Cause of ?Chunky? Internet Speeds?

[slackerinabox]

I just built a new system based on the 865g platform (P4) and have been having really awful net access speeds. Sometimes it?s slow as heck ? downloading 3kb/s using a cable modem off of various websites? Other times is decently fast but very ?chunky? ? i.e. you?re on say anandtech.com and it downloads all the text in one burst and waits a few seconds to download the pictures.

It?s hellishly annoying but I can?t figure out what?s going on. My dad?s computer is a wireless 802.11b connection and is working fine so it?s clearly something on my side. I think it?s the onboard lan but it?s an intel 10/100 jack ? aren?t intels supposed to be much better than the realtek one I had before? I tweaked my registry, updated my drivers, etc. etc. and things are still chunky. Any ideas? Should I just buy a new 10/100 card? Could it be something else?

Here are my specs:

P4 2.4b
1 gb ram (512x2)
280 gb hd (80gb seagate as the master and 200gb wd. as slave) - I had the thought that my old seagate may be causing the chunkiness but I'm not sure
geforce 6800 video card

I haven't gamed or done much of anything yet so I can't say if the problem is limited to net access or not.. I'll do more tests later but this net issue is frustrating as heck!

 

[fuzzynavel]

I'm more interested in your net connection than your computer...

how are you connected to the net?? router that has 802.11b and wired ports too??

what speed is your connection rated to perform?


have you checked for firmware upgrades recently??

How about transferring a large file to your dads' computer...does it still have the same behaviour????

There would also be no harm in running adaware or similar....

will think of more and come back

 

[slackerinabox]

Originally posted by: fuzzynavel
I'm more interested in your net connection than your computer...

how are you connected to the net?? router that has 802.11b and wired ports too??

what speed is your connection rated to perform?


have you checked for firmware upgrades recently??

How about transferring a large file to your dads' computer...does it still have the same behaviour????

There would also be no harm in running adaware or similar....

will think of more and come back

Thanks for the thoughts!
My connection is road runner - should be 3mb/down, 1.5 up (or something similar)
How I'm connected: cable modem-> wireless router -> i'm hooked up via ethernet, my dad via 802.11b wireless
I recently upgrade the firmware on my router.. I don't touch the cable modem because I blew it out once and, since I'm honest, had to pay out of pocket for a replacement.
Will try to transfer some files when I get back home.

Ran adaware and spybot and it's still "chunky"

thanks again!

 

[Gunbuster]

Do you have the connection forced on the PC or router or are you on autodetect for speed and duplex?

The Ethernet cable may also be bad.

 

[Looney]

Well since you have two computers hooked up to the same connection, this should be easy to conclude.... do both computers experience this 'chunky' speed? If so, then it's not the NIC. So then it's either the router or cablemodem/connection itself... and that's easy to determine; just connect your computer directly to the modem (leave router out). And if it's smooth, then it's the router. If it's still the same, then it's the connection or modem.

 

[slackerinabox]

Hey,

I should have added that I had an identical configuration before - two system, one on an 802.11b connection and one wired to the router. I just upgraded my motherboard/video card and added a 2nd hard drive. So everything is identical yet one is sluggish (the one wired to the router)... I'll try hooking it up straight to the router when I get home. I'm just not sure if the problem is with the onboard lan or a setting I messed up...

 

[VirtualLarry]

Are you running ZoneAlarm by any chance?

 

[fuzzynavel]

did you try transferring a random large file to your dads computer to check for the behaviour??

 

[JeffN825]

have you tried pinging the computers/router/websites from each computer to check for packet loss/delays.

Assuming you are using Windows XP, from your system:
-Go to the command prompt (Run >> cmd)
-type ping "your router's ip address" /t (probably 192.168.1.1)
-let it run a while...no packets should get dropped and all should time in at less than 1 ms. If this isn't the case, the problem is probably not with your internet connection. First try replacing the ethernet cable, then try a different port on the back of the router, then try plugging directly from the cable modem into your computer, then replace the router, then replace the network card....preferably in that order, until the problem is solved.

 

[Regs]

Enabled full duplex or at least 10/100 on your Network adapter?