why does my broadband go from superfast to a crawl?

[Englishman2010]

My broadband has been playing up for ages, although it's been a lot better since I bought a new router and wireless adapter a couple of months ago. However, it's playing up again now.

It can happen any time of day,it slows to a crawl for half an hour and then it's fine again. I've run a few speedtests this week, and am getting 14+Mbps when it's working ok, but on other occasions it's that slow that I can't even load pages.

My modem has a bar with 5 lights on it showing how strong the connection is, it goes from 0-5 in a short space of time.

I've also got a status monitor on my PC which tells me how strong the link from my wireless receiver to the modem is, that is usually between 90-95%.

I think the problem is with the line, I've spent a fortune buying new adapters and modems and the problem still arises.

If I change providers will it make any difference to the line as it will still be the same telephone line?

[imagine]

been having problems myself, web pages slowing down, loosing internet connection, despite rebooting the bt hub on many occasions its still the same, it can be ok for hours, then its a pain in the but again, wireless signal strengh always full, i havent got anything to check my internet speed,
iv come to conclusion its my hub, so iv just ordered a new router from amazon,its bt compatable, so i hope it sorts my problem out,

i understand that electrical equiptment near the router or wiring, such as fridge, microwave ect ect can interfere, you could check?
is your router plugged into the main telefone socket?
have you checked with your provider if theres any problems with your line,
i dont know what else to think of as possible causes

[KeithD]

If you use this http://www.samknows.com/broadband/exchange_search you can find out the actual exchange you have, what providors have their own equipment in it, what software/harware it uses, and number of people sharing it. That info can help you make a decision on which providor to go with. If your with say BT, and Virgin have their own equipment, then you may get a better service.

[joebloggs]

get fibre optic broadband, i know Les and me both use Virgin media, I've got 30mb connection, for a bit more you can get 50mb, the only thing i'm sorry about is that i didn't get it sooner

[KeithD]

My mums got cable and has had nothing but trouble for the last month with internet/tv off and on all the time

[hawk]

sometimes when i have apps running in background it goes slow till i shut them off then its ok again try closeing some down and see if that works

[stevewool]

i have virgin too, and so far so good, plus if it did go wrong i am sure they would sort it out or give you a discount

[Toneec]

Hi Englishman2010
If it was your line, it is likely you would have the problem continuously.
A faultly line is a faultly line.
It's unlikely you would get good speed and then down to a crawl with an faulty line.
Are you running it hardwired ?
Or wireless wi fi ?
My guess is , if you are running hardwired, it's most likely your ISP.

It could also be your machine, if your pc is running apps ect, it may be running low on memory, also worth checking for any virus, trojan, or spyware.
Hope this helps.

[les_taxi]

get fibre optic broadband, i know Les and me both use Virgin media, I've got 30mb connection, for a bit more you can get 50mb, the only thing i'm sorry about is that i didn't get it sooner

Yes it really good,always works,amazing speed cant fault it

[grahamw48]

I've got Virgin too.

I do keep their Manila call-centre girls chatting a lot though.

Great fun replying to them in Tagalog.

[Steve.r]

I just did a few speed tests and i jave an average of about 6.9 to 7 Mb but i have trouble downloading from Utorrent, its like it just dribbles to the point i just stop the download. Any clues?? Les, you use torrents, which do you use ?

[les_taxi]

Steve are you 'port forwarding'?
The isp's know the sites we ahem download from and throttle your upload/download speed
I only use one torrent site when I'm stuck,I use news groups for all my downloads these days,full speed safe and very secure

[joebloggs]

My mums got cable and has had nothing but trouble for the last month with internet/tv off and on all the time

knowing you, you've probably hacked nextdoors WEP password

i've had virgin for near 2yrs now, 99% of the time it works great

Manila call centre, i wonder if they could pass messages on to my misses family, so she doesn't need to call them on the land-line

[les_taxi]

knowing you, you've probably hacked nextdoors WEP password

i've had virgin for near 2yrs now, 99% of the time it works great

Manila call centre, i wonder if they could pass messages on to my misses family, so she doesn't need to call them on the land-line

I have next doors password and sometimes piggy back her internet to test things

[joebloggs]

sometimes piggy back her to test things

[les_taxi]

But sometimes my signal drops out

[KeithD]

I just did a few speed tests and i jave an average of about 6.9 to 7 Mb but i have trouble downloading from Utorrent, its like it just dribbles to the point i just stop the download. Any clues?? Les, you use torrents, which do you use ?

ISP's throttle back torrents in some cases, they also can be very slow depending on the upload speed you are getting it from which is why I use Hotfile.

[somebody]

Like boss mentions check your exchange and whats happening locally with your line etc.

While many are happy with Virgin heard a few horror stories up there with BT's finest moments regarding connections and very sloppy work locally...

One work colleugage had a ongoing battle with virgin who had been taking short cuts with his entire street's connections and im all sure we have heard of someone have a lazy BT engineer in the past make a bodge of a installation.

If its ongoing could be something like that.

I'm guessing you have eliminated updates on pc's or phones slowing the process down?

You have eliminated someone logging onto your wifi?

You have eliminated as Terpes mentions some interference of some sort?

Have you checked the logs of your router when it slows down and just before and after?