Resolved Ethernet dragging, all connections

I am having problems with my cable connected Ethernet network. I have two Win2k desktops connected, with a Mac G4 Powerbook included in the mix. Both Win2k computers are pretty well maxed out on hardware connections, but they have operated pretty well for quite a while, now. My Win2k box is the administrator.

Over the past six months or so, I have been needing to "bump" the refresh button to get some web pages to load. This condition has gotten much worse, just recently. I can access Metacrawler, but the searches slow down, and backing up through a search string is about impossible. My Excite start page is just not coming in at all, and it has my complete TV listings and local weather... the wife doesn't like that. I can primarily access web pages, but clicking a link within most pages brings on the problems very strongly. Thankfully, this forum did fairly well, but not nearly as fast as it should be for a cable connection.

I checked my page loading capabilities at 2wire.com, and it is extremely variable, ranging from 1.90 Mbps to 136 Mbps, and many numbers in between. When I check my bandwidth on the Cnet bandwidth meter, it comes out to be 3285 Kbps.

I've pulled the main feed from my D-Link router and plugged it directly into my Win2k machine with no great improvement in page loading prowess. I can say that my Mac loads pages a little faster, but also has all the same problems, just not quite as bad.

My POP mail is even slowing down to the point of timing out. I just checked my IMAP mail on the Mac, and it's doing a little better, but not nearly as good as it has... at least it didn't time out, like the POP mail does.

If this isn't enough info, grill me good. I was preparing to upgrade a video card on these two 6 and 9 year old computers... but now it looks like I'll be digging into this network problem for a while.
Thanks,
ET

 

I could list 2 possible reasons for your reference:

1 Virus, spyware, adware ...
2 Your ISP is upgrading their devices in your area.

BTW, did you change anything in your network recently ? Inculde install some new software.

 

Thanks Jason,
I run Zonealarm Suite set to block as much as possible, I also tried checking with Spybot S&D and Adaware, and found nothing. Of course, I can't do much updating of the Spybot and Adaware from the dragging... the one just hung and didn't do anything... but they are fairly recently updated, anyway.

Oh yes, I also turned off all the protection for a quick check, too... nothing changed.

Road Runner hasn't said anything... I'll check and see what's happening. I just figured this was part of the earlier problem of having to bump the refresh button. But at least that worked, for a good while... now it's almost like shutting down service.

I did just install a new operating system on my wife's computer. It was doing really great, but now it's dragging on the Internet, just like mine and the Mac. I do get periods of really good access, but then it goes back to the feeling of dial-up. By the way... I just did lose the ability to open OE, when I would try to open it, I would get an error message stating it had to close... so I moved to Thunderbird, which was already installed from a previous trial period. It worked fine for a while, but Zonealarm doesn't cover it, for email protection. Could be the source, if I have an invader problem, I suppose.

It's almost as if it's stumbling, unable to make the final connection to the website or page. The progress bar jumps halfway, and then stops... and sometimes, no amount of refresh bumping makes it do any better.

I've had something similar happen before, but it was never this bad. It went a way when I wrote zeros to the drive and reloaded the system. I also had a problem with being blocked from some websites, when that other machine was running Win98, but once again, a reinstallation of the OS brought it back.

Sheesh, I don't relish another reload. I've quadrupled the size of the main drive, since then.

 

I would look at the browser first. It could be something in the TCP/IP set up, but more likely it is a browser issue. Try installing either Opera or Firefox and seeing if that improves things. If it does, then your browser is the problem.

By the way, do you use a broadband modem with the router? That is when you switched from using the router to directly to the machine, did you add a modem and move the line-in to it, or did you just move the modem connection from your router to the PC. If the later, this could be a modem issue.

 

Update

Thanks Reggie,
I have Opera on my system, and my Mac uses Safari, both, were and I emphasize, WERE under the influence of this problem. For whatever reason, I am now browsing at my old speed. Maybe it was Road Runner doing some sort of maintenance/repair. With all the power outages going on, I might have been stuck in a power impaired area of cyberspace. I'll still check it out with my provider, just so I know.

I still have the old snag that requires a nudge on the refresh button, but when I nudge, it jumps, now. I'd like to fix it, but I can live with that.

At least I got a chance to do one of my infrequent defrags... I meant to do a chkdsk, and don't you know... I forgot, but I do that fairly often.

In the router check, I just used the same SURFboard modem. I didn't have another modem, so I settled for just checking router function. The modem is one of RR's, but the router is mine... for the last six years... an old DI704. I figured it might be giving up the ghost... not yet, anyway. I don't look forward to going wireless. I've had relatively little trouble with this setup.

Great forum... reminds me of my boat repair forum... same forum software, similar activity level, and a similarly great bunch of folks sharing information. It's like being home.
Thanks again,
ET