Deathly Slow Internet?

[Denvers Dawgs]

My friend has Comcast Broadband Internet, and it takes for ever for websites to fully load, and don't even think about opening more then one browser at a time cause then I won't get to see any sites til HELL FREEZES over, why is this? It's really sad how long it takes. It's been like this since forever, but it really is bothering him now. He is running his internet through a d-link router (DI-604) if that helps anyone with any ideas?

Comp Info:

Dell Dimension 4100

Win 98 SE 4.10.2222A

x86 family 6 model stepping 3

128MB RAM

Processor: Intel 82815

He has Ad-aware SE (spyware finding program) and he actively removes spyware on an everyother day basis. I also has comcast internet, and my computer flies. It is a pentium 4 with 396mb RAM, so that may have something to do with it. Is there anyway to speed up his internet. If they're both broadband (homes are about 5 miles apart) then why is his so much slower?

[studtrooper]

First, tell him to go to a bandwidth test site (google it) and get his download/upload/ping speeds. Then, go look at your friend's broadband subscription terms and see if they match. If they don't match, tell Comcast to get someone the hell over there and fix it. My guess is that your friend signed up for the seemingly delightful "300k" plan. While that sounds like 300KB (kilobytes), it really is 300kb (kilobits), which equates to a horrific (well, for broadband) 37.5KB per second. Still, even with that speed sites should load up pretty damn quick. You want to see slow? Try living in the middle of rural Oregon with Dial-Up as your only internet option. You've experienced no pain like connecting at 26.4k and downloading on average 6MB a hour...

[gitreel]

Is he connecting by usb or ethernet?

Ethernet is faster.

You also gotta realize that with cable, you are sharing the bandwidth with whoever else uses cable interner in you area. He may have other neighbors that have the service and maybe hogging the bandwidth.

[studtrooper]

Is he connecting by usb or ethernet?

Ethernet is faster.

USB 2.0 is faster than 10/100 ethernet... Anyway, assuming he has a USB 1.1 modem, that depends on his max download and upload speeds. It is possible that he isn't even saturating the 1.1 limit (which escapes me at the moment)...

[gitreel]

Is he connecting by usb or ethernet?

Ethernet is faster.

USB 2.0 is faster than 10/100 ethernet... Anyway, assuming he has a USB 1.1 modem, that depends on his max download and upload speeds. It is possible that he isn't even saturating the 1.1 limit (which escapes me at the moment)...

I know that but he did not say 2.0.

read the rest of my post.

[gitreel]

USB 1.1 has two speeds.

12Mb per sescond for disk drives , 1.5 Mb per second for slower devices.

The other neighbors is the area may be hogging the bandwidth. Cable internet is shared, DSL is not.

[thecoalman]

He has Ad-aware SE (spyware finding program) and he actively removes spyware on an everyother day basis

Is he finding spyware evertime he uses adaware? If so he's not getting rid of it, he's just disabling it until he reboots. A lot of those spyware programs hide in the registry and elsewhere and are hard for the spyware programs to remove.

Have him run Adaware, clean whatever it finds. Reboot then run it again immediatley after reboot. If he's still infected try another app such as Spybot. Some of them have to be manually removed or have specific programs to do so.

[Jayhawk]

The comments about cable internet are correct, it is shared with those on the same "drop path" but I know Roadrunner monitors their drops and can "dial it up" if it's saturated. Only Internet bandwidth is shared, not TV bandwidth. Assuming he doesn't have a lower plan of service than yours, one way to tell about saturation is to try speed tests like this one:
http://us.mcafee.com/root/speedometer/default.asp
at off hours (1AM or 2AM) when most of the neigbors are asleep. A "nicked" cable can also cause huge packet retries also as can old out-dated filters (traps) in your neighborhood cable box. Need a service call for either one of those.

Once again I agree with thecoalman (getting to be a habit). I believe the problem may be Spyware / Adware that is not being completely removed. I find turning off Restore and running AdAware and Spybot in safe mode is usually a good start. A complete virus scan with updated detection files should be done first. Is you friend running a software firewall. There are good ones and bad ones.

