Slow internet

[BobT]

Anybody else notice this problem? At first, I thought it was Chrome actimg up or my 512K DSL upload but now I'm not so sure because my computer at work does much the same thing and we use IE8 with a much faster internet connection at somewhere around 13Mbps upload speed.

In Chrome the address bar and web search bar are one and the same. For the past two to three weeks I've experienced a problem. When I type a search word or web address in the address bar and press enter to begin my search it seems to lock up. If I let it run it usually comes back that the internet connection was lost or the page can't be found. All I have to do is stop the search and restart it and it finds results right away.

For example, if I enter Google.com in the search bar sometimes it'll show it working...and working...and working... If I just stop the search, re-enter my request, and restart the search it finds the HSOforum immediately. Last night I tried updating Chrome but it didn't make any difference.

With IE8 I find that when I click on links it does much the same thing. I reopen the HSOforum and click the link again and it works.

This is an intermittent issue. Anyone else experiencing similar problems?

[Jim Almquist]

We have had some strange stuff along with slower speeds but it was a part on Qwest side of things that had taken a lightning strike. The best time to check your speed is when everything is working great because then you have a benchmark to go by in the future. I really don't know what the up and download speeds of a 512 DSL would be but I would at least check your speed on SpeakEasy and then call your provider and see if it sounds about right. On my 1.5 DSL through Qwest I can expect about 1325 download and 760 upload and if it's not close then its time to call and ask why.

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

I'm assuming you clear the cache memory often?

[YoMan]

I have not used Chrome myself, but a lot of customers I work with say it bugs out a lot. I don't know how long its been out, but sounds like they are still working out some things.

I quit using IE ever since I found out about Firefox. There always seems to be a 1/2 sec, to 1 second lag, regardless of what your trying to do (opening up web pages, starting a download, etc).

Otherwise, its a good idea to clear the cache once in awhile like wish-i-were-fishin mentioned.

[pureinsanity]

Sounds to me like you have a DSL Problem. Regardless outages I always reboot my modem and router atleast once a month. Are you hardwired in? or are you wireless and maybe someone is downloading stuff while your browsing???

I had to secure my friends wireless as they got a letter from the cable company and activision for someone illegally downloading a video game. One of the neighbors were using their signal

[spearchucker]

Could also be DNS related. Try switching you DNS servers over to OpenDNS or GoogleDNS. Check out opendns dot com.

[upnorth]

I work in networking and I can tell you that networking/internet is very similar to the water distribution system. You have a large pipe feeding a smaller pipe, which then goes to a smaller pipe then even smaller one into your home. If any of those pipes along the line fill up to capacity the end pipe going into your home will not fill up as the feeder pipes have reached their capacity to deliver any more data.

[BobT]

I'm hardwired and I do shut down and restart my modem occasionally. Last night I emptied my cache and my history files in case they are getting too full. I automatically delete cookies on exit. Hmmm...I wonder if this could be related.

I decided to use IE8 a little more at home just to be sure it isn't a Chrome issue. I left Firefox about 4 or 5 months ago because the last update I got became extremely slow. Slower than IE8. Chrome, despite a few flaws that I've discovered, is so much faster....or....at least has been.

I have done a little searching and it would seem I'm not the only one experiencing this issue. I guess t's possible that the issue I've experienced with IE8 at work is completely different too.

How has Firefox been working lately? Have they solved the speed problems that showed up a few months ago?

[pureinsanity]

Ive never had a problem with firefox ever. hows the rest of your computers performance. is it fast?

[YoMan]

I usually don't delete the cookies.. they actually help with accessing your usual websites faster.

Do you have another computer to see if this problem is persistent? If it does the same thing on a different computer, next step would be a line test from the internet company.

[pureinsanity]

actaully cookies don't help as much as the cache does. the cache is the main source for faster loading as it saves images in your temporary folder to ensure websites load faster.

Cookies are more of a tracking device and also make adds annoying. Ever wonder why you get certain adds on websites that retain to your interests? thank cookies for that!

[BobT]

My PC seems to be working normally otherwise. I wonder if upnorth has it right that there is just too much traffic and our provider needs to upgrade their servers. This problem did seem to develop within the last few weeks so it could be that they are having some problems too.

One of the negatives about Chrome is that they don't provide enough control of cookies. For example, I can delete cookies on exit to help control tracking cookies but I can't configure any exceptions so I can leave HSO cookies. As a result, deleting cookies the way I have been forces me to log in to this site all the time.

