Fiber optic signal loss

Turns out when you sign up for True fiber optics internet, they intentionally give you a high band width.  So I was getting 20Mbps to 40 Mbps on my speed test even though my program was 15Mbps down.  I was happy.

1.  I bridged the cable modem wireless router they gave me and added a much better wireless router (I thought).
2.  LAN connection of PC to router.
3.  Still getting 20Mbps or more.  
4.  BUT......Recent speed tests have been running an average of 12Mbps.  
5.  True technician came out.  
6.  His LAN connection to modem; yes about the same 12 Mbps.  
7.  Technician change my connection on the telephone poll to a different port.  
8.  He now was getting 16+.  
9.  Signed in wirelessly on my guest account:  still 16+.  
10.  I was still getting 12.   Why the difference?
11.  I realized he was connected to modem while I was connected to router
12.  Now all my readings before I bought the wireless router said (or implied or I understood it to say?) bridged modem had to be connected to a router and then the PC to router, not the modem.  Never the less, I connected PC to modem
13.  My speed is now 16+

NOTE 1:  Apparently, interjecting the router between the PC and the modem caused about a 4Mbps drop in transfer rate.
NOTE 2:  I did not notice this in the beginning because if I am getting 20Mbps down on a 15Mbps program, how am I to know that the modem was really seeing some 24Mbps and that I was getting the same 4 Mbps loss?

   QUESTION 1:  So a bridged modem can still be via LAN, it just stops transmitting wirelessly???.

   QUESTION 2:  So, obviously not true that a LAN connection can not be made to a bridged router.  So that means a bridged modem still processes the incoming signal in such a way that the PC recognizes it as normal input?  

Questions 1 and 2 are the same question, aren't they?

   QUESTION 3:  Have any of you experienced a speed drop/difference in such a configuration?

   QUESTION 4:  Now that I have the PC connected to the modem, not the router, and the modem is connected to the router, how can I access the router to, say, change passwords on the guest account?  Or do I have to re-connect directly to the router again?

I think a bridged modem provides no NAT (Network Address Translation) and thus doesn’t afford your machine any port stealth protection if connected directly to it.  I would be interested to know your SHIELDS UP port vulnerability test results from GRC.  Sorry I could not provide the web address to GRC dot com.  (New members are not allowed to post external links or emails for 7 days. Please contact the forum administrator for more information.)   

I was not aware of that 7 day probation, so in the spirit of congeniality I will post the link here.

https://www.grc.com/shieldsup

I am very interested in Mike's comments myself about stealth protection and NAT in bridge mode. I recently acquired a fiber-optic connection myself and what he says rings true. My own Shields Up test does not indicate stealth mode and indeed port 80 (HTTP) and port 23 (Telnet) are open to the modem even though my WiFi router, Apple Airport Express, is NAT. A port scan of my systems, however, shows these ports closed but not stealth.

There you go, Mike, just a few more days and you we will see your shinning face   and not your grumpy one   .

-Bill

FYI: All my connections to the internet go through my router -- a Linksys WRT-54GL flashed with Tomato firmware.  A scan on Shields Up of my system's first 1056 TCP ports reveal they are all STEALTH.

Why the Tomato firmware? Does it improve the taste? Does it add tanginess?  

-Bill

Usually, I don't allow any software named for a fruit on my network Bill.    I make an exception for the Tomato firmware (found at tomatousb dot org). It offers so much more than the factory firmware. For instance, I can run my Witopia VPN tunnel right on the router -- not just the PC. It allows me to adjust the output power of the wireless radio transmitter. Additionally, it offers bandwidth usage monitor, more advanced QOS and access restrictions, enables new wireless features such as WDS and wireless client modes, raises the limits on maximum connections for P2P, allows you to run your custom scripts or telnet/ssh in and do all sorts of things like re-program the SES/AOSS button, adds wireless site survey to see your wifi neighbors, and more.

