Is it cuz I'm contended!!?

[timberflake]

Have been a happy customer of IDNet for over a year now, but have recently moved to a new home with a contended exchange.

When I was first switched on I didn't really have any problems, probably because I'd been without the net for 8 weeks so was happy to be getting any kind of speed!!! But over the past couple of weeks I've started to notice a few problems.

First, although my router is synced @ 8000kbps and my downloads are anywhere between 250-500k depending on the time of day, I often find browsing a nightmare! Just viewing a regular webpage is becoming more and more difficult. The page doesn't load properly, images don't load and the page does't fit the browser window (theres a vertical scrollbar if you get what I mean!!?).

I'm also finding that the net just seems to "freeze" all to often, propting me to have to reboot the router to get back to some kind of normality. This happened 3 times in half an hour the other day!!

Is this all happening because I'm on a contended exchange or is there anything I can do to improve things? Not sure if it makes any difference but I'm a Firefox user.

Would appreciate any suggestions.

[Nerval]

Sounds strange, especially the pages not fitting the screen.

Does your exchange have VP status at red HERE?

If so, that could well explain slow speeds, especially at busy periods when everybody is sucking down torrents at 1000mph. 
Max doesn't have regular contention ratios like BT used to have - it's every man for himself, and there's just not enough capacity on BT's knackered old network anyway.  So whatever your theoretical speed, you're going to be slow at certain times and with certain sites.

You don't say which web pages are slow or at what times of day, but this could be due to congestion anywhere between your house and the website concerned.

Browser behaviour is odd though.  Have you checked for viruses, spyware  to make sure nobody has put an email spammer on your m/c, and and have you got Netmeter or similar to see that you're not uploading masses of data when your machine should be quiet?

Or have you a wireless router with inadequate security, that a friendly neighbour could be (unknown to you)  thrashing to death with his torrents?

Reloading FF might not be a bad idea in case that's got twisted, or even reloading Windoze if you've got a week to spare.  But I'd check all the above first.

[timberflake]

Thanks for the reply. I'm quite well versed on the whole ADSLMax thing so was never expecting top notch speeds all the time, I know that my speed will depend on the time of day etc.

I have been using the plusnet exchange checker to keep an eye on my exchange, has been red since I moved in to my new place in September, an ETA fix date keeps getting applied, but it goes by and a new one is put up! Can only assume this is down to BT, but I would have thought that since I live in the city centre that would be a high priority with all the businesses around.

Websites I struggle with are myspace and a number of private forums I visit. Myspace is where I have the problem with the net seeming to "freeze" and pages just wont load and one private forum in particular is where the images and page doesn't fit the browser.

I run virus, spyware, adware checks on a regular basis with nothing found. I also, use quickclean and defrag my HDD regularly to keep things running smooth. Not tried a Netmeter, maybe thats something to look into.

I'm not on a wireless router so thats not an issue.

Don't really to reload Windows, as we all know thats a frikkin nightmare!!

[Nerval]

Right Timber, you obviously know what you're doing - I can't always assume that 

Just tried myspace - I don't use it, so did google myspace, clicked on the link to the homepage then watched a hilarious vid of cat vs dog, which ran quickly for me, so if it's slow NOW for you, it's not them.

You're not running torrents in the background are you? - no offence, but I once spent ages investigating  cr*p speedtests, then noticed the utorrent globe in the corner of the screen 

I'd try Netmeter - it's free and I keep it running all the time,  It gives me a check on my IDNet bandwidth, and shows in real time a tiny graph of how much traffic is going up and down.  So I know if anything is running that shouldn't be.

Can't think of anything else - there's loads of exchanges at Red, and it may be that the business lines on your exchange, with their priority over domestic accounts, are simply getting all the traffic at your expense.

[timberflake]

Not running any rorrents, dirty little things!!! Ocassionaly use Limewire, but always make sure its closed once I'm finished.

Will give netmeter a try, see what it comes up with. Failing that, I may relaod Firefox, have tried using IE7, it did run a little faster but not much.

Cheers for the advice.

[cavillas]

I hope this Karma point helps to improve your connection.

[timberflake]

Me too! Am tired of BT messing things up, they're also trying to charge me monthly AND quarterly phone bills aswell!

[cavillas]

Thats how they made £2.5Billion profit last year.  If you don't pay them then their profit will only be£2.50.

[Rik]

No wonder I had to up my Direct Debit - I didn't realise I was paying twice. Presumably it's one charge for the incoming phone calls and one for the outgoing? 

[mrapoc]

The speed problems i can only assume is bt or the exchange. What spyware/virus proggs you use? Also have you tried www.ccleaner.com to..well clean the cr*p off your pc. Temporary internet files etc. can slow down and crash your pc 

[timberflake]

I've got McAfee Internet Security 2007 for anti-virus, firewall and quickclean. CCleaner an AVG for spyware and such. 'd say I'm pretty well locked down and would be surprised if it was something along those lines messing me up.

I really think its just down o m exchange being contended..........unless anyone else has any ideas!!!

[DorsetBoy]

I had similar problems awhile back and found the speeds were erratic.

