Why does my internet suck?

[Druid]

I don't understand this at all. I put the wireless back in and I dled a file again, and it started out crappy like it was before, and then all of a sudden it skyrocketed with speeds of 739kbps as a max but then fluctuated down to like 300 and stuff. It was doing just as crappy as the powerline adapters before. I haven't had dl speeds like this in months. I just put in the powerline adapters, so that can't totally be the issue. But I was getting speeds of like 100-200 though in past months on the wireless. Why all of a sudden would my speeds skyrocket like that? There must be something holding them back the rest of the time. I've been doing all my tests on the same exact file from the same exact site, and it is like 80mb.

PS: Do wired connections cat5 connections fluctuate so much like that too? 300-700 kbps range?

 

[C0RR0SIVE]

I have a feeling this is more a router/gateway issue that or your ISP is putting a cap on you for some reason... Try going to speedtest.net and see what there system says your speeds are to your gateway/router...

 

[Setsuna F. Seyei]

*wonders why the above always thinks it is spyware and/or a virus*

Anyways, powerline adapters aren't always the best, if there are any fluctuations or surges or any sort of interfearence in the powerlines then it will cripple your speed, in theory it shouldn't since the adapters send out something at a different frequency than the AC in the lines, but sometimes it just doesn't work right. Best method, wireless N or a true wired cat5/6 network.

because 9 times out of 10 it is a virus or spyware not hardware issues. i work tech support for my local library and have a friend who also works tech support and has been doing so for the last fifteen years and is the one who taught me most of what i knew about tech support before i went to DeVry. oh and asa for surges in the powerline you may want to get a UPS ad hook your systems into that and see if it helps.

 

[KSoD]

9 out of 10? Not quite. I have not had a single infection in well over 4 years. It is possible if you know how to protect yourself and use a little common sense. Spyware is not always the first thing to jump to.

When using devices like a Powerline adapter which are known not to be the best in the first place. I would jump to that before spyware.

 

[C0RR0SIVE]

9 out of 10??? In networking, sometimes, but it isn't always malware of some sort. Chances are his ISP or gateway is messed up, ISP could be having issues with a server, there could be line conditions that are causing the strange speeds, and his gateway could have gone bad, either way a powerline adapter in a network isn't the best alternative and can cause some serious issues with in a network, hence the reason they didn't go through with the idea of internet over powerlines in my area.

 

[Pizzaguy]

mate, I get like 100kbps dl speed all the time, permanently, consider yourself lucky.

 

[Druid]

Should just invest in a a gigabit N router, since the WRT54G is getting outdated anyway?

 

[S0ULphIRE]

you could do a little test here. I just read your post where you said you 'put the wireless back in' and you got that high period for a while. I'm not too sure what you mean by put it back in, but anyway here's the test.
Take the wireless back out (u no, disable it or whatever you did) reboot for good measure, then enable it again and try dling the same file as last time.
It sounds like something reset, I just want to test if this high spike is duplicatable. If it IS then we can get some data logging programs set up and record while you disable/enable your wireless. See if anything changes.