This one has me stumped

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I am running around 4 computers on a home network, all windows 7 pro.  My internet connection is via ethernet to a 100/40 connection. Normally on downloads I get around 12.4MB/Sec (around 96Mbps) lately on only one of the computers I am getting wild fluctuations from 40MB/Sec down to 4MB/sec.   My maximum for my connection as I am quite close to the node is around 12.5MB/Sec.  How on earth can I be getting over 3x this speed for bursts followed by very slow speeds. At the same time my other computers are getting 12.5MB/sec and at a very constant rate.  It is obviously not my ISP as I would be getting the issues on the other computers.  I just did a speedtest on Ookla and got 95Mbps, so my speeds are good, but this fluctuation when doing a download have me totally beat.

Any ideas on this would be much appreciated.

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The only way to determine where the issue lies is to download the same file on two machines at the same time.
You can also try a copy between machines locally to see if the PC is not happy.
You will probably find the variation is on the internet, not your PC.

cheers, Paul

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Thanks Paul, yep tried the download at the same time on 2 different machines, issue is still there.

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Are all of your machines connected via Ethernet?

If so, I would consider the router suspect. Are you renting it from your ISP?

If not, variations in Wi-Fi connectivity may explain it. I know people who get horrible interference with other, random things – when the washing machine is running, for example.

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Woody, all connected via power line adapters and WIFI, so a mixture.  The router is my own Billion 8700 VAX, which I believe to be better than the ones supplied by the ISP.

The machine with the issue is ethernet straight off the router/modem.

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This might break something but have you tried using different ports from your router?

Is the cable in a good state?

You have not had any issues with static electricity build-up or lightning in your area?

Have there been any changes to the afflicted computer’s Ethernet driver?

As suggested by Paul T, Did you try to copy a file between a functioning computer and the afflicted one?

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Thanks for the replies, what I have found is that it appears as though it is the ethernet connection.  I tried replacing the cable with no change, but when I used a wifi dongle on the said computer, the downloads stabilised to what I have been used to. Having tried 2 different ethernet connections on my computer, a Pci card and the on board, with no change, I can only assume it is in the ethernet connection, possibly on the router. So my next step is to use a different ethernet port on the router and see what happens.

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Have you tried unplugging and restarting the router? Had this occur on a switch a week ago and the reboot solved the issue.

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I have done a router reboot by unplugging, no change, also changed the ethernet port at back of router to the computer, still no change.

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Have you check the network interface card’s driver properties to see if it is set for maximum link speed?

Has there been any software updates or other change?

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Have you checked the Ethernet cable and made sure it is not frayed, or feels suspiciously loose, as if about to break, near the jack?

Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).

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Yep, replaced ethernet cable with a brand new one, plug clips in fine at back of computer and router.

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Just a thought but can you place your “good” Ethernet connected computer next to the “bad” Ethernet connected computer or vice versa, and change only the Ethernet connection at the computers… does the problem stay with the “bad” computer or transfer with the external “wiring system/power line adapters”?

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Bit awkward to perform that task unfortunately.

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… this does feel like there’s a buffering system somewhere.

I mean, the burst speed being 3x the outside line speed means something was buffered in the inside LAN.

If it’s intermittent with no externally visible cause like motion in the cable, or interference-generating devices (motors, electromagnets, welding equipment, faulty fluorescent lights, radio transmitters, high-current electric heaters, plasma or tube displays, etc) along the cable run operating on a similar cycle as the network weirdness…

I’d expect it’s one of the Ethernet ports involved (computer or router end), or the computer internals. Might be just software, might be one of the other devices on the internal bus.

I’d take a quick look through Windows event logs and then try to reproduce the problem with a live-USB boot (probably Linux in my case, but Windows PE should work too).

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Exfso, G has a good idea. Since that won’t work for you, can you run a length of cable from the router to the good computer to make sure it is OK, then run the same long temporary cable to the “bad” computer to see if it is still bad with the cable/connection now known to be good?

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Have to be a pretty long cable around 30 metres possibly worth a try though..thanks

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Would this happen to be a Dell computer?  I had a similar issue.  Turned out to be a piece of software called SmartByte.   Once I removed it, no issue.

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Nope just a built ‘puter from my local shop.  It is around 5 years old now and the first time this issue has popped up

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Exfso wrote:

Having tried 2 different ethernet connections on my computer, a Pci card and the on board, with no change, I can only assume it is in the ethernet connection

The implication is the network settings are mucked up.
I would reset the connection, delete the network card and re-boot, then see how it behaves.

1. Open a Command Prompt with admin rights.
2. Type these commands: netsh winsock reset and netsh int ip reset
3. Open Device Manager and delete the ethernet adapter.
4. Reboot.

The ethernet adapter will be re-installed by Windows and you can test.

cheers, Paul

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Thanks Paul, appreciated, will give that a go..

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Paul, did exactly as you said, problem still exists..

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You’ve eliminated the ethernet adapter on the PC and the external connections and wifi works, so it’s either a buried Windows issue or major and very localised electromagnetic interference with the ethernet cable.
Can you move the PC next to the router?

cheers, Paul

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Have you tried doing a firmware update on your router? There may be a newer version of the router firmware than what your router is running.

