ISP says computer to blame for slow internet

[F5ing]

The ping test says that I'm not pingable.

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

 

[kiddo]

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?

 

[kiddo]

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?

 

[gregrocker]

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

 

[kiddo]

I do have some open.

 

[F5ing]

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.

 

[kiddo]

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?

 

[Archer1978]

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

 

[kiddo]

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?

 

[F5ing]

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

Yes, looks like you have plenty of room.

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

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.

 

[kiddo]

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

Good point. Well, I bought the Intel NIC with the most reviews. It came with free shipping (4-7 days) at least. I could always just send it back if it doesn't fix my situation.

 

[F5ing]

Sounds good. Post back when you're ready!!

 

[kiddo]

I'm back and I wish I had good news to share. Sadly, the new NIC didn't fix my problem. What a gigantic bummer! I was really hoping that it would be a hardware issue.

 

[chev65]

This problem seems kind of strange to me. Have you tried clearing the cmos on this machine?

 

[kiddo]

No, I haven't. I've only changed the boot order in Bios but then I changed it right back. I haven't made any other changes.

 

[chev65]

No, I haven't. I've only changed the boot order in Bios but then I changed it right back. I haven't made any other changes.

Seems like that is one of the few options left at this point. I've seen this fix networking problems in the past.

It would help to take note of any special settings that bios is using before clearing the cmos so you can set them back to how they were.

 

[kiddo]

What I find strange about my situation is that my speed was slow from the very beginning. I tested my speed only a few days of upgrading to Win7. In between that time, all I did was install programs and transfer files from my external hard drives. I wish I had a speed test from day one of upgrading to Win7 just to see if there was a big difference.

I guess if clearing the cmos will somehow help me, I'll give it a shot later when I come back home.

 

[kiddo]

Okay, I've read up on how to clear the CMOS and I found that the easiest way to do it is inside BIOS. Is there anything that I should know before doing this? Like maybe what not to do? Or is it fool proof?

 

[F5ing]

I thought that speed test you did after installing was twice as fast as what you're getting now. Am I wrong about that?

 

[F5ing]

Re-read the last line in chev65's last post: http://www.sevenforums.com/network-...mputer-blame-slow-internet-2.html#post2014801

I usually take a camera and grab a quick pic of each screen I think would be useful.