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Post by aubrey on Jan 18, 2011 12:38:14 GMT
Since I got this computer, I've been downloading like a pirate.
Download speeds have been consistent - about 5-700kbs. But for the last week or so I've been getting days when it doesn't go over 50kbs. At the moment it's about 70 (but a couple of minutes ago it was 500); the things I am downloading will be finished in anything from 30 minutes to 5 hours.
I've done the thing of cleaning my cache out, and I can't think of anything else.
(I did not do anything before this change happened.)
It is bloody annoying.
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Post by Alpha Hooligan on Jan 18, 2011 13:18:44 GMT
Lots of factors Aubs, some IP's cap/throttle your bandwidth at peak times and some of your downloads (assuming you are using P2P) might not be so well supported at various times. I find that night time is best for downloading due to the above. AH
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Post by Weyland on Jan 18, 2011 14:39:39 GMT
Lots of factors Aubs, some IP's cap/throttle your bandwidth at peak times and some of your downloads (assuming you are using P2P) might not be so well supported at various times. I find that night time is best for downloading due to the above. AH My download speed is pretty steady at 230 kBs since BT replaced their line to my house, right up to the main socket. Before that I was lucky to get 15k some days. It does still lose speed occasionally, but usually comes back pretty soon. It's ADSL, from Virgin. Virgin tells me that they have my connexion running at the maximum possible sustainable speed given the distance from the exchange -- about 8 miles.
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Post by aubrey on Jan 18, 2011 17:41:12 GMT
Thanks for your replies.
I'd accept that about downloading at certain times, but it's always been ok until about 10 days ago. We've had slowing slowing down sometimes, and we did use to get a thing where it would go off altogether for a while, or go very slow; but we just restarted everything or waited a bit, and that would sort it out. This seems to be pretty constant: slow all the time, with the odd burst of speed. God, I could smash something.
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Post by Alpha Hooligan on Jan 18, 2011 17:44:20 GMT
Obvious question, but have you tried reseting/restarting your hub/router?
Might be worth a pop if you haven't done so already.
AH
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Post by Weyland on Jan 18, 2011 17:55:35 GMT
Thanks for your replies. I'd accept that about downloading at certain times, but it's always been ok until about 10 days ago. We've had slowing slowing down sometimes, and we did use to get a thing where it would go off altogether for a while, or go very slow; but we just restarted everything or waited a bit, and that would sort it out. This seems to be pretty constant: slow all the time, with the odd burst of speed. God, I could smash something. I had almost identical symptoms, Aub, and eventually called BT in. To be honest, I really thought the problem was the ancient Heath Robinson phone cabling, both inside and outside the house -- thought it was DIY -- which would mean I would be charged by BT -- minimum £129. But I bit the bullet, and the engineers decided that the whole thing was BT's problem, and replaced the lot, right up to the pole 50m away. Free. I was over the moon. Works better than it ever has now, but still drops occasionally. I think everybody's does. You want as few sockets and extensions as possible, and your wireless router as near the main socket and computer as possible. If you can, connect to the router with an Ethernet cable instead of wirelessly. Look for speed tests on the web and run a few. Keep records. That helped me too when I was talking to the engineers and Virgin. I used the BT tests.
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Post by Weyland on Jan 18, 2011 18:00:34 GMT
By the way, Aub, I tried two different routers, just in case the router was the problem. It wasn't.
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Post by rjpageuk on Jan 18, 2011 18:31:34 GMT
It almost certainly isnt a problem with your computer.
Firstly, are you wireless? Secondly, did you reboot the router as AH suggested?
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Post by aubrey on Jan 18, 2011 20:22:23 GMT
Done the router (we're always doing it).
I think I might have cured it, though. I have a download manager that I mainly use for torrents, which tend to download very slowly, over weeks. Anyway, I turned it off, and the other downloads all speeded up.
I still don't know why it has started doing this, but that was it.
I'd get rid of it, but I don't know how do download torrents without it. Still, I can turn it off.
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Post by riotgrrl on Jan 18, 2011 22:50:18 GMT
Aubrey, is your ISP BT?
If so, and you've downloaded too much the previous month, they restrict your downloading speeds at peak periods the following month.
Usually they send you an e-mail telling you they're going to do it.
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Post by Alpha Hooligan on Jan 19, 2011 10:53:43 GMT
Done the router (we're always doing it). I think I might have cured it, though. I have a download manager that I mainly use for torrents, which tend to download very slowly, over weeks. Anyway, I turned it off, and the other downloads all speeded up. I still don't know why it has started doing this, but that was it. I'd get rid of it, but I don't know how do download torrents without it. Still, I can turn it off. I use utorrent... www.utorrent.com/downloadsNice and stable, doesn't interfear with anything else or cause me any headaches. AH
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Post by everso on Jan 19, 2011 11:48:15 GMT
Aubrey, is your ISP BT? If so, and you've downloaded too much the previous month, they restrict your downloading speeds at peak periods the following month. Usually they send you an e-mail telling you they're going to do it. Oh yes. I've had one of those. Made me feel like a naughty schoolgirl. Tsk!
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Post by aubrey on Jan 19, 2011 16:56:43 GMT
AOL. They used to make a big thing of not having limits.
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Post by rjpageuk on Jan 19, 2011 22:46:38 GMT
Done the router (we're always doing it). I think I might have cured it, though. I have a download manager that I mainly use for torrents, which tend to download very slowly, over weeks. Anyway, I turned it off, and the other downloads all speeded up. I still don't know why it has started doing this, but that was it. I'd get rid of it, but I don't know how do download torrents without it. Still, I can turn it off. If torrents were slowing your internet down it was more than likely because it was uploading a lot. This is the whole point in torrents, you share them as you download them. You should be able to cap your upload rate in the options somewhere (look for options / preferences), and cap your upload rate to around 5k/sec if you can. PS I second AH's recommendation on a torrent client too.
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Post by aubrey on Jan 20, 2011 8:59:32 GMT
Thanks, everyone.
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