Can I fix my connection speed?

[Steve M]

Help me Computer Hope, you're my only...well, hope.

I'm using a Toshiba P200 laptop, first of all.

There's only one change to the machine I can think of recently. A week or two ago I installed some software from Steam (I think it's a client?) in order to download and play some online games. The game I downloaded (Champions online) took a bit over 4 hours. Things were ok for a couple of weeks until the game wanted to download a patch (which is an update for the game I think). But my download speed, according to a test I did, is only about 344 kilobits a second, which means the patch would take about 20 or more hours to download! So far I've been unable to download the patch and so therefore unable to play the game. Even when I'm not trying to download the patch or running Steam,  my internet has slowed to a crawl. Has Steam done this or the patch? Or something else? My internet used to be much, much faster!

Help me!!!

[jason2074]

What is your broadband speed and are you connecting by wired or wireless? 

[Steve M]

What is your broadband speed and are you connecting by wired or wireless?

The laptop is wireless, connecting to a hub in another room. As for broadband speed, how do I find that out? (That probably sounds like a stupid question, I know, but we've had broadband for years and I can't remember any of the stuff from when we set it up).

[Rustys]

http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/

Click on the the city you wish to test to and post the results.

What does you ISP state that your speeds should be?

[Steve M]

I did a speed test (using a uk based program, as that's where I am). Download speed: 352 Kilobits/second. Upload: 316 Kilobits/second. The program said that in my area the best I could get was 4Mbps.
I looked at my wireless connection status (via Control Panel) and was told my speed was 54Mbps.
This is all very confusing and very annoying.  So, I have a program that can tell me my connection is slow, but now I need a way of finding out why it's suddenly become so slow and what I can do about it.

Help me, please!

[Transfusion]

4 Mbps=400+ kilobytes, not bits, per second theoretically. Here in China, I get 320 kilobytes/second max download speed on an ADSL connection, even with all the censorship/government firewalls, etc. etc. going on.
352 Kilobits/sec = 44 Kilobytes/sec. that is very slow for a 4 Mbps connection.
http://www.matisse.net/bitcalc/?input_amount=352&input_units=kilobits&notation=legacy

An Ethernet connection and a 54 Mbps WiFi connection will make no difference in speed connecting to the internet because the bottleneck is at your ISP's connection. Although if you want to nitpick about WiFi signal strength, beacon intervals... but for the most part the WiFi is not the problem.

So it is probably your game's connection to the internet that is malfunctioning. What you need is a bandwidth monitor that can track upload and download speeds of every application.
http://www.netlimiter.com/download/nl_2011_mon.exe Direct Download Link to netlimiter monitor version 2.
http://www.netlimiter.com/index.php

[Steve M]

Through control panel I check ed on my Hub, and it said Downstream was 1696Kbps and upstream 448Kbps.

Could it be possible my connection is slow because someone else is wirelessly also using my bandwidth without my knowledge?

[reddevilggg]

Have you tried the test while connected to your router with an ethernet cable??

[Transfusion]

1696 Kilobits/sec=212 Kilobytes/sec. I assume

Through control panel I check ed on my Hub, and it said Downstream was 1696Kbps and upstream 448Kbps.

to mean that its your PC's downloading/uploading speeds. It is your PC hogging bandwidth if so.

Have you tried the test while connected to your router with an ethernet cable??

and yes please try that-forgot that you were

connecting to a hub in another room.

[jason2074]

Sudden sluggish on internet connection could also be a cause of junk files and or infection.

[Steve M]

Thanks again for your replies.
The laptop hasn't been defragged or anything like that for ages, so that's next on my to do list.
Later I'll try the test with the hub/router connected to the laptop with the cable. But that can't be a long term solution because we often have computer in the other room running at the same time as the laptop and that's the one that needs a cable in order to connect.

[reddevilggg]

Later I'll try the test with the hub/router connected to the laptop with the cable. But that can't be a long term solution because we often have computer in the other room running at the same time as the laptop and that's the one that needs a cable in order to connect.

Its not meant to be a long term solution, its meant to find out if your router is as slow as your wireless connection.

[Rustys]

Just to test try disabling firewall and AV software see if there is any difference for the connection speed.  The enable after the test.

1  Is there any improvement if you connect directly to the modem?

2  Have you tried to disable or uninstalling Steam?

3  Yes there could be some one accessing your wireless if you do not have it secure.  The way you can check is bring up the configure screen for the router or modem and see who is using the connection and how there are connecting.  With out knowing what router and or modem you are using can not specifically tell you where to look to find the information.

