Tech Gremlins Grrrrrrr

Greetings all, it's been awhile. I've been doing ok taking care of my devices and such for the most part, however over the past few weeks I've been noticing quite a bit of strange behavior and I can't seem to pin it down. I've been doing some research, both here and a few other resources I utilize and I'm just getting frustrated. I'm finding info on this and that but nothing that seems to cover all the bases for what I'm experiencing. I'm trying to find a baseline and work out from there but am unsure of where to start. I do admit that part of it is probably self induced in the complexity department because I own several devices and I use them in a bunch of different ways. I have some room for adjustment there but I don't want to get myself too basic and have issues because my job depends on my ability to be online and I'm not always in a connectivity area for wifi so I use my hotspots quite a bit.
So here goes. I own 2 mobile devices; Samsung S9+ and Moto E5+. Both through Boost Mobile in Denver, CO. Unlimited Family plan with 30GB hotspot per line and I support another line on my account for an adult family member for a total of 3 lines. Said family member doesn't live at my address but visits and does use my home wifi. I don't suspect a risk from that line, but I suppose anything is possible. I run the standard Lookout mobile/Gadget Guardian that is offered and I pay for the premium service on my 2 lines. Since I've been having the gremlins I have also paid for, used for a bit, and uninstalled Nord VPN, Avast Mobile Security, and TotalAV. I still have subscriptions to all those services, however none of them seemed to either detect anything strange or make much of a difference besides the VPNs slowing everything down more. I didn't run multiple VPNs or anti virus/security apps at the same time. I do also have Malwarebytes and Bitdefender, and I'm currently attempting a password manager. I chose Bitwarden. I don't have much experience with password managers yet but I don't really think it has much, if anything to do with my issues besides almost locking me out of everything permanently while trying to figure out 2FA, or 2 step authentication, or whatever that was. I'm lucky I stumbled across my QR code while looking for something else.
That brings me to the next part. I also own 2 laptops, both Dell Inspirons and I have a home wifi connection through Comcast/Xfinity. One of the laptops is a couple years old, its a 15 3567 2018 model and I just picked up a 15 7586 2 in 1. I got the laptop new from best buy and the 2 in 1 from a seller on Amazon. The unit is sold as new but the guy takes new ones and upgrades them. The standard unit only comes with 8GB RAM and 256GB SSD. Mine still has that plus another 16GB in the second slot and a 2TB SSHD in the second drive slot. This one I've only had for a couple of weeks but my issues have been ongoing quite a bit longer than that so again, I don't suspect it to have anything to do with it, however I think I have dragged it into the vortex if you will. The older laptop is still stock with 8GB RAM and 1TB HDD. I use that one primarily for work now that I have this one, but it was dual purpose prior. Now this one is my home/personal pc.
I work in commercial construction and the trades have begun using online apps and services such as Procore, and Autodesk BIM360, among some others but those are the only 2 I've used so far. The jobsites usually have guest wifi access in the trailer offices but when I'm out in the field, I'm usually on one of my mobile hotspots. I try to keep the same format, my Moto E5+ for work and the Samsung Galaxy for home/ personal, however with the things I've had to deal with lately I've ended up "cross contaminating" with both/all just to be able to keep things going with work. Now I'm getting to the point where even with all the options I have, I'm having trouble keeping up because of connectivity/speed issues. It's very strange though because when I run speed tests with any and all of the devices, everything seems to be on point. My home wifi is just a very basic set up, it's just me so it's all I really need. I've got an inexpensive 50/5 GB connection and speed tests are always right there. I also purchased basic equipment and performed a self install. I refuse to rent their equipment, however I will admit that I probably should have spent a little more on at least the router. I have a cable modem and router separate. I purchased them both new not very long ago. They're both low end Netgear units. The router supposedly supports the Nighthawk protocol but it really doesn't, at least not in a practical sense. I can't really do a lot security wise with the router because it's a cheap one. If it is possible to clear any of this up, I'm willing to get a bit better router. I'm in a small one bedroom apartment near the city so I don't need a lot of range but some better security features would be nice.
To cut this long story as short as I can at this point, my biggest issues are basically connectivity and speed issues across the board, but they're intermittent and inconsistent. That in itself might be blamed on human error and technology blips, but its becoming more frequent and longer durations, like it's something that's becoming progressively worse. I've tried network resets on all devices and the wifi at home. I've tried all sorts of support avenues with Boost, Comcast, Avast, Dell, Samsung, Motorola/Lenovo... on and on to no avail. Downloads and uploads seem to work fine once I get them to go but that is sometimes quite difficult and speed tests look good. However browsers do all sorts of strange things that I have no idea, especially with typing/text input and search results besides the speed issues and hang/lag times. I use them all Edge, IE, Chrome, Firefox, and I've even tried a few others just to try and see if it's going to happen with them too but that's where I'm getting into the thought process that this seems to be way more complicated than it needs to be or already is. I have both Google and Microsoft accounts and I have a paid subscription to Office 365 and a free DropBox for cloud storage/collaboration. I'm willing to try anything if anyone is willing to point me in some sort of direction here because I'm just too overwhelmed, but I need to keep going because of work. Apologies for the book, just trying to provide as much info as possible in order to both save a lot of questions and hopefully someone has some insight into what could possibly be causing the gremlins. I'm hoping its something simple that I'm just not getting and that maybe someone in here can pick up on and share some helpful insight. Thanks in advance for any and all feedback, even if its just to say whoa dude! That's too much. I'll answer any questions as promptly and accurately as I can but I'm usually pretty busy all day (US mountain time) I'm usually settled in by 6 or 7 pm but it's all subject to change at any given time.

