Gaming Browsing and downloads slow but Torrents full speed?

[Deleted member 473940]

Ok, so I finally came to this conclusion with proof.

Spoiler

My laptop has been like this for SIX MONTHS now, but I thought it was just my internet connection. Today, I saw my dad waking up early to watch a cricket match and he was streaming it on his laptop. He left for work and I carried on watching.
Than I thought I would watch it on my laptop instead since the screen size is bigger.
BUT
It wasnt loading properly! Kept on freezing, pictures all messed up. Also youtube loads fine on his laptop, but is DAMN slow on mine.
Torrents however download full speed on my laptop o.o. Downloading using the browser is VERY slow aswell, which works fine on his laptop too.

I will save the story and summarize shortly.. my laptop downloads and streams very slow using the browser but does it fine using torrents. All other computers in my house doesnt have that problem. Even youtube loads up very slow for me, its been like this for 6 months now and I thought its just my net speed..

I tried using different browsers but didnt help. Even though I installed windows 7 fresh couple of days ago, its still the same on my laptop.


What could be the problem?

 

[Originality]

It could be the reception of your laptop from the router. Torrents can run at normal speed because it's buffered and high latency has no effect on it, but streaming and general internet browsing are not buffered so the higher the latency (due to poor reception, is my guess), the slower everything seems.

Two things to try, either put your laptop closer to the router (maybe even using an ethernet cable) or replace the WiFi card.

 

[Deleted member 473940]

The router is not to far and signal strength is full actually.

Replacing the WiFi card... aghhh the laptop hasnt even been a year old
I will see if using an ethernet cable makes any difference.

 

[Twiffles]

Drop your upload rate.

 

[Deleted member 473940]

Drop your upload rate.

lolwut o.O

 

[Twiffles]

lolwut o.O

Torrents

 

[Deleted member 473940]

lolwut o.O

Torrents

Read the whole issue?

 

[Twiffles]

Read the whole issue?

Obviously. That is why I am telling to make sure to check your upload rate.

If that is not the culprit, then just disregard me, and listen to Originality.

 

[Originality]

Well if he's leaving the torrent client open all the time, that's also a very possible... possibility. The more you're uploading, the greater the latency when sending DNS lookup requests. If your upload bandwidth is saturated by the torrent, it'll be hard (slow) for you to access normal sites, since each lookup will end up queued.

But who would leave their torrent client on all the time? That's exactly what landed a certain person in the states with a $1.2m fine for seeding his music collection.

EDIT: Btw, I'm not an authority on networking by any means, so all of what I say may be wrong. It's only half-remembered suggestions based on past reading and personal observations with my own internet (which isn't all that fast anyway).

 

[Deleted member 473940]

Nope, I am not running them side by side. I was just saying that when I download something using torrent it works fine, but when I use the browser it doesnt.
Not running them simultaneously.

 

[Costello]

this would probably require a more in-depth look at your OS and computer set-up.
I don't think there's a magical advice we can give you.
The only thing I was going to suggest is--
1) connect in ethernet,
2) make sure every other app is closed on your PC,
3) try browsing simple sites and see how that turns out.

also you may want to start using Google's public DNS service. It improves browsing speed a lot when your ISP has sucky DNS.
But that probably isn't going to solve your (every) problem.

some ISPs have bad peering with major sites, in France it's frequent that users can't stream youtube videos properly because the ISPs purchase cheap bandwidth contracts and thus there isn't enough bandwidht available for properly answering all the requests.

 

[xist]

What result do you get from the BTSpeedtester? (IP Profile and your line performance statistics?)

 

[Rydian]

Nope, I am not running them side by side. I was just saying that when I download something using torrent it works fine, but when I use the browser it doesnt.
Not running them simultaneously.

Torrenting is not just downloading. Close the client (like, totally) to make sure you're not still uploading.

DNS requests sound like they're not really the issue since only one request would be made for the actual video file on youtube, but general choking is quite possible.

 

[Deleted member 473940]

Like I said, the other computers in my house using the same connection as me arent having this problem!
Also, NO, I am not running the torrent client. I used the speed difference of torrent and normal download as an example.. I am NOT running them simultaneously

 

[CrimzonEyed]

Adblock or similar addons can slow down your browing.
Try turn off some browser addons (if you have some) and try again (remember to restart browser after addon disabling).

 

[Jugarina]

What happens If you make a direct connection from your modem to your laptop with a cable?

 

[Deleted member 473940]

What happens If you make a direct connection from your modem to your laptop with a cable?

Nothing else really made any difference.
So I am gonna try this tonight after uni

 

[Deleted member 473940]

Ok, so using cable did make a difference.
means something is wrong with my WiFi card.
What do I do :/
The router is downstairs and even If I am downstairs near the router it makes no difference. Signal strenght is full upstairs anyway...

 

[Originality]

If it's your WiFi card, either uninstall the drivers, restart, then reinstall them. Or do the same whilst replacing the WiFi card.

 

[Deleted member 473940]

If it's your WiFi card, either uninstall the drivers, restart, then reinstall them. Or do the same whilst replacing the WiFi card.

Tried all the installing/uninstalling.. Didnt help.
Replacing parts in a laptop, I have never done before..
Probably gonna buy a USB WiFi adapter instead lol.