Gaming Unusually Slow Internet.

[Njrg]

I have an unlimited plan.

Here is what my internet speed is, and what it should be:

Not exactly, as my usual ping is 80, Download is 3.2, and upload .78. But its close enough. I don't have to thank black dave for me stealing his signature >:[

Before you suggest, know that I just installed Win7 less than a week ago, and that the Internet speed tests test the speed of the connection itself so a computer (unless torrenting) don't affect that number. There are other people leeching my wifi, I know of an unidentified PC and an iPod. But even if I had 5 people leeching while torrenting, my numbers still wouldn't be this low. My speed is 1/10th-1/12th the speed it should be. It takes 10 minutes to load a 3 minute Youtube video@360p. :\

Anyone know any fixes?

 

[Salax]

I don't know what could help you, but you should really ban those leecher's MACs

.

 

[monkat]

Well it depends on how much they're leeching...for all you know, that one PC is downloading fifty movies all at 500kb/s. I didn't do the math on that, but still. It could just be that Embarq is working on something, so wait.

 

[Njrg]

I've temporarily banned them to see if they were the cause. My speed moderately improved from .25 to .37. Thats not enough leeching to justify kicking them off my network. I have no problem with leechers. I've always had them, they never bothered or interfere with me. So I don't mind that someone is getting free internet from me. I've leeched from a few networks myself too. I could set up a WEP but they're not the problem, and then I would have to keep a WEP key written down somewhere for other devices I want to connect. And while they leech me, I always have the option of using Remote Desktop Connection to spy on them. I know that the one computer I've spied on has no torrenting software I've heard of and only a little bit of softcore child pornography. (j/k)

Well it depends on how much they're leeching...for all you know, that one PC is downloading fifty movies all at 500kb/s. I didn't do the math on that, but still. It could just be that Embarq is working on something, so wait.

On wireless, the maximum bandwidth is 400kb/s. Atleast for this particular router. Hardwire is much faster but who uses wires anymore other than hill people?

 

[Rayder]

Use MAC filtering in the router. You can either only allow certain MAC addresses, or directly block the ones known to be leeching your signal. Personally, I'd go ballistic if someone was stealing my bandwidth. Apparently, the people around me are too stupid to leech anything because we've NEVER had anyone leech our WiFi.....and I don't use the most secure settings either. MAC filtering and WEP encryption is all I've ever used. I figure I'd up the encryption level only if I started getting my signal leeched, but it's never happened yet.

Running it wide open is never a good idea.

 

[Elritha]

I could set up a WEP but they're not the problem, and then I would have to keep a WEP key written down somewhere for other devices I want to connect.

WEP is nearly as good as having no security. It can be cracked in a matter of minutes easily. By sharing your connection with strangers you are also compromising your network security. I don't mean to sound paranoid, but it wouldn't take much to start sniffing/logging data which could be sensitive, such as passwords and so on.

Anyway, back on topic. You could be dealing with contention from your isp. This would be more noticeable during peak times. You should try another speedtest late at night after 11 or 12, or try early in the morning.

 

[Njrg]

Its not like I live in the city.

I live at the end of the street. My backyard is literally a 20 acre pice of land where the nearest house in the other 300 degrees of my house is half a mile. Considering the range of my router, only 2 or 3 of my surrounding neighbors are even capable of leeching.

If I lived around more people, I would consider protection, but in the country it isn't necessary.

And my router can either prevent the MACS on my MAC list or allow only the MACs on my MAC list.

You should try another speedtest late at night after 11 or 12, or try early in the morning.

I've been testing around 5-8 times a day. including times at midnight, 2, and sometimes as late at 4am in the morning.

Monkat said they could be working on something, and should wait, but I don't know how long that would take. Its already been 3 days of this abysmal speed.

