Shaping

[tpbury]

A new subject to me but no doubt discussed before, I ask forebearance on the grounds that any non takeover based forum needs all the new posts it can get !(?)

 

So, I am staying 4 days in week in SW London, using neighbours wireless connection (with password and permission).

 

Signal readings aren't great but say speed is 54 mbps and 'Very Good'. I have no trouble navigating this forum from a connectivity point of view.

 

I try to watch something like IPlayer or even YouTube and the signal crashes (ie down to 2mbps, the video goes into permanent buffering (actually IPlayer can normally stagger through a programme, especially if I download it at the same time, 4od just gets 2 mins in and then stalls, YouTube is erratic).

 

I've heard of 'shaping', my understanding is the ISP cuts connection speed if you are trying to stream or download stuff. Is this true? Any tricks to get around it?

 

I guess my neighbour has a cheapish package, having said that he does download a lot of music (we rarely use the internet at the same time however).

 

Thanks for your help!

[Evo]

Most of the shaping policies are designed to punish abusers. I.E. if you regularly just leave the machine downloading dodgy stuff all day, they'll cap your bandwidth.

 

During peak hours some ISPs will impose shaping on all users if their bandwidth "pipe" isn't sufficient for the current demand level.

 

In your case though, I don't think this is anything to do with shaping. That would have no effect on the wireless speed. In my opinion, the two best things to try are changing the channel that the wireless uses (as it may conflict with other neighbours) and try getting closer to the neighbours router and see if the same happens.

 

It could be a problem with the router, signal strength (ignore what the computer says about strength - about as reliable as sticking a wet finger in the air), the wireless settings, his/her ISP, malware on your computer, power saving settings, the list goes on!

[tpbury]

Ta for that.

 

At home, my wireless signal is very stable and predictable, in as much there's certain areas of the housed where I can trust it, regardless of what I am viewing. I don't observe the signal fluctuating depending on what I'm looking at. Anyway, I'll bother next door. Cheers again