Question

Slow DSL connection with Windows XP

Asked by: mjkfree

I am not with a network, but I do have SBC/Yahoo DSL.  My Conection and Internet are running very slow.  I was hoping you would be able to give me some advice on things I can check to correct this problem.. Thank You

This Question has been solved and asker verified All Experts Exchange premium technology solutions are available to subscription members.

Subscribe now for full access to Experts Exchange and get

Instant Access to this Solution

  • Plus...
  • 30 Day FREE access, no risk, no obligation
  • Collaborate with the world's top tech experts
  • Unlimited access to our exclusive solution database
  • Never be left without tech help again

Subscribe Now

Asked On
2003-10-10 at 06:49:57ID20762984
Tags

dsl

,

slow

,

xp

,

connection

Topic

DSL Lines / Cable Internet

Participating Experts
4
Points
50
Comments
6

Trusted by hundreds of thousands everyday for fast, accurate and reliable tech support.

  • "The time we save is the biggest benefit of Experts Exchange to Warner Bros. What could take multiple guys 2 hours or more each to find is accessed in around 15 minutes on Experts Exchange." Mike Kapnisakis, Warner Bros.
  • "Our team likes having a resource that is more secure than just using Google and most experts using this service really know their stuff. It's nice to look here first versus using Google." Dayna Sellner, Lockheed Martin
  • "Anytime that I've been stumped with a problem, 9 out of 10 times Experts Exchange has either the accepted solution or an open discussion of the potential solution to the problem." Kenny Red, eBay Inc.

See what Experts Exchange can do for you.

Got a question?

We've got the answer.

Experts Exchange has been collecting answers to technology questions since 1996…3 million and counting! If you have a question, chances are we already have your answer.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Need individual assistance?

Our experts are ready to help.

If you can't find the exact answer you're looking for, ask our exclusive community of 50,000 experts. You’ll get a personalized answer from a trusted professional.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Want to learn from the best?

Read articles from industry experts.

Thousands of free tech tips, tricks, how-to’s and tutorials are available in our peer reviewed articles section. See for yourself how smart our experts are, no login required.

Screenshot of an Article

Working on a long term project?

Store your work and research.

Save solutions to your questions, answers you’ve discovered through searching plus helpful articles in your personal knowledgebase for easy future access.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Access the answers to your technology questions today.

Subscribe Now

30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.

What Makes Experts Exchange Unique?

Members of the expert community talk about why the experience at Experts Exchange is different than what you will find anywhere else.

Trusted by the world's most respected brands.

image of each brand's logo

Faithfully serving IT professionals since 1996.

Experts Exchange Logo

Try it out and discover for yourself.

Subscribe Now

30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.

Related Solutions

  1. DSL
    I have SBC Yahoo DSL service. I just upgraded to the higher end service. My ping is good for general internet use and downloading capabilities. However when I go online gaming is not so hot. I get a good ping but it spikes really high. I am not running any other programs...
  2. sbc dsl help!
    Have to ask this real fast. will post more later. I am trying to setup sbc dsl i have done this a million times. i am going through a router. if connect pc > dsl i get internet, no password or user name required (at least that i can see it might be remembering it somewhere...
  3. What is the default password for a 2Wire DSL router from …
    What is the default password for a 2Wire DSL router from SBC? Thanks.
  4. Windox XP Pro won't connect to internet via linksys router…
    I'm trying to connect one pc Windows XP Pro and a laptop Windows XP Home to a linksys router. Using SBC yahoo dsl, modem is SpeedStream 5100B. 1) Linksys( BEFSX41 ver 2) is connected to dsl using PPPoE. 2) Windox XP Home laptop is working fine. 3) Both Home and Pro are co...

Free Tech Articles

  1. WARNING: 5 Reasons why you should NEVER fix a computer for free.
    It is in our nature to love the puzzle. We are obsessed. The lot of us. We love puzzles. We love the challenge. We thrive on finding the answer. We hate disarray. It bothers us deep in our soul. W...
  2. SCCM OSD Basic troubleshooting
    SCCM 2007 OSD is a fantastic way to deploy operating systems, however, like most things SCCM issues can sometimes be difficult to resolve due to the sheer volume of logs to sift through and the dispe...
  3. Migrate Small Business Server 2003 to Exchange 2010 and Windows 2008 R2
    This guide is intended to provide step by step instructions on how to migrate from Small Business Server 2003 to Windows 2008 R2 with Exchange 2010. For this migration to work you will need the fo...
  4. Create a Win7 Gadget
    This article shows you how to create a simple "Gadget" -- a sort of mini-application supported by Windows 7 and Vista. Gadgets can be dropped anywhere on the desktop to provide instant information, ...
  5. Outlook continually prompting for username and password
    There have been a lot of questions recently regarding Outlook prompting for a username and password whilst using Exchange 2007. There are a few reasons why this would happen and I will try to cover t...
  6. Backup Exchange 2010 Information Store using Windows Backup
    There seems to be quite a lot of confusion around the ability to backup Exchange 2010 using the built in Windows Backup feature. This stems from the omission of this feature prior to Exchange 2007 s...

