my internet problem

[DTP-Martin]

dont know if any of you can help but you know im havin problem with are internet, but we not sure what the problem is someone has told me its are box but the the two main lights are on, and ive heard it may be the router can that slow the computer internets down? if there is a problem with it

[DTP PIRATE]

Difficult to know what to say about this,so many things like internal router settings, pc network settings etc which could be your problem.Really difficult to help from a distance.
I help look after a 90 machine mixed pc /wireless network at the school my partner works at(shes the IT girl ,but im the troubleshooter she comes to when shes stuck with anything at all,which is quite a lot as she bluffed her way into the job with virtually no pc knowledge at all,just a mobile connection to me!

What exactly is the problem, have you got a connection at all,or is it just slow,give us some background info to work with then we might be able to help.

[DTP-Martin]

well bascilly bout two months ago are internet connection just seemed to turn really slow, ma old mans email takes bout 10mins to to receive any emails takes ages to load up any pages on his and my computer, my computer wont be able 2 keep a xfire connection i cant play games online, we tryed phoning ntl/virgin but they said because the two main lights are on it cant be a problem with there end so theres something are end slowing the connection down, we think its the router because it disconects alot of the time

[Іþ***SNÒÓP***]

Sounds like you have a virus m8, use a good and updated virus scanner. Remove all adaware and run defrag.

[DTP-Martin]

i dont have a virus my dad probly does, hes put so much crap on his computer he might aswell get a new computer lol

[DTP-Gen.Ramy]

my suggestion might be way off mark but if you guys get your internet through your phone line (like i do) your phone line (maybe you call it land line?) might be *idk what the proper word is*..like damaged? like from being so old or something, and it may be causing static, cause i think thats what is going on with my connection, sometimes i loose my connection for a few seconds, and when talking on the phone i hear static, like when you're moving cables around or when two cables arent making contact properly.

anywho, i doubt this could cause your net to slow down THAT much, but still just throwing it in there to sound smart like pirate

and ROFL @ Pirate

she bluffed her way into the job with virtually no pc knowledge at all,just a mobile connection to me!

i knew you were knowledgeable in regards to computer repair and ect. but i didnt know you knew enough to like have a job in that field go figure we have an IT amongst us

[DTP PIRATE]

OK<somequestions.
1: Is your connection by normal phone line or cable.
2: Whats the make & model number of the router box
3: Do the pcs connect to the box by wireless or cables.
4: If cables,are they USB cables or LAN /ethernet cables.
5: Did you have any change to your internet service about the time the problems started,like a speed upgrade or product change of any type.
6: Did you have any hardware changes at all to pcs or anything else you can think of,like linked phones or tv services at the time the problems started.
Like Snoop said,its a good idea to use a virus and spyware scanner to check your pcs out. Its not impossible for your machines to have been hijacked and be gobbling up your bandwidth sending millions of dodgy emails you dont know about.
Use Ctrl-Alt -Del to open Windows task manager and click on "performance" tab, with a pc doing nothing apart from running background services etc the "CPU usage" graph should show little activity at all,typically 0 to 5 %, if its showing a high activity when your not running any programs that would need investigating.
Lastly for now, just because the helpline folks said the problem is your end doesnt necessarily mean they were right,last year i sorted a problem for a friend in a similar situation,they said it was his machine and not their problem.I finally convinced them they were wrong and it turned out that after a product change an engineer had "mistakenly" altered their user profile at the server end and put a download speed limit (for want of an easier explanation) on their connection which slowed it down to a snails pace.When they finally owned up the problem was sorted out the same day, Result! ;D
So,if you can answer the questions above we might get lucky and figure it out by logical deduction( so long as i ask the right questions ),it works for 99% of all known problems !

[Іþ***SNÒÓP***]

good post Pirate, have 1 thing to ad tho.
When you open the windows task manager and look at the perfomance it can be higher then 5 %. That is becouse there probberly are programs already running by starting up the computer. You need to close these programs first and then have a look at the performance. (especcially outgoing files)

Good luck

[DTP-Martin]

1: Is your connection by normal phone line or cable.
2: Whats the make & model number of the router box
3: Do the pcs connect to the box by wireless or cables.
4: If cables,are they USB cables or LAN /ethernet cables.
5: Did you have any change to your internet service about the time the problems started,like a speed upgrade or product change of any type.
6: Did you have any hardware changes at all to pcs or anything else you can think of,like linked phones or tv services at the time the problems started.

1its cable
2 its this router catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Product_Id=141064
3wireless
5no we havent had any changes
6 nope we havent

[DTP PIRATE]

OK, some more questions.
1: What is the speed of your broadband package,ie 10 mb ?
2: Are you running software firewalls on the pcs,like ZoneAlarm or Norton, or do you just use windows firewall.?
3: What operating systems are the pcs running,XP,Vista or Linux ?
4: If you have the pcs set up as a home network, can they still see each other ok ,ie swap files etc, when theres no connection to the internet ?
5: Which web browsers do the pcs use,ie Internet explorer,firefox Chrome or?


Snoop : i was just using the task manager readings from my pc as i was reading the forums as a guide to the amount of cpu usage you might expect from an idle pc.Every pc is different as you know so some may have higher readings,i like to keep mine "lean`n mean.
Fluctuating usage up to 10 0r 15 % wouldnt be unusual on cluttered up but still application idle machines.A highjacked pc might be showing readings much higher.Especially with older versions of trojans or viruses etc,( & older may only be months older)
Clicking on the "networking" tab or network connections ,status in control panel would also show you any network traffic going on when it shouldnt be.( trojans,spyware etc are inevitably getting better at avoiding this sort of simple traffic detection when theyre "calling home" )

[DTP-Martin]

Dec 6, 2008 17:27:27 GMT -8 DTP PIRATE said:

OK, some more questions.
1: What is the speed of your broadband package,ie 10 mb ?
2: Are you running software firewalls on the pcs,like ZoneAlarm or Norton, or do you just use windows firewall.?
3: What operating systems are the pcs running,XP,Vista or Linux ?
4: If you have the pcs set up as a home network, can they still see each other ok ,ie swap files etc, when theres no connection to the internet ?
5: Which web browsers do the pcs use,ie Internet explorer,firefox Chrome or?


1 errm 1 or 2 mb
2 Norton
3 i have vista old man has xp
4Ermm dotn know never tried it before lol
5 i use firefox, he uses IE

[DTP PIRATE]

Firstly have you tried running with Norton disabled ,stick to safe sites like err ,this one(hopefully) and see if its any faster.Many antivirus and spyware programs take up a lot of time examining data packets,sometimes an unexpectedly long time when running in conjunction with some combinations of hard /software.
It may be helpfull if you could go here
www.trendsecure.com/portal/en-US/tools/security_tools/hijackthis
Download the program & run it,save the log file and post it here for us to take a look at,may be quicker than asking loadsa software questions as they pop into my head!
Also you may like to try a home network anyway ! Simple to do on a 2 pc setup.
Switch on both pcs and router,start with your pc,go to network connections,use the "setup a home or small office network " wizard,just follow the instructions !