Why is my internet so slow!!?!?

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fokker

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Topic # 164454 10-Feb-2015 13:16

OK so here's the situation. I've been having a lot of issues with the internet connection on my PC. It's a pretty high spec PC that I bought for photo and video editing, and it (mostly) runs great except for the internet connections.

I can provide specific details if necessary, but to make a long story short this particular PC has had constant connection and speed issues with a PCI wifi card and two different USB wifi adapters, on 4 different routers and 2 different internet connections in different cities.

I'm now using a 300Mbps USB wifi adaptor, getting full signal, and it takes me 2 minutes to dowload a single 8MB photo.

Speedtest.net says my speeds are 1.17 Mbps down and 0.15 Mbps up, which isn't great but in reality I'm not getting close to even those mediocre speeds.

So, is there something in the computer itself, independent of the network hardware, that could cause this? I'm at a real loss here.

[Mod Edit |BH| Moved to a more appropriate forum. Please try using the correct forum when starting new topics]

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Reply # 1234090 10-Feb-2015 13:20

Is it any faster with an ethernet cable?

The best thing you can do is run a process of elimination to find the slowest link in your set up.

Also, do you have a master splitter installed?

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sidefx

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Reply # 1234094 10-Feb-2015 13:24

Speedtest.net says my speeds are 1.17 Mbps down and 0.15 Mbps up, which isn't great but in reality I'm not getting close to even those mediocre speeds.

I think even "mediocre" is a bit kind for describing that connection... And by my calculation you're getting around half that speed if 8MB takes 2 minutes to download.

freitasm

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Reply # 1234103 10-Feb-2015 13:49

Can you test on ethernet instead of WiFi?

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Behodar

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Reply # 1234154 10-Feb-2015 14:29

Are you urban or rural? Does http://www.chorus.co.nz/maps list you in a 10 Mb/s or faster zone?

johnr

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Reply # 1234156 10-Feb-2015 14:32

Aprrox where are you located?

Gozer

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Reply # 1234185 10-Feb-2015 14:52

what speed is your connection, do you get better speeds on other devices?
have you tried ethernet
have you tried a different OS on the same machine?

fokker

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Reply # 1234198 10-Feb-2015 15:16

DarthKermit: Is it any faster with an ethernet cable?

The best thing you can do is run a process of elimination to find the slowest link in your set up.

Also, do you have a master splitter installed?

Not sure what a master splitter is, can you please elaborate on that. If it's part of the network, I don't think that is the problem. I really feel that the issue lies with the PC itself as I have experienced problems on different networks, different routers and modems, using different wifi adaptors while the whole time my laptop and phone have been ticking along just fine.

freitasm: Can you test on ethernet instead of WiFi?

At the moment, unfortunately not. But in between going from the PCI wifi adapter to a USB one I used an ethernet cable for a while. I never did any conclusive tests, but it was definitely better but still not perfect. The problem is a little bit intermittent it seems so it's not always easy to see if something I change has worked right away or not.

johnr: Aprrox where are you located?

At the moment, just out of Hamilton, but I live usually in Taupo. It's the same no matter where I use this PC, slow slow slow.

Gozer: what speed is your connection, do you get better speeds on other devices?
have you tried ethernet
have you tried a different OS on the same machine?

Just tried it on my iPhone (using the speedtest.net app) and I get 7.79 Mbps down and 0.83 Mbps up, with 25m.
I am using 64-bit win 7 on my PC and don't really want to try a different OS.

fokker

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Reply # 1234199 10-Feb-2015 15:18

So just to recap, within moments of each other my phone gives me 7.79/0.83 Mbps while the PC gives me 1.11 and 0.22 Mbps. This is definitely a PC issue, not a network one.

Edit: Just tested another laptop on the same wifi network, which came in at 13 Mbps down and 0.88 Mbps up.

sidefx

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Reply # 1234200 10-Feb-2015 15:23

fokker:
I am using 64-bit win 7 on my PC and don't really want to try a different OS.

If you're sure it's only an issue on this pc, then trying another OS would help narrow down whether it's a hardware issue or OS configuration. You wouldn't have to uninstall windows or anything - just try it from something like a Linux Live CD.

fokker

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Reply # 1234202 10-Feb-2015 15:25

OK, plot twist. How I said the problem is kind of intermittent, I just unplugged the USB wifi adaptor and plugged it back in again. Now I'm getting the same speeds as the laptop (13/0.85 Mbps). USB driver problem?

pab

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Reply # 1234203 10-Feb-2015 15:26

It's not a USB 1.x interface on your PC by any chance. That still doesn't explain the slow throughput over wireless on the PCI interface though.

fokker

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Reply # 1234206 10-Feb-2015 15:30

pab: It's not a USB 1.x interface on your PC by any chance. That still doesn't explain the slow throughput over wireless on the PCI interface though.

No, it has USB 3.0 and USB 2.0, although the adaptor is only USB 2.0 so it doesn't seem to matter which port I plug it in to. And you're right, it doesn't explain the strange behaviour of the PCI card.

Interestingly, when I go into the connection status (network and sharing center/ adaptor settings/ status) the speed it shows there is 130 Mbps, which is the same now as when the connection was running slowly.

coffeebaron

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Reply # 1234407 11-Feb-2015 07:10

Have you had a read here: http://www.geekzone.co.nz/sbiddle/8728

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Aredwood

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Reply # 1239645 16-Feb-2015 00:42

fokker:
pab: It's not a USB 1.x interface on your PC by any chance. That still doesn't explain the slow throughput over wireless on the PCI interface though.

No, it has USB 3.0 and USB 2.0, although the adaptor is only USB 2.0 so it doesn't seem to matter which port I plug it in to. And you're right, it doesn't explain the strange behaviour of the PCI card.

Interestingly, when I go into the connection status (network and sharing center/ adaptor settings/ status) the speed it shows there is 130 Mbps, which is the same now as when the connection was running slowly.

That 130mbits you see there is the "link layer" speed. Alot of this speed is used by Wifi protocol and data packet overheads. And then there is interference and other Wifi networks using the same channel. (which means the speed has to be "shared") So there is no way you will ever get those speeds.

For example My Wifi access point claims it can do 300Mbit. The fastest speed I have ever managed on Speedtest.net over Wifi is 42mbit. The more usual result is 20Mbit. But when I do a test over Ethernet cable

Jase2985

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Reply # 1239675 16-Feb-2015 08:01

My wifi link says 65mbps on all my devices.

Best ive got over it is 43mbps, the rest of the link speed is overhead. I can get that speed on pretty much all my devices.

i believe you can generally get about 60-70% of the connected speed of a wifi link in a good wifi environment. and if your device supports the speeds.

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