Internet Speed Issues – Slow Browsing but Fast Bittorrent Download

downloadperformancespeedwindows xp

I'm using Windows XP SP2. I have a 1 MB connection via a SpeedTouch 585, and my internet speed registers at 0.3 MB, with a maximum download of 30kbps. Not to mention a terrible ping at 500-1500. On the other hand, I get full speed in uTorrent – a bittorrent program – reaching up to 100 kbps; the way it should be.

I haven't made any changes to anything. And it has been functioning well until the last month. I waited in hope that it could be an ISP issue and that it would be resolved, but their support crew did not help me with this problem either.

I've tried disabling all firewalls, and all wireless connections, using different browsers, and disabling QoS. But it did not work. Me thinks it's an ISP issue, but if so, how am I getting full speed in uTorrent?

Could somebody help me out with this?

P.S. I do NOT use uTorrent while I surf or download files directly from the internet. So there isn't any downloading conflicts here.

Thanks.

Best Answer

There are 3 things you can try:

  • first, if you're having a slow speed issue, it could be related to your ISP's DNS servers. Try setting your DNS servers to Google's DNS (8.8.8.8 & 8.8.4.4) or OpenDNS's servers to see if there's a difference. The reason uTorrent could be fast may be because it's using IP addresses, bypassing the DNS lookup...

  • Additionally, I recently bought a new Cable Modem (Docsis 3.0 complient) and saw a huge performance gain from that (From averaging 30/kbps upload before to 130 after). So if you've had your cable modem for a while, you may want to get a new one.

  • Finally, you may need complain (squeaky wheel..) to find the right cable repair guy. I remember about 4 years ago i was intermittent having speed issues. I called so often, like every time it went out, that I had a string of (literally) 15 cable guys (Internet "specialists") come out in about 45 days. One day, I had 4 trucks in front of my house... Anyway, it wasn't until a cable tv specialist from the cable company ran some comprehensive diagnostics on the line coming in from the tap. He went the extra mile and fully diagnosed my issue and was able to justify the cable company coming out and rerunning the line to my house due to poor signal. That was an extreme situation, at the very least they may be able to boost your signal if you're actually having an issue.

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