Hello Guys I have a couple of questions. I am having trouble with my internet connection. I have BellSouth Ultra, which has an advertised download of 1.5Mbps and upload of 256Kbps. I have a Westell WireSpeed 2100 modem. However, based on a speed test from http://www.speed.fastaccess.com and http://www.dslreports.com I am only getting 510-556Kbps download speed. Upload is fine. A couple of things that I have tried is rebooting the modem, running several spyware programs (Ad Aware, Spybot, Microsoft Antispyware) and other antivirus programs and cleaners (HSRemove, CACleaner, Norton Anitvirus). I have Windows' Firewall disabled. Also, I ran these programs in safe mode. I have uninstalled my network card and reinstalled it. I have defrag my pc (which I do on a regular). I ran a tweak check, which suggested I changed my MTU to 1500. My connection setup is from the wall to the modem and to the Pc (no router). I have tried the speed test with and without filters but no difference in speed. I also called BellSouth and had them run a line check. A representative sent someone out and checked the line in the area and everything came out okay. A representative came out a second time and checked my line inside. The machined showed results of 1.2 Mbps, which is average for Bellsouth Ultra. My outside line topped at 1.4. The rep said there is a problem with my pc. I am wondering if anyone had a similar problem or know how can I fix my problem. I am out of ideas, but am still searching for an answer.
see if can borrow a different manufacturer netcard. also check for latest driver for that card. is your netcard builtin or is a card??
Thanks for the reply on the linksys website, there is not an update for the card I have. as a matter of fact, I have the Linksys EtherFast PCI Adapter model no. LNE100TX ver. 1.5. The site only have info on ver. 1.0. I don't have an extra card to borrow. I also used the built in card that came with my pc, but same results.
The only thing I can think of right off is that you may be at the far end of the DSL coverage area. I am less than a mile from the phone company CO where I live and get 1.2mps regularly with BellSouth. The further out you get from the office, you get a lower rate. But since they tested and got higher results with their equipment I would say that rules that out. You may want to try replacing the network cable too. I have seen those go bad from being stepped on, twisted, or other causes.
Yeah Xian That was one of the things they suspected at first (too far from the office). After reading the reply and not being able to locate my Linksys network card on the linksys website, I thought about getting another card. But I was wondering if it could be something else, because I am getting the same results when I use the built in card (I am not sure, but I think the other ethernet outlet is from the sound card). The linksys card I have is a 10/100. I read somewhere, I think at http://www.majorgeeks.com that you can change the speed/duplex of a card. I was wondering if that may be the problem.
Your Ethernet card will autoswitch between 10Mb/s and 100Mb/s (full duplex) but, your ISP is offering only 1.5Mb/s. Your ethernet card is probably not the problem here. If you are behind a NAT router, your NetBIOS setting of default (use NetBIOS setting from the DHCP server) would be OK. But you hooking up direct, must disable NetBIOS over TCP/IP for security reasons. Anyway, the SPEED! Where is it? Those guys said the line is good. Do you believe them? If the line is good, you might have poor wiring in your home. The connections through to your PC must all be good... then what? You say you are rebooting the modem; a good thing. (Again, it should be done once/month.) I would physically unplug it from power, and leave it overnight. The next day, it will definitely have to get new settings from BellSouth when it attempts to synch up :^) After all that, where's the SPEED - is it back now? If not, it's a software problem, probably OS related. But I dunno... I bet their speed they're sending you isn't what it's supposed to be. Like Xian said, the farther out you get from the office, the lower the rate. Here's mine from dslreports: 2005-10-03 00:29:31 EST: 2391 / 648 Your download speed : 2448874 bps, or 2391 kbps. A 298.9 KB/sec transfer rate. Your upload speed : 663655 bps, or 648 kbps. Sweet! Bell Sympatico (Canada). Keep working on yours, let us know what you discover. L8R
Thanks for the reply I took you advice and disable the NETBios. I have been search forums all over the net for a solution. I guess I believe my ISP when they said the line was good. the rep came into my house and showed me the line results from inside, hitting 1.2Mbps. As soon as the line is connected to the modem and a test is done, I get 500-540Kbps. Like Xian said the distance was also brought up with them. I am still looking for something..I did just recently(about 3weeks ago) switch from Comcast to BellSouth. In the back of my head I remember running a speed test with comcast and I believe I was also experience the same problem, but not as severe (my download speed was about 15% lower than average). I tested my friend's pc in my neighborhood and his connection is fine. besides from speed test, my average download speed for large fines tend to hold steady at 66KB. However, it varies on different sites. For instance for P2P applications, my high is 56KB, but average around 20KB with good seeders( more than 10) and peers. Different programs, such as MIRC I can get 125KB on some files . Recent download speed test results 540Kbps.. Still searching for suggestions.. I am gonna physically reboot like you said and see what happens. Again thanks for the help so far...
Its like this always? My useless isp (who i am leaving soon) is a 2mbit connection which during busy hours (6pm to 1 am) reaches an incredible 15kb/sec download speed. If I happen to get in from work early then i usually get 200 - 250k/sec easily.
Yeah it is. I just got the service and conducted speed test at different times of the day. Still the same. Thanks for replying. I have no idea what could be the problem. I am sure that my pc may have some spyware, which I am having trouble locating. I am assuming that because it takes from 30-45 seconds for it to boot when I click on a user account (there are 3 users). I only have (what I know of) NIS, Microsoft Anti-spyware and Dell support booting on start up. However, no matter how many times I disable windows messenger, it continues to boot. Other than that, I do not know why my speed is bad.
One thing you might want to remember when using other programs is that many calculate transfer rate in KiloBYTES not KiloBITs. A T1 connection is 1544 kilobits, but if you divide that by 8 (number of bits per byte) you really have a 193 kilobyte connection. It gets a little confusing at times, but the speed tests from BellSouth is in Kilobits not bytes. All I am saying is that you really may be getting 8 times the speed depending on how the program calculates, whether in bits or bytes. One thing that you might want to try if you suspect spyware is dumeter. It displays a graphic of the network activity. If you aren't downloading or doing anything and you see activity, something is going on. http://www.dumeter.com/scrshots.php They have a 30 day trial.
Thanks for the correction there Xian. You are absolutely right. Honestly, I am just getting use to calculating speeds. With the suggestions I have received so far from this forum and others, I was able to get a lil bit increase, from 500Kbps to 540Kbps. I am still searching for other possible reasons. I plan on getting my friend's pc tomorrow and checking the speed over here. I will also give that link a try and keep yall update on any changes I see. Thanks a lot. I am still open for any suggestions you all may have.
