Windows 7: ISP says computer to blame for slow internet

Odd. Don't recall ever seeing that. Check out a test from dslreports.

Clicking on test anyway gives me this alert: Turing tested you were found wanting.

I also didn't see MSE under "How to become pingable."

I might be able to go buy that NIC today. I plan on going to my local Best Buy. Are there any brands that I should steer clear from?

Nevermind, Best Buy doesn't sell NICs in the store. I guess I'll just buy it from Newegg. Are either of these what I need?

Physically open and look at the PCI-express slots to see that you have an open slot and enough room to install it.

I do have some open.

Either of those will work. Reviews on the cheaper one are positive. But I couldn't tell you from experience which ones to steer clear of or which ones I'd recommend. As Greg mentioned, make sure you've got enough room. It appears to be a little longer than I would've expected, and there are a couple of comments about length in some user reviews. It looks as though it may fit; if you had taken the picture from a little further away it would've been a little easier to confirm.

Here's a wider view. I don't the specific size of the NIC but it looks like I have a lot of room. *shrugs*

Is one NIC better than the other in terms of features?

I had almost forgotten to check the BIOS. I couldn't seem to find anything that would make a difference.

Just to make sure, it's not 100% that my problem is hardware related? Correct?

Any NIC would do, even the cheap ones are ok. Your only paying for the brand name in thoses two.

I chose those two because they had 5 eggs. I looked again and choose a few more options with at least 4 eggs and many reviews. The $15 Rosewill NIC had 5 eggs but it's a PCI connection. I read somewhere that PCI express is better. Does it matter?

PCI is the older standard, and I only see PCI-express slots on your motherboard anyway.

Yes, looks like you have plenty of room.

No, not 100%. But after trying two different OS's and getting the same speeds certainly seems to point there. That's why I asked if you could get hold of a NIC just for testing.

You might check if there are any small computer repair shops in your area. I've got a few around me where I could pick up a used NIC for about $2 or $3.