Connection problems (Crashing, slow connection)

I have a 2wire DSL modem/router combo that I've gotten through AT&T, and have been using for a couple years. I've always had a love/hate relationship with modems and the internet in general, but that's not what I'm here to talk about.

For a short time before leaving for vacation last week, and now persisting after coming back, my modem has been running slow as molasses. My Broadband Link Summary regularly reports an incoming connection speed of 3008 kbps, while the outgoing connection speed has been sitting around 96-128 kbps. Previously, my connection would sit between 256-512 kbps, so it's obvious to me that the drastic drop in my outgoing connection speed is the issue.

Not only does my internet run slow as hell, but I also regularly have problems with pages just blatantly not loading after chugging along without a resolution. When I use Firefox, I get a page that says "Server not found," and every attempt to reload the page will give me that same error screen unless I let it sit for about a minute. On Google Chrome, the connection problem comes tagged with the an error message:

Error 105 (net::ERR_NAME_NOT_RESOLVED): Unable to resolve the server's DNS address.

No amount of resetting the modem has done a lick of good, and I know jack-all about networks or hardware to know how to figure out what the problem is, much less fix the problem. Getting somebody from tech support who isn't some half-legible foreigner reading from a script is like pulling teeth. So, I'm hoping that somebody here can help me with minimal headache.

Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi! You're my only hope!!

 

Did you notice any kind of drop in your incoming connection speed? You may want to call your ISP to determine if the drop had anything to do with them or it could be some line issue between you and your ISP.

This sounds like your connection may be experiencing packet loss. I would open a command prompt and type "ping <sitename>" it should report 0% loss if everything is working ok

Code:

C:\>ping www.google.com

Pinging www.l.google.com [74.125.224.148] with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 74.125.224.148: bytes=32 time=21ms TTL=50
Reply from 74.125.224.148: bytes=32 time=19ms TTL=50
Reply from 74.125.224.148: bytes=32 time=19ms TTL=50
Reply from 74.125.224.148: bytes=32 time=21ms TTL=50

Ping statistics for 74.125.224.148:
    Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
    Minimum = 19ms, Maximum = 21ms, Average = 20ms

If data loss is occuring that may be why your internet has slowed down. The servers have to send the same data multiple times because your not receiving it.

This sounds like a DNS problem, if the ping command reports

Then there is a problem with the DNS server, if you believe this is the problem you could change your network settings to use a public DNS server.

Guide on how to use a public DNS server
http://techie-buzz.com/how-to/google-public-dns-on-win7-and-winxp.html

 

I actually did a ping test earlier, and I wasn't losing any packets, but the pings averaged out at 700+ MS, with a common ping time of 1,000+ MS.

I've tried a few ping tests in the last few minutes and I seem to be seeing a drastic increase in speed compared to my earlier tests (though still averaging around 60 MS, which is still a little high), but I have managed to lose a packet during a couple tests out of about a dozen tries.

 

Just a few ping tests I ran a few minutes ago:

 

Also, pinging one of the websites I use regularly (www.myth-weavers.com) consistently loses all 4 packets, every single time. I don't know if that means anything or not.

 

Those ping times are really bad when I perform a ping I get something around 9-12 ms.

Another command you can try is tracert which can help track down what ip(s) may be taking a long time processing your requests.

If everything comes back with 10-20 ms but there is one ip with 200 ms then that device is what's causing your slow down.

Another thought is to ping your network adapter it should have <1ms on the replys if your still getting 200 ms then there may be something wrong with your network adapter.

 

lol what if all of them are 30-40 instead of just a single one running around 200? I did a tracert on google and myth-weavers, and this is what came out:

The second test was actually still running when I copied this, but I didn't know how to cancel the test, so I just copied what I had so far. I'm sure the second test has more to do with that specific website than my actual modem problems, but I thought it was really weird, regardless.

 

lol what if all of them are 30-40 instead of just a single one running around 200? I did a tracert on google and myth-weavers, and this is what came out:

I'm sure the last tracert test has more to do with that specific website than my actual modem problems, but I thought it was really weird, regardless.

 

ugh... i accidentally double posted, then went in and edited the second post, not realizing there were two posts. After I actually noticed the double post, it was past the "10 minute edit time limit." So yeah, just ignore the first post, the second one is more up to date.

 

30-40 is usually fine, these values vary based on your location from the actual server you are trying to tracert or ping.

It does seem like there is a problem getting to the website, here is my tracert to it.

 

*Sighs* in either case, it doesn't explain why my outgoing KBPS is abysmal, and why it won't go back to normal.