RealTek Ethernet card is seriously on the slow side, HELP please!

I just moved 'cross the country and got a new DSL line. I should be getting 3Mbps max, 1.5 min. I'm getting on average 0.30Mbps down speed, and my latency is usually around 500ms.

I know that the problem lies between my DSL modem and my laptop. I've made numerous tech support calls and spoken with a few technicians, and still haven't figured it out. However, when another computer is connected to my modem, that computer will consistently get good speeds (2.5Mb down). Interestingly, every time my connection is reset, including resetting the modem or restarting my network card, I get a few seconds or a couple minutes of good speed, then it slows down again.

I've got a RealTek PCIe GBE Family Controller. I used it with my previous internet connection, which was Clearwire. Don't ask me to tell you how freakin' bad they sucked as an ISP, but they were still five times better than what I'm getting. So it's probably not a dead card.

I'm looking to see if there's a software fix to this (or, more specifically, I'm looking for a reason not to go out and drop $60 on replacing this card, which might not help at all). I know there are a million different things that might be causing this, but does anyone have any hints or sage advice to offer? I'd love to be able to figure this one out.

 

I'd start with a driver update- they actually do have a pretty good support.
It should be this driver.
Usual routine would also include disabling firewalls and swapping network cables.

 

Forgot to mention, I already updated my driver. Thanks tho

 

try a new cable......

buying a USB network card for testing should cost you way way less than sixty bucks. Try craigslist, ask a friend. Mad Town has several good used computer parts stores.

 

Okay, here's an update: Technician came over, checked the wires and everything, then plugged his lappy into my modem. He gets good speeds. Plug it back into mine, the speed goes back down.

So I thought maybe it was my ethernet card or port going bad, but it gets trickier - I bought a wireless router (a decent one, too, not the low-end) and I get the exact same speeds. I also checked my connection speed at the hotel down the street, and speeds were good.

So what the heck is it?

 

did YOU try a new cable or a second usb based ethernet card?

 

New cable doesn't fix it. I didn't manage to find an external ethernet card of any sort, but that wouldn't fix it if the wireless router doesn't... right?

Besides, the internal network card worked fine the week before I got DSL.

 

What kind of latency do you have with the poor speeds?