Question Windows 10 PC internet "freezing"; RDP, LAN work fine

[tycho1974]

Hey, gang. So I've got this weird issue with one PC on my home network that's popped up in the last two weeks, despite no system-wide settings having been changed by me.

Lately, my internet browsing has been locking up, or freezing, but it's not disconnected. For example, I'll head over to github.com and I might have to wait a while for anything to come through, sometimes more than a minute; it's not that it doesn't connect (I get no "We're having trouble finding that site" or 404 messages), it's that it takes forever for images and content to download. My LAN connections work just fine, and I can connect to my NAS or other computers on my network with no connectivity issues, at full speeds. I also do a lot of work on my home PC while I'm at my place of work, and I use Remote Desktop to connect; RDP connections are always full speed. It's only web browsing and related connections (email, streaming video, etc.) that seem to freeze up like this. Sometimes this behavior starts after an hour, sometimes after six hours, sometimes in the morning when I wake up. Rebooting the computer will always bring the internet connection back up to "speed" (as in, no freezing, just constant fast connections).

Only this one PC is experiencing this behavior, every other device on my network (Shield TV, 4 laptops, Roku, Alexa, Nest, etc.) can connect just fine. I've been troubleshooting this for a week and can come up with no solutions; I can't find examples of similar behavior online.

I'm at work now, and I can't remember all the details of my network, but here's my best recollection, as I've put off using RDP until I can fix this issue:

• Custom build Windows 10 PC, latest updates applied
  • Connected to LAN via ethernet cable to 8-port Netgear switch (100/100)
  • Switch is directly connected to Verizon-supplied network extender via ethernet cable
• Using Pi-Hole for network-wide ad blocking
• Verizon Fios gigabit internet connection, using Verizon router/modem (Quantum, I think)
• 22 total devices on network, including one NAS
• Running Avast anti-virus software, with MalwareBytes recently installed

Here are the steps I've taken to try to rectify the issue:

• Reboot the PC (always works for an unknown amount of time before requiring another reboot)
• Used the following commands in an admin-level command prompt:
  • netsh winsock reset catalog
  • netsh int ipv4 reset
  • netsh int ipv6 reset
  • Then changed my IP settings from "Manually" back to "Automatic"
• Verified my network card drivers are up to date using MSI's Live Update app
• Used TCP Optimizer to modify network settings to "optimal"

None of these methods have provided a permanent resolution to the issues I'm having; the only thing I can do is reboot and ride the wave for as long as I can. Any help on this would be appreciated — thanks!

 

[Deleted member 14196]

use system restore and restore to an earlier point this was not happening. maybe it's your ad blocking thing.



turn off poo-hole and see if you can surf

you are going to have to eliminate things, one by one and test until you find it if it isn't your pc

 

[tycho1974]

use system restore and restore to an earlier point this was not happening. maybe it's your ad blocking thing.



turn off poo-hole and see if you can surf

you are going to have to eliminate things, one by one and test until you find it if it isn't your pc

Yeah, the pi-hole would be the obvious culprit if all the devices on my network were having the same issue, but it's just the one computer. I'll try a system restore and see what happens.

 

[Deleted member 14196]

if i were you, i would turn of pi-hole as first test. most non-destructive and will confirm your suspicions or lead you elsewhere. process of elimination. if it fixes it, we need to find out why. all of the other devices are not PCs, right? more going on in a PC

 

[tycho1974]

if i were you, i would turn of pi-hole as first test. most non-destructive and will confirm your suspicions or lead you elsewhere. process of elimination. if it fixes it, we need to find out why. all of the other devices are not PCs, right? more going on in a PC

I'm not ruling that out, but I'd rather start with the system restore point. I've got my pi-hole as my DHCP server, so taking that offline is going to affect all the devices — including 4 laptops (2 Windows 10, 2 ChromeOS) and another Windows 10 desktop working as my Plex server. All of which, as I mentioned in the OP, are working just fine, with none of the issues my daily use desktop is experiencing.

In any event, it's going to be a busy couple of days...

 

[tycho1974]

UPDATE: I ended up not using a system restore point. I did, however, notice my pi-hole software needed updating. So I ran the update, and after resolving an issue with a browser plugin blocking the actual dashboard content, the pi-hole was up to date. I then deactivated any IPV6 settings on the computer, since I don't use IPV6 in any way, and rebooted the machine. Since then, I have not had any internet-specific connectivity issues. I'm hesitant to consider this "resolved", but I'm open to being optimistic.

My one nagging concern is that only one of my 5 PCs was affected. Virus scans showed nothing, and I had not made any changes on my end, so this still baffles me. Perhaps a Windows update caused this hiccup? There were two recent updates that occurred around the time my issues started, updates #KB4569751 and #KB4565351 . I'm realizing now that those seem like the most likely culprits, considering none of my other machines running Windows 10 have those updates applied yet...