Suddenly very slow download speeds

[wd0d]

A week ago I began experiencing very slow, I should say extremely slow
download speeds. During the past week I have:

defraged my hard drive

updated and run Spybot S & D

Downloaded and run BitDefender (I was previously running Symantec
which I uninstalled)

Downloaded and run Windows Defender

Done a safe boot with networking and checked speeds, download still
very low

Disconnected the ethernet cable from this machine and plugged my
laptop into the ethernet cable. This showed great speeds)

Checked the speeds under both IE7 and Firefox

Run the speed checks with all other computers on my lan off

Turned off windows firewall

Used a system restore point from a week earlier

Delete all internet files and folders in history, temp, cookies, etc.

I am running:

Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2 (build 2600) Gateway E-4600
4000762
2.00 gigahertz Intel Pentium 4
8 kilobyte primary memory cache
256 kilobyte secondary memory cache
Bus Clock: 100 megahertz
BIOS: Intel Corp. GB85010A.15A.0046.P13.0108201551 08/20/2001
82.17 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
45.66 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space
512 Megabytes Installed Memory

This info from a Belarc analysis.

I have a Comcast cable modem with a linksys wireless router. Both
other laptops on the lan have good download and upload speeds.

My upload speed is very good. My download speed is below 100 kbs
sometimes below 28kbs.

If I had to guess, there is something that is basically funneling my
downloads through a narrow pipeline, but I can't figure out what it
is.

Any suggestions on how to proceed would be greatly appreciated.

wd0d

 

[melvin cotterill]

Can you try by passing the wireless router by connecting your machine
directly into the Comcast modem?

 

[wd0d]

I could do that, however by connecting my laptop to the ethernet cable
that my desktop uses to connect to the router, I was able to get cable
modem download speeds on the laptop. That convinced me that the
problem was not isp, cabling, or router/modem caused. It seems to be
something in the desktop machine that is slowing down the download
speeds. Upload speeds are right on the mark for this cable modem.

I will try your suggestion however, to make sure that the router is
not singling out my desktop for "special" treatment.

Thanks.

wd0d

 

[wd0d]

Melvin,

You're a genius! Connecting directly to the cable modem got my
download speeds up to where they are supposed to be. Now the $64
question is, what is the router doing to my desktop connection to slow
the speeds down so much?

wd0d

 

[melvin cotterill]

I am pleased that this is helped. to solve your problem. It seems as if the
next best thing to do is try to get hold of another wireless router to try
in place of yours. If you do not have a friend to borrow one from your next
best bet is to buy on eBay. No, I do not own any stock in eBay, it just
happens to be an economical source of computer gear that I use from time to
time. And no, I am not a genius, rather I am just another guy who frequents
these newsgroups to learn as much as I can from others. Others have helped
me a lot and I try to give back if I can.

Sincerely
Melvin

 

[Gerry]

I am puzzled. Don't you have two ethernet ports on your router? One
should connect to the desktop and the other to your laptop.

--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Ace]

You could start by doing a factory reset on the router and test again.

 

[Allan]

You could start by doing a factory reset on the router and test again.

At this point it seems worth asking, what model and make of cable
modem/router is it anyway?