 

[MelodieOctavia]

I've temporarily banned them to see if they were the cause. My speed moderately improved from .25 to .37. Thats not enough leeching to justify kicking them off my network. I have no problem with leechers. I've always had them, they never bothered or interfere with me. So I don't mind that someone is getting free internet from me. I've leeched from a few networks myself too. I could set up a WEP but they're not the problem, and then I would have to keep a WEP key written down somewhere for other devices I want to connect. And while they leech me, I always have the option of using Remote Desktop Connection to spy on them. I know that the one computer I've spied on has no torrenting software I've heard of and only a little bit of softcore child pornography. (j/k)

Well it depends on how much they're leeching...for all you know, that one PC is downloading fifty movies all at 500kb/s. I didn't do the math on that, but still. It could just be that Embarq is working on something, so wait.

On wireless, the maximum bandwidth is 400kb/s. Atleast for this particular router. Hardwire is much faster but who uses wires anymore other than hill people?

The administrative computer should always have a hard wire connection to the router, in case of emergency router maintenance (updating, fixing firmware).

My router is setup to where no one on wireless can access the router settings

 

[Njrg]

My emergency is called the reset button as I use default configurations. Hardwire or not, I can just hit the reset button if anything happens. And a wireless can affect the firmware just as much as a wired can.

But all the router talk put aside, I'm looking for connection fixes as I'm 100% sure that my router and other people are not even the problem. If you took out the router factor and I had a single wired PC, I would still be having this slow internet.

 

[monkat]

My emergency is called the reset button as I use default configurations. Hardwire or not, I can just hit the reset button if anything happens. And a wireless can affect the firmware just as much as a wired can.

But all the router talk put aside, I'm looking for connection fixes as I'm 100% sure that my router and other people are not even the problem. If you took out the router factor and I had a single wired PC, I would still be having this slow internet.

Well, the only other thing I can think of is maybe your computer is setting a limit on itself? I'm not even sure how you would go about doing that, especially without knowing, but who knows. If you can, try another computer wired.

Also you said it has been 3 days like this? Call Embarq up and get some tech support - you pay for unlimited, you damn well better get unlimited; they might even give you a discount on your bill. (My old cable company did that whenever the cable was out for an hour, they would subtract however much time away from my bill)

 

[Infinite Zero]

hmmm this is mine. mind if i share it? its slow. i know

 

[Njrg]

Well, the only other thing I can think of is maybe your computer is setting a limit on itself? I'm not even sure how you would go about doing that, especially without knowing, but who knows. If you can, try another computer wired
You can limit the amount you download to a computer, but that doesn't affect the speed test. When it runs that test, Its doing the speed from Modem to ISP, not PC you're on to ISP. I could have an absolutely horrible signal and still get a 3.0 download speed because the speed isn't being tested on my computer, its being tested by modem.

monkatAlso you said it has been 3 days like this? Call Embarq up and get some tech support - you pay for unlimited, you damn well better get unlimited; they might even give you a discount on your bill. (My old cable company did that whenever the cable was out for an hour, they would subtract however much time away from my bill)

I might have to even though I was trying to avoid that. I hate dealing with Indians. I'll wait another week and hope it improves.

 

[vergilite]

well mines pretty good right now but its really late

 

[Diablo1123]

Well, the only other thing I can think of is maybe your computer is setting a limit on itself? I'm not even sure how you would go about doing that, especially without knowing, but who knows. If you can, try another computer wired

You can limit the amount you download to a computer, but that doesn't affect the speed test. When it runs that test, Its doing the speed from Modem to ISP, not PC you're on to ISP. I could have an absolutely horrible signal and still get a 3.0 download speed because the speed isn't being tested on my computer, its being tested by modem.

Nah, speedtest.net uses your browser? I've got software to limit hwo much my browser uses and that affects my speedtest. Speedtest.net is hosted on a website, not even your ISP. They've got servers everywhere.

 

[Elritha]

You can limit the amount you download to a computer, but that doesn't affect the speed test. When it runs that test, Its doing the speed from Modem to ISP, not PC you're on to ISP. I could have an absolutely horrible signal and still get a 3.0 download speed because the speed isn't being tested on my computer, its being tested by modem.

That speedtest uses your pc browser which goes to your isp and then to the speedtest servers. It doesn't simply measure your speed from modem to isp, it goes to a remote server. Meaning it isn't entirely accurate all the time. Though I doubt that's your problem.

