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Question

Why Doesn't my browser use all of my bandwidth?

Mar 4, 2016 5:14PM PST

So here's my situation. I live in a place with terrible internet, period, the fastest internet speed I can get is 1.5mbps down, I've accepted that it sucks, I can deal. My problem is that when I want to watch a video or load say a flash game, the video will almost always be buffering or the flash game will take FOREVER to load up.

Now I know that 1.5 mbps down is only like 150 kb/s and that it takes a while to buffer/load videos/games, however when I open up my task manager and look at the resources being used, the browser is NEVER using anywhere near all of my crappy bandwidth. The only exceptions I have found so far are netflix and youtube. They will use most of if not all of my bandwidth.

I've checked and I know for a fact that there is nothing else sucking bandwidth up on my computer. (Speedtest.net also confirms that I have 1.5mbps or very close) Other applications seem to be happy to use all available bandwidth, (steam, torrenting applications etc.) It only seems to be my web browser that refuses to use what little bandwidth I have. I have also connected my computer directly to my modem.

Info
Windows 8.1
Google Chrome
i5 4690K 3.5GHz
8 gb ram
120gb SSD (running OS) and a 1 tb hd)
Wired internet connection (Computer->Router->Modem)
Router is a TP-Link TL-WR1043ND

Discussion is locked

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Clarification Request
bump
Apr 29, 2016 5:25PM PDT

bump

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Answer
bump
Apr 29, 2016 5:26PM PDT

bump

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Answer
It seems this is covered in prior discussions
Apr 29, 2016 6:07PM PDT
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Ummm I already googled this?
Apr 29, 2016 8:54PM PDT

Of course the first thing I did was google my problem, and unfortunantly got no results. I can also now say that it isn't just chrome that does it, but firefox does the exact same thing. At first it wjll be fine and work decently, but over time it too refuses to work with videos that aren't on youtube or netflix.
At this point I almost wonder if my ISP is throttling some of my select traffic????? I don't know if thats even possible but it seems like one of the few last possibilities. The only other thing i can think of is maybe some glitch in windows. Anybody think it's a good idea to upgrade to 1p

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misclicked...
Apr 29, 2016 8:56PM PDT

Sorry I missclicked the submit button before I was done, anyway, I was going to ask if anybody thought it was a good idea to upgrade to windows 10 and see if that aleviates the problem?

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Sorry if I was unclear.
Apr 29, 2016 9:15PM PDT

I found my fix was to use another browser. I learned long ago to not beat my head against a wall.

As to W10, while I like it, there are some that hate the idea. Me? I'm all in.

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Answer
Re: not using all bandwidth
Apr 30, 2016 7:07AM PDT

- What happens on your smartphone or tablet (using WiFi)?
- What happens if you run Firefox from a Linux disk (no installation required) with wired Internet?

Both are easier to try than going to Windows 10 or reinstalling Windows 8.1.

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Answer
just a thought
Apr 30, 2016 7:48AM PDT

But I see that you are using some Torrents and wonder if it may have some affect on the bandwidth issue.

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Good idea but....
Apr 30, 2016 11:48AM PDT

I know what you're saying, but I am 100% sure that the torrenting application is not running, even just in the background. I had issues with that before. Because I have such a terrible internet connection, I almost always have task manager open monitoring all the processes open making sure that nothing is eating up bandwidth. I know for a fact that no other program is using the bandwidth. Like I said before, things like youtube and netflix work fine, but anything else uses at most a third of my available bandwidth.

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Here's a thing that really torques folk about torrent use.
Apr 30, 2016 12:23PM PDT

There are other companies that when they see you torrent certain things they mound a DOS (denial of service) attack on your connection. Since you are a torrent user you should know this.

That's why even after your torrent is shutdown, you may see less than stellar performance.

Post was last edited on April 30, 2016 12:48 PM PDT