Not getting broadband speed I should be

DCFC79

Ill try to keep this short, ive got virgin cable 10mb internet and the last few weeks ive noticed that im not getting the speed i used to get eg 8 or 9mb. Ive done various tests when connected to the router and a direct connection to the modem(it gets slightly better)and ive done speed tests via safe mode and the results are what they have been eg 8 or 9mb. I had spoken to tech support at virgin and he mentioned about there being some programs on startup that would be eating the bandwidth so i disabled what programs were set to start on startup(only 1 left is avast and i cant seem to disable it).

Current setup is like this

modem --- router --/-- computer 1 (runs on xp)
and computer 2 (connected to the router by homeplug and runs on win 7)

ive narrowed it down to being the the xp computer at fault as i have done speed tests on the win 7 pc and the speeds are better and ive connected the win 7 pc direct to the modem and the speeds are better again.

Anyone able to offer advice what i could do next (other than trying a reinstall but would that work)

danthemoneysavingman

As this is recent (you say), you could try looking at the changes that you've made to your machine in the last few weeks and undo them one at a time until you find the problem. Be interested to see what changes you have made if you'd care to post them.

Have you run malwarebytes anti-walware or similar recently? you may have a rogue program eating up bandwidth, you never know.

JasX

Sorry, your post isn't all that clear.. to clarify.

-you have a 10mb virgin media connection.

-you have a windows 7 PC and XP machine

-both are simultaneously connected to the virgin router, they are physically wired and no wireless is involved (The Windows 7 PC goes via a homeplug and the XP machine via ethernet cable)

-You get good connection speeds on the Windows 7 machine (8-9meg) but poor connection speeds on the XP machine (which you do not state?).

-It does not matter whether one machine is being used at a time or both machines used together the result is the same.

Is that correct?

PS Avast is your anti virus protection and kinda important, you don;t want to be running without anti virus or you will be in trouble. you also don't wan't to be running with more than one anti virus program as they are likely to conflict (could possibly be the cause of your problem).

John_Gray

DCFC79 wrote: »

I had spoken to tech support at virgin and he mentioned about there being some programs on startup that would be eating the bandwidth

An interesting and amusing theory! What are all these programs supposedly doing with all this downloaded data, then? And why?
If you run NetWorx you'll be able to see the network traffic.

What speed tester are you using? The only one I'm prepared to use is ThinkBroadband - I've had a different one tell me that my 10 Mbps line is running at over 20 Mbps! (tee-hee...) Currently I'm getting 9.1 Mbps down and 0.5 Mbps up.

DCFC79

danthemoneysavingman wrote: »

As this is recent (you say), you could try looking at the changes that you've made to your machine in the last few weeks and undo them one at a time until you find the problem. Be interested to see what changes you have made if you'd care to post them.

Have you run malwarebytes anti-walware or similar recently? you may have a rogue program eating up bandwidth, you never know.

only thing ive done is done a reinstall of xp a few months ago but other than that i cant think what else ive done, im running malwarebytes now

JasX wrote: »

Sorry, your post isn't all that clear.. to clarify.

-you have a 10mb virgin media connection.

-you have a windows 7 PC and XP machine

-both are simultaneously connected to the virgin router, they are physically wired and no wireless is involved (The Windows 7 PC goes via a homeplug and the XP machine via ethernet cable)

-You get good connection speeds on the Windows 7 machine (8-9meg) but poor connection speeds on the XP machine (which you do not state?).

-It does not matter whether one machine is being used at a time or both machines used together the result is the same.

Is that correct?

yes it is jasx,

John_Gray wrote: »

An interesting and amusing theory! What are all these programs supposedly doing with all this downloaded data, then? And why?
If you run NetWorx you'll be able to see the network traffic.

What speed tester are you using? The only one I'm prepared to use is ThinkBroadband - I've had a different one tell me that my 10 Mbps line is running at over 20 Mbps! (tee-hee...) Currently I'm getting 9.1 Mbps down and 0.5 Mbps up.

thats the thing the only programs set to start on startup were 3 system 32 files, avast and msn, so i disabled the system 32 and it seemed to get better then it dropped to what it is now, i forgot to say that when the tech support said a program eating the bandwidth he mentioned backup software as a possibility but i dont run any,

ive been using the speed test 1 but i can do a test on thinkbroadband and post the results

DCFC79

If i dont reply its because im just going out, ill reply asap

JasX

DCFC79 wrote: »

thats the thing the only programs set to start on startup were 3 system 32 files, avast and msn, so i disabled the system 32 and it seemed to get better then it dropped to what it is now, i forgot to say that when the tech support said a program eating the bandwidth he mentioned backup software as a possibility but i dont run any,

really not sure where you're looking for that information, randomly disabling startup programs sounds like a complete red herring at best and creating quite serious problems for yourself otherwise if you disable something important -system32 is a core part of windows.

things to check

-use networx to see if any running programs are using using up your bandwidth.

-looking for anything else obviously conflicting/odd (ie scan for viruses, do you have anything pulling a large % of processor power you're not aware of -look in task manager, do you have multiple anti virus programs/firewalls running and conflicting)

-do you have all the correct drivers installed for your network adapter / motherboard (check for yellow ! marks in device manager)

-is windows up to date and set to automatically install updates.

-is your browser up to date, does the reduced network speeds affect different browsers?

spg_SCOTT

I have read on the avast! forum that sometimes the shields can trick the speed tests...(as can MBAM IP protection)

One suggestion I have seen is to download a file with the shield on and off, and compare the download speeds that you get...

http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=52974.msg449802#msg449802
http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=52767.15
http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=56564.msg477109#msg477109

DCFC79

JasX wrote: »

really not sure where you're looking for that information, randomly disabling startup programs sounds like a complete red herring at best and creating quite serious problems for yourself otherwise if you disable something important -system32 is a core part of windows.

things to check

-use networx to see if any running programs are using using up your bandwidth.

-looking for anything else obviously conflicting/odd (ie scan for viruses, do you have anything pulling a large % of processor power you're not aware of -look in task manager, do you have multiple anti virus programs/firewalls running and conflicting)

-do you have all the correct drivers installed for your network adapter / motherboard (check for yellow ! marks in device manager)

-is windows up to date and set to automatically install updates.

-is your browser up to date, does the reduced network speeds affect different browsers?

i did it via msconfig which the tech support guy said to do, i researched what the 3 system 32 files were before i disabled them, 1 was to do intel graphics, 1 was to do with office and i cnat remember the other, well the pc is still working fine so the 3 files didnt do much,

networx is now running, windows is upto date and inc firefox,

not tried other browsers in regards to testing whether other browsers are affected

in task manager theres just system idle process at 80 odd,

this is the speed test done via IE

this is via opera

this is via firefox

ive just done a test using speed test and this is the speed its given me

ok im begginging to think that firefox might be the problem as ive gone to speed test via ie and opera and teh tests were higher than in firefox(i can post the results if you like), maybe its an add on, just a theory

Lokolo

When you do both speed tests, are they both plugged in at the same time? Or are you plugging one in, testing, plugging in another, testing?

DCFC79

Lokolo wrote: »

When you do both speed tests, are they both plugged in at the same time? Or are you plugging one in, testing, plugging in another, testing?

i do 1 test at a time, what do you by plugging in ? or are you refering to the router, the tests ive done have been done connected to the router rather than direct to the modem but i can do that