Question Help with a spotty wired connection

[Debonezone]

Hi I have recently been experiencing a spotty/inconsistent internet connection on my PC. I will go to speed-test.com and it'll show anywhere from 750+ MBPS all the way down to 5-10 MBPS. I have tried resetting/rebooting the router, tried a newer cable and it seems that nothing has been a permanent fix. To clarify this is on a wired connection from my modem to my PC, and as far as I can tell it has to do with the wired connection. Upon doing a small 5 min investigation last night, when I un-plug the cable and turn on wifi my internet connection will be a consistent 250+ MBPS, and once I plug the cable back in it'll jump all over the place again. Any information would be greatly appreciated it. FYI I am kind of PC savvy but not network savvy, so may need a little further instructions then most on these forums. Thank you!!

Basic Equipment Info ---------------

PC -
Motherboard : Asus Z79-A WiFi
GPU: EVGA FTW 3090 TI
OS: windows 10

Modem: Net gear -
C7000v2 – Nighthawk AC1900
Firmware Version
V1.03.08

ISP: Comcast/Xfinity

Number of connected devices: 5
PC - wired
2 Phones - wifi
Xbox - wired
TV - wired

quick sidenote, when I "diagnosed" the issue last night, I did unplug and replug all wires, as well as disconnected all devices from the modem and it did not appear to have any effect to my PC's connection when plugged in.

 

[Ralston18]

On your computer check to ensure that only one network adapter is enabled. Either wired or wireless. As I understand your post only the wired network adapter should be enabled.

Run "ipconfig /all" (without quotes) via the Command Prompt. Post the results.

You should be able to copy and paste the result of "ipconfig /all" with no need to retype everything.

 

[Debonezone]

On your computer check to ensure that only one network adapter is enabled. Either wired or wireless. As I understand your post only the wired network adapter should be enabled.

Run "ipconfig /all" (without quotes) via the Command Prompt. Post the results.

You should be able to copy and paste the result of "ipconfig /all" with no need to retype everything.

Hi, I just ran it and this is the results, I've yet to over look them myself.


Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : DESKTOP-8D08BK2
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : hsd1.co.comcast.net.

Ethernet adapter Ethernet:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : hsd1.co.comcast.net.
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) Ethernet Controller I226-V
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : A0-36-BC-AD-E2-9B
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IPv6 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 2601:280:5980:5ad0:bf32:f9a5:95d3:e92b(Preferred)
Temporary IPv6 Address. . . . . . : 2601:280:5980:5ad0:a8ef:aa24:2a7f:9c2e(Preferred)
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::21c9:439e:49ae:ec3%12(Preferred)
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.11(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Tuesday, April 11, 2023 11:14:29 PM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Thursday, April 13, 2023 9:32:06 AM
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : fe80::3a94:edff:feda:f632%12
192.168.0.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 346044092
DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-2A-EB-09-D3-A0-36-BC-AD-E2-9B
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 2001:558:feed::1
2001:558:feed::2
75.75.75.75
75.75.76.76
2001:558:feed::1
2001:558:feed::2
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Wireless LAN adapter Local Area Connection* 9:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft Wi-Fi Direct Virtual Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 2C-0D-A7-38-E9-CA
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Wireless LAN adapter Local Area Connection* 10:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft Wi-Fi Direct Virtual Adapter #2
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 2E-0D-A7-38-E9-C9
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Wireless LAN adapter Wi-Fi:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : hsd1.co.comcast.net.
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) Wi-Fi 6E AX211 160MHz
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 2C-0D-A7-38-E9-C9
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Ethernet adapter Bluetooth Network Connection:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Bluetooth Device (Personal Area Network)
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 2C-0D-A7-38-E9-CD
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

 

[bill001g]

Although the symptoms are not the same as yours the i226 chips have issues....they also can't be fixed. Nobody has said how to identify the chips that were manufactured after the date they fixed the issue. The issue causes small network drops which should not really affect speedtest much.

Can the xbox run speedtest?

What you might want to try as a method to eliminate stuff is to boot a linux USB image. Most these come with a browser preinstalled and run from the USB stick. You should be able to run normal speedtest.
If this works you then start to suspect some windows setting but good luck guessing which one. If it also has issue under linux you then start to suspect hardware. Maybe a bad ethernet cable. 2.5g port do not tolerate out of spec cable as well as 1gbit ports and there are massive amounts of that fake flat ethernet cable being sold now days.

 

[Debonezone]

Although the symptoms are not the same as yours the i226 chips have issues....they also can't be fixed. Nobody has said how to identify the chips that were manufactured after the date they fixed the issue. The issue causes small network drops which should not really affect speedtest much.

Can the xbox run speedtest?

What you might want to try as a method to eliminate stuff is to boot a linux USB image. Most these come with a browser preinstalled and run from the USB stick. You should be able to run normal speedtest.
If this works you then start to suspect some windows setting but good luck guessing which one. If it also has issue under linux you then start to suspect hardware. Maybe a bad ethernet cable. 2.5g port do not tolerate out of spec cable as well as 1gbit ports and there are massive amounts of that fake flat ethernet cable being sold now days.

