Slow Internet Speeds On My PC

[Sainsc21]

My main computer has not been achieving the full internet speeds it usually does, but my other devices in my house are just fine.

I pay for 45/5 internet and my down lately has been super slow on my PC. It is super slow averaging 6-7 mbps.
can’t figure it out it should be around 39/40 but nothing I do helps.

I have had AT&T out here multiple times brand new modems and routers and nothing is working.

Please any help you can spare would be amazing!

Update 1.1 - Just ran a speed test after checking everything and this is what I got

Download Speed - 0.26Mbps
Upload Speed - 0.39Mbps
Packet Loss - Unknown%
Latency - 27ms
Jitter - 84ms

 

[Ralston18]

Have you checked your adapter settings to be sure they are matched to the router: e.g., speed duplex (manually set - not auto or if manual then try auto.)

Have you tried replacing the ethernet cables with known working ethernet cables? Any wall jacks or powerline adapters?

Have you tried reinstalling the network adapter drivers?

Try "ipconfig /flushdns" from the command prompt.

Run Resource Monitor and see what processes and services are consuming PC resources.

 

[Sainsc21]

I have not checked the adapter settings since it didn’t seem like those would have been changed.

I have bought all new Ethernet cables and checked all adapters and my powerline adapters were getting slower speeds than my wireless so I chose to not use those.

The first thing I did was look for updated drivers which I couldn’t find anything since 2010.

I flushed my DNS earlier today and it worked for maybe 2-3 mins and slow speeds again.

What resources should I look for that would affect my internet?

 

[Sainsc21]

Have you checked your adapter settings to be sure they are matched to the router: e.g., speed duplex (manually set - not auto or if manual then try auto.)

Have you tried replacing the ethernet cables with known working ethernet cables? Any wall jacks or powerline adapters?

Have you tried reinstalling the network adapter drivers?

Try "ipconfig /flushdns" from the command prompt.

Run Resource Monitor and see what processes and services are consuming PC resources.

I have not checked the adapter settings since it didn’t seem like those would have been changed.
I have bought all new Ethernet cables and checked all adapters and my powerline adapters were getting slower speeds than my wireless so I chose to not use those.
The first thing I did was look for updated drivers which I couldn’t find anything since 2010.
I flushed my DNS earlier today and it worked for maybe 2-3 mins and slow speeds again.
What resources should I look for that would affect my internet?

 

[Ralston18]

Would not expect the adapter settings to change per se. However, the settings should be verified just as a matter of elimination. Could be that some default setting kicked in and later failed to recover to the original fully functioning value.

With respect to the resources look at anything that is running and seems to be "high" or otherwise disproportionate. "High" being subjective because there is probably not yet a frame of reference from which to judge.

Once you have explored the resource usages then you can begin by looking at those presently consuming the most resources. Figure out what they are and what they may be doing. Could be something you do not even know about and the question becomes why is it running and can it be stopped. Lots of things sneak onto our computers one way or another....

Look at the Resources again. Do a screen dump of the results. Try flushing the DNS again and immmediately look at the Resources. After the 2 -3 minutes look again and compare. See what else may have started or even stopped without releasing resources.

You could naturally start by looking at the Network tab but the real issue could be somewhere else and the slowness just manifests the most with respect to network performance.

 

[Sainsc21]

Would not expect the adapter settings to change per se. However, the settings should be verified just as a matter of elimination. Could be that some default setting kicked in and later failed to recover to the original fully functioning value.

With respect to the resources look at anything that is running and seems to be "high" or otherwise disproportionate. "High" being subjective because there is probably not yet a frame of reference from which to judge.

Once you have explored the resource usages then you can begin by looking at those presently consuming the most resources. Figure out what they are and what they may be doing. Could be something you do not even know about and the question becomes why is it running and can it be stopped. Lots of things sneak onto our computers one way or another....

Look at the Resources again. Do a screen dump of the results. Try flushing the DNS again and immmediately look at the Resources. After the 2 -3 minutes look again and compare. See what else may have started or even stopped without releasing resources.

