Off-Topic

I live with 3 roommates and we all share a single router - my router. It's connected to everything including 2 PS3's, 2 360's, 5 PC's, and a half dozen phones/handhelds. 
  
Now, I have no problem sharing the router and it has been working pretty good for half a year, but recently my net has been painfully slow (I'm talking 0.32mbps) even though I'm using an ethernet cable running directly to the router. I finally got fed up (couldn't even check my email) so I plugged my PC directly into the modem and got a substantial speed boost of about 3.5mbps.  
 
So here's the thing. I can't live with my net being so slow but I also can't afford a second router since I just spent all the remaining money in my bank account on ridiculously expensive texbooks yesterday (also I really don't want to own a second router). All my roommates have modems in their rooms, but no wifi (and most of us use wifi). Also they're not very keen on buying a second router.
 
So here's my dilemma. Should I put my foot down and say that I want the use of my router exclusively for myself and probably start a big argument  (we just came out of a pretty significant fight and I'd rather not deal with that again) or avoid any confrontation and just change the router name/pass then say the router is broken. I realize it my property and I should be able to do whatever I want with it, but I can't help feeling guilty about the whole situation since I'm leaning towards option B. 
 
Edit: Crap, this was supposed to be in Off-Topic. If one of the mods could be so kind to move it...

Sounds like someone is hogging all the bandwidth. You sure one of your roomies doesn't just have some torrents going?

Oh, please. I don't download stuff and my 15Mbps high speed broadband is running at a meager .23Mbps. I am actually burning my AT&T data plan as I post solely because my standard broadband is far too slow. They're allegedly dispatching technicians, but they'll probably never come.
 
I don't think you have a router problem. Your internet's probably just clogged by an insane amount of data transfer. Perhaps you should either:
1. Tell your roommates (and yourself) to stop downloading so much
2. Get a faster ISP

Have everyone chip in for another. 

@Hamz: That was the original plan after we all moved in, but a month later and nothing happening (and me being tired of asking) I just got fed up and bought one.  
 
@Nikral said:

" Sounds like someone is hogging all the bandwidth. You sure one of your roomies doesn't just have some torrents going? "

That was actually my first thought but they all said no. 
  
@Aus_azn:  The only thing I download is podcasts, and my roommates aren't exactly tech-savvy. We do stream Netflix a lot though... Also my ISP it tied directly to my rent so even if I wanted to, I wouldn't be able to change it or upgrade. 

@Enigma777 Next time your internet is slow put a password on the router, check to see if your speeds have increased, if it does......someone is downloading 
if it's still the same....move onto figuring out what to do about a new router.  Then just simply put it back to normal and if anyone asks you were testing something or you don't know.
 
Are your other roomies saying it's slow?  
Also depending on your router firmware you might be able to check where all your bandwidth is going.   
 
You said you plugged in directly to the modem, I assume you had to disconnect the router and you only got 3.5mbps boost....thats not that much for 4 people. I'd be considering upgrading your internet speed if the router isn't broken.

A second router's not going to change anything.  Something to keep in mind: wireless bandwidth is cut in half (exponentially) every time there's a new wireless device.  This isn't the case for wired connections.  So, if you have a ton of wireless connections, the amount of bandwidth each device gets becomes smaller and smaller. 

It has nothing to do with your router, I'd suggest looking in to getting a sort of bandwidth limiter for your network or some such.
 
And yeah, talk to them and figure out who's using the most bandwidth.  Tell them to stop DLing so much pr0n and you'll be fine.  Also apparently the word "pr0n" does not register as a grammatical mistake.

They have modems in their rooms?  They should just use a wired connection then, and be grateful of the free router usage for so long.  Worsecase they should just pool their money together for another router or whatever they need.  Geez, a good router can be had for around $60.

You can get a router for like $30-40. Get a job? What is your living arrangement that you have multiple modems?

@notsonic said:

" You can get a router for like $30-40. Get a job? What is your living arrangement that you have multiple modems? "

Sounds like a dorm to me. I lived in one and everyone had their own modem in their room.
 
Also, I would put my foot down and make 'em buy their own.

What router do you have? With custom firmware or on some stock firmwares you can configure "Quality of Service" settings (sometimes just QoS). My firmware lets me assign bandwidth dynamically to keep things fair for both my roommate and I.

Can't you set up a router to log all the different connections and what they are accessing? I'm not sure if you can or not but I swear I've heard a story of someone doing this to catch a roommate they suspected of downloading unsavory videos starring children(if ya get my drift). Might be at least worth looking into.

@LiquidPenguins said:

" What router do you have? With custom firmware or on some stock firmwares you can configure "Quality of Service" settings (sometimes just QoS). My firmware lets me assign bandwidth dynamically to keep things fair for both my roommate and I. "

It's a Lynksys WRTG54G2. I was actually looking at the Router setting and I saw QoS but I didn't know what it was. I will certainly give it a shot!