I just did a speed test on both my pc and xbox before replying and the results.

PC - 680mbps
Xbox - 200mbps (xbox is the old original xbox one model with an older cable)

As for faulty cable, I was suspecting my cable was faulty so I ordered a new one off amazon and tried it this morning before making this post. I still seemed to have the issue. Odd thing about this problem is, my internet will run good for a while (could be couple hours, to couple days), then just run extremely poor. In the past rebooting the modem seemed to be a temporary fix.

I will look into trying to boot a linux USB image (haven't done that before, so any video guides/links would be greatly appreciated !)

Also not sure if it may be of any help. This PC is a newer PC (had it built in late october/ early november) at microcenter. My old PC didn't seem to have as varied connection speed. But was also 10 years so couldn't get as high of upload/download speeds as this PC has achieved.

 

[Debonezone]

Update - My internet was running smooth all day (around that 650-750MBPS), but in the last hour or even less (around 10:20pm MNT time), my internet connection has gone down drastically, all the way down to even 5 MBPS. Not sure if that would help with diagnosing the problem.

 

[Ralston18]

Per your "ipconfig /all" results.

Try disabling IPv6. Just as a matter of elimination.

 

[Debonezone]

Per your "ipconfig /all" results.

Try disabling IPv6. Just as a matter of elimination.

I just disabled it. I will see how my internet runs today and reply tomorrow with any results. Appreciate it.

 

[Debonezone]

Per your "ipconfig /all" results.

Try disabling IPv6. Just as a matter of elimination.

So as of right now, the IPv6 being disabled did not appear to have any positive effect on my connection. But upon further it appears to be that my PC internet runs extremely poor on speedtest when a game is running. I tried several games (Last epoch, ROLL, Vampire survivors on Steam, and Diablo 3 on battle net) to see if it had the same effect, which it did. I tried running steam on "offline mode" as well, and it still effected the speed. Upon closing out the application, even during the middle of a test, the "Speed" would jump drastically. It would go from 5-30mbps all the way back up to the 650-750mbps. Again this doesn't seem to be an issue all the time, because I've played games in the past with very little ping, but I just noticed and "diagnosed" this issue upon trying to play Last Epoch and a loading screen taking an absurd amount of time, as well as websites not loading.
Not sure if this information will be of any help.

 

[Ralston18]

This speedtest website?

http://ww42.speedtest.com/

If not that website then what URL are you using?

Did you download anything via that website. Or check some "Accept" or other "Ok" that might have done so.

Try other speed tests to discover what speeds they report and if the speed variations continue.

And also look for other unknown or unexpected apps running in the background.

Possibly launched at startup via Task Manager or triggered later via Task Scheduler.

 

[Debonezone]

This speedtest website?

http://ww42.speedtest.com/

If not that website then what URL are you using?

Did you download anything via that website. Or check some "Accept" or other "Ok" that might have done so.

Try other speed tests to discover what speeds they report and if the speed variations continue.

And also look for other unknown or unexpected apps running in the background.

Possibly launched at startup via Task Manager or triggered later via Task Scheduler.

The website I am using and have used in the past is - https://www.speedtest.net/
No I have not downloaded anything from the website, nor accepted anything. Just hit the "Go" button, run a test, and that's it.
As for programs running in the background, I just disabled all start-up programs and did a "clean boot", and as of writing this post, I can not replicate the issue I posted earlier about, with the ping dropping upon launching a game. So it may of been a program in the background that was causing the issue.

 

[Ralston18]

I just ran a test via www.speedtest.net. Just to watch the process as it has been awhile since I last ran any speed tests.

Noted that you can change servers. Try changing servers to determine if the results change.

And disabling all background programs is a good way to troubleshoot.

If the problem does not return then bring the programs back ( if you so wish) one at a time allowing time between each added program.

Could be that the problem will return with one particular program or a combination of programs.

 

[Debonezone]

I just ran a test via www.speedtest.net. Just to watch the process as it has been awhile since I last ran any speed tests.

Noted that you can change servers. Try changing servers to determine if the results change.

And disabling all background programs is a good way to troubleshoot.

If the problem does not return then bring the programs back ( if you so wish) one at a time allowing time between each added program.

Could be that the problem will return with one particular program or a combination of programs.

I did notice when looking over my results earlier this morning, that my internet speed would go low on certain servers, and was higher on different ones. So I did try the ones it "preferred" and it didn't effect the speed. But this was before doing the "Clean Boot".
So far the internet has been running perfect, as well as speedtest.net hasn't shown a dip in speed. I will run my PC like this for a couple days, if I don't see the issue again. I have a hunch at which program may of been causing the issue, but I'll try and replicate it, if the "Clean boot" solved the issue. Again appreciate the info and advice.

 

[Ralston18]