100Mbps Ethernet Controller Averaging 7Mbps

[jasdomtow]

Hey, so I have a Broadcom NetXtreme 57xx Gigabit Controller. This controller is great for every day browsing the web, but whenever I try to download something, it's a nightmare. The card only averages 7Mbps (but will go up to 16Mbps, so I know I have 100Mbps capabilities), and the weird thing is, whenever I go to the device manager > the network controller > advanced > and then change ANY setting, it runs at like 26Mbps for about 30-45 seconds, and then nosedives back down to 7. It is set to do 100Mbps Full Duplex, and I've tried everything in my knowledge to fix this, but nothing works. Any help would be appreciated, thanks!

Edit: I know it's not the ISP because I can get 22-26Mbps for a short period of time, the issue is that, when I download stuff, my speed goes down to 7Mbps unless I restart the NIC. It is a NIC issue because I CAN get 25Mbps which would be just fine a speed over the 7 I'm getting.

 

[Someone Somewhere]

Network speed is determined by the slowest link in the chain. Usually, this is not your local network connection, but either the link from your router to your ISP, or the sending server itself.

Can you post a speedtest, and tell us who your ISP is and what plan you buy?

 

[jasdomtow]

Network speed is determined by the slowest link in the chain. Usually, this is not your local network connection, but either the link from your router to your ISP, or the sending server itself.

Can you post a speedtest, and tell us who your ISP is and what plan you buy?

DOWNLOAD
22.61Mbps

UPLOAD
2.14Mbps

I have Spectrum and I am not 100% sure which plan, it's been a while since I've looked, but I know I have a 100Mbps plan for sure. The card seems to rise and plateau at 25Mbps when the test starts, then drop when it finishes, almost like whenever I change a setting, as shown by the attached graph... IDK why.

NOTE: I just put this image on my web server, it IS from my pc.

Another thing, when I change a setting, the speed in the game download also goes from 700Kb/s to 2.8MB/s, so the sending server isn't the issue, the card CAN do 26Mbps, so the router, LAN, or ISP aren't the issue, it's the card, any ideas?

 

[bill001g]

You want to leave your nic settings in auto. They get very confused if one end is in auto and the other is not. Generally you can't change most home routers so you must leave it set to auto.

It could be a cable problem but generally you see packet loss and not just slowness.

If you really want to test your nic you can use a old line mode tool called IPERF. You would need a second machine in your house but it test basic transfer and is not impacted by things like cpu/memory or disk delays. If both machines have gigabit nics and the router has gigabit ports you generally see numbers in the high 900mbps range.

After that it is time to call your ISP. They may have set your account to the wrong speed in error or there could be a technical problem.

 

[faalin]

go to www.speedof.me and run a test. It will tell you what your ISP is giving you, then compare it to what your paying for.

 

[failboat]

Do you have ethernet plugged in? If you're on wifi it's using a different adapter.