Wi-fi and internet connections

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filthyturk

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Hello everybody peeps,
My question is a simple one. My computer is quite far from a bt point, so to get on t'internet I bought a wi-fi thingamajig from argos. This works fine but my computer runs very slowly and i was told this is because wi-fi uses/stores more temporary files and they need to be deleted regularly. If the computer was hard wired, this is less of a problem. So, can I get a long lead and hardwire the internet in and still be able to use the wi-fi, as i like to use my phone around the house. Hope this makes sense. Thanks in advance for any solutions and please dont blind me with computer terminology
 
There are several aspects that affect WiFi performance not least being the actual structure of the house itself, but also the specification of your WiFi router and the dongle you bought from Argos.

Without going into the detail of that you can buy a long lead to connect direct to the router but these come pre-made to set lengths although some more speciailist suppliers may make one up for you. Standard lengths tend to be 2m, 3m or 5m so it will depend how far you need to go. Look for 'Cat 5' (short for Category 5) leads.
 
rjm2k said:
filthyturk said:
i was told this is because wi-fi uses/stores more temporary files and they need to be deleted regularly.
Click to expand...
Please don't take any more advice from the person who told you that!
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I agree. Although I believe that a wired connection can be faster than a wireless connection, I've never heard about wi-fi storing more temporary files!

As has been suggested, building structure can have a profound effect on wi-fi and a possible solution could be simply moving your router to a slightly different position - or even raising it a couple of feet.

A quick anecdote: my wife used to have a convenient position in which to place our (metal) clothes horse - directly between the router and my laptop. Having experienced the effects, I think I have persuaded her to put it elsewhere!

The moral: have a think about what structures or items are in the direct path of the signal from your router.

If necessary, you could knock a wall down! (No, not really!)
 
filthyturk said:
Hello everybody peeps,
My question is a simple one. My computer is quite far from a bt point, so to get on t'internet I bought a wi-fi thingamajig from argos. This works fine but my computer runs very slowly and i was told this is because wi-fi uses/stores more temporary files and they need to be deleted regularly. If the computer was hard wired, this is less of a problem. So, can I get a long lead and hardwire the internet in and still be able to use the wi-fi, as i like to use my phone around the house. Hope this makes sense. Thanks in advance for any solutions and please dont blind me with computer terminology
Click to expand...

There's a simple way to test this, move your computer next to your router and plug it in directly, make sure you disable wireless on the computer. Now, see if it's faster. There are so many reasons that a computer will run slowly, network speed being only one of many. You could try one of the speedtest websites to see if you are getting a decent throughput both on wireless and wired eg http://www.speedtest.net/
 
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