It was pointed out here that the router should be left on 24/7 otherwise the exchange thinks you have a line fault and switches your line profile to the lowest setting.

My line profile kept dropping to 2000k,since synching at 7616 and not switching the router off the profile is up to 6500k and speeds are up to 5800k.

Have you tried a BT speed test?  www.speedtester.bt.com   this will at least show the profile.

To doublecheck you don't have malware active try www.superantispyware.com   the best tool you can get.

[mrapoc]

Never heard of super anti spyware - You cant wrong with adaware, spybot search and destroy and antivirus protection from nod32, but if ya not having major problems atm, why bother buying something else 

[DorsetBoy]

Never heard of super anti spyware - You cant wrong with adaware, spybot search and destroy and antivirus protection from nod32, but if ya not having major problems atm, why bother buying something else 

Well there is always one !  ................Super Antispyware offer a free version and is far and away more effective than Adaware and Spybot together.

Lavasoft agreed to remove some detection for adware last year and Spybot misses far too much for my liking.

My Windows rigs use only NOD 32 and SuperAntispyware and have remained totally clean for over 3 years.
For cleaning malware of all kinds these 2 products are what I use on all the machines I see and I see plenty that are riddled with every kind of malware that are "supposedly" protected by Adaware/Spybot and many other apps.

'course if they all used Linux they wouldn't have these problems

[Rik]

'course if they all used Linux they wouldn't have these problems

If everyone started using Linux, or Macs, I suspect the problems would follow the market.

[maxping]

I have used Superantispyware , AdAware & Spybot S&D i now only use AVG antispyware and occasionally AdAware ( it never finds anything if you run the AVG one first)
For those not in the know AVG a/s used to be called Ewido and was a cracking prog but not well known.

Get it here - http://www.grisoft.com/doc/75/lng/us/tpl/tpl01?prd=asw

You get a 30 day trial after which the "resident shield" is turned off but you can still use the prog including downloading new updates.

When Grisoft took ewido anti-malware over from ewido networks it was suspected that they would take this useful application to new heights. Grisoft revamped the user interface, added a couple of handy features and renamed the product to ewido anti-spyware. Not long after this they decided to incorporate ewido anti-spyware into the Grisoft range of products. This is when it got the name of AVG Anti-Spyware. AVG Anti-Spyware is not much different from ewido anti-spyware except for a few additional anti-spy tools and a new colour scheme for the user interface. The resident shield also changed from the ewido networks logo to the Grisoft logo. AVG Anti-Spyware is your all-in-one anti-spyware solution.

[timberflake]

Well, BT finally got round to un-contending me (don't even know if that's a word!), I've gone back to using IE7 and must say that things have improved. Downloads are in the region of 800k, however, I'm still suffering from the internet freezing up on me prompting me to have to re-boot the router, yesterday I had to do it 4 times!

Could it be a problem with my router? Its quite an old (5 years) workhorse I brought from a friend who originally got it from ADSLNation. Its been used almost contantly over the past 5 years so would be inclined to this is where the problems lies, unless someone else has any ideas?

I've ran the usual virus, spyware, adware scans, have cleaned my PC using ccleaner, McAfee Quickclean and Defrag too. Am not contended, synced @ 8100kb and downloads are frikkin quick so what else could it be!?

[Rik]

The 'net seems to be generally sluggish at the moment, though that should not (whoops!) cause the router to lock up. If you can borrow one, try a different router. It might be over-heating so if it feels warm, try and give it more air.

What's your resident AV, firewall etc?

Some people over on ThinkBroadband have been reporting similar problems which they've cured by changing MTU and RWIN.

[timberflake]

I use McAfee Internet Security 2006 for AV, Firewall etc.

How do I change my MTU and RWIN and are there any recommeded settings or just trial and error?

[Nerval]

Run this Tweak Test, then change the settings with Dr TCP.  Have fun 

I could never get McAfee to work and had big problems with Norton, so now I  leave it to the router's firewall, Windows own firewall and AVG Free antivirus.
Far less load on the machine and no problems at all.  Worth thinking about.

[timberflake]

Funnily enough, I'd just done what you suggested with Dr TCP. Have altered the settings and will see how I get on.

However, do not feel that I would be comfortable with getting rid of McAfee. Whilst I am aware that it can be a drain on resources, I would rather have it and things take a little longer than be without it and vulnerable (imo).

Thanks for the advice, will see how I get on with my tweaked settings.

[William]

antivirus protection from nod32

Yay! NOD's unbeatable. It's probably that big Mac AV carp that's clogging up the works.

[Rik]

Have to agree with you, William. NOD is the 'lightest' AV software I've ever used, McAfee and Norton are resource hogs. Personally, I no longer run a software firewall. Having sat and watched it catch nothing for six months, I'm comfortable relying on NAT/SPI. I do sweep for malware regularly though.

[Rik]

Funnily enough, I'd just done what you suggested with Dr TCP. Have altered the settings and will see how I get on.

You might also like to try TCP Optimizer from here:

http://www.speedguide.net/sg_tools.php

There are some useful tests and such like on the site too.