Internet is choppy (welcome to my nightmare)

[Matlat]

Dear tech community, I have recently decided to join everyone in this very smart and interesting place.

Now about my issue, I gladly welcome the brave who are actually taking the time to read this because this problem I have because it just doesn't seem to make sense. I have a pretty good base when it comes to internet, routers, modems etc..

What happenned was that out of blue one morning I woked up to play call of duty online on my ps3 and I was laggin alot. Seeing that my kill death ration was plumeting I decided to reset my router and my modem. After doing this the problem was still going on so I decided to plug my Ps3 directly into my modem and the problem stoped. After checking that this problem was consistent to all the electronics in my house including my pc mac and android phone. I decided to call my service provider who is Videotron. Now videotron sent a tech guy over to check the lines outside but after a good checkup they told me the problem was not from them because on their computers they could see that the internet was going into the modem perfectly. Wich is consistent to my story because when I am plugged directly in my modem there is no problem at all. Assuming that my router was the problem we decided to get a new one even though the one we had was only like 7 months old. it was a netgear. Now we have one sponsored by our network provider it is a d-link. After installing the new router I realised that the problem was still there and now I really don't know what to do. So to help you guys figure this out with me I will describe what I have already tried and deducted from it.

- Ive tried changing the channels on my router.

-Ive checked to see if there were any new appliances in my house that could cause problems with the signal but there arent any. Also this is contradictory because prior to when the problem began I never had any problems of this sort.

- Ive reset the router and the modem.

- Ive checked if any wires werent working from my modem to my router and even changed them.

- My modem is new and the company says its fine.

- Ive done a speed test online ( my company made me do that every time i called.)


After all these attempts im still stuck with a choppy connection and for some reason Videotron can't find the problem. All they know is that the wire going into my modem is perfect and the connection from my modem is perfect. That means theres something wrong within the routers. But what could it be?

Please if you do have suggestions I would like to hear why I should try it because my nternet was fine 2 weeks ago. So anything about updating firmware and all that crap is useless.

Thank you very much, give me your thoughts.

 

[DistraughtSysop]

If your wired performance is fine but your wireless performance for multiple devices is suffering even after changing routers, then that would suggest an interference issue. Bear in mind that all sorts of things can cause interference; you might not have any new appliances in your house, but a neighbor could have set something up that reaches you.

I know this post is a few days old, but if you're still checking this (or if someone with a similar problem is reading this) then I would suggest getting a copy of Xirrus Wifi Inspector and doing a scan. It'll give you a snapshot of the wireless networks in your area and show your signal strength, which channels are oversaturated, etc. That could help confirm or deny that it is a wireless interference problem.

 

[Matlat]

Thank you for the advice, but the problem is that even though i have a wired connection to my router the problem is still there. Also my mom sayed the internet started being choppy right around the time we got a new washer machine but i never heard of such a thing causing disturbance? My question to you is, even though im directly connected to my router and the problem is still there, does this mean its impossible that the problem is what you say it could be?

 

[DistraughtSysop]

If you're having the same problem through a wired connection then that would make interference highly unlikely. Wireless interference should not be affecting your wired connection.

Right now I suspect the following issues in the order of most likely, in my opinion, to least likely.

a) The modem might be going bad. You could try replacing the modem and see if that makes a difference - if it doesn't work, you should be able to just return the modem, depending on where you are and where you bought it from.

b) It's possible that the first router is going bad and the second one you got is faulty. Stranger things have happened. If the new router works fine on someone else's connection then it's probably not the router.

c) There could be an issue on the ISP side. The thing with ISPs is that they usually don't admit to having any issues unless there is an outage, which they wouldn't be able to deny. If it's a problem with the ISP then there isn't much you can do about it except to wait it out or change providers.

One last thing - what speed is your service providing you with? If you're paying for a lower speed connection then it's also possible that a recent increase in traffic is slowing your network down. Maybe someone is making huge downloads that you don't know about, or someone's machine got infected with malware.

 

[Matlat]

Couls you please elaborate on isp? Because there was a power shortage that lasted about 10 hours maybe a month ago and could of affected something, also i will see if the connection is better when my pc is closed wich ia likely to be infected my malware.

 

[Matlat]

btw im at 10 mbs

 

[DistraughtSysop]

Your ISP is your Internet Service Provider. If they are having problems in their network then they probably wouldn't tell you and there's nothing you could do about it, anyway.

At 10 Mbps you should have plenty of bandwidth for normal use within the household. I would still check for malware and see if anyone is downloading a lot just to be sure, but if you only have one device connected at a time and you are still having the same problem then it's not someone or something hogging all the bandwidth.

 

[Yevrag35]

At 10 Mbps you should have plenty of bandwidth for normal use within the household. I would still check for malware and see if anyone is downloading a lot just to be sure, but if you only have one device connected at a time and you are still having the same problem then it's not someone or something hogging all the bandwidth.

Depending on the router(s) in question, 1 or 2 devices simultaneously accessing the internet could easily eat the available bandwidth and compete for supremacy at that speed.

What is the model of this newest, current router that you have, OP?

 

[Matlat]

the router i have is a netgear that offers 2 networks 5ghz and 2.5. the router is fairly new but yesterday after class ng my computer the internet seemed to be working fine. Then i ran malware bytes and foubd 40 threats so i eeleted them i re ran the process and found 2 more. in guessing this could of been the problem as i was using utorrwnt to download simpson seasons and others.

 

[Yevrag35]

in guessing this could of been the problem as i was using utorrwnt to download simpson seasons and others.

That's what the problem was. Malware, most likely, wasn't preventing the other devices in your house from the internet, the torrenting was. Torrenting can easily saturate your bandwidth, preventing other programs (devices) from getting in on the action.