ISP says computer to blame for slow internet

Hello (I hope I have put this in the correct section),

Speed tests have for a long time shown that my internet is not going as fast as what I am paying AT&T. Today, I received a brand new modem (Motorola 3360) and connected it directly to my Dell desktop expecting to get a faster dsl speed (for some reason). I used dslreports to check the speed and found that my internet is still pitifully slow.

I am getting 1248 kbps of download speed, but I am paying AT&T for 6mbps.

I just got off a long call with AT&T and they basically concluded with "take your computer to a technician because there is something wrong with it."

How the agent got to this conclusion: The agent first had me directly connect my sister's laptop (also windows 7) to a phone jack in the living room. We found that the laptop was getting more than 3 mbps. We tried resetting the browser and again we got about 3.7 mbps. The agent told me that 3-6 mbps is what is expected. I then checked the laptop on my bedroom's phone jack (where my desktop is) and in my little sisters room. The speed stayed below 4 mbps. The problem was not the phone jacks apparently. But i was more concerned about my measly 1248 kbps on my desktop. Back on my desktop, I reset the browser but the speed stayed exactly the same. Finally, he had me pull up my modems' info page (192.168.1.254). On the connection info page, he pointed out that it says I'm connected at 6016 kbps (downstream). "You see," he said, "your modem is receiving that speed." I'm not a tech savvy person, so there wasn't much else for me to say. The man said that my computer (and programs) are likely to blame for such slow internet speed. My sister's laptop was going faster afterall.

The agent let me know that AT&Ts tech support could take a look at my computer for $50 and I said no thanks. I'm hoping someone here can help me out.

What can I do to make my connection faster? It really hurts to be paying for 8 mbps and only getting >1 mbps.

About the only thing you can do is make absolutely sure you are using an up to date Windows 7 certified driver for the Ethernet adaptor.

It might also be worth messing with the network adaptors settings in Device Manager, it's hard to say which settings might work best, it usually takes a bit of experimenting.

Some installed third party programs might also be causing problems but the only way to check for that is to uninstall them all one at a time.

Thanks for the reply chev65, my NIC is a Realtek RTL8168C(P)/8111C(P) Family PCI-E. The Win7 Compatibility Center says that it's compatible hardware. It doesn't have a Win7 logo, though. Should I replace it?

I'm unable to find new drivers for it. The driver I have is from 5/14/09.

Another thing that might be worth looking into is the phone line wiring in the building. Do you have one modem that feed them all? Does DSL still need to have filters for the wiring (I think they used to be required for the phone connections, not the modem)?

EDIT: nevermind, just reread the OP and see that you've already tested another machine at that location.

Drivers are available from Realtek here: Realtek

The one you require is the second one listed, Win7 and WinServer 2008 R2 Driver and is version 7.058 dated 2012/5/22

I updated my driver. I then rebooted. The name of the device changed to Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller. I did another speed test. It said my download speed is 1226 Kbps. So, I guess it wasn't the driver?

I'm kind of disappointment. I don't want to delete all my programs. There are so many. Aren't there other options?

How does the computer run otherwise?

Are your new modem and the PC Gigabit Ethernet capable?

If so, try disabling Gigabit speed and see if it works then. I used to have my modem running on Gigabit as well, and every transmission slowed down to below ISDN speed because apparently the cable could not handle the high frequency without introducing too much interference.

I then set my modem to 100MBit/s, while everything faster was "outsourced" to a normal Gigabit switch, and everything ran perfectly again.

kiddo said:

I updated my driver. I then rebooted. The name of the device changed to Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller. I did another speed test. It said my download speed is 1226 Kbps. So, I guess it wasn't the driver?

I'm kind of disappointment. I don't want to delete all my programs. There are so many. Aren't there other options?

Click to expand...

If you can go into Device Manager then to network adaptors, right click on this problem adaptor and choose properties then too the Advanced tab, you should see a setting for speed/duplex settings, instead of Auto Negotiation try the settings for 100mb full or half duplex, check each one and see if the speed changes.

F5ing said:

How does the computer run otherwise?

Click to expand...

I have no real complaints. Programs open pretty quickly. I can have multiple things open and it doesn't get all slow. My issues are usually related to the internet.

chev65 said:

If you can go into Device Manager then to network adaptors, right click on this problem adaptor and choose properties then too the Advanced tab, you should see a setting for speed/duplex settings, instead of Auto Negotiation try the settings for 100mb full or half duplex, check each one and see if the speed changes.

