[subarusti4]

ok, this is the reason i joined.
sorry but this is gonna take a while to explain...

a while ago our internet cable was cut accidentally.
virgin media (ntl) came and repaired this cable, after this the interent was intermittently slow and would freeze my browsers.
after contacting virgin they put a new connector on the joint and this improved the problem slightly.
the confusing bit is that my browsers in vista home premium (firefox, ie, and chrome) are still gradually slowing down and then the connection is so little it doesnt load pages and just says "stopped". when i exit firefox and try and open it again it says it is already running, and the process cant be ended in the control alt delete manner. yet IM programs etc can still connect. the only way to start the internet again is to restart the pc, then it all happens again in 30 mins or so. i want to know if this slowing down and freezing is due to the physical connection or my pc.
the xp computer also slows down slightly, but not as much, but as far as i know the browsers dont stop.
any comments would be greatly appreciated.
thanks... chris

[JohnWill]

Well, since this all started with the cable issue, I'm guessing that's still the root of the issue.


Register at DSLReports and run their Line Quality Tests. It's best to run this test with a direct wired connection to eliminate any wireless issues from the results. It's useful many times to run this test several times, and we'd like to see each of the results. Post the results link from the top of the test display page for each test run here.

The link to post is near the top of the page and looks like:

If you wish to post this result to a forum, please copy/paste this URL
http://www.dslreports.com/linequality/nil/2357195 <- sample only, yours will obviously be different!
and your IP will be disguised.

Copy/paste that link here.

Note: You will have to enable PING (ICMP) request response either in your router (if you have one), or in your computer's firewall for direct modem connections. This is very important to get the most important part of the test to run.


DSLReports

Here's also the Line Quality Tests FAQ to help you understand the results. This will answer some questions about the line quality display.

[TerryNet]

If you have the problem on one computer while another one is working fine the problem is not likely with your ISP or modem. It's probably your computer's problem, but could be the router, especially if one of those computers is connected by ethernet and the other by Wi-Fi.

[JohnWill]

Well, he is saying that more than one computer has some issues...

[subarusti4]

ok i did the line test and the results were "0% loss latency 90.0ms" im asuming this is good. i used to run zonealarm firewall, i now using comodo, the browsers still stop every so often. the funny thing is that firefox will say "stopped" in the bottom corner, but sometimes i can then switch to chrome for a bit before that stops.

[subarusti4]

ok, i just found the advanced results bit.
just realised that teh normal download speed for files is pretty much ok, unsure how long it has been like this for, but the other problems still persist.

TestLossMin
LatencyAvg
LatencyMax
LatencyPass
FailSimple ping loss check
10secs of 40byte packets 2 per second 0% loss 90.0ms 103ms 123ms
passlow bandwidth stream
10secs of 56k/bit ping stream 512byte packets 1% loss 90.9ms 104ms 143ms
passmedium bandwidth stream
10secs of 128k/bit ping stream 512byte packets 0% loss 91.0ms 103ms 157ms
passyour first hop ping
stream of 40byte pings to 80.7.154.170 0% loss 83.8ms You are 6ms
to your first hop
passPing plot:
Ping plot:
From East Coast - USA to YOUHopHostLOSSRcvSentBestAvgWorst0ge-4-1.bb-b.tla.nyc.us.oneandone.net0%60600.350.400.491ge-6-5-159.car3.NewYork1.Level3.net0%60600.5913.23204.352vlan79.csw2.NewYork1.Leve l3.net0%60600.606.2313.283ae-71-71.ebr1.NewYork1.Level3.net0%60600.600.831.704ae-3-3.ebr4.Washington1.Level3.net2%59605.4410.2718.085ae-84-84.csw3.Washington1.Level3.net0%60605.6411.4818.876ae-3-89.edge1.Washington4.Level3.net4%58606.138.6849.907xe-1-2-0.er1.iad10.us.above.net0%60606.1313.7083.988???100%0600.000.000.009???100% 0600.000.000.0010so-0-1-0.mpr1.lhr3.uk.above.net0%606075.3277.57151.4011213.152.245.540%606082.0688 .08180.2812lee-bb-b-ae0-0.network.virginmedia.net0%606082.1587.98208.5913???100%0600.000.000.0014?? ?100%0600.000.000.0015heck-cmts-03-ge02.network.virginmedia.net0%606082.1182.7287.1916cpc1-heck3-0-0-cust741.hudd.cable.ntl.com4%586090.95102.96130.12(fail)From West Coast - USA to YOUHopHostLOSSRcvSentBestAvgWorst0???100%0600.000.000.001???100%0600.000.000.002???100%0600.000.000.003???10 0%0600.000.000.004so-5-3-0.mpr1.lhr3.uk.above.net0%6060157.22157.53170.255213.152.245.540%6060162.40 168.04338.286lee-bb-b-ae0-0.network.virginmedia.net0%6060162.42163.46179.527???100%0600.000.000.008?? ?100%0600.000.000.009heck-cmts-03-ge02.network.virginmedia.net2%5960155.38156.01156.5410???0%000.000.000.00(pass)

[JohnWill]

If you just post the link like I asked, we could see this formatted properly.

[subarusti4]

oh sorry.
http://www.dslreports.com/linequalit...878abc/2545966

[subarusti4]

or is it:
http://www.dslreports.com/linequality/nil/2545966

[TerryNet]

Originally Posted by JohnWill

Well, he is saying that more than one computer has some issues...

Absolutely; and I'm glad you're pursuing the line quality question.

The "however" is that I agree with the thread title, and am not convinced that the second computer is having anywhere near the same extent of problem.

EDIT: By the way, I spent a lot of time studying the initial post and arguing with myself before posting; I had not seen your post # 2 until after I had posted # 3.

The parts about IM working when browser fails and a reboot fixing the problem for 30 minutes is not inconsistent with a corrupted firewall, driver or stack/winsock.

I leave it up to subarusti4 whether to pursue the issue from both ends at once. Heck, the problem could be in the "middle"--the router. My suggestions for the PC are three ...

1. Uninstall the non-Windows firewall or security suite.

2. Use Device Manager to uninstall the networking adapter; reboot and let Windows discover the adapter and reinstall the driver.

3. If I have the OS wrong ask for the correct repairs ...

(From a JohnWill post)

TCP/IP stack repair options for use with Windows XP with SP2 or SP3.

Start, Run, CMD, OK to open a command prompt.

Reset WINSOCK entries to installation defaults: netsh winsock reset catalog

Reset TCP/IP stack to installation defaults. netsh int ip reset reset.log

Reboot the machine.

[subarusti4]

ok thanks for the great help from everyone, im on holiday for a week tomorow, but ive thought about switching off the firewall and just running windows one to see if its the firewall. ill try it, its just annoying that i dont know when its going to crash,when i changed firewall to comodo i thought it was fixed for a while, but then it stopped again.
ps i am really surprised at the effiiency and great service this site and you provide. if only more places were as good as this.

[subarusti4]

ok back from holiday and ive been on the internet on and off (in the same browser sessoin) for about 6 hours now and it hasnt stopped. this is with comodo firewall suite running but with the firewall part disabled.
windows firewall is running, this seems to have solved the problem.
my final question is that now this is sorted what firewall do you think will run without crashing the browsers? is windows firewall adequate?
once again thanks to everyone for the fast and efficient service, i will recommend this to anyone.

[TerryNet]

The Windows firewall is adequate for me. Don't know about you.

Non-Windows firewalls (with proper configuration) will run without crashing browsers and doing other undesirable things until they get corrupted. Then they have to be uninstalled and freshly reinstalled.