For troubleshooting reasons connect directly with a wired connection. It's always going to be better than wireless and will eliminate one part. If you have a modem + router, connect your pc directly to the modem, bypassing your router for now. Also scan your pc for viruses, malware and spyware. They can effect your speed.

 

[Njrg]

Also scan your pc for viruses, malware and spyware. They can effect your speed.If by a 0.000001% chance I had a bug, it wouldn't affect my internet speed by 1600%

I had already ruled out that router, ports, firewall, software, virus, malware, torrenting, leeching, ISP limits, OS, Browsers, Apps, ect... being the culprit before I decided to make this thread. Being told check the obvious is insulting.

QUOTE Nah, speedtest.net uses your browser? I've got software to limit hwo much my browser uses and that affects my speedtest. Speedtest.net is hosted on a website, not even your ISP. They've got servers everywhere.If its tested by software and not hardware, then it would have performed well using IE, Chrome, and various instant messenging file transfer services even on other computers.

dudeonlineMy guess is you've never flashed firmware to a router, and had it brick on you because the wireless connection cut out. Your magic reset button won't help you there

How does the reset button not work on factory firmware?

Was I imagining it when I hit the reset button to fix a problem for me in the past?

 

[MelodieOctavia]

My emergency is called the reset button as I use default configurations. Hardwire or not, I can just hit the reset button if anything happens. And a wireless can affect the firmware just as much as a wired can.

But all the router talk put aside, I'm looking for connection fixes as I'm 100% sure that my router and other people are not even the problem. If you took out the router factor and I had a single wired PC, I would still be having this slow internet.

My guess is you've never flashed firmware to a router, and had it brick on you because the wireless connection cut out. Your magic reset button won't help you there

 

[Elritha]

Also scan your pc for viruses, malware and spyware. They can effect your speed.If by a 0.000001% chance I had a bug, it wouldn't affect my internet speed by 1600%


Actually, it could. It doesn't mean that a virus would be eating up your bandwidth by downloading huge files. Many viruses, worms, spyware etc, can open up hundreds, or thousands of connections on different ports. On a home router which has limited ram and cpu, it can cause it to slow down or ground to a halt, meaning it could effect your connection quite a lot.

QUOTE

I had already ruled out that router, ports, firewall, software, virus, malware, torrenting, leeching, ISP limits, OS, Browsers, Apps, ect... being the culprit before I decided to make this thread. Being told check the obvious is insulting.

The above isn't meant to be insulting. I just wouldn't be so dismissive of some of the suggestions given. Often a problem can be resolved by something very minor overlooked.

 

[Diablo1123]

QUOTE Nah, speedtest.net uses your browser? I've got software to limit hwo much my browser uses and that affects my speedtest. Speedtest.net is hosted on a website, not even your ISP. They've got servers everywhere.If its tested by software and not hardware, then it would have performed well using IE, Chrome, and various instant messenging file transfer services even on other computers.

I have no idea what you are suggesting by that actually, can you elaborate? Speedtest uses your browser to send/receive data from speedtest servers to check the speed/ping. If you were to limit how much data you allow your browser to send/receive, you'll get different results.

I want to say it's not your wireless connection it is really slow. My computer in the living room still gets 3 megabytes/s from my wireless.

QUOTEAlso scan your pc for viruses, malware and spyware. They can effect your speed.

If by a 0.000001% chance I had a bug, it wouldn't affect my internet speed by 1600%
I had already ruled out that router, ports, firewall, software, virus, malware, torrenting, leeching, ISP limits, OS, Browsers, Apps, ect... being the culprit before I decided to make this thread. Being told check the obvious is insulting.

If you've already ruled those all out, then you should tell us. Your methods of how you do it would probably be a good idea to make sure they're accurate.

Assuming you're correctly in all of that, I'd say it is your connection to your ISP. You're upload is too much compared to your download, most connections don't give you that much upload and that less download.

Back to the router talk, reset button will only reset configurations, if you were to delete the firmware, that wouldn't fix it.

Also, see if you can access your modem page. I'm not sure if it is just my provider, but my modem page tells me the speed of the connection (25 megabits down, 2 megabits up, but I don't get that plan.)

 

[Fudge]

Mine is good.