Bad connection

[Sean O'Gorman]

So I'm on the computer that the rest of my family uses and I'm trying to figure out why they are having problems, as usual.

It is a 667 Celeron that was virtually useless until I bought 128MB RAM and Win XP Pro for it, and removed dozens of viruses, spyware, etc. Of course a week later it was back to being crap. I have no clue what they do to this computer when my brothers do little more than IM and download music (Limewire or Kazaa K++).

It has wireless connection, the router is the floor below in my room, but my computer is wired. I get 2000 down/500 up, they get 130-180ish down, 500 up. I tried using Dr. Ping or whatever it is called, but it hasn't made a different. It suggests to "become pingable" but I can't do it since it requires a user name and a password to be entered in and I (or anyone else, apparently) have no idea what it is.

So basically what I'm asking is why is it downloading so slow, but uploading normal?

[Methanolandbrats]

You're having problems because it's a POS. Throw it in the trash.

[Sean O'Gorman]

You're having problems because it's a POS. Throw it in the trash.

:laugh:

I think the reason my dad bought me that laptop for my graduation is to guilt me into giving them my computer to use instead. Other than the fact that it seems to take 5 minutes for everything to be settled after you log in, my 3 year old Gateway still does everything perfectly. :saywhat:

[RusH]

replace the motherboard, the processer, the hard drive, the sound card and video card. Oh, also the NIC.
yup that should do it.

[indyfan31]

I think XP pro might be a bit too much for a 667 Celeron but nevertheless, what WiFi standard is it using, a, b or g?

[racer2c]

Sounds like it's due for a reformat.

[Sean O'Gorman]

I think XP pro might be a bit too much for a 667 Celeron but nevertheless, what WiFi standard is it using, a, b or g?

The thing is, when I'm logged in on it, everything runs fine and smooth except downloading. I can run multiple applications, play games, music, etc. It is just the download speed that is severely lagging. I don't know WTF they do wrong although usually 1-3 user accounts are logged in at the same time so maybe that is draining the memory.

The puzzling thing is, a year ago when I installed WinXP, it was downloading at the same speed it does on my computer.

And it is b. I have to buy a wireless router to bring to work so I can log on from the laptop, so I was thinking of buying a g one and bringing the old b one to work, which I'm assuming means I'd have to buy a g card for this one too.

[Mr. Vengeance]

dsl reports: tweak test (http://www.dslreports.com/tweaks)

I changed the RWIN setting on mine and it sped things up HUGE. Good luck.

[dando]

Sounds like it's due for a reformat.
Yup. If dld is slower than upld, I would assume that there's an issue with r/w to the disk. I recommend running some disk utils to defrag and/or correct bad sectors.

-Kevin

[Sean O'Gorman]

Well apparently it isn't a computer issue but instead is a network issue. The new laptop just showed up and I just connected it to the Internet and it is pulling the same slow speeds.

Would upgrading to to g-wireless improve things? Is it an issue of having 4 wireless phones around the house?

[racer2c]

Well apparently it isn't a computer issue but instead is a network issue. The new laptop just showed up and I just connected it to the Internet and it is pulling the same slow speeds.

Would upgrading to to g-wireless improve things? Is it an issue of having 4 wireless phones around the house?

G is much faster than B. I stream DVD movies over a G wireless router. You can't do that with a B.

[Sean O'Gorman]

That is what I figured. I need to buy a router anyway to run wireless at work so I might as well put the g router at home and the b one at work.

But is there interference from the cordless phone that is causing such slow d/l speeds on both computers?

[KLang]

But is there interference from the cordless phone that is causing such slow d/l speeds on both computers?

If the phones are the 2.4ghz variety they can cause a problem. I recently changed our cordless phones at home to the 5.8ghz style for that reason although I'm not really certain they ever caused problems with the wi-fi.

[JoeBob]

Your connection to the Internet is probably slower than either 802.11b or 802.11g, so I doubt the protocol is the issue with the downloads from the Internet. 802.11b is capable of up to 11MBps, 5.5Mbps, 2Mbps, and 1MBps - depending on the quality of the signal.

If you're going through a lot of walls, or over a long distance, you might be getting one of the lower speeds. Windows will tell you how fast its connection is - if it is low, you might need to put a range extender in or move the router to a more central location. Remember, you don't need the fastest speed - you just need one faster than your Internet connection.

It could also be the phones - every now and then, my cordless phone picks the same channel as my wireless network. The interference just disconnects the network until I find a channel that doesn't interfere.

If you're getting good numbers from the wireless connection, your problem is elsewhere - either your ISP or your cable/dsl modem.

What type of Internet connection do you have? If you have a DSL or Cable Modem, have you rebooted it lately?

[racer2c]

Your connection to the Internet is probably slower than either 802.11b or 802.11g, so I doubt the protocol is the issue with the downloads from the Internet. 802.11b is capable of up to 11MBps, 5.5Mbps, 2Mbps, and 1MBps - depending on the quality of the signal.

If you're going through a lot of walls, or over a long distance, you might be getting one of the lower speeds. Windows will tell you how fast its connection is - if it is low, you might need to put a range extender in or move the router to a more central location. Remember, you don't need the fastest speed - you just need one faster than your Internet connection.

It could also be the phones - every now and then, my cordless phone picks the same channel as my wireless network. The interference just disconnects the network until I find a channel that doesn't interfere.

If you're getting good numbers from the wireless connection, your problem is elsewhere - either your ISP or your cable/dsl modem.

What type of Internet connection do you have? If you have a DSL or Cable Modem, have you rebooted it lately?

That's a good point JoeBob, I was having problems with my connection when I first got cable internet and the tech ran a 'direct' run just for my cable modem. Every T split you have on the line will slow it down. It should be one line from outside directly to your cable modem. It made a wolrd of difference for me. Firewalls can slow things down too.