Scott Mueller's Upgrading and Repairing PCs Forum

Scott, I have a few questions. I'm trying to figure out why my internet connection is going slow. To be more specific certain pages are just taking and extra long time to load fully. I've tried Chrome, IE, and just recently installed Firefox to try that out for the first time. They seem to have the same issue. I have been using Open DNS and I tried going back to my regular ISP Dns servers and the issue remains. I do have a fairly old D-link router, but I don't think though could be the problem because pages loading slow would have to do with DNS correct?. There could still be a problem with the hardware connections to the router though right? We have had some bad weather lately, with ice, sleet, and freezing rain...Maybe that could be causing issues?.

Next I was going to try connecting directly to the cable modem, which has a built in router anyway. Before I try this though, am I headed in the right direction diagnosis wise?. All PCs have the same issue, so I don't think it's a computer problem.

Now it's going fast again. It's very strange because it's not a consistent problem. At my wife's job supposedly they are having the same issues and they also use Time Warner Cable/Spectrum internet service.

It could be ISP or local hardware related. Changing/eliminating any suspect hardware and re-testing can help to confirm or deny if the problem is local or ISP related.

Well I disconnected the Dir 655 and connected just threw the cable modem/router and had the same problem. Guess I'll have to exchange this cable modem again at the local office and see if that helps. My last one would lose connection a lot, this one doesn't but loading certain pages have been painstakingly slow.

I contacted TWC support and they had me run a ping and tracert. For Newegg.com I was getting 75% packet loss and I just did it again and got 100% loss. So I don't know. They set up a technician to come tomorrow to check things out. It's only certain websites that will load really slow.

Let me know what you find! Scott.

Well the guy just left. He replaced some of the equipment outside the apartment building and said a lot of the equipment outside was bad and outdated.

Still gettin 100% packet loss from Newegg, but I'm guessing that's a problem with the newegg website. We'll see how things go from now on. Hopefully there won't be anymore slowdowns.

Scott when you ping newegg.com do you get packet loss?

Maybe I will replace my router just because it is so old. Any recommendations Scott?.

I get no packet loss with a 25ms average round trip. I still recommend the DIR-655, it has received design improvements over the years and the current RevC model is better than the previous ones. I've seen several of the older ones literally "wear out" and begin failing after a few years (probably bad caps) so a replacement may be in order. Scott.

Ok so I just got another different cable modem from the TWC/Spectrum office. I connected it directly and didn't connect to the router.

C:\Users\Steve>ping www.newegg.com

Pinging www.newegg.com [216.52.208.160] with 32 bytes of data:
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Reply from 216.52.220.234: Destination net unreachable.
Request timed out.

Ping statistics for 216.52.208.160:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 1, Lost = 3 (75% loss),

C:\Users\Steve>

Another one,

C:\Users\Steve>ping www.newegg.com

Pinging www.newegg.com [216.52.208.160] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 216.52.220.234: Destination net unreachable.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.

Ping statistics for 216.52.208.160:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 1, Lost = 3 (75% loss),

C:\Users\Steve>

So I also went into safe mode with networking and I get the same results. Newegg.com loads fine and everything though. It's just a little slow. Oh I also changed out the RJ45 cable. So to me this says its not the router and it's not my connection, not security software....So I don't know really. Maybe somewhere along the line a "node" is down or something.

If this only happens when you ping Newegg.com (but not other sites) then I would agree. Scott.

Yes only with Newegg.com. I did find one other site that did it but now it's fine. It's a site my wife uses often for work and she says it's always up and down anyway. After the tech left the internet has been seemingly faster and more responsive loading pages at all times of the day.

Might still get a new router though, only because of the age of the one I have now. Parts for my new pc come first though.

I have now been having problems with the Rj45 connection to my pc from the router. Changed the cable same problem, restarted same problem. Red x and newwork diagnostics say no cable connected. So I connect the cable to my switch instead and it worked fine. That tells the number 2 port on the router is bad. I guess it was bound to happen since the router is at least 10 years old or older.

I've read through a google search that reloading the firmware can fix this problem. I've done that. Note it is the same firmware that was loaded but it was "re-loaded". After reloading it and reboot the router the #2 port works again.

Ok today after several hours of it working all of a sudden windows told me no network cable is connected. So I tried connecting the same network cable that I have connected to this computer to a my wifes laptop. Worked great, no problems. I put it back on this pc and the network lights on the port didn't even light up. So I have no idea. I tried disconnecting and reconnecting both the computer side and the router side and didn't get it working.

So then I tried rolling back the network driver. That seems to have worked...For now anyway. So I'm not sure. At this point I'm leaning towards it not being a router problem because I connected the laptop via the same port on the router and it worked fine. Driver problem, possibly but I'll have to continue running it and see what happens.

Today the problem is back and is fixed by un-installing and reinstalling the driver/nic. So not sure what's up with it. Maybe the built in NIC is failing. Scott, what do you think?

I think you should replace it. Scott.

You mean the router, correct?.

Yes. Scott.

Ok I purchased a new router. Got a D-link Dir-882. Also went to Spectrum and got a new modem without a router and with a telephone port. Strange thing is the router reports this,

IP Address: 172.101.24.201
Subnet Mask: 255.255.240.0
Default Gateway: 172.101.16.1
Primary DNS Server: 208.67.222.222
Secondary DNS Server: 208.67.220.220

Command prompt ipconfig output,

Windows IP Configuration


Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::4fb:1265:4ddc:2efe%13
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.171
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1

Tunnel adapter isatap.{B229C72D-58DE-4460-B642-A67C8584003A}:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :


So command promp is normal but on D-link router page, the ip address and default gateway addresses are in the private ip address range. Well, they are both in the private ip address range but why do they differ Scott?.

One is the address of the router while the other is the address of your system. Scott.

In the router status it's just the public ip correct, and through ip config it's my private ip. Is this correct?. What confused me is I thought that ip addresses starting with 172 were all private.

Than I googled and found this. Thanks for your help Scott. I appreciate it. Looking forward to a new edition of U&R PCS soon!.

Only thing that bothers me about the router is the power cord is a bit short. I have these and I put two of them together but that doesn't really increase slack. I just want more slack on the cord so it doesn't seem the weight of the power connection is pulling the cord "taught". The only thing that two extension cords connected together was allow me to move the cord connector so its closer to being directly below the router instead of over to the right more. I don't think adding more of them would help because the weight of the extension cord is just going to pull the cord more. Because it weighs more it's a problem.

If I move the router to a lower level on my desk than the laptop connected loses a bar. My desk is just cluttered on the lower level. I do need a new desk but that's for another time. For now I'd like to find some kind of solution for this. I even called D-link and the only answer they gave me is that I should use the cord that came with it because otherwise they will not support the product.

This looks like a suitable replacement but there are no details on length. I can always keep the regular one I have now just in case there is a problem with it...

Scott, what do you think?. Should I take my chances with this replacement?. Or is it worth it just to have a little more slack on the cord?. I mean it's not extremely tight or anything. Would just like more slack in the line. Maybe I'm overthinking thinking this but they could have made the cord longer.

Got a response from the seller. That adapter is the same length. Oh well.

If the cord length on the AC adapter was too short I would simply add in a power strip or extension cord between the adapter and the outlet. Scott.