Click to expand...

I tried both full and half duplex and didn't see a difference in the speed. Bummer.

Maybe someone here can spot something useful if you post an ipconfig /all screenshot.

And a shot in the dark might be to try checking/repairing the integrity of protected system files:

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1538-sfc-scannow-command-system-file-checker.html

>sfc /scannow
Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations.

>ipconfig /all
Attached below

In the top section the last line is "WINS proxy enabled". I usually see another line beneath it which is normally "dns suffix search list". Do you see that extra line on the other computers on your network?

It shouldn't matter, but I see your connected both wired and wirelessly. What happens if you disconnect one or the other?

My sister's laptop has says WINS proxy enabled. Next to it says No.

There is a one point difference between my wireless connection and my wired connection. The wireless connection is 1 kbps slower.

I just checked my wired speed 5 times in the last 20 minutes. The first 2 times it was 1226, 3rd and 4th was 941 (depressing), and 5th was 1227.

It never hurts to check for malware. What Antivirus do you use, if any? No matter what AV you use, it wouldn't hurt to do a scan with ESET :: Get a FREE Online Virus Scan.

Another thing you can try is seeing if there is a program on your computer using up your internet bandwith. Open task manager by pressing CTRL+Shift+Esc. From there, go to the Performance tab and click Resorce Moniter. Go to the Network tab and expand the pane that says Network Activity. See if there is anything with a large number under "Total (B/sec)". To give you an idea of what is considered "large", the largest number I see under mine right now is 55.

I have Norton Internet Security. I also use Malwarebytes. Norton does a full scan every four days. It supposed to do a malware scan but I use Malwarebytes for just in case. I ran Malwarebytes on Sunday. It found 1 thing and then deleted it.

The processes keep changing but the ones that continue to be larger are

• svchost.exe (LocalServiceAndNoImpersonation): 300-1000s but usually in the 300s
• svchost.exe (LocalServicePeerNet): 200s
• firefox: 15-30s but sometimes shoots up to the 1000s
• ccsvchst.exe: 200-300s will shoot up to 1000s or not even on the list at all

ccsvhst.exe is part of Norton. svchost are processes that services are bundled into. The two you mention are somewhat high but not bad enough to cause an issue. If you don't mind, can you look in Malwarebytes logs and see if it says exactly what it found on Sunday? Also, you might want to try the ESET online scan as well. It doesn't install anything. It runs from within your browser. Its up to you.

ESET found the following:

• ZugoInstaller.exe
• cnet_audacity-win-1_2_6_exe.exe
• plugin-pdf.php
• asc-setup.exe
• cnet_audacity-win-1_2_6_exe.exe
• FreeYouTubeDownloaderSetup(1).exe
• FreeYouTubeDownloaderSetup.exe

Malwarebytes: Trojan.Agent.CK

All the files found were deleted. I checked my speed afterward and it's still basically the same.

Looks like ESET just removed some old setup files. What Malwarebytes found troubles me. Was that found today or sunday? Please update and rerun MBAM and Norton one more time to make sure all malware has been removed. I'm going to ask some other people if they have any ideas.

kiddo,
One, but not all, of your enemies is most probably Norton.

Can you 100% disable Norton and make a speed test? Afterwards, you can re-enable.

I do not think that your problem is hardware.

I think your problem is software.

With that in mind, then please:

Install CCleaner:
CCleaner - PC Optimization and Cleaning - Free Download

list of STARTUP PROGRAMS

CCleaner | Tools icon | Startup button | Windows tab |
click on Save to text file button (bottom right side) |
accept Startup.txt as file name | SAVE button

list of SCHEDULED TASKS

CCleaner | Tools icon | Startup button | Scheduled Tasks tab |
click on Save to text file button (bottom right side) |
enter Scheduled Tasks as File name | Save button

List of INSTALLED PROGRAMS

CCleaner | Tools icon | Uninstall button |
click on Save to text file button (bottom right side) |
accept install.txt as File name | Save button


UPLOAD, as an attachment, the startup.txt file
UPLOAD, as an attachment, the Scheduled Tasks.txt file
UPLOAD, as an attachment, the install.txt file.

HOW TO UPLOAD
Post a File or Screenshot in Seven Forums