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MasterOfMyDomai's avatar
MasterOfMyDomai
New Contributor

Slowness on Win XP Systems

The speed tests on my two XP laptops were running at 2 to 6 mbps download making them unusable (am paying for 50 mbps).  It was taking 2 minutes to get the Cox web page to load.  Several calls to Tech Support just repeated what seemed to be a scripted response:  1. Check the Cox internal system  2. Reboot the modem  3. Run the test with an ethernet connection  4. Send out a technician (refused due to the $75 potential service charge)  5. Sign up for the customer care plan (refused due to $3 per month cost).  They didn't suggest anything else so I drove to their office to exchange the modem, upgraded my wireless adapter from Wireless-G (54 mbps) to Wireless-N (130 mbps),  took out the splitter to my phone temporarily, tested each of the ll channels separately, disconnected all other devices,, found the modem/router manufacturer's setup instructions to make sure my settings were correct, and spent hours searching the internet for solutions.  Nothing improved the speed, except Easter Sunday when all the neighbors were in church and my speeds went to 16-20 mbps.  It didn't last.

Months later I uninstalled Ad Blocker Plus from my Firefox browser.  Download speeds jumped to 16-22 mbps consistently.  Ad Blocker Plus was already installed when I switched to Cox, under my mistaken assumption that ads were using too much of my system resources.  As it turned out for me, Ad Blocker Plus was worse than the Ads.

My XP laptops are still slow, but are now faster than dial-up and suitable for my limited needs on these laptops.  I still don't understand why they still run slower than they did on my old AT&T DSL system 5 years ago.

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  • ChrisL's avatar
    ChrisL
    Former Moderator
    @MasterofMyDomain

    Windows XP was great for it's time however since being retired by Microsoft it's no longer supported on our end. Do you have any devices running a more recent OS you can try testing with?

  • MasterOfMyDomai's avatar
    MasterOfMyDomai
    New Contributor

    Spoiler alert!  I'm going to rant.

    Cox waits untill now to tell me you no longer support Win XP?  For some reason the salesperson never mentioned it before I signed up.  Once XP support ended did you lay-off everyone with XP experience and burn all the files containing solutions? 

    When XP was being supported I'm sure it worked at an acceptable speed.  It is not unreasonable to expect no reduction in that speed even if newer systems can run at faster speeds.  For example, in 2008 the very same XP laptop had no problems on a DSL connection with 3 mbps download speeds.  But now it runs much slower even though actual download speeds are 20 mbps on a connection rated at up to 50 mbps.  People who call me aren't talking slower.  TV shows don't take longer.  Only the internet gives you faster speeds with slower results.  We are getting nowhere fast.

    The internet is ubiquitous, like electrical service, and I look forward to the government declaring it a regulated public utility and requiring that legacy systems be supported for at least 50 years.  My advice to Cox is to support the customer, not the operating system.

  • MikeP1's avatar
    MikeP1
    New Contributor

    Microsoft has not supported Windows XP since 2014.  There are multiple serious security vulnerabilities in XP and should not be used by anyone.  It is possible that your system is compromised and you would never know it.  

    The request to use a recent OS is quite reasonable due to the potential, and highly likely probability of compromised XP systems, especially given the last 2 months of vulnerability notices from Microsoft.