Internet, antispywares and antiviruses

[Ethelwulf]

Ever since I changed my internet plan, I've been having a bunch of troubles with internet stability and speed.

In theory I should have around 40MB available, however, this was my latest speedtest result:



The incredibly "helpful" support guy told me it was because my computer had too many spywares (really?), which is weird considering I scanned my computer last night and it deleted 2 threats. According to him, over 50 connections types were linked to my PC. He said a bunch of technical gibberish which I honestly don't really understand.

Assuming he's right (which I have my doubts about), do you guys know any good spyware remover? I'm using Ad-Aware right now, but apparently it didn't do much.

I've been also using Norton Antivirus, but I've heard it's not very good compared to other programs. Do you guys know any other good software?

I'm tired of this stupid ISP, but unfortunately, it's pretty much the only one available over here. I've gotta say, I feel pretty damn scammed with all these issues I've been having since... forever.

Anyway, if you happen to be very knowledgeable about internet, I'd really appreciate your insight/comment/etc.

Thanks in advance.

[olaph]

Ever since I changed my internet plan, I've been having a bunch of troubles with internet stability and speed.

In theory I should have around 40MB available, however, this was my latest speedtest result:



The incredibly "helpful" support guy told me it was because my computer had too many spywares (really?), which is weird considering I scanned my computer last night and it deleted 2 threats. According to him, over 50 connections types were linked to my PC. He said a bunch of technical gibberish which I honestly don't really understand.

Assuming he's right (which I have my doubts about), do you guys know any good spyware remover? I'm using Ad-Aware right now, but apparently it didn't do much.

I've been also using Norton Antivirus, but I've heard it's not very good compared to other programs. Do you guys know any other good software?

I'm tired of this stupid ISP, but unfortunately, it's pretty much the only one available over here. I've gotta say, I feel pretty damn scammed with all these issues I've been having since... forever.

Anyway, if you happen to be very knowledgeable about internet, I'd really appreciate your insight/comment/etc.

Thanks in advance.

Have you tried another speedtest mirror? or tried download something to test the speed?

Download Spybot S&D and use it to scan for spyware, it goes very well with Adaware as they tend to get any spyware the other may have missed.
For an Antivirus I'd suggest trying Avast! Personal, it is free(and fully functioning) and has a silent/gaming mode that is very useful.

The other option is the install a firewall and manually approve/disprove what connects to the internet, which will narrow down what's choking your connection.

I'm not sure what internet connection you have, but it could also be congestion.

[Ethelwulf]

Have you tried another speedtest mirror? or tried download something to test the speed?

I'm not sure what internet connection you have, but it could also be congestion.

Yes, I've tested other nearby mirrors and they all gave similar results. The problem started ever since I switched from a 8MB plan to a 40MB one.

I'll definitely try Spyware Search & Destroy and Avast!, thanks for the suggestion

I'm using WiFi, with a 100% signal strength. The support guy told me it's normal to have lesser speed when using WiFi, but -39MB is a bit ridiculous.
Anyway, I'll try to get the modem fixed or something. Perhaps that has something to do with it. I honestly have no clue.

[olaph]

Yes, I've tested other nearby mirrors and they all gave similar results. The problem started ever since I switched from a 8MB plan to a 40MB one.

I'll definitely try Spyware Search & Destroy and Avast!, thanks for the suggestion

I'm using WiFi, with a 100% signal strength. The support guy told me it's normal to have lesser speed when using WiFi, but -39MB is a bit ridiculous.
Anyway, I'll try to get the modem fixed or something. Perhaps that has something to do with it. I honestly have no clue.

Have you tried connecting directly to the modem, instead of using wireless?

[SourChicken]

I've been having a ton of connection issues lately as well; connection dropping consantly, and not being able to play a game for more than 5 minutes without being disconnected, pages taking -30 seconds to load, and when I phoned up the ISP they claimed it was viruses.

I knew for a fact that it was bullshit, because I'd formatted my hard drive the same morning.
Chances are, they're just doing the same and lying to you. Keep phoning them, tell them that you've done scans with multiple programs and found nothing.