You could naturally start by looking at the Network tab but the real issue could be somewhere else and the slowness just manifests the most with respect to network performance.

I did the dns flush and went into my resource monitor and didnt see anything alarming, I checked the ones i didnt know online and nothing network wise came up as a negative issue.

 

[Ralston18]

Keep watching and do check tabs other than network. Could be that some other process or service is dragging the PC down at the expense of network performance.

Also run tracert and pathping a few times.

See if some bottleneck appears.

 

[Sainsc21]

Keep watching and do check tabs other than network. Could be that some other process or service is dragging the PC down at the expense of network performance.

Also run tracert and pathping a few times.

See if some bottleneck appears.

Im not going to lie, im not very familiar with what you are asking me to check on and do. Is there anyway to kind of get a walk through of it so I know im looking at the right stuff?

 

[Ralston18]

Go into the command prompt with administrative rights.

You can do that by typing "command prompt" in the Search box. A drop down box will open showing Command Prompt. Right click, select and click "Run as Administrator".

Once you are at the C:\WINDOWS\system32> prompt you can type either "tracert 8.8.88" or "pathping 8.8.8.8" (without the quotes in all cases).

You are looking for high ms times or high % packet losses.

What you are doing is testing the network/internet paths to Google's servers. If there are delays or losses along the way then there is probably not much you can do about it aside from contacting your ISP if if appears the delay is within their portions. A delay or losses to your router, on the other hand is on your end and something to focus on.

Just remember that the path to the servers can and will vary even during the same test.

Since only one PC is affected I do not expect to see any delays or losses upstream. However, if you run the same tests from another computer that is not being slowed down then the difference in the results may prove revealing.

A tracert delay to your router on one PC and not the other PC suggests a cable problem, port problem, adapter problem, or mis-configuration.

Sort of a shot in the dark at this point but something of interest may show up.

Be patient and give it a try.

And I am still curious about why flushDNS seems to last for only 2 or 3 minutes....

Hopefully someone will be able to offer insight into that aspect of the problem.

 

[Sainsc21]

Go into the command prompt with administrative rights.

You can do that by typing "command prompt" in the Search box. A drop down box will open showing Command Prompt. Right click, select and click "Run as Administrator".

Once you are at the C:\WINDOWS\system32> prompt you can type either "tracert 8.8.88" or "pathping 8.8.8.8" (without the quotes in all cases).

You are looking for high ms times or high % packet losses.

What you are doing is testing the network/internet paths to Google's servers. If there are delays or losses along the way then there is probably not much you can do about it aside from contacting your ISP if if appears the delay is within their portions. A delay or losses to your router, on the other hand is on your end and something to focus on.

Just remember that the path to the servers can and will vary even during the same test.

Since only one PC is affected I do not expect to see any delays or losses upstream. However, if you run the same tests from another computer that is not being slowed down then the difference in the results may prove revealing.

A tracert delay to your router on one PC and not the other PC suggests a cable problem, port problem, adapter problem, or mis-configuration.

Sort of a shot in the dark at this point but something of interest may show up.

Be patient and give it a try.

And I am still curious about why flushDNS seems to last for only 2 or 3 minutes....

Hopefully someone will be able to offer insight into that aspect of the problem.

Already have contaced ISP many many many times, they have given me 3 brand new routers and have "Fixed" the internet every single time. Again its only my main pc that has issues, wifi on my phone, xbox one, and tablets all work fine.

I did the tracert 8.8.88 and my ms seemed pretty good

didnt see anything higher than 30, but lines 7-30 all had * and said "Requested timed out"

and the flushdns, i went it and typed that and it really did have results after I did it (Internet worked fine) but a few mins after it was back to crawling speeds again.

 

[Ralston18]

Suggest we change direction some.

Here is a link discussing DNS:

http://www.tech-faq.com/how-to-flush-dns.html

My suggestion (when performance is slow) is to do a "ipconfig /displaydns" and capture the results.

Then flush again.

