Cannot Load Some Websites and General Internet Issues.

[cadams77]

I just moved to a new state and got a new ISP. I hooked up my laptop to the wifi with no issues, but when I hooked up my desktop via ethernet cable I was immediately having issues. I am paying for 300mbps, speedtest.net says I get around 200mbps, but it feels like a lot less because it is just slow feeling. Also, I simply cannot load certain websites on my desktop, such as Yahoo.com. Then there are others that just take ages to load, like Facebook.com, Xbox.com, and Netflix.com. These sites work perfectly fine on my laptop and my phone, so I am really unsure how to fix this. I already cleared my cache and cookies, tried different browsers, restarted the router, but no luck so far. When it finally stops trying to load I normally get "this webpage is not available err_connection_closed". It could be a network card issue, but I don't know. It is built in to my motherboard which is a asrock z68 extreme3 gen3. Anyone have any ideas?

 

[R_1]

first have you tried a different ethernet cable/port? is it still slow when you remove the router from the situation? Modem to pc then speed test.

 

[cadams77]

first have you tried a different ethernet cable/port? is it still slow when you remove the router from the situation? Modem to pc then speed test.

Well I have Time Warner so they gave me an all in one box, router and modem. I have tried other ports on the box though.

 

[R_1]

that limits things...
some websites? have you changed your DNS servers from the TWC defaults to googles or openDNS?

 

[cadams77]

that limits things...
some websites? have you changed your DNS servers from the TWC defaults to googles or openDNS?

No, I have never had to do that before. Is that just in my router settings for TWC? What should I change them to?

 

[R_1]

you can tell your pc to use the new DNS without having no use the router.
http://pcsupport.about.com/od/windows-8/fl/change-dns-servers-windows-8.htm
http://pcsupport.about.com/od/windows7/fl/change-dns-servers-windows-7.htm

follow the instruction for your OS
8.8.8.8 is the google DNS
8.8.4.4 is another google DNS

a list of free DNS servers is here
http://pcsupport.about.com/od/tipstricks/a/free-public-dns-servers.htm

 

[cadams77]

you can tell your pc to use the new DNS without having no use the router.
http://pcsupport.about.com/od/windows-8/fl/change-dns-servers-windows-8.htm
http://pcsupport.about.com/od/windows7/fl/change-dns-servers-windows-7.htm

follow the instruction for your OS
8.8.8.8 is the google DNS
8.8.4.4 is another google DNS

a list of free DNS servers is here
http://pcsupport.about.com/od/tipstricks/a/free-public-dns-servers.htm

So I tried that with several different DNS servers, but still cannot load those sites.

 

[cadams77]

Just found the solution. With my motherboard there have been reported problems with the XFastLan program. I installed it the other day because I thought it was an updated driver as my ethernet port was acting up. Turns out that caused this major issue. I uninstalled it and it all works now!

 

[R_1]

glad to hear it.

that is a traffic shaping program.
from wikipedia:
"Traffic shaping (also known as "packet shaping") is a computer network traffic management technique which delays some or all datagrams to bring them into compliance with a desired traffic profile.[1][2] Traffic shaping is used to optimize or guarantee performance, improve latency, and/or increase usable bandwidth for some kinds of packets by delaying other kinds. It is often confused with traffic policing, the distinct but related practice of packet dropping and packet marking."
it was probably set to game mode or something delaying till timeout/dropping all but whitelisted (gaming) packets.