Slow broadband speed on Win 7 Home Premium


  1. Posts : 5
    Windows 7 Home Premium 32 bit
       #1

    Slow broadband speed on Win 7 Home Premium


    In the last 6 months I wiped my hard drive on an older Dell computer (used to have Win 98!) and did a clean install of Win 7 Home Premium. This is one computer on a network of 3 all going through a wired Belkin router but I'm getting 18 mbps on the other two computers and only 3 mbps on this computer as tested on speedtest.net. The other two computers are running Windows Vista. I've switched cables to eliminate that as a potential problem but nothing changed. AVG is my virus protection but I do not have the firewall activated with that program. Windows firewall is activated. As far as I can tell this computer runs perfectly otherwise....just slow internet speeds.

    Any suggestions on how to troubleshoot this?
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 9,746
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit sp1
       #2

    If this computer was of the Windows 98 vintage it is fairly old & may not really be capable of running Windows 7 properly.
    Did you check if it was compatible beforehand.
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 4,049
    W7 Ultimate SP1, LM19.2 MATE, W10 Home 1703, W10 Pro 1703 VM, #All 64 bit
       #3

    Did you also install the latest drivers for your Network Interface Card (NIC)?
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 5
    Windows 7 Home Premium 32 bit
    Thread Starter
       #4

    Ranger 4 - I did check the resource requirements for loading Windows 7 and this cpu has more than enough to handle the new operating system. And like I mentioned in my 1st post it is operating just fine in every other way....it is just my internet speed that is a problem.

    lehnerus2000 - yes I have checked for updated drivers for my network interface card and it says I have the latest driver.

    Both good suggestions, thanks!
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 9,746
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit sp1
       #5

    Is your Belkin router connected to this computer via a USB cable. If so this computer may have USB version 1.0 which would certainly limit the speed.
    This Wikipedia website supplies details of USB versions, when they were released & the sort of speed that might be expected from them.

    USB - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 4,049
    W7 Ultimate SP1, LM19.2 MATE, W10 Home 1703, W10 Pro 1703 VM, #All 64 bit
       #6

    Uninstall Device


    Another thing you could try is to totally uninstall the NIC and let Windows reinstall it again:

    1. Locate it in the Device Manager
    2. Right click on it and select Uninstall in the Context Menu
    3. Make sure that you select "Delete the driver software for this device"
    4. Restart Windows

    Slow broadband speed on Win 7 Home Premium-delete-device.png
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 5
    Windows 7 Home Premium 32 bit
    Thread Starter
       #7

    Ranger 4 - My router is totally connected with ethernet cables

    lehnerus2000 - I'll try deleting and reinstalling the NIC. Thanks
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 5
    Windows 7 Home Premium 32 bit
    Thread Starter
       #8

    lehnerus2000,

    That worked! I uninstalled the NIC and rebooted. Windows picked it up and installed a driver and I just checked my speed. It has gone from 3 mbps to 18 mbps! What I don't understand is that I had already checked for an updated driver for the card and windows told me I had the most current driver. Can you explain to me what happened and how it changed?
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 4,049
    W7 Ultimate SP1, LM19.2 MATE, W10 Home 1703, W10 Pro 1703 VM, #All 64 bit
       #9

    Install Glitch?


    sn72 said:
    lehnerus2000,

    That worked! I uninstalled the NIC and rebooted. Windows picked it up and installed a driver and I just checked my speed. It has gone from 3 mbps to 18 mbps! What I don't understand is that I had already checked for an updated driver for the card and windows told me I had the most current driver. Can you explain to me what happened and how it changed?
    Glad to hear that my suggestion was helpful. :)

    I'm not sure why that trick works.
    I assume that the driver install glitched (at some point during the process).
    In your case, it obviously succeeded in changing your driver version number though.

    Remember to make a system backup image now that everything is working.

    Tutorials
    Backup Complete Computer - Create an Image Backup
    Imaging with free Macrium
      My Computer


  10. Posts : 5
    Windows 7 Home Premium 32 bit
    Thread Starter
       #10

    Thanks!
      My Computer


 

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