DSL Speed problem

[cchazer]

I have several computers on a home network, all computers get download / upload speeds reasonably close to advertised speed.  One of my kids computers has a wireless connection and gets horrible download speed, and close to advertised upload speed.  I have norton antivirus, and have ran spybot search and destroy, they both catch no problems.

I have Windstream DSL service advertised at 12Mbps (down) and 768Kbps (up)

on the problem computer i get about 350Kbps (down) and 630Kbps (up)

other computers I get 11.45Mbps (down) and 630Kbps (up)

I can't figure out what is causing the slow download speed.  Tomorrow I am going to hardwire the connection and see what happens.

let me know if you have any ideas what is causing this.

[dahlarbear]

Tomorrow I am going to hardwire the connection and see what happens.

Since you didn't explicitly say, I've got to ask:
    (1)  Did you test the problem computer in close proximity (within six to ten feet) of the wireless access point (home router?) with clear horizontal line of sight?
    (2)  If they both have external antennas, are they all pointing straight up ?

[cchazer]

Yes, right next to the router, both antenna's pointint up.  Also, this computer never used to be this slow, it's one of the kids computers, thats why I was thinking it was probably a spyware problem.

[dahlarbear]

1.  Netstat.  Use the "netstat" utility to see how many errors and/or retransmits you've had to and/or from that computer.  I believe the statistics are accumulated from the last "boot" (so a reboot allows you to start fresh).

From a command prompt window try:
    a.  netstat -e
    b   netstat -e -s |more

or to save the output, redirect to text file on root of "Windows" drive letter:
    c.  netstat -e > %systemdrive%\netstat_e.txt
    d.  netstat -e -s > %systemdrive%\netstat_e_s.txt

or for command syntax and usage information:
    e.  netstat /?

2.  Safe Mode with Networking.  If Windows XP machine, boot to "Safe Mode with Networking" and check the download / upload throughputs.  Note:  In Safe Mode, most if not all of your security software, will not be running.

3.  Malware.  If you really think it might be "malware" see Read this before requesting malware removal help and post to the "Computer Viruses and Spyware" forum.

4.  Computer Specs.
     a.  From "System Properties" windows (General tab):
          (1)  Operating system and service pack level (e.g. Windows XP Home Edition SP3)
          (2)  CPU type, clock rate, amount of system RAM

     b.  Wireless Adapter
          (1)  Make and model number (if known)
          (2)  Which standard does it support (802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n)?

5.  Hard Drive.  (Yeah, I know I'm reaching...)
     a.  Approximate total capacity (GigaBytes)
     b.  How much "Free" space (GigaBytes)
     c.  Space allocated to "swap file" (aka paging file).
     d.  When was the last time you checked the drive for errors (file system and disk surface)? 
     e.  When was the last time you "defragged" the file system?

6.  Process Explorer.  Download, unzip, and run Process Explorer.  It's from www.sysinternals.com which was bought by Microsoft couple of years ago.  For now, use it to verify CPU usage.  Is the "Idle" process value low (meaning computer could use more processing power).