for the last week or so, my internet has been reeeeeally slow - going between normal speed one minute to refusing to load a page the next - apparently for no reason. i thought it might be that i'd spend too long on the internet so it was payback time from BT, but surely at the start of the month it should reset itself or something.

Oli

U sure its on the internet side? Might be also in your PC, no?

maybe, but computer has been pretty horrendous for a while, so why it should suddenly start doing this would be beyond me

You say that the pc has been horrendous for a while, so could this simply be the pc being even more horrendous?

Yeah well, download less porn.. and surf on safe porn sites.

i never download the reason i think its to do with using the broadband was, a couple of days in this one week i left internet on thinking i'd be home soon and ended up being out most of the day. since then it's been buggered

Just try the good old way, turn off pc, turn off router and unplug the power lead and all other cables from it, leave it all disconnected for a good few hours, overnight ideally, and then plumb it all back in and try.

Standard stuff really, but its amazing how many times it HAS worked when my parents internet goes off on one and plays up.

well i tried unplugging it and thought "wow, that worked!" 10 mins later, happens again. oh well, will unplug everything before i go to bed tonight and let you know tomorrow imagine even if it does it'll only be a quick fix. also, it just occurred to me that the modem/router has been on for about 2 years, is this normal (i just assumed you never turn it off, have never really thought to ask)

Yeah they do get kinda jammed up from time to time, have you also tried doing a DNS flush?

Get to the command prompt, on xp its start>run..> CMD which launches it, then just type the following..

ipconfig /flushdns


vista is exactly the same really, but you have to use the search on the start menu by typing cmd, then when it comes up in the search right click and run as admin.

Quote from danthebangerboy :

ipconfig /flushdns

the DNS cache gets dumped on every boot, if i'm not mistaken.

oli, is this DSL or cable? had any problems with either since these problems started?

not sure which it is, and not that i can think of (what kind of problem?)

nope! didn't work thought it had, but after 10-15 mins of browsing tried refreshing the forums page and wouldn't load until the third attempt. it was unplugged from around 11:30pm to 11:00am so

did you ever find out which kind of internet connection you have?

how dyou mean? its broadband but i'm not sure what else there is to know

Quote from bunder9999 :

did you ever find out which kind of internet connection you have?

Quote from oli17 :

how dyou mean? its broadband but i'm not sure what else there is to know

You have BT Broadband - this is probably going to be ADSL.

First of all, call BT, see if they have any issues.

What the sync speed at in the router?

Do you have this problem on other PC's?

Try using a different DNS server (such as Google DNS)

Are you on wireless? try temporarily using a cable to see if that is the problem.

Are you browser jacked? try a different browser. Firefox/Crome etc.

Do you have a virus? If you do something other than internet such as let LFS run a field of AI around, is performance the same when you have internet connected as when the internet is off?

Do you have an alternative router/hub to test with? You might be experiencing a hardware issue with the hub related to heat stress from your extended on time. Routers are designed to be left on permanently but often people tuck them out of sight with no ventilation amidst other hot equipment and this can lead to overheating (not to mention the chance of a manufacturing fault)

What programs are running? You might have a task that is trying to access the internet but is failing and causing a timeout. It is possible this is causing a bottleneck of network requests. Do you have any network related applications launching on startup?

Check for malware/spyware etc. A second PC or a mobile capable telephone is handy if you have one available.

If connected with ethernet have you checked the cable is locking at each end? Do you have a second network port on the back of the computer you can try?

Have you tried updating the network card drivers?

EDIT:
Note that intermittant faults such as this are usually hardware related, although some malware can cause similar effects. As a general rule software is either set up right or it isn't so I would avoid making configuration changes such as changing your DNS settings as suggested above because if you do not know what you are doing you could easily get yourself in a right pickle and loose internet completely. Before being able to give more solid advise on hardware diagnosis it would be handy to know what your internet hardware is (ethernet card or onboard port or wireless or dongle etc).

thanks. it's connected by ethernet and is a bt vision thingy (http://news-pictures.broadband ... 74439_0_0_7010022_300.jpg but without the phone attachment)

i've tried with firefox and chrome and same thing happens.

don't think i've got a virus or spyware or anything (done macafee scans)

will try switching ethernet slots now.

not running any other programs (except hotmail and msn, but same happens even when they're not running.

Those come with a spare microfilter (the 2 into 1 socket thing in the phone socket) and they are liable to fail, it's well worth trying the other one that came in the box before trying to get through the wait to speak to BT technical support.

Also if you have more than one telephone socket on the same line then you should be aware that all the sockets will need a microfilter otherwise you may be getting interferance.

Hmmm, people going to some pretty serious stuff pretty fast. All to someone who doesn't really know enough to be doing that. And saying to someone, "Are you browser jacked", when they have just said "I have broadband, what else is there to know" (no offence).

Have you done the really basic stuff, that everyone should done every few weeks or months?

Delete temporary internet files and saved passwords, both Internet Explorer and Firefox. Run the clean-up software that comes with xp/vista or 7?

Use some additional spyware software (adaware, spybot, spyware blaster...windows defender) as apposed to just running the anti-virus you have.

Update the anti-virus/spyware software. Update your operating system, XP/Vista/7.

Start slow and really basic.

right, deleted internet files and whatnot, and are those antivirus things free?