Ok, please have a look at my remarks above regarding your screenshot.
Just to make sure that I am explaning this clearly. Your wifi card is only connected to a single antenna wire. That usually sits in behind the screen. With that single antenna, the wifi card can run one wifi channel back to the modem, or it can run two wifi channels simultaneously. So for the single channel, it will run anywhere from channel 1 up to channel 11. For two channel communications, it runs a base channel, say channel two for example, and then, four channels up, it might use the channel that happens to be at (channel 2 + 4up = ) channel 6. For every broadcast from the modem to the laptop, and back again, the laptop checks the upper channel 6 and looks for other modems / routers on that channel or background noise. If the channel is clear, it will use that channel at the same time that channel 2 is used, thereby doubling the data rate. If the channel is busy or occupied with background noise, it can't be used, and therefore you are locked into a single channel operation, using channel 2 only. This is all automatic, but to note, you also have to have the modem set to use 20/40 Mhz as the channel width. That is one thing that you should check. If its already set, then the problem is the fact that the wifi channels are all in use and everyone if fighting for clear channels.
When you have a laptop that has a wifi card that uses two antenna, each antenna supports a single data stream between the modem and the laptop. The end result of using two antenna and two data streams is a doubling of the maximum data rate. With one antenna such as yours, the maximum theoretical data rate is 150 Mb/s using two wifi channels simultaneously. With two antenna, the maximum theoretical data rate is 300 Mb/s using two wifi channels simultaneously. In both cases the wifi card manages the data streams and wifi channels that it can use automatically.
Hope that provides a clearer explanation of how the wifi system works.
If you decided to replace it someday because you want better wifi performance, you would need to look for a laptop that supports 300 Mb/s at a minimum, and now, with the advent of 802.11ac, you can see 1300 Mb/s between the modem / router and the laptop, although I doubt that the advanced modem would actually support that. You would most likely have to buy and install a good third party router to really support that data rate between the router and the laptop. VivianM can definitely help in finding a better laptop if you decide to go that route someday.
Please have a look at my remarks above regarding single versus dual wifi channel operation. Hopefully that will provide a clearer explanation.
Sorry we don't have better news for you. 😞
This is one of those settings that should be user accessible, but isn't. You will have to call tech support and ask the CSR to check the wifi channel setting and ensure that its set for 20/40 Mhz mode of operation. There are probably three settings: 20 Mhz which is a single wifi channel, 20/40 which is an auto setting to use a single wifi channel or two wifi channels if that is possible, and then perhaps a 40 Mhz setting, which is supposed to use two wifi channels full time. That last one is most likely theoretical as the modem will still instruct the laptop to check for a clear secondary channel and if its not clear, it should not be used.
Ask the CSR to tell you what the choices are. Once of those choices should include a 20/40 Mhz (2 wifi channel) Auto mode of operation.
If you do replace the laptop at some point, you definitly want to move up to the 5 Ghz band which is less crowded and which provides higher data rates due to the full time use of 40 Mhz wide channels. Its just a better design, no overlapping channels and every channel is 40 Mhz wide. Use of two, three or four channels simultaneously is possible with 802.11ac, which leads to data rates in the 1300 Mb/s range or higher. Of couse the caveat still applies, those multiple channels have to be clear for use, but if they are, you can see very high data rates.
Looking at your screenshot, here are a couple of items to check. I see that you are using the default Rogers network name. You should ensure that the modem password, network name and network passphrase have all been changed from their default values. To do this, you should be connected via ethernet while making changes, otherwise, if connected via wifi, and you are changing network names and passphrases, you will disconnect during the process.
If you only use the 2.4 Ghz wireless, you should only see the 2.4 Ghz wireless LED lit, on the front of the modem. If you don't use the 5 Ghz wireless network but it is running, as is shown by the front LED, you should turn it off.
To change the wireless network name, login into the modem, navigate to Wireless....Basic Settings....2.4 Ghz tab. On the right hand side is the Network name which should be changed. Preferably it should be completely random. It holds 32 characters and usually you don't have to enter it manually into anything else. Go crazy on the keyboard. You could probably select 802.11n Only for Wireless mode, to prevent the modem from using the b or g modes of operation. That will depend if you have any older devices that might need it or not. You should also disable the WPS function as it is a security hazard. If you select the 5 Ghz tab, you can then turn off the 5 Ghz network and / or change the network name. If you do run a 5 Ghz network, select 802.11n if you only have 5 Ghz 802.11n devices in your home and also disable the WPS function.
To change the passphrase for the networks, select the WPS & Security tab. On that tabs for both the 2.4 and 5 Ghz networks, set the security mode to WPA2 Only and set the security mode to AES. Change the Pass Phrase from the default if it is still in use to one of your personal choice. The longer, and the more random it is, the better. This holds 8 to 63 printable ASCII characters or 64 hexadecimal digits. If you only have one device for example, such as your laptop, you could store the passphrase in a file and keep that on a USB drive that is accessible. What you can do is go crazy on the keyboard and fill the field with random characters. There are some symbols that the CGN3 doesn't like, but if you stick with letters and numbers that shouldn’t be a problem. Once the field is filled and saved so that you know that the CGN3 will accept all of the characters copy the entire field and save it in a notepad file. You will need this shortly.
Once that is done, navigate to the ADMIN...DEVICE RESET tab and select REBOOT. While the modem is rebooting, you can disconnect the ethernet from the modem. When the modem is up and running and the wifi LED is lit, you should be good to reconnect. Since you changed the wifi network name and passphrase, you will have to reconnect the laptop to the modem. Select the wifi symbol at the lower right hand screen corner to bring up the list of available networks, select your network and select "Connect Automatically" and copy and paste in the passphrase that you stored in the notepad file. After that, you should have a network that will be very difficult to hack, to the point that anyone interested in hacking will choose an easier target.
Awesome thread, great analysis and insights from Resident Expets- @Datalink @Gdkitty and @VivienM Thank you all 
@CarolS51 , thank you for your post, by default CGN3 uses wide channel 20/40MHz. Let us know if you wish to reconfigure your network, I can have someone reach out through PM.
Thanks,
RogersMoin
Are you using a 2.4 or 5 Ghz network. What you can do is look at the wifi environment with inSSIDer, which is a wifi monitoring application. This will monitor both bands and display in graphical and list form, the other routers or modems which are running nearby. With that display on hand, you can determine if someone else is running a modem or router on the same channel or overlapping channel and causing problems for your wifi network. This version doesn't display 802.11ac networks in the 5 Ghz band but there is a new version out, now a pay version which does. If you use 802.11ac, its worth buying for $20 US. Load the application on a laptop and check out the competing networks.
http://www.techspot.com/downloads/5936-inssider.html
Fwiw, there is an ethernet adapter out now which allows the Chromecast to use a wired connection. Sadly it appears that its not available in Canada
https://store.google.com/product/_ethernet_adapter_for_chromecast
Its hard as there really isnt a 'resolution' you can have for this toipc..
The wifi itself on these units, is not GREAT..say compared to the more expensive wireless routers you can buy 3rd party..BUT you need to pay a premium to get that quality/ranges.
Each persons scenario may be different as well.
-Location of the router
-House construction
-Nearby of other devices (microwave, portable phones)
-Nearby of other wireless routers (especially prelivent in an appartment/townhouse setting)
These all can effect the speed and wireless quality.
-
59250 views
-
14 Likes
-
-