[Steve M]

I've tried connecting the laptop directly to the hub/router with a cable. It took quite a while to download the drivers it needed. Then I did a speed check and got pretty much the same result. I've defragged the computer and deleted cookies and other stuff that may be slowing it down (but would those effect download speed anyway? I've no idea), but that hasn't changed the speed test.

[Steve M]

Just to test try disabling firewall and AV software see if there is any difference for the connection speed.  The enable after the test.

1  Is there any improvement if you connect directly to the modem?

2  Have you tried to disable or uninstalling Steam?

3  Yes there could be some one accessing your wireless if you do not have it secure.  The way you can check is bring up the configure screen for the router or modem and see who is using the connection and how there are connecting.  With out knowing what router and or modem you are using can not specifically tell you where to look to find the information.

I am using a BT home hub. The speed just dropped for no visible reason and has stayed the same for over a week.
Please help me computer hope experts, you haven't let me down yet!

[reddevilggg]

Do you have anything else connected ??  Telephones, TV, other PCs ??   Have you tried disconnecting everything but the Hub and doing a re-test. Are all the micro-filter connected securely ??

Also, know we know its a BT Home Hub, try this
http://speedtester.bt.com/

[Steve M]

I used Speedtester as suggested and got the following result:


Test1 comprises of two tests

1. Best Effort Test:  -provides background information.

 Download  Speed
 117 Kbps
   
0 Kbps 250 Kbps
Max Achievable Speed

 Download speedachieved during the test was - 117 Kbps
 For your connection, the acceptable range of speeds is 100-250 Kbps.
 Additional Information:
 Your DSL Connection Rate :1760 Kbps(DOWN-STREAM), 448 Kbps(UP-STREAM)
 IP Profile for your line is - 135 Kbps

2. Upstream Test:  -provides background information.

 Upload Speed
 329 Kbps
   
0 Kbps 448 Kbps
Max Achievable Speed

>Upload speed achieved during the test was - 329 Kbps
 Additional Information:
 Upstream Rate IP profile on your line is - 448 Kbps


We were unable to identify any performance problem with your service at this time.
It is possible that any problem you are currently, or had previously experienced may have been caused by traffic congestion on the Internet or by the server you were accessing responding slowly.
If you continue to encounter a problem with a specific server, please contact the administrator of that server in the first instance.


Which probably means a lot more to you guys than it means to me! It tells me there's no problem with my service, but if that's the case why is it so much slower than it used to be? Does it mean my service itself has been altered for the worse by the provider or something?

[reddevilggg]

Do you have anything else connected ??  Telephones, TV, other PCs ??   Have you tried disconnecting everything but the Hub and doing a re-test. Are all the micro-filter connected securely ??

[Steve M]

There is a telephone downstairs. I'll disconnect it and try a retest when I get chance later on. I'll check on the filters too and report back.

[reddevilggg]

The filter need to be on EVERY telephone.


But i'm beginning to think its a BT problem. Do you know your Download load usage? BT has been known to throttle heavy users.

[Rustys]

I have attached a program I use to diag other networks at work.  If it is not there let me know and I will find another way to get the file to you.

You will then need to attach the reg.txt.

[recovering disk space - old attachment deleted by admin]

[Steve M]

The filter need to be on EVERY telephone.


But i'm beginning to think its a BT problem. Do you know your Download load usage? BT has been known to throttle heavy users.

I've been in touch with BT. They said to take off the bottom of the BT box that's attached to the wall, and try using the engineers test port. Also said to try new filter. Tried these things and still have very low speed.

[Rustys]

Is there perchance a filter between the wall jack and the modem.  If so remove it and try the connection most modems come with a filter built in and do not need on there.

If there is a phone coming off the modem remove the filter from there.

You proply answered this earlier and I may be missing it...

1. Have you tried rebooting the modem?
2. Seeing if connecting a cable to the laptop and turn off the wifi if the speed improves?
3. If there are other computers are they showing the same speeds?  How do they connect?

[Steve M]

Thank you all for your suggestions. I installed new filters and a brand new BT home hub I got from a mate, still got slow speed. I contacted BT and assured them I'd done everything I could at my end. They said their network engineers would look into it. It worked! Within about four hours my speed had gone from 320Kbps to 1700Kbps! Depending on usage my average speed now fluctuates between 1200kbps and 1700kbps. It was BT's line that was at fault after all. But credit to them, they got it sorted quickly and without charge.

Thanks again for your help, I'll always come back to this forum for my computer advice.

[reddevilggg]

I have used BT as an ISP before and although a little more expensive than others their customer service is second to none, but in saying that, i'm now with TalkTalk and never had a problem, they've even given me half price for 6 months for being a loyal customer. You dont get that very often.

Glad you got it sorted.