COX and TP-Link modem and router

[fakebun]

Hi guys. I'm very frustrated with this situation I'm in and I was hoping you guys can help me out

I have been using AT&T U-verse and in my area only 6Mbps was offered. With 6Mbps at $59 a month I find it too expensive when my CenturyLink at school runs at 40Mbps to roughly $40. I looked at Cox and they have this internet promotion of "up to 15Mbps" for $35. Double the speed for $15 cheaper heck yeah I'll take it. I bought a refurbished Netgear C3000 and plugged it in. My PC is less than 10ft away from my TV (the only cable outlet is behind TV) and the wifi signal is only at "FAIR". speedtest.net only gave me ranging from 1-3Mbps. Also I was having problem with going into router setup so I returned that and got a dedicated cable modem (TP-Link TC-7610) and a router (TP-Link TL-WR841N). I dragged my router out to the front of TV and the wifi signal on my win7 ranges from Fair to Good. Speedtest.net with this combo is now at 3-5 Mbps

Am I really doomed for this crappy speed of 3-5Mbps for this year? Yes technically that speed falls under "UP to" 15Mbps but I would think it should be at least 10.... Could this slow speed also due to the 2-3 bar of wifi signal instead of the 5 bars it should get? I don't understand how the router and TV are less than 10 ft apart can have such reduction in wifi signal. My radio channel is currently set at 1 right now if that helps

Thank you very much!

 

[MtnMan]

I've got charter 60meg, and speed tests usually come in at 65meg. You should get 15 most of the time.

 

[Fardringle]

Is the Windows 7 computer wired to the router or wireless? Try the speed tests on a wired connection to make sure you aren't just getting a slow wireless connection due to interference or other problems.

 

[fakebun]

It's connected through wireless because of the location of the router and pc they are far apart. But my recent speedtest shows I'm at 14-15Mbps so that's good. For some reason browsing websites still feels a little sluggish.