Backup the router configuration before doing the update. You also might take some notes with pen and paper of how things are set up on the router. You probably won’t have any problems related to the update, but you never know…

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You’ve swapped the powerline adapter with one of the other PCs?

What else is on that particular electrical circuit?

1 user thanked author for this post.

Microfix

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I’ve had an intermittent faulty powerline adaptor cause erratic connections to the router.
May be something to look into, thanks for the reminder @jabeattyauditor

Keep IT Lean, Clean and Mean!

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OK, I may have found the problem, or at least fixed it.  I downloaded TCP Optimiser and ran it as an administrator. I ran it for Windows default, rebooted and then did a download of a 1.3gb file, it was stable through the whole download at 12.25MB/ Sec, no major spikes like before. So it appears as though some settings on this computer somehow were changed and by running TCP Optimiser with the Windows default setting the problem appears fixed, one can only hope.  Thanks all for your excellent feedback.

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Well that was not the issue either, problem came back,  having said that 3 days later it was back to how it should be without any input at all from me,  sounds like something the NBN might have caused in our area, but I can only surmise that. It is now a week and all operating as it should be.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Paul T

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Well here we go again, this I think is just the same fault on going but much worse in as much my downloads are now ADSL speeds.

Once the previous issue seemed to have righted itself, I notice my downloads have now reduced to around 2MB/s where my previous average was in the region of 12MB/s. This is happening on all my home computers, have done a reset of my modem, upgraded to the latest firmware all with no effect. I got a lend of a mates’s modem and still same problem.

If I do an Ookla  speed test the results are excellent around 96mbps and the same with my ISP’s native speed test.  They are insisting I try their own modem and one is on its way to try out. Not holding my breath on that one!! I use IDM for downloads, so I tried disabling that, no effect either. I have attached a few images of 3 downloads happening on IDM noting that all speeds are similar regardless of whether 1 is running or all three.

The speeds are crud no matter what time of day, be it in peak or non peak periods.

I note that I received a text from my ISP last Sunday to say my service had been fixed, as I did not know it had even gone down, that was a bit of a surprise, it seems a coincidence that this latest round of issues happens just after this supposed dropout.  I do not believe in coincidence I must admit.  I mentioned to their support staff about the possibilities of my speeds being throttled and they denied that this is done with their company and no one else is complaining of this possibility, it certainly appears that my data speeds are being throttled, but why and how remains a mystery.

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Sometimes the annoying fault that cannot be found is located outside our local system. I think this is significant:

I note that I received a text from my ISP last Sunday to say my service had been fixed, as I did not know it had even gone down, that was a bit of a surprise, it seems a coincidence that this latest round of issues happens just after this supposed dropout. I do not believe in coincidence I must admit.

I agree. You do not have any reason to think this is a fake or spoofed message, so I take it at face value. This message was generated by ISP software that monitors their service to improve your experience. Your recent troubleshooting and resets have been identified as service failures by this helpful system. It has repaired this failure by reducing signal to prevent dropout due to overdrive, and notified you of its success. There probably was no human involved. Since you are now dissatisfied with your service, I would use this message to discuss with your ISP their automated troubleshooting.

I mentioned to their support staff about the possibilities of my speeds being throttled and they denied that this is done with their company and no one else is complaining of this possibility, it certainly appears that my data speeds are being throttled, but why and how remains a mystery.

To a customer service representative, throttling is a bad word for what happens when you exceed monthly limits. They attempted to assure you this did not happen, without understanding the maintenance function done to repair your apparently broken connection.

I may be wrong, but worth looking into. I cannot explain the text you received in any other way. This did not contribute to your initial complaint. But developed out of your efforts to fix it, causing the new complaint.

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Assuming you’ve done a thorough malware/virus scan on the affected PC that connects straight to the router, have you checked traffic connections whilst online?
Train of thought.. PC being used as a proxy node

Keep IT Lean, Clean and Mean!

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This is happening any time of day peak and non peak periods. Running ESET internet security and Malwarebytes, do scans every day all clean.

I have been in contact with IDM support who are at a loss as well. the strange thing is last night I was doing a multiple download from 8 sites and the speeds of each download were around 1.5MB/s totaling pretty close to my theoretical max for my connection, so congestion is not an issue, but as soon as I started pausing downloads, instead of the others increasing, they stayed at the same rate. So with only 1 running it was still downloading at 1.5MB/s.  In the past this would have increased to the max for the connection, in this case around 12MB/s.

Something very strange is happening.!!!!

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Exfso Anon #1962131 here. EXFSO you mentioned running TCP Optimiser and it working at that time.

Here is another program that is supposed to stop telemetry and other methods Microsoft uses to send out data from a PC.

Poster jeffshead had a similar issue as you with one PC and used the program BlackBird. Poster jeffshead had success with it running with the -r switch which appears to reset things back to Microsoft defaults.

April 24, 2019 by Poster jeffshead
Windows 7: Some downloads slow on only one computer
https://www.sevenforums.com/network-sharing/419180-some-downloads-slow-only-one-computer.html

I bring this up for your and others here review.

Hope this helps.

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Thanks all, well it has hopefully finally been sorted.  I once again contacted my ISP and the  guy I spoke to really knew his stuff.  He said that considering pretty well all testing had been done and he would change a setting at their end, no idea what it was, but it worked, now getting full beans on all downloads, what an epic this has been.

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