Can anyone explain this speed loss?

Weird. It's perfectly normal back on the home network in California. Our speeds are 10x less here with max download speed 3 mbps but it doesn't hang like it did when the Florida network slowed down to around that speed. So maybe it's something else.

What could cause my bars to drop to 2-3 wireless connection and lose speed to the point I can't multi-task or stream TV, but it works fine with wired connection. Wouldn't it have to be wireless adapter failing? But then why is it working fine now back at my Calif place?

All of the other computers on our Florida network run fine at full speed, as did the laptop briefly after I reinstalled Win7. The laptop also gets full wired speed via ethernet.

gregrocker said:

Just started up to this error message:

Attachment 199224

ran ipconfig/ release
and ipconfig/ renew

Have five bars now but it tends to degrade in hours.

If I knew how to check IP address for the Ipad it would help.

If no other PC's are connected now and I get this startup message wouldn't it almost have to be the Ipad?

Hello Greg :),
Is DHCP server enabled on your LinkSys router?

Yes, on both Florida and California Linksys routers. I tried a fixed IP address on this machine with the Florida WRT-300N and the troubleshooter wanted to turn DHCP on even though I thought it was already set on.

This one has me stumped.

The only thing I can think of is if your neighbors in florida are using all the bandwidth in the same range of channels that you are using in the router. Maybe you tried this already but didn't mention it.

It might be worth while to check which channels your neighbors are using then switch to another channel at the other end of the spectrum. This makes a huge difference for me when streaming movies out to my garage.

Xirrus works pretty well for checking which channels are being used around you.
Wi-Fi Inspector | Xirrus

Intermittent problems are tricky to solve that's for sure.

The fact that it's working ok in Cali with such minimal speed is interesting.

I also get 20mbps wireless out to my garage but to get that I had to mount my AP under the eve of my house outside then set my USB adaptor under the eve of my garage which is about 20 feet away with no obstructions. Even then I had to look around for the best channels that weren't being used by my neighbors in order to have good reliable wireless streaming of movies.

Channels 1,6, or 11 should get you the most bandwidth because they are non overlapping, but you would need to see where your neighbors are at channel wise then change to the channels furthest away from the channels they are using. That's about all I can think of for now.

Could it be your running a virtual machine, I just got the same error and realised it was due to me installing Windows 8 on it.

No virtual.

At MVP Summit wireless was fine at hotel and on MS campus. At night it would bog some but I think it was the hotel wireless being stressed by the sheer volume of connections. When I plugged in my Linksys wand the prob was the exact same. Then the next morning it would smooth out.

When I return to Florida in April it will be interesting to see what happens. I'll likely need help troubleshooting that network, especially with the Apple devices which are suspect.