Optimum server on speed test

[veryconfused2]

My fathers broadband seems to be running at an incredibly slow speed so I decided to do a quick speed test on speedtest.net. It took a good few minutes searching for the optimum server, when it did find one it was in Talinn (he is in the UK), I clicked to change server but none of the ones it displayed were in the UK. (I did then enter a city near to us in the search and it did the test) but I was just a little worried as to why it would of chosen a server over 1700 miles away. Hopefully someone can shed some light onto this for me. Many thanks

 

[cwwozniak]

Hi veryconfused2, and welcome to TSG.

You could start by checking his public IP address. Clicking the following link on his computer will take you to service that will show the address in the top right of the screen:

https://ipinfo.info/html/ip_checker.php

Copy the address and paste it into the address box and click "CHECK" further down the page.

The results should give a Geolocation in the same general area as your father's location and the Reverse DNS should show a domain name related to his Internet Service Provider (ISP).

If the location is way off, but the ISP name is correct, he would need to contact the ISP about why this is happening and what they can do to correct it.

If the location is way off, and the ISP name is incorrect, then there is a possiblity that your father's computer is knowingly or unknowingly using a proxy service to hide his true location and passing all of his Internet traffic through a far off proxy server.

 

[veryconfused2]

Thank you for your quick reply.
Next time I visit him I will follow your instructions and see what the results are.
Thank you

 

[Triple6]

Is he running a VPN, proxy, or one of thos anonymous browsing services. What browser is he using?

 

[veryconfused2]

Is he running a VPN, proxy, or one of thos anonymous browsing services. What browser is he using?

Not that he is aware of. He uses firefox.

 

[veryconfused2]

Hi veryconfused2, and welcome to TSG.

You could start by checking his public IP address. Clicking the following link on his computer will take you to service that will show the address in the top right of the screen:

https://ipinfo.info/html/ip_checker.php

Copy the address and paste it into the address box and click "CHECK" further down the page.

The results should give a Geolocation in the same general area as your father's location and the Reverse DNS should show a domain name related to his Internet Service Provider (ISP).

If the location is way off, but the ISP name is correct, he would need to contact the ISP about why this is happening and what they can do to correct it.

If the location is way off, and the ISP name is incorrect, then there is a possiblity that your father's computer is knowingly or unknowingly using a proxy service to hide his true location and passing all of his Internet traffic through a far off proxy server.

I did this and the location was were I would expect it to be and the correct domain name was showing as well.

 

[Triple6]

Is the speed test still showing a far away location?

 

[Couriant]

I would treat this as a speed issue at this point. So my questions/suggestions are:

Does he have any other device that is connected to this provider, ie another computer, tv/box that streams, cellphone? If so, does it appear to have the same speed issues?

In command prompt, pull up the IP configuration by typing IPCONFIG /ALL and notate the Default Gateway IP address. Also, what is the DNS Server IP addresses?

Next, type in the following commands:
ping google.co.uk
ping bbc.co.uk
ping <default gateway ip address>

What are the results of these ping commands? If they are high (especially the last one), then a long powercycle of all the connecting devices, as well as the modem and router (if one is connected) may help. This involves shutting down ALL devices that use the internet. For the modem, disconnect the line that comes from the wall to the modem.

Once all are shut down start with the modem and when it's all powered up with the lights, connect the router if applicable. Wait for that to power up then turn on the computer in question. Run the speed test and ping test again and see if you get the same issue.

One thing I would ask the ISP (if they let you) is to see if they can find any issues with the transmitting/receiving signals (Rx/Tx), SNR (Signal to Noise Ratio), and if there bandwidth being maxed on either upstream or downstream. Hopefully they can also confirm if there are any utilization issues within the area.