1. a bridged router likely won't transmit wirelessly
2. a bridged router won't really be 'seen' by a PC, it'll just look like a LAN cable to the PC
3. you really shouldn't have any noticeable drop in speed from a bridged router
4. to access the router you Have to connect directly to it again

You must have a settings or hardware issue to get that kind of drop, or it could be an issue with how the speed is monitored. How are you getting your speedtests done?

tomato is great, allows you to get a lot of extra features on your router for free, assuming you don't brick your router (so i don't necessarily recommend tomato or ddwrt for novices).

axel wrote:
4. to access the router you Have to connect directly to it again

I connect to my modem via my router Axel.  I have each device on two different subnets, (router: 192.168.1.1) and (modem: 192.168.2.1).  I have a firewall script on the router with iptables that gets me there.

Code:

ip addr add 192.168.2.2/24 dev vlan1 brd +
iptables -I POSTROUTING -t nat -o vlan1 -d 192.168.2.0/24 -j   MASQUERADE

ya based on his description of the setup and question, i don't see him setting something like that up to access his router; so i'm not going to tell him that he can do something one way if it'll take him a month to work out when he can just pop a cable into his current router.Tech support doesn't always have to be right in the absolute, just right for that person

axel wrote:1. a bridged router likely won't transmit wirelessly
2. a bridged router won't really be 'seen' by a PC, it'll just look like a LAN cable to the PC
3. you really shouldn't have any noticeable drop in speed from a bridged router
4. to access the router you Have to connect directly to it again

You must have a settings or hardware issue to get that kind of drop, or it could be an issue with how the speed is monitored. How are you getting your speedtests done?

tomato is great, allows you to get a lot of extra features on your router for free, assuming you don't brick your router (so i don't necessarily recommend tomato or ddwrt for novices).

********************

Axel,

I am addressing your comments 1-4 + right now because they are easier. I am digesting the others.

1. Assumed this was true when I turned off the wireless in my True Cisco cable modem router to bridge it. While my Kindle Fire HD is very limited (it is the only WIFI H/W I have), it does have an app that sees WIFI sources and it does not see anything from the Cisco.
2. Not sure what you meant about a "bridged router" looking like a LAN cable. The PC can access the Cisco but not the Belkin router. See more on this later.
3. One would think this way, but real life says differently. I do not think it is the cable because I am using the same cable for the Cisco to PC connection and gained 4 Mbps. I have not the faintest idea how the True Tech could get 16 Mbps wirelessly from the Belkin but I got 12 Mbps via LAN cable. But then, life is not always fair in my world.
4. Easy to do.

Speed tests using the standby SPEEDTEST.NET and True's SPEEDTEST.TRUEINTERNET.CO.TH (no www)

TOMATO: A quick read told me it would be easy for me to brick my my Belkin router, so I discarded any immediate use. I will be studying it and thinking over the next month or so. As Mike knows, I tend to tinker and fix things that are not broken just because I can or because it is a new to me process.

*******************
MIKE:

I see my router is on a different subnet than the modem but no script to get me there. As Axel said, I "can just pop a cable". But you know me; when I get bored I will probably start to play with it until I break it.

On the other hand, going back to Tomato, I do not know if I want to, let alone need to, do all the more advanced tasks and functions you described. With my real only use of wireless is to down load books for the Kindle and watch a YouTube video occasionally in another room, it might be a waste of time. Again, though, you are getting me interested in at least learning about this stuff so I won't be embarrassed the next time I go to a meeting.

But first, to go check out my ports with GRC.com and see if my year old set up really worked or not.

Thanks for all the responses; it all helps.

cnxnoise:  Don't worry yourself about flashing your Belkin router with Tomato firmware because you don't have an option to flash it -- Belkin isn't supported.  

Recall a year or so back when you asked me for suggestions on the purchase of a new router?  I only provided you with routers that I would buy, that were available here, and are supported by Tomato.  You bought a Belkin anyway.