Are Dropbox and Skype and other startup services limiting my connectivity?

[error404ts]

I only experience this on my friend's network and I'm not sure why. After I startup my Windows 7 64bit Enterprise Dell M6800 at my friend's home I can't connect to the internet until I stop Dropbox, Box, Steam, Skype and Skype for Business from running. I have to shut down any and all of these P2P connections in order to connect to the internet even though I'm connected to the network.

 

The network is only 20mbps down and 5 up, so it's not stellar as it is. But I only experience this with my Dell, while my MacBook Pro is fine. The reason this is a problem is because I have to connect to a VPN in order to connect to my company's network, and shutting all of these services down is the only way to do it. However once I'm connected to the VPN (which maxes out at 5MBPS down no matter what the speed of the network I'm using) I can startup all of these services again and have as many browser windows open as I want/need without a problem. But connecting to the VPN involves so many other steps that it takes time to figure out what's preventing it in the first place.

I think the internet provider is Time-Warner, and the router is a ubee DDW2600. Any help would be appreciated to remedy this. Thanks!

[Danielx64]

Do you have the same issue on your own network? It just strange to me anyhow.

[+BudMan MVC]

none of those services should prevent you from talking on the network.  They might not work on his network if he is blocking stuff.  But doubt that..

 

So are they using up your pipe?  When you connect to his network before you shut anything down what is your network util?  Its possible one of those apps is sucking up his pipe and causing you delays in connectivity to your vpn, etc.

 

What error do you get with your vpn connection?

[error404ts]

I've never experienced this anywhere else, so I can only imagine it's the network at her home.

I'm not sure if they're using up the pipe or not, but there's a lot trying to gain access at the same time. All I could see was that I was connected to the network, but wasn't able to connect to the internet. None of the startup items could connect either - Adobe CC, Skype, Skype for Business, Dropbox, Box, Steam, Spotify, Plex... All were trying to access with no success. VPN just told me that the network wasn't available, so I shut down everything that was trying to access the internet. After I did that I was able to connect to the VPN, and from there I could startup Dropbox and Box again.

Not sure what you mean by "what is my network util". The connectivity isn't restricted to the VPN, it's everything. Lots of things trying to access the internet but nothing is able to get through. Even a browser.

[+BudMan MVC]

utilization...  How much does your interface show for up/down?

 

You sure you just did not actually connected yet.

 

From cmd prompt do ipconfig /all, what is your gateway try and ping it.  Try and do query - simple ping to say www.google.com do you get back an IP?  Or using nslookup, or dig or drill or host whatever your fav dns query tool is..

 

"VPN just told me that the network wasn't available,"

 

Which is prob correct...  And wold explain why nothing was working..  You shutting stuff down prob just gave you time to get a valid IP, etc.  You prob had 169.254.x.x or something..  Were you wifi or wired?

[Anibal P]

Can you log into the VPN before logging into Windows? Should be an option to do that, try that and see what happens 

You apps needing VPN to connect should not cause issues actually connecting to the VPN they should just error out till you get connected to the network 

 

[wendy oltman]

Looks strange to me that why after  connecting to vpn it gets fine. If it works fine after connecting to vpn i.e. changing/hiding yur original IP than i think there might be an issue with network providers IP. 

[error404ts]

I apologize for not responding to this much much sooner. I solved the issue.

Turning the modem off or unplugging it did not resolve the issue, so I ended up resetting it. The modem/router is a Time Warner modem and the settings couldn't really be changed in any way - I tried changing the login information but the most that I could do was change the name of the network. So I reset it again to bring everything back to default, which means no password to protect the network. This is how it was and this is how it'll have to stay.

Resetting the hardware cleared up any connection issues and now it's working as it should. At 15mbps down the network gets bogged down fairly easily so we're just letting it do it's job of streaming to a Roku and connecting to one phone and one laptop. 

Thanks to everyone for their help!