Is my Time Capsule's router dying?

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Level 3

994 points

Is my Time Capsule's router dying?

For the past month, I've noticed that my wireless speeds have significantly slowed down. I've also noticed my phone dropping the main network (the one that the Time Capsule backs up to and what I connect all of my devices to) and defaulting to the guest network I have set up.

I work from home, and my desk is separated from the Time Capsule (second generation) by a wall (built within the past two years, made of drywall and no plaster in it. There's also a chimney encased in metal in another wall nearby, but it's been there the past 7 months and was never an issue previously). I've had this setup for seven months, and everything was fine until last month when I noticed my Internet had become a lot slower than usual. I have EPB fiber optic Internet and I usually see speeds of 90 Mbps or greater—yes, on wireless. (I measure it frequently because I'm relatively new to the area and having great internet after coming from the land of a Comcast monopoly is pretty cool.)

So for the past month, my speeds on wireless have been in the 30Mbps up/40Mbps down range. Plugging directly in with ethernet gets me 90-100Mbps up and down, so it's not my Internet service. But here's what's weird: If I go and sit my computer right next to the Time Capsule, on wireless I get about 80-90Mbps. Then, if I go back to my desk where just a few minutes ago I got 30/40, I will get about 70. After a few more minutes, I'll get about 60. The speed decreases over the next hour or so until I'm back at 30/40 again. If I go sit next to the router and do another speed test, I'll get 80-90 again, but once I walk away the speed decreases over time again.

Is this an indication that my Time Capsule router is dying? I had my ISP come out and check the line just to make sure and they said it was fine, although they were surprised I would be having issues with wireless since "Time Capsules are some of the best routers out there." I didn't tell him it was about five years old, though.

I should also note that to perform my speed tests I'm using speedtest.net and speedtest.epbfi.com. Each time I do a test I use Firefox, Chrome and Safari (not all at the same time, I do the tests one after another). I've used multiple computers and have seen the same results, so I know it's not just one computer having issues.

Posted on Jul 11, 2014 10:41 AM

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Answer 1

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LaPastenague

Level 9

67,208 points

Jul 11, 2014 5:54 PM in response to hiddenmuse

Is this an indication that my Time Capsule router is dying? I had my ISP come out and check the line just to make sure and they said it was fine, although they were surprised I would be having issues with wireless since "Time Capsules are some of the best routers out there." I didn't tell him it was about five years old, though.

Age shall weary them.

Wireless speed is made up of signal.. minus noise. When you are right up close to the TC, the signal is high.. lets say the noise is pretty constant. The higher the Signal to Noise ratio the better the speed.. but you are probably also swapping to the 5ghz band. Gen2 TC has both 2.4ghz and 5ghz bands.

Move away from the TC.. 5ghz drops off dramatically. Especially in older units with poor dual band antennas. 2.4ghz has much better penetration.

There is a good chance the computer will hold the 5ghz until it sleeps .. when it wakes up the computer will automatically swap to the 2.4ghz band for better signal without the speed advantage.. this is after all wireless ( A voodoo branch of networking).

But everyone uses 2.4ghz now and level of noise (signal from the wrong router or device) is very high.

TC is also getting beyond its use by date. Well and truly time for an upgrade.

But you can use the wireless diagnostics built into the OS.. since Mountain Lion.. it is very helpful.

About Wireless Diagnostics

there are piles of these utilities around but since it is built in makes it nice.

There is a scan function and performance.

Note changed to 5ghz.. since I have named the two bands differently I can force it.

The link speed is much faster even though the SNR is actually poorer. The big spike is where I swapped wireless.

This is a gen4 TC btw.

Time has come the Walrus said to speak of many things.. eg new wireless router.

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Answer 2

hiddenmuse Author

Level 3

994 points

Jul 15, 2014 6:38 AM in response to LaPastenague

Thank you so much for all of this! I checked the Wireless Diagnostics and it said everything was fine, but I noticed in the best practices notes it said to create a 5GHz band because they're less susceptible to interference. Once I did that and put only my computer on it, my speed shot up to 89 Mbps!

While I still think my Time Capsule is nearing the end of its life cycle, I think if I can keep it going for a little while longer I'll be happy. 🙂 This did make me wonder, though, if perhaps my new TV (a "smart TV" that is connected to the Time Capsule as well) is somehow interfering. Maybe now that it's not on the same band it's not anymore? I don't even know if that's how that works, but it did occur to me that the issue with the slower speed started happening around the time we got the TV.

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Answer 3

Jul 15, 2014 1:51 PM in response to hiddenmuse

TV should have no effect.. it is a client not an AP.

Having said that if the TV is located in the direct path between the client and the TC you might have blocked the wifi.

Wireless at 2.4ghz does not travel through metal.. Your TV will have a lot of metal in it.. so if the AP is one side and client on the other.. the amount of signal is going to drop dramatically. Wireless remember at microwave travels in dead straight lines.. it is effectively a 4" pipe. Track the 4" pipe from source.. your TC.. to client.. your computer or ATV or whatever. What is in the way? Metal.. no wifi gets through.. You will then be dependent on picking up reflections.

Walls of course absorb the wifi signal.. thicker and heavier materials.. bricks, concrete absorb more signal than light materials, wood and plasterboard. But the worst is water.. moisture in bricks will kill signal. Add layers of foil insulation and you can block the signal completely.

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