Cloud Class Webinars

  1. Avoiding Bugs in Microsoft Access
    Alison Balter takes and in-depth look at avoiding bugs in Access. In this webinar you will learn about using the immediate window to debug your applications, invoking the debugger, using breakpoints to troubleshoot, stepping through code, setting the next statement to execute, ...
  2. Top 10 Best New Features in Visio 2010
    Scott Helmers gives live demonstrations of the top 10 new features in Visio 2010. This webinar will teach you how to create compelling diagrams by adding shapes to the page with a single click, linking the shapes in a diagram to data in Excel (or SQL Server, or SharePoint), ...
  3. IT Consultant Business Secrets Revealed
    Michael Munger, Experts Exchange tech pro and IT consultant, pulls back the curtain on his very successful businesses and answers question on every IT consultant and business owner should know about. He shares secrets on what he did to solve the 5 most common problems in IT, ...
  4. Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity
    Quest CTO, Mike Billon, gives an overview of the steps involved in building a dunamic disaster recovery plan. Through case studies and an examination of software/hardware tooles for monitoring and testing, you'll gain a better understandin of where you are, where you want ...
  5. Organize Your Visio Diagrams with Containers and Lists
    Scott Helmers uses cross functional flowcharts, wireframe diagrams, data graphic legends and seating charts to teach you: how to ustilize all three new structured diagram components in Visio 2010, the best practices for organizeing shapes in previous version of Visio, how to organize ...
  6. How to Us Objects, Properties, Events and Methods in Microsoft Access
    Alison Dalter gives an in-depbth look at objects, properties, events and methods in Microsoft Access. In this webinar you will learn about using the object browser, referring to objects, working with properties and methods, working with object variables, understanding the ...

Join the Community

Give a Little. Get a Lot.

Join the community of experts here and help other tech pros by answering question in your area of expertise. You can earn FREE access to all Experts Exchange's premium features and resources.

Join the Community

Answers

 

by: sunray_2003Posted on 2003-10-11 at 14:26:48ID: 9533993

 

by: Mrclean0325Posted on 2003-10-11 at 21:53:48ID: 9534848

The number one problem that I have seen to cause this is from a program (or programs) that you have running in the background or if you have a Norton, McAfee, ZoneAlarm firewall running that was installed before you got your DSL connection. I would check to see what programs are starting when you start your computer (start menu, programs, startup) and remove any programs from the startup that you don't want running all the time. Removing them from the startup will not stop them from running, just from running all the time. If you have a lot of icons in your system tray (lower right hand by the clock) this may be the culprit. AS for the firewall, uninstall it and reinstall it. Make sure that you don't save your preferences and load them back in. Start from scratch with it. I had a customer the other day with this problem, it even prevented him from going to some websites and was very SLOW getting to any sites. Hope this helps!;)

 

by: harryballzPosted on 2003-10-12 at 03:09:07ID: 9535342

Hey mjkfree,

Go here and do a speed test:

http://www.dslreports.com/stest?loc=97

Then pick a location like Speakeasy and hit the Start button...don't surf just let it run for a minute.

What is your download and upload speed?  (It should be around 1300 down and 128 up)

If you were really slow (under 500 down) you probably have bad or old telephone wires in your home.  You will need to call SBC and tell them your speed results.  They then can come install a "cleaner" line for you. (may cost $$$ if your not paying for LinePro Care)

Addtiotianlly, you could be too far from the DSLAM or CO.  Anything over 16,500 feet is not good.  Ask them how far out you are.

Lastly, run a Spyware remover like Spybot S & D from:

http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_download/0,fid,22262,fileidx,1,00.asp

This will clean out all the programs that are hogging bandwith to spy on you (like Bonzi Buddy, Hotbar, Gator and tracking cookies etc...)

 

by: birksyPosted on 2003-12-03 at 17:42:44ID: 9871554

For just 50 points I'm not going to go into a great deal of detail [ ;-) ] but you need to check your MTU and RWIN values.

MTU is your maximum transmission size, or the size of the packet that goes out on to the ATM network before your computer starts to fragment the packet. For DSL this is typically small that the XP default size of 1500, 1492 is a typical value for DSL.

RWIN is your TCP receive window, and this is the amount of data your computer will receive before sending an ACK packet to the sender, acknowledging complete receipt of the data. Setting this value is complex, but the general rules of thumb are:

* The higher your latency to the sites you access most often, the bigger your RWIN size should be - you can test this with pings
* The faster your DSL the bigger your RWIN size should be
* It also helps performance if your RWIN size is a multiple of MSS ( Maximum Segment Size is the packet data payload and is typically MTU - 40 )

I suggest you go here, run the tweak tester and see what pops up, it should be able to make suggestions on how best to tune your system for DSL including values for the parameters discussed above. There's even a tool (DrTCP) that'll help you set these values. Your ISP's home site may also have recommendations for these values.

http://www.dslreports.com/tweaks

DrTCP alters values in your registry, so the usual caveats apply when it comes to changing values in there... i.e. do it at your own risk, etc etc.

Have fun,

R.

20120131-EE-VQP-002

3 Ways to Join

30-Day Free Trial

The Experts

98% positive feedback on 31,087 answers since March 2000. angeliii is a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional for his work with MS SQL Server & Develoment.

He has also proven his knowledge of Visual Basic Programming, PHP Scripting and Oracle Databases.

The Experts

97% positive feedback on 10,752 answers since July 2000. lrmoore has more than 18 years experience in the networking industry.

The six-time Mircosoft MVPs specialties include firewalls, virtual private networking, and network management.

Testimonials

"...and excellent source for support... Kind of like having your very own IT dept." Electriciansnet

Testimonials

"I was apprehensive at signing up at first. However... it has already made my life as an IT administrator much easier." JaCrews

Testimonials

"WOW! You guys have great, active, and knowledgeable people on here." moore50

Business Clients

Business Clients

In the Press

"If you’ve got a question... Experts Exchange can supply an answer.”

In the Press

"...an invaluable aid for both IT professionals and those who require tech support."

In the Press

"where IT professionals provide quick answers on just about any topic"

Business Account Plans

Loading Advertisement...