Kondrath Posted August 20, 2010 Share Posted August 20, 2010 I've got a friend with an odd problem - in summary, it's a laptop with slow browsing speeds. Also, skype, oovoo, and any video chats do not work. They start for a few seconds and then cut off. (Tested this on skype with her. She was able so say "Hi" and then it cut off). She ran a speedtest on a couple of sites and averaged in about 3.8mbps down and 1.75mbps upload speed. Her wireless connection is strong. All of her other computers are fast. Her laptop is the only one with poor browsing speed and the inability to use video chat. Malwarebytes and Avast have produced 0 results. I don't recall her laptop specs by memory, but the basics are (I think) a 2007 gateway, 3gb of ram, an average consumer processor, and it's running vista SP2 with current updates. Any ideas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raa Posted August 20, 2010 Share Posted August 20, 2010 Just check the wireless/network drivers are up to date. Its possible the signal is good, but then drops out for some reason. Interference? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kondrath Posted August 20, 2010 Author Share Posted August 20, 2010 Just check the wireless/network drivers are up to date. Its possible the signal is good, but then drops out for some reason. Interference? Ahh, good idea. I had her give me the model to the laptop, which apparently is "w350a", but gateway will not accept it. They want a long serial number, which her laptop does not have for some reason. So I am unable to locate drivers. I'm going to have her connect directly into the router to see what happens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raa Posted August 20, 2010 Share Posted August 20, 2010 Sounds good. I'd skip going direct to Gateway for drivers, use the manufacturer drivers (Intel, etc) if you can, as they're usually more up to date. Keep us posted! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InterceptorX Posted August 20, 2010 Share Posted August 20, 2010 Try different DNS servers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kondrath Posted August 20, 2010 Author Share Posted August 20, 2010 Sounds good. I'd skip going direct to Gateway for drivers, use the manufacturer drivers (Intel, etc) if you can, as they're usually more up to date. Keep us posted! I would do that if I could find the specs of the dumb thing :p InterceptorX, I was thinking I might try that too. Turns out she'll be away for a couple of days though, so I might not get to work on it. But I'll bump the thread when there has been progress made. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
offroadaaron Posted August 20, 2010 Share Posted August 20, 2010 Seems move like a DNS issue that a driver issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jnelsoninjax Posted August 21, 2010 Share Posted August 21, 2010 Yeah I agree with the others saying the DNS could be the issue, I would run Namebench, this will check allot of DNS servers and make suggestions as to which one to switch to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kondrath Posted August 21, 2010 Author Share Posted August 21, 2010 Yeah I agree with the others saying the DNS could be the issue, I would run Namebench, this will check allot of DNS servers and make suggestions as to which one to switch to. That's an interesting program. It told me that google DNS would be 22% faster than my current one, so I switched. Haven't had a chance to work on my friend's computer yet, though, due to her being out of town. Would it really be a DNS though if all of her other computers are fine? I'm really thinking it's her wireless. Before she left, she said her laptop is the only wireless computer in the house, leaving me to think it might just be a junk router or some sort of interference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jnelsoninjax Posted August 22, 2010 Share Posted August 22, 2010 The router might be the issue if you can find out what type it is ,g/n/n+/n++, and what brand it is you could check and see if there is a firmware update for the router, also another program to grab would be Inssider which scans the area for wireless signals, the other issue with your friend could be allot of wireless traffic in the area and the laptop might be grabbing the wrong signal, or it could simply be how far she is from the router, you can judge that by the signal strength, the more bars, the stronger the signal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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