New Contributor
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5 Messages
Is Windows 8 killing my internet speed?
I recently upgraded my modem and router to take advantage of the preferred internet service. Installed a Motorola/Arris SB6182 modem. After several rounds of tech support to properly provision the modem, check connections, and install a new cable from the tap to my house, the modem and router seem to be functioning great. WiFi speeds are acceptable and a laptop wired directly to my router just hit 59 Mbps downloads. Problem is my desktop barely breaks above 6 Mbps dowloads (last speed test was 6.26 download and 20.11 upload). A few days ago a Windows 8 to 8.1 upgrade pushed through and my download speeds jumped to 60 on the desktop. Next time I powered up the speeds were back to 6 and have stayed there. Are there some compatibility issues between this modem and Windows 8/8.1? There is no change in performance when wiring directly to the modem versus through the router. The laptop (Windows 7) has great speeds regardless of whether it is wired directly to the modem or through the router. I'm stumped.
AllenP
Valued Contributor
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1.7K Messages
10 years ago
I don't know of any compatability problems with Windows 8, 8.1 or 10. I have a desktop running 8.1 & a laptop now running 10 (was running 8.1) ... no issues. More likely is something like a firewall, antivirus, etc running in the background. Take a look inTask Manager ... From the desktop right click on the task bar & select Task Manager. From there you can see what is running and also what starts up on boot (Startup tab). You can use the Startup tab to disable items from starting on boot. You may also want to boot into safe mode with networking support. If you get normal speeds in safe mode, it must be an app running in the background. HTH.
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Neked
New Contributor III
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23 Messages
10 years ago
I agree with Allen. You could also try opening task manager and monitor the the Ethernet section, just to see if anything is being received constantly at a high rate. This issue also sounds familiar to me back when I had DSL and it was actually my Ethernet driver. I updated it and everything seemed to be fine after that.
You could try 3rd party programs like fiddler or wireshark to see if there is anything being sent inbound and outbound on your machine too, but since other devices are fine, then it has to be a 3rd party software or Ethernet driver causing this.
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JeffZ
New Contributor
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5 Messages
10 years ago
Thanks for the reply. I disabled a few items that were not needed but that didn't help, but I actually was surprised there were not many extra things running at startup. Speeds were normal in safe mode, so it looks like I need to find something else running in the background. At first blush I don't see a likely culprit, but that's probably because I'm not looking for the right thing.
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JeffZ
New Contributor
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5 Messages
10 years ago
Thanks for the quick posts Neked and Allen. Safe mode gave me expected speeds, and besides searches and launching speed tests I don't see anything in the Ethernet section of Task Manager that's a red flag, but I may be looking for the wrong thing. I'll look into fiddler and wireshark to see if they provide any answers and post back.
Also, I reset my Ethernet driver a few days ago and when I check it now it says it is up to date. Seems odd to me it would say it is current after a reset.
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BrianS
New Contributor
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82 Messages
10 years ago
I agree with check the ethernet driver. Also, make sure the data rate is set to AUTO-NEGOTIATE. I have seen reports that if the rate is fixed, even at like 100/Full, one side or the other can go into half-duplex.
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JeffZ
New Contributor
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5 Messages
10 years ago
Okay, my ethernet driver appears to be up to date [Qualcomm Atheros AR8161 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet Controller (NDIS 6.30)] and the data rate (Speed & Duplex) was already set to auto negotiation. Safe mode speeds are outstanding, normal startup still at 6-7 Mbps. The only items remaining as enabled on startup are AMD Quick Stream, Catalyst Control Center Launcher, and CyberLink MediaLibrary Service. I'll start disabling them to see if there is any impact. I'm not seeing anything being constantly received when viewing the ethernet performance tab in task manager. I'm running Windows Defender and Firewall. I've likely hit the wall in terms of understanding the output from Fiddler.
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JeffZ
New Contributor
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5 Messages
10 years ago
Hopefully this is a final update. Tested speeds after disabling the remaining startup services and saw speeds jump to 14 Mbps. Turned off Defender and Firewall and saw a much bigger jump. Turned those two back on and restarted and my speeds have been over 50 Mbps since. Decided to push my luck and run the Windows 10 install. Speeds are still at 60 download and 6.8 upload. Hope it holds. Any final tips? Thanks for the advice.
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