also there would or might be ip distro conflicts.

all i can see you doing is either 1. getting ur own dsl or cable or fios connection 2. living with the crappy internet starting at 4pm thers another option but i wont mention that

**JamesO** · 10-27-2006, 08:30 PM

A router in your room connected to the existing school network will not solve the problem.

Bottom line is the Internet connection is probably too small for the number of users and there is no QOS limiting the type of traffic on the network.

Gaming, VOIP and P2P traffic with kill the network for folks trying to do legitimate things like e-mail, research and web browsing.

If a reliable network is really important, get you own Internet connections, connect a router and restrict who uses your connection!

JamesO

10-26-2006, 11:03 PM	#1 (permalink)
Third Sight Registered User Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 1 OS: XP	"Dead Zone" in DSL Network I'm a college student living in on-campus dorms. We get free access to the school's network, but it's unreliable. And now, me and my roommates are living in a building that is what some describe as a "dead zone" for the network; while other buildings are surfing and browsing at normal speeds, our DSL connection is incredibly slow. In the mornings, it's fine, the speed is wonderful and there's nothing wrong with the network; this continues on into the mid afternoon. By the time 3-4pm rolls around, the connection speed drops dramatically, and lag in games is horrible. We believe the problem to be because other students are logged on, making the connection slower than normal standards. I thought that a possible solution would be to simply buy a router, use it in our room, and set it up for a private connection for me and my friends. It would avoid the traffic that the other students are using, possibly making our connection run at nearly normal/optimal speeds. I simply wanted to know if this was the correct course of action to take, if my thinking is off, etc. I'm new to networking, but I have a basic understanding of how it operates. Also, would there be any other way to increase the performance of the network; contacting the school is out of the question, so I'm on my own. Any suggestions?

10-27-2006, 05:23 AM	#2 (permalink)
Fr4665 aka mr.fraggs Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: USA or Germany Posts: 2,965 OS: Win XP,Vista,Android My System	the router wont help i think because its the connection to the school thats used by too many students causing lagg. all the router would do is creat a little network that hooks up to the big network. also there would or might be ip distro conflicts. all i can see you doing is either 1. getting ur own dsl or cable or fios connection 2. living with the crappy internet starting at 4pm thers another option but i wont mention that __________________ I don't subscribe to threads please PM me if i miss a reply. ------- Everest SensorView Pro DriverCleaner how to fix your game

10-27-2006, 08:30 PM	#3 (permalink)
JamesO Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Fairfax, VA USA Posts: 2,289 OS: 98SE, W2k Pro, XP Pro	A router in your room connected to the existing school network will not solve the problem. Bottom line is the Internet connection is probably too small for the number of users and there is no QOS limiting the type of traffic on the network. Gaming, VOIP and P2P traffic with kill the network for folks trying to do legitimate things like e-mail, research and web browsing. If a reliable network is really important, get you own Internet connections, connect a router and restrict who uses your connection! JamesO Last edited by JamesO; 10-27-2006 at 08:32 PM.