Home General Chat
If you need urgent support, call 999 or go to your nearest A&E. To contact our Crisis Messenger (open 24/7) text THEMIX to 85258.
Read the community guidelines before posting ✨

New PC with Windows XP - HELP ME

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
Actually I don't have a problem with Wondows, its my internet connection...

I only have a 56k dial-up modem (HAMR 5600) - because broadband to expensive when you have just bought a new PC.

Anyway I keep disconnecting. I am using the same ISP and never had this problem before. XP had a help and support option but that doesn't give any pointers, only useful if you cannot connect at all...

It is also very slow downloading pages (I expect a slow file download, it is a dial-up modem afterall) and I often get the "unable to connect to server" message as if places like thesite don't exist...

Anyone got any ideas?

Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I think it's more likely to be Windows, actually.

    The reason being that I experience the same problems, but I'm on an ethernetted connection which is quick enough, 10 MBps, but I am also disconnected often and irregularly, especially when using the Site.

    Justin, Black Knight, mods, web gods, etc, does anyone know what's going on?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    This is where the beauty of tweaking really comes into play. I agree this does sound like a Windows issue... it is worth checking with your ISP with a quick phone call mind, you never know and at least you'll get an up-to-date status on the network, afterwards feel free to try some of these:

    1) http://www.tweakxp.com/tweakxp/internet_tweaks.asp

    2) http://www.extremetech.com/article/0,3396,apn%253D3%2526s%253D1034%2526a%253D22570%2526app%253D1%2526ap%253D3,00.asp

    I've had a look on technet for you and there are no reported Microsoft problems as yet, if I see anything then I'll post up the problem.

    Sometimes it works quite well to simply reinstall your network connections and this will improve performance. Take out any NetBIOS or IPX/SPX protocols which aren't in use as these can affect your TCP/IP performance.

    Ensure that your connection is set to be connect at maximum speed (this can be found through 'Modem Properties') and for downloading perhaps try something like Download Accelerator, along with tweaking your connection of course.. :P

    Keep us posted with your results <IMG SRC="smile.gif" border="0" ALT="icon">
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Justin, Black Knight, mods, web gods, etc, does anyone know what's going on?

    Tell me more about your setup so I can build a picture. Is this at work or a home network connection, what platforms, who is your ISP.. broadband or Internet Connection sharing etc.

    Then I'll look into it <IMG SRC="smile.gif" border="0" ALT="icon">
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Thanks JC, unfortunately most of that went straight over my head...you pesky techno-weenies <IMG SRC="biggrin.gif" border="0" ALT="icon">

    Anyway, gonna call my support guys tomorrow. Failing that I will try your links...oh and I've already installed Download Accelerator so...
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Only have to tell me, sorry, usually I'm better than that at talking english.

    OK, try the links mate, there are easy guides as to what to do (literally step by step) to make your internet connection faster, its known as 'tweaking' cause basically you mess about with the default configuration (which is usually set at 'crap' mode) and you get better performance.. <IMG SRC="smile.gif" border="0" ALT="icon">
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Originally posted by Justin Credible:
    <STRONG>usually I'm better than that at talking english.
    </STRONG>

    Should read: "I'm usually better at that than at talking English".

    <IMG SRC="tongue.gif" border="0" ALT="icon">

    *runs off giggling*
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Turtle, you pedant, no it shouldn't. What JC said makes sense. *chuckles*

    Thanks for the offer of help, Justin.

    I'm on a university local area network. I connect via a 10 pin ethernet connection, and use a configured ethernet card. The connection rate is supposedly about 10Mbps.

    Currently installed are the Client For Microsoft Networks, the TCP/IP protocol, File and Printer Sharing and the QoS packet sharer. IP addresses and DNS servers are set to automatically obtain.

    I can't think of anything else to tell you, but if there's something that might help, then ask me.

    Cheers,

    David
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Originally posted by DJP:
    <STRONG>Turtle, you pedant, no it shouldn't. What JC said makes sense. *chuckles*
    </STRONG>

    Absolutely true, I just read it first thing in the morning, so it's not my fault. <IMG SRC="tongue.gif" border="0" ALT="icon"> But what I said makes more sense <IMG SRC="smile.gif" border="0" ALT="icon">
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    DJP and the network then...

    hmmmm *scratches chin* firstly check your network cable and make sure its either CAT 5 or CAT 5e, if your stuck on 10Base2 coax cable then that could be a problem. If you can swap the cable with someone elses and see if that affects performance, you wouldn't believe how many issues are down to the hardware side and cable being crappy.

    After this, go to your TCP/IP settings on your network card and choose advanced, make sure the the following are set:

    - Coalesce Buffers - 8
    - Duplex Mode - Auto
    - Ethernet ID - 0
    - Map Registers - 64
    - Receive Frame Descriptors - 32
    - Speed - Auto
    - Transmit Control Blocks - 32

    (Take down your original settings first, incase your network goes crapper or stops working.. not that it should, just be safe than sorry)

    That will speed some things up, a lot of this could be down to the amount of traffic on your networks backbone, idiots downloading large files or caining games... your system administrator should be able to sort this...

    Try a test by typing on the command line in a MSDOS window:

    C:/> ipconfig /all
    C:/> ping (insert DNS address or gateway or indeed another computer you're trying to access)

    and see what reaction time is, if its crap, call up the admin and tell him to sort his life out... its more likely his problem and not yours... <IMG SRC="smile.gif" border="0" ALT="icon">

    What O/S are you running? Let me know how you get on...
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Cheers, Justin.

    I'm running XP, and lots of the things which I'm supposed to be able to access under Properties don't exist in my version.

    The speed is okay, and it's not a regular problem; maybe it's just traffic?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Quite possibly..

    10BaseT on and XP machine doesn't give it justice...

    Dug this out: http://www.cmitsch.at/prepare-xp.html
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Just as an update. I have a new driver for my modem, which seems to have helped. thanks go to my techie guys for that one...

    Also tweakxp.com is an excellent site, some useful tweaks on there, am now trying some of them to see if I can speed things up a little more...
Sign In or Register to comment.