Immediately (when performance is where it should be) run "ipconfig /displaydns" again, capture, and compare the before and after.

Or even a third "display when performance drops.

Unfortunately more work for you but the displaydns results may find something relevant.

Edit/Update: Also please note the Section on disabling the Firefox DNS Cache - if you use Firefox.

 

[Sainsc21]

Suggest we change direction some.

Here is a link discussing DNS:

http://www.tech-faq.com/how-to-flush-dns.html

My suggestion (when performance is slow) is to do a "ipconfig /displaydns" and capture the results.

Then flush again.

Immediately (when performance is where it should be) run "ipconfig /displaydns" again, capture, and compare the before and after.

Or even a third "display when performance drops.

Unfortunately more work for you but the displaydns results may find something relevant.

Edit/Update: Also please note the Section on disabling the Firefox DNS Cache - if you use Firefox.

I appreciate all the help and the instructions I really do, but all of this telling me to flush this and look at that and do this and do that... I have no idea what to look for what is good or bad what is the better of anything. Is there anyway to actually guide step by step to figure out why this is happening.

It has to be my computer there is no other problem. Internet is FINE throughout the entire house nothing at all besides this PC is having a single issue. I know its not ISP, I know its not the router, it has to be something on this computer because I have ran full speed before.

Not trying to sound like an asshole at all, but I need to actually get help.. Not saying you havent helped at all, you have shown me some great tools, but what can I actually do or we actually do to figure out why a very well built and planned out pc gets slower internet speeds than a freaking iphone 6.

 

[Ralston18]

Unfortunately troubleshooting can be messy.

I basically agree with your assessment that the PC itself is probably the cause. That said, the goal is to find out what is different about that PC with respect to other working devices or what is not as it should be within the expected configuration of that PC.

So the approach I am applying is to collect information about your system. The curious part is why performance is good after the DNS flush but only for 10 minutes or so. My thinking is that something is happening to the DNS cache - but what I do not know.

You may have noted the paragraphs in the link regarding DNS Poisoning and DNS Common Problems. So if we look at the dns display information while things are working and compare that to another dns display when/right after performance has dropped there may be some new entry or entries in the cache. Removing those entries and blocking the reoccurence would end the matter. In all honesty I do not know either how that will be done at this time. All I know is that we still have some tools (e.g. displaydns) and things to look at.

You have done some pretty good work and I more than understand the frustration with it all. And there is always a very good chance that if we keep at it, keep posting as we go, then someone following will have a "Eureka" moment and spot something I missed. All in favor of that on this end.

Are you using Firefox by the way? Would like to eliminate that (per the link) as an issue if possible.

 

[Sainsc21]

Unfortunately troubleshooting can be messy.

I basically agree with your assessment that the PC itself is probably the cause. That said, the goal is to find out what is different about that PC with respect to other working devices or what is not as it should be within the expected configuration of that PC.

So the approach I am applying is to collect information about your system. The curious part is why performance is good after the DNS flush but only for 10 minutes or so. My thinking is that something is happening to the DNS cache - but what I do not know.

You may have noted the paragraphs in the link regarding DNS Poisoning and DNS Common Problems. So if we look at the dns display information while things are working and compare that to another dns display when/right after performance has dropped there may be some new entry or entries in the cache. Removing those entries and blocking the reoccurence would end the matter. In all honesty I do not know either how that will be done at this time. All I know is that we still have some tools (e.g. displaydns) and things to look at.

You have done some pretty good work and I more than understand the frustration with it all. And there is always a very good chance that if we keep at it, keep posting as we go, then someone following will have a "Eureka" moment and spot something I missed. All in favor of that on this end.

Are you using Firefox by the way? Would like to eliminate that (per the link) as an issue if possible.

I do not use Firefox. Just google chrome I have Firefox installed but don't use it.

I really want to say I'm not upset with you I appreciate all the hell! Just gets frustrating like you said.

I hope that eureka moment happens Hahahaha!

 

[Ralston18]

Even though you do not use Firefox make sure it is not being started at boot time.