 

So you are just having internet connection issues.

Can you provide the info we need to do some information search's.

We need to know what version of windows you are currently running on both systems.

We need the model numbers for the netgears and modem.

 

So what i am reading on 10/9 Comcast had a Bug in there system.Comcast incorrectly charged 2,000 customers for exceeding data cap.This still might be a possible issue in your area.Start looking into how much data you are using.They could be throttling in that area.If you use nothing but internet at home.Heavy internet use.

All so if you have a wifi system installed double check to make sure it's just you and you're devices connected.If some one else is using your wifi they could be capping your internet usage.Basically stealing your internet.

 

Two things:
1. Could the "cheap" router be dying? Take a look at Gryphon security router on Amazon. Supposed to be very secure and capable albeit a little expensive.
2. If you are checking your net speed with Speedtest, I recommend at least verifying with another speed check service. At one point, honestly I felt like Speedtest was fetching speed data from providers or the dns server (or some such) and simply rigging the test to report the assigned connection as the current speed. This site below more or less confirmed (for me) that something strange might be going on with Speedtest (or at least maybe was a few years ago):

https://speedof.me

Some others:

https://testmyspeed.onl
https://testmy.net
https://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/

These are all good for a double check. Speedof.me always picked up on the trouble I was having. Anyway, maybe your router signal is weakening causing the issues...

 

It's more than just connectivity issues, all sorts of strange activity. Most bothersome of them is typing in anything online. Even texting on my phones. It's hard to describe but some examples are, my autocorrect is putting all kinds of strange crap into places where it doesn't belong. My spelling dictionary is all messed up, I can't use swiping to type with at all anymore, across the board. It used to work really well, dialed right in so I could swipe text without even looking at my phone, and the "cursor" will just randomly "jump" to somewhere else in the box and/or sometimes it will jus disappear like I wasn't typing at all. This is also happening in web browsers, searches, pretty much anywhere I type. My mouse buttons keep stopping at random, I have to restart or disable the devices and it will last for a little while but just ends up happening again soon enough. The Caps lock button on the keyboard will lock itself on to where I can't get it out of Caps lock which is really frustrating with all the password bs I've been having to deal with lately. I don't know, there's other little quirky crap like that as well. I'm trying to log things, events and what conditions they are causing but it's not easy and it seems that when I have time, nothing really happens except stuff like the mouse and keyboard issues. I keep getting signed out of my devices for no apparent reason both Google and Microsoft. I've been rounds with both customer support teams and all that does is frustrate them and me because it all just seems like this endless loop that just keeps regenerating itself. The router and modem are both less than a year old, I think I got my internet hooked up last April or May. I suppose it's a possibility with the connectivity issues here at home but it doesn't explain the issues with my mobile service which is showing very similar signs.

I'm running Windows 10 Professional version 1903, updated currently with retail keys, purchased legitimately. Separate keys, I purchased a copy for each pc.
Modem is Netgear CM500
Router is Netgear R6020

 

Same results with speedofme actually a little faster if anything. I have also tried others and on mobiles too. All have pretty much same results. I know those speeds aren't impressive but that's what I'm paying for 50mbps DL and 5mbps UL. It's only $29 a month for 2 years. When that's up I'll have some bills off my back and I'll get faster package.

 

I would recommend on running are virus and malware scan.
https://forums.majorgeeks.com/threa...ide-incl-spyware-virus-trojan-hijacker.35407/

Run malware-bytes on your phone.You can download it through playstore.

 

Greetings all. Thanks for the replies. I haven't had much time to do anything else with this lately because the job I'm working on is in the final stages, it's behind schedule and with all this COVID-19 nonsense, it's making things more difficult and time consuming. I've also had the use of a company issued iPad for the internet/BIM360 work related stuff so things at work have been tolerable. I did a bit of mining around and observing with my home network and I don't see anything strange going on there, it doesn't look like other devices are logging on or trying to access anything. I'm in a complex and there are many other wifi networks as well as the standard xfinity hotspots so if someone is messing with mine, they're pretty damn good at hiding it. I did have someone hijack my stereo reciever but that was just a silly neighbor playing with Bluetooth as the stereo isn't wifi. The TV is but I'm not seeing anything strange, although it's rarely even on. Once in awhile someone will suggest a decent flick and on occasion I'll use it as a second display for one of the laptops but that's about it. I ran the series from the MG thread and didn't find anything that rose any flags. As a matter of fact, it was as if whatever these gremlins are, they backed off while I was performing it. My wifi at home seems to be up to par speed wise the past few days. I've seen a couple of little quirks, but that's just what I consider normal anyway. Nothing's perfect, that's for sure. Right now all that's off is the typing/swype, autocorrect, user dictionary, spell checker stuff with inputting text. BUT, I have shut down/disabled EVERYTHING, besides the very basic security stuff. I'm still running Lookout on the mobiles and just plain old Windows security on the laptops. So, I guess I'll just see how things go for awhile and hope for the best. Maybe less really IS more in my case. All this ridiculous security crap just drives me nuts anyway and I don't really think it's necessary for me. If they want the hundred bucks I have in the bank and to steal my already shattered identity, then I guess they can have it. Thanks all, I'll let you know hows things goes at some point or if I have any info or more issues... Happy hunting.