posted
I have DSL. I've had it for about 2 years now, and ever since I got it, I've been like, this seems slow for DSL. It's not really much faster than the old dial-up I had before.
About a week ago, it really slowed down a lot more, and then finally quit working altogether. Right before it quit, I was getting DL speeds of about 32 kbps and UL speeds above 100 ... sometimes as high as 350. Backwards as all get-out.
Tech support at my ISP couldn't help, so sent out an engineer. He brought a laptop, hooked it up to my modem with my cable, and got normal speeds. Right now I'm getting 197 DL and 1215 UL on my PC. The engineer said my DL speed should be about 600-800 kbps and UL should be about 150-300.
I'm running Windows XP, my network card is an SMC EZ card 10/100 PCI. Help!? Is there some kind of setting in my PC I need to adjust? Do I just need a new network card? Does this even make sense to anyone?
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<-- not a computer geek, but has asked for help from many in the past
Boon, do you have any spyware detectors like AdAware or Spybot? When my speed slows down drastically, it usually means it's time to run one of them to clean out the gunk. Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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Rivka's suggestion is a good starting place. However, you also mentioned that the speed has been slow since you started.
With DSL, one possibility is your distance from the phone exchange (where the phone lines connect at the phone company's backbone, basically). If it's near the limit of DSL, which varies depending on the type of DSL, then the speed of your Internet connection will be slow. The most common DSL form is ADSL, which is just an acronym for a type of DSL that can sustain a connection up to 3 miles away from the exchange.
Posts: 1813 | Registered: Apr 2001
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Do you have a friend who could loan you a different ethernet card? If something was wrong with your ethernet card that could cause problems. Also, did he use the same cable as the one you are using to connect to your modem? I'm not sure what your set up is, ie do you have a router or are you plugged right into the modem.
Posts: 872 | Registered: Mar 2002
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Find out if you have any specific settings that your computer should have for the DSL connection, because some DSL lines are particular about them being exactly right. Make sure the correct driver for the hardware is installed. Other than that, I'd have to be sitting at the machine and testing a few things manually to figure out if there's any other problem.
Posts: 779 | Registered: Dec 2003
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Boon
unregistered
posted
1. It's definitely not a virus or anything like that. Hubby runs Ad-Aware and some kind of online scanner by Panda Software regularly.
2. The nerd that came out brought a laptop, unplugged the network cord from the back of my PC and plugged it into his laptop, and got good speeds.
3. Network cable goes from PC to modem, phone line goes from modem to wall. No router, nothing else.
4. Nerd looked at the settings, but I had to leave while he was here. I assume that if they were wrong, he would have told hubby...unless, of course, he didn't know they were wrong.
5. I can't download anything unless you tell me what it is and what it'll do. Sorry, hubby's fairly paranoid.
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Boon
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Oh, and distance is no problem, I've been advised that people that live even further out than I do can get up to 2 meg DSL service. I'm only supposed to get 1.1, so that shouldn't be a problem.
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While it doesn't hurt to check, there's no way adware could be altering her download speeds like that.
Best suggestion is the NIC (the ethernet card). Either borrow one from someone and try it out, or buy one (they can be found for around $10 and are good to have as spares anyways). You shouldn't need to remove the one in place, just put the new one in and use it instead.
Posts: 15770 | Registered: Dec 2001
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Boon
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Reccommend a decent one? I'd like to have it fixed before hubby gets up in about 3 hours.
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Linksys, D-Link, Intel, anything along those lines. Actually, I don't even remember if Intel still makes cards or just chipsets.
Posts: 15770 | Registered: Dec 2001
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quote:While it doesn't hurt to check, there's no way adware could be altering her download speeds like that.
You are very, very wrong.
However, I don't think it's adware that's causing it. I think it's contributing to it.
Boon, no offense, but if you actually go to the links I provided, you will get full explanations for your paranoid husband to read. It's why I provided them.
And as for the settings, whether the kid changed them or noticed them or what, you should have a manual at your home or have a number where they can walk you through checking all the settings.
