Gaming Unusually Slow Internet.

[Master_B]

i had the same problem... for me tcpoptimizer did the trick.

http://www.speedguide.net/downloads.php

had something to do with some settings in windows which this program adjust. Just give the speed from your internet connection and the program adjusts everything.

Normally i dont use these kind of programs, but this one really worked out for me.

 

[Njrg]

@Diablo, what I meant was that I tested my connection speed on multiple computers and devices. If my problem were software based, then only one machine would have performed poorly, not all of them.
And I had no intention or even mentioned anything about deleting any firmware. Besides, there's no button or option I've ever heard of on any device ever that says "Brick the Device? Y/N?"
________________________
Anyways, like many of the problems people post on the forums, I ignored everyone's advice, did my own thing, and made making the thread in the 1st place pointless; So now I feel stupid.

The problem was indeed the modem itself and not my router, or the leechers, or any virus, malware, or software related quirks. Diablo had the only right idea to access the modem page. I had already did that before to Release/Renew my IP, this often works when fixing similar problems. The difference between the other times working and this time was that I had to let the 0.0.0.0 IP sit for a couple of hours instead of other times in the past I would wait only but a minute. Its pretty much the equivalent to unplugging the modem for a few hours.
This wasn't the 1st time I had this type of internet problem. I just wasn't sure how the last time fixed itself because my roommate decided to take an entire day to rearrange the internet/her computer equipment. So I just simulated that day my keeping my IP to 0.0.0.0 for awhile as I took a nap.

No there is no need to tell anyone this, I decided to post it for some slim chance someone needs to Google a fix to the same problem they had. I had Google'd "Unusually Slow Internet" and got many results, but none of them that helped. Just the same "Did you check for virus and leechers?" story.
Now if you Google "Unusually Slow Internet" this thread will show up in the results.

My speeds aren't back to normal, but they're close enough.

 

[BlackDave]

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?

WTF? You used the one in my SIGNATURE

 

[Diablo1123]

And I had no intention or even mentioned anything about deleting any firmware. Besides, there's no button or option I've ever heard of on any device ever that says "Brick the Device? Y/N?"

Well see that's the thing, if someone got access to your router and you don't have a good password, that'd be easy to do by uploading a blank or incomplete firmware file.

 

[MelodieOctavia]

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?

WTF? You used the one in my SIGNATURE

Busted, but why?

 

[Njrg]

And I had no intention or even mentioned anything about deleting any firmware. Besides, there's no button or option I've ever heard of on any device ever that says "Brick the Device? Y/N?"

Well see that's the thing, if someone got access to your router and you don't have a good password, that'd be easy to do by uploading a blank or incomplete firmware file.

I'll take my chances with the two senior citizens that surround the proximity of my router's range. Like I said, its not like I'm in he city where I'm surrounded by as many as 25 homes capable of leeching my network.
I have 2 or 3 people at the very most. Maybe even 1.

 

[BlackDave]

When I got my new laptop it was able to see my neighbor's connection which I could use in case mine was unplugged (thanks mom) XD

A lot of people don't check their security

 

[playallday]

Always use WPA2. I don't care who you are or where you live, you need it. Unless you want cops knocking on your door.

 

[Njrg]

If it were illegal to have an open line, then the FCC wouldn't let companies make routers with insecure options. But it gets annoying to keep hearing "you should use WEP, WPA, ect..." I've been using an insecure line for 4-5 years now. I've known all about WEP, WPA, ect... I know the risks of not using a security system, but I'm set on leaving my network open. If the last half a decade of computer and hacking articles haven't got me to change my mind, then what possible chance have any of you have? I have a reason for having the network open and thats being considerate of the people I live with. Like my dumbass roommate is going to know what WEP even is let alone the other formats or the key you need to unlock it. Having an open line keeps the ignorant happy because they don't have to learn anything. So excuse me for believing that the onle 3 people who are able to leech from me aren't going to maliciously attack their only source of free internet or even have the mental capability to. Even if all 3 homes were to torrent large files at the maximum bandwidth my router can send out, it wouldn't affect my internet enough to even notice let alone bring my speed from 3.00 to 0.09 MB/s.

But all that ranting aside, My internet problem keeps repeating itself. Last night I was back at my 0.15 speed. I unplugged the modem for four hours, plugged it back in, and my internet went back to 3.0 for a few hours, then I went to bed, and when I woke up, the internet was slow again. And before anyone can blame a leecher, I haven't had anyone connect to the network since I reset my router.

 

[hunnymonster]

OK - is this DSL on a long overhead line back to the exchange? If so what you're possibly seeing is the normal increase in noise (it's actually AM radio signals and the long telephone lines act as a perfect AM antenna) after sunset, that causes the DSL signal to be swamped, modem retrains at a lower speed due to the new noise... repeat. In the morning it will never attempt to retrain upwards since it's loss of signal (or loss of noise margin) that cause the retrain.

If it's DSL, post the line statistics from the router when it's fast and again when it's slow.

 

[Njrg]

OK - is this DSL on a long overhead line back to the exchange? If so what you're possibly seeing is the normal increase in noise (it's actually AM radio signals and the long telephone lines act as a perfect AM antenna) after sunset, that causes the DSL signal to be swamped, modem retrains at a lower speed due to the new noise... repeat. In the morning it will never attempt to retrain upwards since it's loss of signal (or loss of noise margin) that cause the retrain.

If it's DSL, post the line statistics from the router when it's fast and again when it's slow.

