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knappschiles
Joined: 25 May 2005
Posts: 4035
Location: Wi
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| Posted: Sat Dec 31, 2005 4:18 pm Post subject: Need some techie help |
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I'm on 3 mg cable with charter cable. Actually a package with the TV.
Sometime around noon yesterday I noticed sites loading slow. I also had looked for a couple of programs and they downloaded at a top speed of only 7 kb/sec when I can usually get over 30. My email has been a total PITA too. I have 2 accounts set up just for PSP yahoo group email and it isn't even downloading it 1/2 the time. When it is it's taking hours for 30 emails instead of moments.
I spent about an hour on the phone with charter tech service and he ran several tests and confirmed that my download speed is less than a 56k modem. I now have an appointment with a tech for "sometime" Wednesday. I will be pulling out my hair by then.
My question is - give me some ideas what could be causing the bad case of the sloooowwwws.
Conditions -- 1 year old Dell computer. Everything else seems to be running OK. ZA free firewall. 3 + year old Charter cable modem (my suspect). 15 + year old underground cable line that runs along our road that is flooded about 1200 feet west of us (between us and the office). Could waterlogged cable be a problem ??
All summer I've been having problems keeping my hubbies computer hooked up thru a router, but my computer has been OK. Right now I've disconnected the router and only my computer is hooked up directly to the modem.
Thanks,
Carol |
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LFRYARTGUY
Joined: 01 Feb 2005
Posts: 568
Location: San Antonio, Texas
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| Posted: Sat Dec 31, 2005 4:45 pm Post subject: Re: Need some techie help |
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Hi carol...sorry to hear about your problems...
There are many things that could contribute to the slowness your experiencing...
I assume you keep your computer Temp files cleaned out & Defrag every so often???
Definately the Old Cable line will cause problems...
also if you are running your "SpyWare & AntiVirus" software..then you are using your systems resources up...try turning them off while on the Net ( I know that's scarry )...later offline come back & run the scans you might need....
I've been noticing drastic decreases in my speed here also...alot of folks are on the Web right now during these holidays ..& the bandwidth is suffering.....
From what you've said...the old cables seem to be the main cause though..& Yes, you will have problems with data transfer with water logged corroded cables....& you'll have to wait for the Tech to give his verdit on that....
Try to Have a Happy New Year anyways... |
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knappschiles
Joined: 25 May 2005
Posts: 4035
Location: Wi
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| Posted: Sat Dec 31, 2005 4:58 pm Post subject: |
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I know we have had telephone problems in the past when that area is under water. Our thaw this week has things really soggy now.
Our road is going to be rebuilt and widened next summer, so all the utilities will be moved and/or replaced. Hopefully new lines will help everything.
But this has been weird. Things were OK yesterday morning, then just dropped to molasses speed. Just getting a page to change is horrendously slow right now.
Carol |
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lotsofgoodstuff
Joined: 02 Jun 2005
Posts: 282
Location: CA
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| Posted: Sat Dec 31, 2005 5:28 pm Post subject: |
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| If you are horrendously slow - you might have a virus. I'd run a check just to be sure. |
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knappschiles
Joined: 25 May 2005
Posts: 4035
Location: Wi
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| Posted: Sat Dec 31, 2005 7:17 pm Post subject: |
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I've thought of that. But wouldn't the rest of the computer also slow down ??
I have AVG free that runs every nite and has only once found anything bad. (that was about a month ago and a file that I hadn't used, now deleted)
I ran Spybot S&D for the first time in a long time and it picked up several things that Adaware didn't get last week or that were new since then.
I've been trying to run Housecall, but things were so slow I got frustrated and shut it down. It never got to the start part, it was just trying to update forever.
Things seem to be running a bit better since the Spybot cleanup so I may give Housecall another try.
BTW, when I was trying housecall, I was pleased to see that it now will run on Mozilla/Firefox using Java. In the past it would only run on IE because it used Active X.
Carol |
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angelsolutions
Joined: 08 Mar 2005
Posts: 3289
Location: Corpus Christi, TX
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| Posted: Sat Dec 31, 2005 8:46 pm Post subject: Re: Need some techie help |
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My bet is on the cable modem needing replacing (not the router) and/or the water-logged cable.
If the charter tech confirmed that your speed is slow, it means he checked the modem speed. He cannot see past it to the router. I have the same set up & had the same problem this summer. Not one, but 3 techies showed up, replaced my cable modem twice & checked some incoming wires from outside at the box.
If your computer can still operate everything else with it's usual processing power, until you get on the internet, I'll double my bet. :mrgreen:
Good luck!
sylvia
angelsolutions |
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knappschiles
Joined: 25 May 2005
Posts: 4035
Location: Wi
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| Posted: Sat Dec 31, 2005 9:25 pm Post subject: |
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Sylvia,
That's what I'm thinking too. The rest of the computer seems to be OK as far as I can figure.
I tried to run Housecall again. I let it "run" for over an hour and it never "did" anything that I could see (or hear, as in the hard drive running).
I tried to download a small file to update a daily program I use for 06. It downloaded 3 kb and hung there for 5 minutes.
Nothing like it going out on a holiday.
Carol |
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grannysuze
Joined: 07 Feb 2005
Posts: 606
Location: www.grannysuze.com - NJ
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| Posted: Sat Dec 31, 2005 9:28 pm Post subject: |
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I'm no techie, but I know when I'm wet I don't operate up to par ...
so I'll put my vote with the wet wires. |
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knappschiles
Joined: 25 May 2005
Posts: 4035
Location: Wi
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| Posted: Sat Dec 31, 2005 9:43 pm Post subject: |
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The wires will be replaced this summer when they rebuild the road.
That is a good possibility too as we have had problems with all kinds of things in that area of our property. At a certain point the cable and the gas line are not underground but go thru a culvert under a road. I wouldn't be surprised if an animal got into the culvert and chewed on something. There are lots of racoons and muskrats in that area.
I just hope it doesn't take until next summer for them to figure out the problem. Right now things are horrible. After 3 mg, around 50kb is like a snail.
Carol |
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mojavelyn
Joined: 25 Feb 2005
Posts: 8084
Location: Mojave Desert CA 120 miles from civilization
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| Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2006 1:58 am Post subject: |
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| I just got mediacom cable, without TV. I was working fine then the cable modem seemed to not pick up the signal. Tech came out 2x. And everyday that I couldn't get online, I called mediacom. When the tech came out again, I had replaced the cable modem and he went looking at all the connections up and down the block and found a couple that weren't good. Like a lineman looking for weak powerlines. Havent had a problem since. |
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knappschiles
Joined: 25 May 2005
Posts: 4035
Location: Wi
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| Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2006 3:00 pm Post subject: |
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Talked with a friend who lives downline from me this morning at Church. She is also on Charter. Her internet is just as slow or slower than mine.
So it's looking more and more like the waterlogged / ani chewed on lines are the culpret.
Carol |
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LFRYARTGUY
Joined: 01 Feb 2005
Posts: 568
Location: San Antonio, Texas
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| Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2006 3:54 pm Post subject: Re: Need some techie help |
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glad you've seemed to find the source of the problem...at least now you can stop the "Headaches" on what it could be.... now let the Tech coming out take care of it...
Sit back...have some iced tea & Hot Salsa for the next couple of days.. |
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