And then, just as a matter of elimination, uninstall Firefox and any associated Add-ins.

 

[JohnnyBoy05]

You mentioned that you got new Ethernet cables, but not using your power line adaptor. Can you elaborate a little bit more on just how you are networked to your modem? Is the pics right next to it? Or do you have a long Ethernet cord strung across your house?

 

[Sainsc21]

You mentioned that you got new Ethernet cables, but not using your power line adaptor. Can you elaborate a little bit more on just how you are networked to your modem? Is the pics right next to it? Or do you have a long Ethernet cord strung across your house?

No the modem is down stairs, and the power-line was just not getting as much power as my wireless was. So I changed it, well now neither are getting power. So no there was no long Ethernet cord going around the house. Now this pc is running on wireless at the moment until I get this fixed.

 

[Sainsc21]

Unfortunately troubleshooting can be messy.

I basically agree with your assessment that the PC itself is probably the cause. That said, the goal is to find out what is different about that PC with respect to other working devices or what is not as it should be within the expected configuration of that PC.

So the approach I am applying is to collect information about your system. The curious part is why performance is good after the DNS flush but only for 10 minutes or so. My thinking is that something is happening to the DNS cache - but what I do not know.

You may have noted the paragraphs in the link regarding DNS Poisoning and DNS Common Problems. So if we look at the dns display information while things are working and compare that to another dns display when/right after performance has dropped there may be some new entry or entries in the cache. Removing those entries and blocking the reoccurence would end the matter. In all honesty I do not know either how that will be done at this time. All I know is that we still have some tools (e.g. displaydns) and things to look at.

You have done some pretty good work and I more than understand the frustration with it all. And there is always a very good chance that if we keep at it, keep posting as we go, then someone following will have a "Eureka" moment and spot something I missed. All in favor of that on this end.

Are you using Firefox by the way? Would like to eliminate that (per the link) as an issue if possible.

Alright so I got rid of firefox and everything, but also had one of my good buddies who does a lot of IT look at it when he was over here the other day. He said its the processing power of the modem that is slowing it down, because now it is effecting other devices. He said something around the lines of " ATT modem/router is good if it was just you but for everything you have going you need to get a third party router and apply that in use while using just the ATT as a modem." So I have already had in my possession a ASUS RT-AC68U dual band gig router. I know you have helped me do the stuff we have already talked about but do you know of a good way to connect this to the ATT modem/router and get this up and running? Dont wanna wait a week for him to get back over and set it up.

 

[Ralston18]

That would take quite a bit of "writing".

My suggestion would be to download the manuals for both the modem and router. Peruse through them a bit to get a sense of the physical configuration and connectivity requirements. Read some of the tutorials in this forum to do likewise.

Plan out what needs to be done and then work through it step by step. Lots of help functions and FAQs available to help with specific questions your may have.

One key thing to remember is that only one device should be handing out IP addresses via DHCP. Usually that function is disabled on the modem (if a modem/router) and allowed for the router.

And you can always post here as well. No problem if someone else responds with an answer or perhaps some clarifying question.

It will get easier as you go along.

 

[Sainsc21]

That would take quite a bit of "writing".

My suggestion would be to download the manuals for both the modem and router. Peruse through them a bit to get a sense of the physical configuration and connectivity requirements. Read some of the tutorials in this forum to do likewise.

Plan out what needs to be done and then work through it step by step. Lots of help functions and FAQs available to help with specific questions your may have.

One key thing to remember is that only one device should be handing out IP addresses via DHCP. Usually that function is disabled on the modem (if a modem/router) and allowed for the router.

And you can always post here as well. No problem if someone else responds with an answer or perhaps some clarifying question.

It will get easier as you go along.

Everything seems to work and go great together just running into issues from ISP modem. The access code on the modem tells me its wrong and wont let me do anything, then when it asks for the original (Which was that same number) it tells me its incorrect, so now for the rest of the steps I need to do to disable and enable things I have to get another tech out here.... im starting to hate internet.....