[olaph]

I've been having a ton of connection issues lately as well; connection dropping consantly, and not being able to play a game for more than 5 minutes without being disconnected, pages taking -30 seconds to load, and when I phoned up the ISP they claimed it was viruses.

I knew for a fact that it was bullshit, because I'd formatted my hard drive the same morning.
Chances are, they're just doing the same and lying to you. Keep phoning them, tell them that you've done scans with multiple programs and found nothing.

They aren't lying, simply making a suggestion on a common cause of slowdowns.
Customer service reps aren't trained in the technical side of things, so you should give them a little slack.

[SourChicken]

They aren't lying, simply making a suggestion on a common cause of slowdowns.
Customer service reps aren't trained in the technical side of things, so you should give them a little slack.

Maybe that's the case in this situation, but with me they told me it was Viruses, and claimed there was no way it was a problem at their end, even though it had been working fine until all of a sudden I get problems out of nowhere.

[Ethelwulf]

Have you tried connecting directly to the modem, instead of using wireless?

No, not really. Guess I'll have to try that out.

Maybe that's the case in this situation, but with me they told me it was Viruses, and claimed there was no way it was a problem at their end, even though it had been working fine until all of a sudden I get problems out of nowhere.

Pretty much the same thing they told me yesterday.
I scanned my computer with Norton, Ad-Aware, Spyware S&D and Avast!, and none of them found anything; not even cookies. Either I've got a really hard to find spyware, or that's simply not the issue.

I'll try to keep calling them, maybe they'll come up with a different answer this time.

I suppose I can't do much more than that. Thanks for the suggestions, guys.

[olaph]

No, not really. Guess I'll have to try that out.



Pretty much the same thing they told me yesterday.
I scanned my computer with Norton, Ad-Aware, Spyware S&D and Avast!, and none of them found anything; not even cookies. Either I've got a really hard to find spyware, or that's simply not the issue.

I'll try to keep calling them, maybe they'll come up with a different answer this time.

I suppose I can't do much more than that. Thanks for the suggestions, guys.

Tell them you have already scanned for spyware/viruses/etc(as advised by other customer support reps) and ask if you can speak to a tech.

[SnOwBunZz]

Check your router's page (192.168.1.1 or 192.168.2.1 normally). It should have a section that says your connection statistics, such as type of connection, current speeds, obtainable speeds etc. If that page says 0.14mBits down and 0.16mBits up and the connection statistics are bad... you're out of luck.

Though, get an app such as netlimiter and look if something's eating up your connection. It should show every connection even in the free version.

[Ethelwulf]

Well, today I called for technical support once again and they sent someone to see the issue. Turns out the router wasn't configured, so it was throwing all kind of problems. Apparently, the guy that installed the router for the first time just placed the device there, without testing it.

couldn't set the password up to the network and someone jumped on and started going crazy downloading. I REALLY need to set this password up. It's a D-Link DSL-G604T (I think, I'm curretnly at work and can't check) Every time it try to set it it says to save and reset the router. I click save, and power down the router and restart it, and nothing...

The same thing happened here when the technical support guy tried to modify some of the settings. It seems my ISP blocks any kind of change once the router is set, therefore, the only way of making an internal change would be through replacing the device. I'm not sure if your ISP does the same thing, but it's worth checking out.

Anyway, thanks for the help guys, much appreciated. Speed is finally back to normal after replacing the dreaded thing. Now I just hope it stays like this...

[muzicguru]

You're kidding!? That's rediculous! I'm going to be giving someone a call tonight to see if that is the issue with mine. Someone has been on the network though. I just got a message saying that I had used my 40gig cap in 8 days. I mean that is possible but not with my activity. WoW and a few other small downloads do not use up 40gig. I mean, I even managed to get the updates done before this month rolled over.

Update: I managed to get the router password all set up after attempting numerous times. God knows what I did differently to get it to work this time but I'm just glad it's working. I also explained to my ISP what had happend and they were nice enough to reset the data cap this month

Result!

Latency is still high though. Any Ideas?