I don't know exactly what you mean by overhead line. I'm assuming you're meaning a telephone pole. But there are no such poles on this street/block. All the wires that go to the house are from underground. But I think its only electricity and phone lines because we don't even have cable lines on this block (Why I have DSL and not Cable) There are some power lines or telephone poles about a mile from here? I don't know how one would distinguish one from the other. Perhaps more detail is needed or a n00b-proof explanation.

Unfortunately you're the 1st person to post anything that I don't really understand, So anything you tell me involving this I won't know the left from the right. But maybe that also means that you're the only one that might know anything relating to the problem since you're the 1st person to ask about something that I haven't checked/no way of confirming yet.

 

[hunnymonster]

Somewhere in your router will be a page that shows the details of the connection including (but not only)

the sync (line) speed that the router is connected at
the attenuation of the line back to the exchange where the DSLAM is
the noise margin (ie. how good the signal is compared to background noise) and
line errors (usually two types - FEC & HEC)

Your router may appear on this page to give you pointers in where to find the data. If not, google for the name of your router and "line stats" for pointers.

Really need to see the statistics from when it's running "fast" ie. before you go to bed and when it's "slow" ie. in the morning. Also if the router has any logs - post those too.

 

[Njrg]

My router has a log, but I keep it disabled because its not the kind of log that keeps track of speeds; just visited websites. I know for sure that my router has nothing involving "line stats".

Now my modem, where my internet actually comes from might have such details. I know how to get to the page, and Google doesn't help me explain what is what on my modem's page. All I can do is take pictures of every piece of information/diagnostics/statistics I can find and let you sort everything out.

 

[logical thinker]

Try to find a page with the words signal, SNR, sync, noise, dB...

A similar problem happened to me before. Then, one day, the modem would not even connect. We had to call the ISP and they changed the cables outside the house until the modem.

 

[DarkWay]

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.

This comment made me want to test out different browsers

so I did.
Here are the results I have (sorry Njrg I know this doesn't really help you out but I found it kinda interesting). I did 2 tests for each of the browsers I tested

Spoiler

Firefox -



IE -



Chrome -

 

[Njrg]

This comment made me want to test out different browsers

so I did.
Here are the results I have (sorry Njrg I know this doesn't really help you out but I found it kinda interesting). I did 2 tests for each of the browsers I tested

Spoiler

Firefox -



IE -



Chrome -

Those are pretty consistent results if you ask me. Using a different browser means nothing when your best and worst results were from the same browser. All your results are way too close together to claim the browser makes a different.

Your greatest download difference is 0.17 and a ping of 5ms, thats so insignificant that your performance is relatively the same no mater what you use. Now if there were a 1.0, 0.7, 0.5, or any difference greater than 0.25, then maybe your results might actually mean something. Yes I realize you're using a PC and a browser to go to speed test and run your line, but I firmly stick by my thought that the browser and PC have no effect on those results.

I know my own PC, I know when the antenna isn't performing optimally. I get the same speed results if I run a test on a poor transmission quality as running a test with excellent transition quality. Even when my PCI card can't even manage to suck up a quarter of a megabyte, speedtest will always tell me otherwise. When my internet isn't sucking like it does right now, my internet speed is 2-4 times faster than my PCI card can even receive. If Speedtest gave me a result based solely of my machine and not my connection, I would be getting results of around 0.8-1.2, not 3.2 like I often get.
_________
Anyways, the diagnostic results as of 3:30-4:00 pm:

I will post the midnight results soon, and then the results after I do my little trick/fix. Unless these aren't the "Line stats" you asked for then I have no idea on how to get those because thats the only information I'm able to compile from my Modem since my Router is useless to help. If by any chance some of these are useless to you, by all means tell me which one of those results to save; it took like 25 minutes in MS Paint to cut and paste those because they're not all on one page. Those 5 results ended up being like 12 screencaps mashed into one because my modem won't display everything on one page.

 

[logical thinker]

I unfortunately don't know how to read these numbers. :/
But the ARP / Routing Table is not needed.

Anyways, the diagnostic results as of 3:30-4:00 pm:

Please, post if the connection is OK or bad together with time.

 

[Njrg]

Please, post if the connection is OK or bad together with time.

Its bad all the time.

It only becomes OK when I leave it unplugged for several hours. And then it craps out again before I can wake up

 

[Deleted member 35947]

Noise margin downstream is the one you want to keep an eye on. The higher it is the better. Basically it's the signal strength to the level of noise on the line. If you have a noisey phone line your noise margin value drops. The higher it is, the better. It's common for it to fluctuate during the day, especially during peak internet hours. More users, means more crosstalk on the lines and more noise. If it drops too low it can cause your connection to drop, or re-train to a lower speed.

Your noise margin isn't exactly high, but given how far away your line is from the exchange (41db attenuation is quite a bit) it looks normal enough. If your noise amrgin drops below 10 or 8, then you may start experiencing connection issues. What connection does your modem say you are getting? From my brief glance I can't make it out from those screenshots.


Line Attenuation should remain constant. It's a measurement of how long your line is to the exchange. The lower it is the better.

This site should help explain the different terms.
Here

 

[Njrg]

Here are my results at 00:00 (12am):

Spoiler

Here are my results two hours later:

Spoiler

Here is my speedtest now since I unplugged the modem for 2 hours:

Spoiler

Its pretty much back to normal at this point, but like the past 2 nights, I expect my internet to go back to shit after I go to bed. All these numbers look the same and mean nothing to me so I don't know what changed. I just know that my internet browsing is like night and day compared to this past week.

I don't have a speedtest right before 12am, but it was half the speed as my test on the OP with twice the ping.