Computer Problems

[Eric the Orange]

My internet connection speed is usually between 30-60 Mbps, but for the last two weeks it's been at 11 Mbps and hasn't gone higher. I've thought of several possible causes.

1.) People are hijacking my connection.
I changed the password and the problem still persists.

2.) I have a virus that's using my computer to access the internet.
I have a firewall that doesn't seem to indicate anything is going on. And my virus scan isn't picking up anything.

3.) My internet provider is having troubles.
It's possible, but usually they fix things like this pretty quickly.


So I ask you more computer savvy escapists, what other thing could be the cause of this?

 

[Thaius]

Do you have Vista? That would explain a lot...

 

[grimsprice]

Do you have Vista? That would explain a lot...

Please, thats a very flamable comment. We don't want that sort of thing here.

OT: If you don't have a virus, and no one is jacking your nets, then i'd say your ISP needs to be called.

 

[Dragon_of_red]

Did you just run out of downloads? i do that occasionally, only for a few days though

 

[ViolentlyHappy91]

My internet connection speed is usually between 30-60 Mbps, but for the last two weeks it's been at 11 Mbps and hasn't gone higher. I've thought of several possible causes.

1.) People are hijacking my connection.
I changed the password and the problem still persists.

2.) I have a virus that's using my computer to access the internet.
I have a firewall that doesn't seem to indicate anything is going on. And my virus scan isn't picking up anything.

3.) My internet provider is having troubles.
It's possible, but usually they fix things like this pretty quickly.


So I ask you more computer savvy escapists, what other thing could be the cause of this?

For wireless, always use a WPA2-PSK key, usually the best in a random Animal and combo of number afterward.

Virus? Unless it's part of a botnet or is dDoSing something, I don't think so. Make sure you do scans with everything though: Spybot, AntiMalware, AntiVirus etc.

Provider? Either call and ask about their bandwidth distribution or check online, even ask about your quota. I can do that with mine, and you should be able to as well.

Other possibilities would be things like a routing problem, windows is dying- Sadly i'm not joking here, I've had it happen multiple times where my connection slows to a crawl, I reinstall Windows and BAM full speed again. - You might also have to clear all your temp files a bit more often. Run through everything you can think of...ALSO! ipconfig /release and ipconfig /renew are great commands, they come in real handy...restart the router before you do them though.

 

[ma55ter_fett]

call your provider, if they give you guff threaten to switch to a diffrent provider.

 

[Thaius]

Do you have Vista? That would explain a lot...

Please, thats a very flamable comment. We don't want that sort of thing here.

Sorry: I figured the sticking tongue out smiley made it obvious that I was just kidding. My bad.

 

[Gruthar]

My internet connection speed is usually between 30-60 Mbps, but for the last two weeks it's been at 11 Mbps and hasn't gone higher. I've thought of several possible causes.

1.) People are hijacking my connection.
I changed the password and the problem still persists.

2.) I have a virus that's using my computer to access the internet.
I have a firewall that doesn't seem to indicate anything is going on. And my virus scan isn't picking up anything.

3.) My internet provider is having troubles.
It's possible, but usually they fix things like this pretty quickly.


So I ask you more computer savvy escapists, what other thing could be the cause of this?

Been torrenting/downloading a lot lately? Your ISP may be throttling you.
Aside from that, it's probably not a hardware/software problem on your end, but it's easily verified by using another computer and/or connecting your PC directly to the modem (assuming you're on a router.)

If all computers on your connection are getting that speed, then it's probably something going down with your ISP, at which point I would call them. It may be they're doing maintenance or upgrades on their network, it could be something has degraded your line signal... these are all things they can check.

Edit: also, how are you measuring your download speed? With an actual test, or just downloads from a particular place?

 

[cleverlymadeup]

ummm it could easily be spyware or something bad hijacking your connection. if the firewall is installed on the pc, some of those pieces of software are smart enough to bypass the firewall.

i'd suggest running a good virus/spyware/malware scan on it

 

[Veylon]

Do you have DSL? If so, you might have noise on the line. My internet was terribly slow until I discovered that whoever wired my phone lines (I just moved in), didn't put things together right. It was just good enough to barely allow a connection, so for weeks I thought the problem was the ISP, or the phone company. Check out your SNR Margin and Attenuation and see if there isn't static on the line. Who knows? Maybe something came loose.

 

[Eric the Orange]

also, how are you measuring your download speed? With an actual test, or just downloads from a particular place?

well it says 11.0 Mbps when I check my internet connection. But like videos here, or youtube, or blip.tv, or where ever are loading really slowly. I usually have to pause the video and wait for it to load half way so it doesn't catch up to it self.

 

[Kaboose the Moose]

also, how are you measuring your download speed? With an actual test, or just downloads from a particular place?

well it says 11.0 Mbps when I check my internet connection. But like videos here, or youtube, or blip.tv, or where ever are loading really slowly. I usually have to pause the video and wait for it to load half way so it doesn't catch up to it self.

You can try and gauge your download/upload speeds using this [http://www.speedtest.net/] (simply run the speed test). It'll also create a graph where you can compare your results to the ISP average.

As to why the sudden change in download speeds, I don't know. Did you change ISP's, routers or operating systems?.