Issues with internet connectivity on Windows 7

JHeeks

Posts: 12   +0
I have been having an issue for about a week now with my internet connection on my PC. I could surf the net for hours or post in forums for an unlimited amount of time with no connection issues. But as soon as I try to play an online game or stream a video/song or even download something I seem to get frequent disconnects. It's only temporary... for example I could log into WoW and for about 10-15 seconds everything is fine. Then I see a bit of lag and I get disconnected....but I can log back in immediately. My disconnect doesn't seem to last longer than 1 second. If I am buffering a video on YouTube it sometimes stops halfway through and I need to reload the page to get it to start buffering again. I did a full clean on my PC with some help from others on this website and after running some programs Broni mentioned that he doesn't see anything malicious on my computer. What else could be causing these issues? Please help :(
 
Specs on the PC?
What OS is in there?
How much RAM?
How fast is the CPU?
Size of HDD?
Network Rated Speed on there?
Wired?
Wireless?
Desktop or Laptop?
How old is the PC?
Your Internet Service Speed for download and upload?
What do you have? Cable or DSL?
What has changed prior to this issue?
Also see below:

System Issues
When last did you check the system out for issues?
Clear the Cache/History for the Brower
HDD Defrag
Scan for pest (Malware) on the HD?
How you ever clean out this box?
Check the vents make sure there are no dust or anything blocking the vents / fans?

Router. When was the last time you did a power cycle, means you turn it on and off.
Modem the same as above.

If on Windows PC if you can get to the Dos Prompt right click on that icon then select Run as Admin.
Type:
[FONT=Tahoma]ipconfig /flushdns[/FONT]
[FONT=Tahoma]nbtstat -R[/FONT]
[FONT=Tahoma]netsh int reset all[/FONT]
[FONT=Tahoma]netsh int ip reset[/FONT]
[FONT=Tahoma]netsh winsock reset[/FONT]
[FONT=Tahoma] [/FONT]
[FONT=Tahoma]reboot your PC[/FONT]
 
It's a 2, 2TB hard drive. I believe I only ever use the one and I think the other one can be accessed for backup....I don't think I have ever touched it though. It's got 10GB of RAM. Says it's an Intel processor with 4 cores. It's an Acer. I am running Windows 7 Home Premium. I run my internet wired and none of the other devices I use have any issue with accessing or streaming on the internet. The PC is about 3 years old and it's through Cable from Shaw. The only thing I have done differently before this issue came up was downloading and installing Path of Exile. I was experiencing frequent disconnects in that game and now it seems to have carried over into other parts of my computer. I had a virus on the system about 5 months ago and took it into the BestBuy and they did a full reformat and cleared out the virus. I scanned for malware and got rid of everything and I was told by another poster in the malware forum that my PC looked clean. As for the questions I did not answer, im not sure how to find them out.
 
Hey JHeeks. Are you using a wireless router (likely), and if so, is it secured (a password is required for wireless connectivity)?
Is your Win 7 at the Service Pack 1 level (SP1, right click on Computer, click on Properties, look for SP1 after the Windows 7 OS)
I don't see any Anti-Virus/Malware programs listed, are you running an up to date AV/M program?
Watching a video on YouTube and having it pause/stop is common depending on your download speed, file maintenance/cleanup as mentioned, and how busy the YouTube site is at the time as it's a very busy site. I usually start a video, then pause it and let it download fully before playing it if I experience the pauses. Many times, I just save the file I know I want and play it later uninterrupted. What browser are you using?
To make some of the cleanup easier, I would download and install 2 free and very easy to use maintenance programs, CCleaner and Kaspersky TDSSKiller. I've used them for years and install them on pc's regularly.

CCleaner:
http://www.piriform.com/

Kaspersky TDSSKiller:
http://usa.kaspersky.com/downloads/tdsskiller
 
I am currently wired in directly to my router. The router is fairly new and hasn't caused me any issues before. I have updated all of it's firmware recently as well. I am using SP1, yes.I use Avast Anti-Virus and run my malware scanner every couple of days. My download speed is good across any wireless devices in my house so I feel like it's just my computer that is having issues but I can't be 100% sure. I am going to contact my ISP tomorrow morning but I just don't understand what is causing these issues. I am also using Google Chrome.
 
In the router, set the MTU to 1492. This will stop packet fragmentation, a frequent cause.
 
Since you say you noticed the issue after installing Path of Exile, have you tried uninstalling it and see if anything changes?. If you haven't uninstalled it yet I would download and install Revouninstaller and use it to (temporarily at least) uninstall Path of Exile and then reboot the system and see if anything changes.
Do you notice this problem at whatever time you use the pc or only certain times?.

Revo goes a step further than a program's own uninstall routine to remove any debris left behind.

Try the free version http://www.revouninstaller.com/revo_uninstaller_free_download.html
 
Now it seems that when I changed my MTU, my computer ran flawlessly for a whole day and then the next afternoon. All of the sudden I boot up my PC tonight and bam, the issue is still occurring. I can't even maintain a connection long enough to download more than 0.3 MB of the uninstaller you are recommending to me. It seems that it found its way back into causing problems and I am getting really sick of troubleshooting all of these issues. I don't know what to do because at one point the geek squad wanted to charge me $186 to "fix" the issue even though it seems fixed every once and awhile. I am frustrated.
 
I uninstalled Path of Exile and that didn't save me any struggle. I can't even get 3% into the download of that uninstaller. I have ran my malware scanner and my antivirus today so I am almost positive those are ruled out. Especially because I am struggling to stream on my iPhone as well. I am going to try and swap my MTU back to 1500 and see what happens. I don't understand how changing my MTU to 1492 for one night made everything work good and then 24 hours later even with 1492 MTU the problem came back.
 
If you have a separate modem and router, connect straight to the modem, power up, and see what happens. Note if your internet led on the modem blinks if it acts up.
 
A couple of things to try, rule out the computer of you have a friend see if you can test on his internet and see if you get the same errors. Want to rule out the computer first. Another thing to try would be to disable ipv6 under your network adapter properties local area connection. Also there is a better virus/malware scanner you can use to check your computer called Hitman pro by surf right.com. If nothing shows up in this scan then you truly do not have a virus. Let me know what this finds:)
 
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