[SOLVED] Major drop in internet speeds

cctaylor88

Distinguished
Jul 5, 2010
321
0
18,790
I went from ~400 Megabits per second to ~5. I'm pulling my hair out. My ISP is WOW (Wide Open West) of course there is nothing on their end, no outages, no help offered. I have reset both my modem and router several times.

The only thing that has changed recently was me updating Windows 10 (I didn't notice any internet issues after downloading the updates though.. but now a few days later I'm really worried with these speeds).

I currently have the TP-Link AC1900 Router and the Netgear CM600 Modem I have never "updated drivers" or "checked firmware" etc etc on these devices. Nor on my computer. Seeing as how I've never done it I'm at a loss and would greatly appreciate any information and tips you can offer along with HOW to "check the drivers on your router" etc.

I'm running Windows 10 Version 1909 (OS Build 18363.778)

Again, I really appreciate any help you're able to offer. I'm at a total loss here, and as you can imagine 5 Megabits/second is virtually nothing and my house cannot operate off of it.

I'm finding when I reboot my PC I may get some vast improvement (going up to 150-500 Megabits) but then after a few minutes I'm once again crawling along. For example I'm now connected directly to the modem, just did a reboot and got 153 down, now 5min later I got 4 down..
 
Last edited:
Solution
Just your computer or any and all other network devices?

Does the following line diagram show your network connections?

ISP (WOW)---coax---> NetGear Modem[Ethernet Port] ---Ethernet cable--->[WAN] TP-Link[LAN]----Ethernet cable ---> PC.

Edit and correct my line diagram as necessary. Add wall outlets, switches, other network devices as present.

Run and post the results of "ipconfig /all" (without quotes) via the Command prompt on your computer.

Try another (known working at speeds) ethernet cable between your pc and router. Likewise between modem and router.

Run "tracert" via the Command Prompt on your computer targeting Google. I.e., "tracert 8.8.8.8".

Run "tracert" several times at different times when performance is both good...

Mattp2017

Honorable
Jan 25, 2017
393
9
10,865
I went from ~400 Megabits per second to ~5. I'm pulling my hair out. My ISP is WOW (Wide Open West) of course there is nothing on their end, no outages, no help offered. I have reset both my modem and router several times.

The only thing that has changed recently was me updating Windows 10 (I didn't notice any internet issues after downloading the updates though.. but now a few days later I'm really worried with these speeds).

I currently have the TP-Link AC1900 Router and the Netgear CM600 Modem I have never "updated drivers" or "checked firmware" etc etc on these devices. Nor on my computer. Seeing as how I've never done it I'm at a loss and would greatly appreciate any information and tips you can offer along with HOW to "check the drivers on your router" etc.

I'm running Windows 10 Version 1909 (OS Build 18363.778)

Again, I really appreciate any help you're able to offer. I'm at a total loss here, and as you can imagine 5 Megabits/second is virtually nothing and my house cannot operate off of it.

I'm finding when I reboot my PC I may get some vast improvement (going up to 150-500 Megabits) but then after a few minutes I'm once again crawling along. For example I'm now connected directly to the modem, just did a reboot and got 153 down, now 5min later I got 4 down..

I would download TCPoptimizer, run it as admin then click the Optimal radio button and restart and see if it helps any. It's a very good free lightweight utility for increasing internet speed. I would also consider downloading something lilke DNSBench and setting your DNS settings to the fastest it says. https://www.speedguide.net/downloads.php That is the link to download TCPoptimizer, but the website speedguide.net in general is good to read up on for several other suggestions and tweaks for improving network performance. You probably need to go into your advanced settings under your network cards properties and change a few things in there as well.
 

Ralston18

Titan
Moderator
Just your computer or any and all other network devices?

Does the following line diagram show your network connections?

ISP (WOW)---coax---> NetGear Modem[Ethernet Port] ---Ethernet cable--->[WAN] TP-Link[LAN]----Ethernet cable ---> PC.

Edit and correct my line diagram as necessary. Add wall outlets, switches, other network devices as present.

Run and post the results of "ipconfig /all" (without quotes) via the Command prompt on your computer.

Try another (known working at speeds) ethernet cable between your pc and router. Likewise between modem and router.

Run "tracert" via the Command Prompt on your computer targeting Google. I.e., "tracert 8.8.8.8".

Run "tracert" several times at different times when performance is both good and bad.

The results may show you if the problem is within your network, your ISP's network, or elsewhere.
 
Solution