Slow Internet

My wireless Internet connection used to be super fast. However, it has been extremely slow lately. Websites take about half a minute to load and need to be refreshed a lot, the download speed drastically decreased (around 20 kb/s), and I often get timed-out or disconnected.

I have tried using some programs (TweakMaster and WinSockFix) to help boost my Internet speed but they did not help at all. I have also tried repairing my wireless Internet connection, but that did not help either.

What could be the cause of this, and is there any way to fix the problem?

Thank you very much.

Could it be possible that someone is leaching off your wireless? Do you know if it's secured or not? Also, what type of internet provider do you have? Cable? If it's cable, there could be a load issue if too many people in your area have cable TV/Internet/VOIP. Also, it might be a computer issue. Try emptying your temporary internet files, cache, etc. Defrag, virus/spyware scan, restart your modem, and if none of that helps...well we'll see.

In addition to the things Riplox mentioned, it could also be any of a wide range of technical issues dealing with your cable line that you and none of us can fix. If you feel like you've tried everything and nothing works, call your cable provider and explain the situation.

I recommend running a speed test so you have some hard data for them.

1. First, try plugging into the router with a cable and see what you get.

2. If the cabled connection works fine, then you know that the problem is with your wireless connectivity. The most likely cause is electromagnetic interference, usually from household appliances (particularly cordless phones) or neighborhood sources (often neighbors' wireless networks). Try relocating the router away from other appliances. After that, try changing the "channel" on your router until you find a frequency that avoids the interference.

3. If the cabled connection does not work, then the problem is with your connection generally. The two most likely causes are bandwidth-sucking crapware and general ISP suckage. A wireless leech is possible, but less likely.

3a. Some programs like to run in the background and occasionally suck up enormous amounts of bandwidth. Certain P2P applications and Skype are the most common culprits -- either of which will totally saturate an entire T1 line if given the chance to, even when you aren't using them. So, have you (or anyone in your household) installed anything recently before the problems started?

3b. There's not a lot you can do about general ISP suckage. Once you've made sure that the problem is not on your end, you can document it and complain (folks here can help you learn how to document it), but that may not fix anything. If worse comes to worse, you can take your money elsewhere. Though, unfortunately, if you live in the States you will find that the combination of no regulation and no enforcement against anti-competitive practices (both thanks to the Bush administration) may leave you choosing between one cable company that sucks and one phone company that sucks.

3c. A wireless leech is a person who "borrows" a neighbor's wireless internet access instead of buying their own. If they're doing bandwidth-intensive things (or running bandwidth sucking crapware as in 3a), they may have a negative impact on your connection. Most leeches are not very sophisticated computer users and can be stopped with very simple measures. I would suggest that you:

• Encrypt your wireless network. For serious security, WPA is much better than WEP. (Though either is likely to be adequate to stop the average leech, and both will eventually fall to a dedicated hacker.)
• Disable the "broadcast SSID" feature on your router, then change the network name. This will prevent the average leech from being able to "see" your network without knowing the new name. (The sophisticated attacker will still be able to find it.)
• Enable MAC filtering on your router. This will limit access to network cards on a whitelist you create, shutting out the average leech since they are not on the list. (The sophisticated attacker can listen in on wireless traffic and impersonate a whitelisted user.)
• Reduce the range of IP addresses your router can assign to exactly the number of computers you are connecting to it, and set their expiration period as long as possible. This will leave a leech unable to acquire an address from your router, or stuck with a conflicting address which immediately gives away their presence if they somehow manage to force an assignment. (Without compromising your router itself, even a sophisticated attacker can't do anything about this.)

Bear in mind that a leech is not likely, and that the steps I outlined above are simple ways to defeat the average unsophisticated leech on a home network. When you can expect to be defending against more sophisticated attackers (for your small business network that transmits client credit card info, for example) stronger countermeasures are required. (Now, stand back and watch my get flamed by a certain idiotic troll...)