Another negative is that I can't configure it to only retain browsing history for X days. As a result, my history folder rapidly grows very large. They have an option to manually delete history but it's backwards and you have to do it yourself. For example, I can specify how far back to delete (the most recent day, week, month, etc.) but I can't specify deleting anything older than a specific date. To me it makes more sense to be able to configure it to delete browsing history older than a day, week, month, etc. There is a way to delete history beyond a certain date by opening the history folder but it is an inconvenient and cumbersome process.

[pureinsanity]

The fact that you have dsl he is probably right. When I had dsl I noticed lags at certain times.

With school now in session you should see a huge lag around 3 pm, and again after 5pm. When all the kids are facebooking tweeting and playing video games.

[spearchucker]

DSL should be more stable speedwise than cable. With DSL you have a dedicated connection to the node where cable is sharing bandwidth. It still could be that the ISP backbone is not big enough to keep up though.

Use speedtest dot net to check your speeds. It will check ping times and speed up and down.

Which anti-virus are you using?

[pureinsanity]

I was on frontier and always had speed lag. once i switched to comcast it was eliminated unless there was a complete outtage

[upnorth]

With DSL you only have dedicated speed from the last hop into your house. The rest of the way out you are sharing bandwidth with the rest of the users trying to get to the internet.

[BobT]

My anti-virus is AVG free edition. Haven't noticed any issues with that in the 5 years or so that I've been using it, not to say it isn't possible.

[spearchucker]

AVG has a link scanner or something that runs that I used to have trouble with. I don't run AVG anymore so I can't remember for sure. It scans the link to the HSOforum for known bad sites or something. I just remember it being a problem, but it sounds like it was working good for you previously. You may want to try disabling AVG for a little while and see if it helps the problem.

Look into the DNS thing that I mentioned earlier. Many ISPs have terrible DNS servers.

[bucketmouth64]

My fiance' was having problems with internet for the longest time. Pages would take forever to load. She also converted to W7 and uses explorer8. Comcast came out and found out that her connection was being shared with another line at their remote box. So her signal was being cut in half so to speak. Once she had her own dedicated line her problems were fixed. Everything is fast. Not sure if this helps you out, but I thought I would just throw this out there.

[BobT]

Thought I’d share a follow-up. In my last posts I indicated that I might try to go back to my old standby IE8, and I can tell you that so far I have not experienced any of the problems that I did with Chrome or Firefox. Here’s what my experience has been with these internet browsers. Note that this is from a plain Bob user perspective and not a technical perspective.

Internet Explorer 8

- Seems to take a little time for the application to open

- Once opened navigation from site to site is okay, not super fast or doggy

- Poor personalization options such as adding color or background schemes and skins

Firefox

- At first the application loaded much faster than IE8

- Once opened navigation from site to site was definitely faster

- Way more options for personalization. Scheme and Persona options galore

- The software has some compatibility issues but most were solved with add-ons

- Cookie and history management was similar to IE8

- As time went on the application began to drag…a lot. It seemed to be associated with an upgrade but after reinstalling it again yesterday, it has not changed. Opening the application takes a minimum of 10 seconds and navigation from site to site has slowed immensely.

- I have uninstalled it again and don’t plan to go back any time soon.

Chrome

- Wow, the application opens in a flash

- Site to site navigation was fastest hands down

- Like the layout so much that I now have IE8 setup very similar

- Not as many options for personalization as Firefox but more than IE8

- More compatibility issues than Firefox such as ActiveX controls and such but I was able to download an add-on to open pages in IE8 that got around this issue.

- Has some trouble handling .pdf file types.

- Doesn’t always display download status when opening web pages so you can’t tell if it is stuck or just taking more time. This is especially noticeable when downloading .pdf files.

- Lately been having trouble hanging during site to site navigation or obtaining search results. A work around is to stop loading the page and restart it again and it usually works right away.

- Still functioning well enough that the rest of my family wants to keep it so I have not uninstalled it yet.

I have resigned myself to using IE8. It seems to be the most stable of the three from my experience. What I mean is that I know what to expect and it usually delivers in kind. It’s not working great one minute and like a brute the next. It also has fewer problems that require third-party add-ons to work around. Although noticeably slower opening the application (maybe one or two seconds slower than Chrome) and navigating the web (delta is in msec) it is not significant by any means.