Ok, to begin, let me squash a common mistake. Signal Strength has NOTHING to do with how fast you download or upload. It merely says how strong the signal is coming in. So long as that signal is above 10-15% (below usually means brief or full disconnects) you are connected to that signal. That is all. Being connected to that signal (and that is the key term) doesn't dictate your download speed. It simply means you are connected to that signal, which is coming in at a certain percentage. So, if you were connected at 20% one day, and 100% the next, you would still download at the same speed.
K, so next you said that you were WEP protected. Chances are then that no one is leeching off of your connection slowing you down. Depending on what type of connection you are using, there are a few possible reasons why you may be having a slower than normal connection. If you are connected to a cable service provider, that type of service is a shared connection in your area, and can suffer from overusage in your area. That however is usually not very detectable as a certain amount of bandwidth is alloted and calculated for such losses. The difference between your normal time usage and peak time usage, is usually only between 1-1.5k (thousand) bits per second. While that sounds like alot of loss, most cable internet providers have a cap of 7mpbs nationwide and you should still be over 4kbps even during peak usage which is still pretty darn fast. DSL speeds vary on the distance to the nearest hub. In order to get the best performance out of DSL, you need to be within about a 5 mile radius of the nearest hub. The further you go out of their prime zone, the slower a connection you are going to have. But, it should remain constant and not vary due to the usage of others in your neighborhood like cable. So if you are getting a slower connection than normal, and are connected via DSL, something else is causing the problem.
Most of the time when someone has a slower connection, it's because they haven't cleared their temp folders/cookies, etc in quite awhile, or, the modem and router need to be reset. When you get a chance, go to this link and click on their recommended server for your area. Cable connections should be anywhere between 3k-7k (as an average) and dsl should be anywhere between 300-800 (again, that's a normal average) and post your results. Speedtest.net
Test it once not making any kind of changes to your internet connection. Then, take the wire that supplies your internet that goes from your wall to your modem and plug it straight into the computer. If you get a faster connection that way, unplug all the wires from your modem and router and plug them back in the correct order as it's your modem/router that need to be "reset".
1. Unplug all your wires and power cords from both your modem and router (including router to and other wired pc connections) and restart your computer. Once your computer is back on, do the following.
2. After the computer comes back on, plug in the power to your modem. wait 15 seconds.
3. Plug in the internet wire coming from your wall, back into your modem. Wait 15 seconds.
4. Plug in the wire that goes from your modem to your router on the modem side only. Do not plug in the opposite end into the router just yet.
5. Plug in the power to your router and wait 15 seconds.
6. Now plug in the wire that was coming from your modem, back into your router.
7. Connect and other computers that might have been wired from your router.
8. Go online and retest your connection.
If you are still having problems after doing what was listed above, post your speedtest results from speedtest.net and we'll see if we can help you out a bit more. There are all sorts of tests you can run, to check your pings, hops, and all sorts of other fun stuff.
****Please note*****
If you feel uncomfortable doing any of the listed above, please call your internet service provider and tell them that you're having problems. They have trained professionals just waiting to help you out.
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