Posts: 779 | Registered: Dec 2003
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Boon
unregistered
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Okay, the first link is for Ad-Aware, which we already have and Hubby runs regularly. The second is for Spybot, which is very similar to Ad-Aware and the other scanner he runs. Also, he ran another scanner while on the phone with tech support about a week ago.
When you talk about settings, are you talking about all those 165.38.whatever thingies, or something else?
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I'm talking about that in the settings, but more importantly the DNS Servers, PPPOE settings, and your subnet mask.
And the reason I mentioned Spybot is that it, when run regularly along with AdAware (not at the same time, one after the other), you can more effectively keep your machine clean. AdAware finds things Spybot doesn't, and Spybot finds things Adaware doesn't.
Posts: 779 | Registered: Dec 2003
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Not even Gator is a bandwidth hog. You probably have wildy weird MTU settings (unlikely if you're not a tweaker to begin with, but visit dslreports.com just in case), or a network card with a shitty chipset. Intel NICs are quality and ~$10. A poor DNS server (the one pointed to by 123.45.whatever) can make browsing laggy but wouldn't affect download speeds.
[ February 15, 2004, 03:07 PM: Message edited by: Richard Berg ]
Posts: 1839 | Registered: May 1999
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Boon
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Been to dslreports, that's where I do my speed tests. No, it's not tweaked. As far as I can tell, my PC is not infected, and the settings seem good. I'm out the door in a few minutes to go to Walmart for toothpaste and a new network card. Hopefully, this will fix it. Thanks again, and I'll get on later and let you all know if this worked.
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Bleh, I both meant upload speeds and was misreading the number in her post.
*hits head on wall*
Yeah, its quite possibly an MTU or other TCP/IP issue. If I were doing support I'd reset TCP/IP defaults, then if that didn't work remove and reinstall the component, then if that didn't work rip and reinstall the stack.
edit: I probably wouldn't rip and reinstall the stack without sending out a new NIC first. NICs are cheap, and funky TCP/IP stuff can result in stuff that can't be fixed over the phone very easily when ripping it, which means either a tech roll or a computer replace, both of which are preferred to be avoided .
posted
Holy crap! NO DO NOT MESS WITH YOUR MTU SETTINGS! That is an incredibly old and ineffective tweak dating back to Windows 9x. Absolutely useless.
What I was pointing out is that your DNS settings may be causing problems to your transfer speeds. You should check with your ISP and ensure you have the best addresses for that. You also need to make sure all the rest of your settings are taken care of.
And Berg, all it takes is writing a few dubious addresses into the hosts file to screw up a connection. Very similar to the qhosts trojan that was out a while ago.
Boon, please make absolutely sure that before you install a new network card, you uninstall the old one. By all rights, it shouldn't cause problems, but you want to exclude any possible problem by removing the other hardware before installing new hardware.
Posts: 779 | Registered: Dec 2003
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quote:A poor DNS server (the one pointed to by 123.45.whatever) can make browsing laggy but wouldn't affect download speeds.
Bull. It would affect connecting to a domain name, which is where most files are downloaded. Unless you're downloading using the full IP, you will have problems connecting.
Posts: 779 | Registered: Dec 2003
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quote: I'm out the door in a few minutes to go to Walmart for toothpaste and a new network card. Hopefully, this will fix it. ....
Why does Boon need toothpaste to fix her internet problems? Which kind works best? Crest, Aquafresh, or a generic toothepaste? Posts: 4569 | Registered: Dec 2003
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I generally suggest doing the opposite on the network card, leaving the old one in. While there can be a few more problems (making sure your PPPoE connection is using the right NIC, for instance, though that's pretty much resolved on XP), the problems I've had with removing ethernet cards have been much, much bigger problems when they do happen. (this is with probably around a hundred and some instances of each, over the phone). Of course, that's primarily due to two things, old version of windows and a certain particularly crappy line of Compaqs with screwy motherboards and BIOS, so its probably safe in this case.
Either way you shouldn't have many problems, given this is XP and a relatively recent machine (its amazing how many people out there still have 500 MHz machines or lower).
