Help with slow internet

[shane_c]

The last few weeks I've noticed that our internet has been very slow. It's somewhat tolerable in the morning but by the evening it slows to almost nothing.

I'm not sure if it's related but just before this started I was having issues with my internet not being connected and it would tell me it couldn't connect to the primary DNS server. I would have to unplug the modem for a while and restart the computer a few times but it would eventually connect again.

After that it seemed to get very slow. I broke down last night and called my provider and they didn't see anything wrong at their end and checked the nodes in my area for heavy usage but there wasn't any issues. They asked me to try connecting a laptop and running a speedtest to see if the internet is slow on that too to determine if it's a network or computer problem. I'm going to bring the laptop home from work tomorrow to give that a try.

In the meantime here is what I've done to try and fix things:

The plan I have should give me 20 mbps but in the evenings I'm getting in the 0.3 - 2.5 range. In the morning I was in the 12 range.

1) full virus scan (MSE turned up nothing)
2) disk cleanup
3) defrag
4) updated modem drivers
5) started in safe mode with networking (no difference)
6) ran some Windows 7 updates this morning
7) ran Malwarebytes (didn't turn up anything)

Something I've noticed is that even if I close anything that's open that my CPU usage is around 1-2% but the physical memory usage is close to 50%. The computer is about 1 year old and has 3 GB of RAM. Is this normal? There are around 50 processes running in the background but it's always been like that.

Any other ideas?

[Rathji]

Try bypassing your router?

Boot into a Live CD and do speedtest?

[shane_c]

Thanks. I'm not sure how to bypass my router. The connection that comes out of the wall is different than the one that goes into the computer.

I'm bringing a laptop home with me tonight to see if the internet is any quicker on that. I'm hoping that it's not so then I can just have my internet provider come out and give me a new modem instead of having to figure out what's wrong with the computer.

[MaDMaN_26]

Originally Posted by shane_c

Thanks. I'm not sure how to bypass my router. The connection that comes out of the wall is different than the one that goes into the computer.

I'm bringing a laptop home with me tonight to see if the internet is any quicker on that. I'm hoping that it's not so then I can just have my internet provider come out and give me a new modem instead of having to figure out what's wrong with the computer.

Are you confusing router and modem?

I assume you have a cable connection, from the wall that goes to your modem, from there it can go directly to your computer or to a router. If to a router it then would go from there to your PC.

You cannot bypass your modem.

He is suggesting going straight from the modem to your PC to eliminate the router as a potential problem.

When you speed test your laptop - try wireless, but then turn off the wireless and try it plugged into the modem as well. That might tell you something... just be sure to not only do wireless.

[shane_c]

Originally Posted by MaDMaN_26

Are you confusing router and modem?

I assume you have a cable connection, from the wall that goes to your modem, from there it can go directly to your computer or to a router. If to a router it then would go from there to your PC.

Yeah sorry, directly from the wall to the modem to my computer. No router.

[Flacker]

Originally Posted by shane_c

The last few weeks I've noticed that our internet has been very slow. It's somewhat tolerable in the morning but by the evening it slows to almost nothing.

I'm not sure if it's related but just before this started I was having issues with my internet not being connected and it would tell me it couldn't connect to the primary DNS server. I would have to unplug the modem for a while and restart the computer a few times but it would eventually connect again.

After that it seemed to get very slow. I broke down last night and called my provider and they didn't see anything wrong at their end and checked the nodes in my area for heavy usage but there wasn't any issues. They asked me to try connecting a laptop and running a speedtest to see if the internet is slow on that too to determine if it's a network or computer problem. I'm going to bring the laptop home from work tomorrow to give that a try.

In the meantime here is what I've done to try and fix things:

The plan I have should give me 20 mbps but in the evenings I'm getting in the 0.3 - 2.5 range. In the morning I was in the 12 range.

1) full virus scan (MSE turned up nothing)
2) disk cleanup
3) defrag
4) updated modem drivers
5) started in safe mode with networking (no difference)
6) ran some Windows 7 updates this morning
7) ran Malwarebytes (didn't turn up anything)

Something I've noticed is that even if I close anything that's open that my CPU usage is around 1-2% but the physical memory usage is close to 50%. The computer is about 1 year old and has 3 GB of RAM. Is this normal? There are around 50 processes running in the background but it's always been like that.

Any other ideas?

If this is a Shaw cable modem. I would suggest unplugging it for a spell (maybe while you are at work), I have had issues before with a bad arp cache which crippled performance.

[MaDMaN_26]

Originally Posted by shane_c

Yeah sorry, directly from the wall to the modem to my computer. No router.

So do you typically have no router?

If so do you have any firewall? (software only?)

I'm not sure I know enough to say... but not having a firewall, seems risky and depending on whats happening its possible someone may be abusing that and causing your network slow downs? (using your bandwidth to support their own nefarious deeds via a bot or malicious program)

Taking the router out of the loop for troubleshooting is pretty standard but running without one all the time can be dangerous... maybe someone else can comment about specific threats or things that might be happening to you... I just know enough to know I should not do it.

[Rathji]

Running without a firewall is bad. Running without a hardware firewall is not quite as bad, but still is very risky.

I assume, however, that the OP has a modem/router in one, from his ISP. Can you confirm that by telling us the model of your modem and your ISP?

[shane_c]

Thanks for all the replies. I do have a Firewall running. The tech had me disable it for a minute to see if it made any difference but it didn't. I'm with Eastlink (Halifax). Tried the laptop tonight and no difference. Eastlink will come out Saturday to check it out.

The modem thing I have is an Arris WBM760

[shane_c]

My provider called me yesterday to say they were doing some work in the area and noticed a problem with the lines on their end of things so they fixed it, ran a few tests, and it seems to be working. I ran a couple speed tests when I got home and they were all steady around 19.8 mbps. Problem solved!