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General discussion

Earthlink DSL slow on one computer

Nov 29, 2007 6:46AM PST

I recently switched from Brighthouse cable high speed to an Earthlink DSL account at my small office. I am running four PC's through a SMC router into the the cable modem and now into the DSL modem. My problem is that when I connect the SMC router to the Brighthouse cable modem I get very similar bandwidth test results from all four PC's, but when I switch to the new Earthlink DSL modem, three of my PC's consistently perform bandwidth tests up to par, however, one of my PC's (Sony Laptop) tests extremely low. I have tested both wireless and direct ethernet connections with the same poor results on just the one machine. Earthlink will not help as they say the problem resides in my machine, however as soon as I switch back to Brighthouse, the bandwidth on the problem laptop goes back to normal. Does anybody have any troubleshooting suggestions?

Discussion is locked

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I might be reading this wrong
Nov 29, 2007 7:00PM PST

Is the setup

wall > DSL Modem/router > SMC router > wired/wireless


Update the firmware of the SMC router. More information on the SMC router can be found here

http://www.smc.com/index.cfm?event=promotion&localeCode=EN_USA&pageNum=12

Broadcast SSID
Use WPA security

Do NOT use MAC addresses. WPA security is enough security.

Does the Earthlink DSL modem have a firmware update?


Rick

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Firmware updated on both
Nov 30, 2007 1:42AM PST

Rick, Thanks for the response. Yes, I have updated the firmware on both the SMC wireless router and the Netopia DSL modem. You are correct in the configuration of:
wall > DSL Modem/router > SMC router > wired/wireless
however the problem exists even when I connect the "one" laptop directly to the ethernet port on the Netopia DSL modem. The problem is clearly an issue with the "one" laptop and the Earthlink DSL network. As mentioned the other three machines perform flawlessly on either network. When I plug the "one" laptop directly back into the Brighthouse cable modem, the bandwidth returns to acceptable levels. This laptop in question performs to standard on my home FIOS network as well. I have even unsecured both routers without any luck.

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I saw that once. What did I find?
Nov 30, 2007 1:44AM PST

I found the owner had or the DSL provider had installed some remote support software.

I take it that you are an ADVANCED USER/OWNER so dive in and run WINSOCKFIX then retest. If not, go get HIJACKTHIS and see if you find something different from the other machines.

Bob

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Problem Solved
Nov 30, 2007 2:39AM PST

Bob,

You were spot on with WINSOCKFIX. Performance is back on both networks. Strange how the problem was unique to the Earthlink DSL network, but it is now solved. Thanks for your help.

Chris

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This is usually a sign of a WINSOCK HIJACK.
Nov 30, 2007 3:01AM PST
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RE: WINSOCK HIJACCK
Nov 30, 2007 4:27AM PST

Found a couple tracking cookies that I clean up just about every week, but nothing serious. I will keep an eye out.

Thanks for all your help,
Chris