[ViRaL1]

You may have already done this but, first you probably want to completely clear out the browser cache and history. Also, try unplugging the modem from the wall for about 3-5 min and letting it reset (you might want to copy all the login settings from the router before you do this just to be safe). Sometimes not only will this fix an existing issue, but there can be speed upgrades that are offered that don't take effect until the modem is reset.

[makntraks]

You may have already done this but, first you probably want to completely clear out the browser cache and history. Also, try unplugging the modem from the wall for about 3-5 min and letting it reset (you might want to copy all the login settings from the router before you do this just to be safe). Sometimes not only will this fix an existing issue, but there can be speed upgrades that are offered that don't take effect until the modem is reset.

Or you could say screw it... my ISP sucks

makntraks

p.s. unplug and renew...

[redwudz]

I've had problems with my cable modem on occasion, just checked, 3454kbps down, 454kbps up. Better than usual.

First check your speed. I like Broadband reports. http://www.broadbandreports.com/stest This will give you a start.

As mentioned, unplug your cable modem from power for a couple of minutes. Works wonders at times.

Unplug your router next for the same time. You won't lose settings. (D-Link 704)

Check speed again. If still slow, take your router out of the loop and check again, may be a router setting.

If still slow, go into 'Control Panel'>'Network connections'> Right click on your 'Local Area Connection' > 'Repair'. This has worked several times for me. It resets the connection. Especially important to do after unplugging the modem and router.

If all this doesn't work, you have no choice but to call the ISP help personnel. They generally frown on routers, so it would be good to bypass it when you call them.

Some ISP cable companies don't guarantee speeds, find out if they do and what the agreement is.

My speed was down to 768 down and 256 up and DSL came to our area. Great incentive for the cable companies. The speed went up to 3000 down within a week.

Good luck!

[IAIHMB]

Is his computer slow in general? Ask him how many enabled startup processes he has (Start -> Run -> MSCONFIG -> Startup Tab.) As for spyware, have him get Bazooka Adware and Spyware Scanner 1.12 from http://www.download.com/, not only does it scan instantly but it gives you all of the files and registry keys that need to be removed for the spyware to be gone.

[themichael]

Try using the AnalogX app called ITR Client. www.analogx.com

Do a trace to msn.com or yahoo.com, I ended up going through a router with a 2000ms delay (thats 2 seconds!!!) I've reset the modem to get a new IP address but it won't switch!

[iooi]

My friend has Comcast Broadband Internet, and it takes for ever for websites to fully load,?

Try doing this test Here and see what results he gets....
Could be a mtu/rwin issue.

[indolikaa]

This really sounds like spyware/adware/malware. I'd run both Spybot and Ad-aware, and post a screen shot of what Spybot finds.

There might be a particularly virulent spyware prog hiding in there.

[Denvers Dawgs]

i've run both spybot & ad-aware and deleted all the files that needed to go. Still slow though.

I ran 3 seperate bandwith tests and heres what I got for my friends comp:

688 Kbps
781.6 Kbps
766.9 Kbps

Ran the same test on my comp. (Both are using comcast internet)

18630.1 Kbps

Thats a 1100kps difference? Houses are 6miles apart. Does that sound wierd?

[IAIHMB]

Ideas:
-Check his cables, if one is damaged that can kill his speed.
-Make sure his browser isn't reflecting off of a proxy server.

If all else fails call the cable company and have them give a look at his bandwidth.

[ThomasW]

You should contact Comcast, check his service and checkout his out his PC

I have Comcast in Denver and late last winter they doubled the download speeds. Here's the results of a DSL reports speed test just before I posted here. This is with an Ethernet connection through a router/switcher with both hardware and software firewalls enabled.

2004-09-12 00:29:21 EST: 3074 / 236
Your download speed : 3148010 bps, or 3074 kbps.
A 384.2 KB/sec transfer rate.
Your upload speed : 241901 bps, or 236 kbps.

Your friend should get 512 megs of RAM and upgrade to WinXP. A faster processor wouldn't hurt either.

Go into IE > tools > Internet options >Connections>LAN settings. make sure nothing is checked.

Also try bypassing the router and plug the modem directly into the PC then check the speeds.

Finally get a copy of SpyBot S&D it does things Ad-Ware can't do. There's no reason to remove spyware on a daily basis. That means he's not getting it removed in the first place