And just to clarify, I wouldn't direcly mess with the MTU settings, just do a reset to the windows defaults of all basic TCP/IP settings (there's a single command that does it, it was a fairly common fix for SBC DSL customers).
Posts: 15770 | Registered: Dec 2001
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<--- has two under-500Mhtz machines (neither the main one)
And yeah, I agree on the Windows default MTUs, since for NICs it's set to pretty much as high as it can go (stably). I've heard of a few issues with wonky 2000 installs on NICs, but those have usually been non-brand-names and something in the background messing with the install somehow. No longer an issue in XP (or 2000 SP3+).
Posts: 779 | Registered: Dec 2003
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quote: And Berg, all it takes is writing a few dubious addresses into the hosts file to screw up a connection. Very similar to the qhosts trojan that was out a while ago.
That would cause random redirects, not hog bandwidth.
quote:Holy crap! NO DO NOT MESS WITH YOUR MTU SETTINGS! That is an incredibly old and ineffective tweak dating back to Windows 9x. Absolutely useless.
I agree, which is why I said it wasn't her problem unless she'd already gone tweaking.
quote:Bull. It would affect connecting to a domain name, which is where most files are downloaded. Unless you're downloading using the full IP, you will have problems connecting.
She complained about poor transfer speeds, not inability to resolve names. A slow DNS server would make browsing (from new uncached site to new uncached site) sluggish, but not affect raw down/uploads. A nonfunctional DNS server would probably prevent her from posting here.
You can never have too many reliable NICs in your closet. Good luck with the replacement.
Posts: 1839 | Registered: May 1999
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And Berg, all it takes is writing a few dubious addresses into the hosts file to screw up a connection. Very similar to the qhosts trojan that was out a while ago. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
That would cause random redirects, not hog bandwidth.
Wrong. It also changes the DNS servers who are used.
quote:She complained about poor transfer speeds, not inability to resolve names. A slow DNS server would make browsing (from new uncached site to new uncached site) sluggish, but not affect raw down/uploads. A nonfunctional DNS server would probably prevent her from posting here.
Once again,
All it takes is to hijack which DNS your computer is resolving to. And no, I don't mean the ISPs DNS server, I mean that all that has to be done is point the DNS lookup to a predetermined server instead of the ISP's.
Why do I think it could be something like this? I don't know that it definitely is, but I know I've been cleaning out qhosts infections from clients since December (almost a dozen cases). While I don't think this is definitely the case, I have taken apart the virus, and I know that the code can easily be used (and has been used) by other, more ubiquitous scripts. This is why I said to double-check the DNS servers, and to make sure that all the settings were as the ISP recommends.
And if she's using IE to browse and download, then a bad DNS server can definitely cause slow downloading.
Posts: 779 | Registered: Dec 2003
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It's probably too late since you said you were going to buy the card. But I think Netgear cards are fairly reliable as well as Linksys and D-link.
Posts: 872 | Registered: Mar 2002
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John is letting his (justifiably extensive) experience with script kiddies obscure the problem at hand. I'm obviously not going to win any sparring matches by talking. Anyone who cares: point your DNS settings to an evil virus server. Redirect google.com to goatse in your hosts file. Enjoy the hilarity, but tell me, does it cause "slow down/uploads?"Posts: 1839 | Registered: May 1999
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I can slow down your downloads by screwing with your DNS settings. If I can do it, then it's not that difficult.
Posts: 779 | Registered: Dec 2003
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Boon
unregistered
posted
Well, I got busy and didn't get around to a trip to Walmart. So hubby took care of it while I was at work.
I have no idea what kind of network card he bought, but I do know he installed it and left the old one in there.
Results: We're now up to 868 DL and still up over 1200 UL. Much, much better DL...but the UL is still wierd. But, since it does nothing but help us, we're not worried about it. I've been told this does bad things to the ISP's servers, but I don't really care too much about that.
Thanks for all the help, guys! I'm now reasonably happy with my transfer rates...now if I could only figure out how to make my laptop wireless instead of having to use dialup on it...
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Actually, you can get both the router and wireless network card for around $120. The linksys version is available in most electronics stores.
Posts: 1813 | Registered: Apr 2001
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