The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    desktop computer steals all the bandwith

    Discussion in 'Networking and Wireless' started by kairi2, Jan 12, 2010.

  1. kairi2

    kairi2 Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    47
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    so my boyfriend has a desktop computer hooked up to the router, and i have a wireless laptop. our internet is verizon dsl. whenever his computer is so much as on and connected, but idle and not downloading, it steals all the internet and mine instantly goes super slow. sometimes i can't even connect (with my laptop OR phone) but he can. what could be the issue?
     
  2. blue68f100

    blue68f100 Notebook Virtuoso

    Reputations:
    1,020
    Messages:
    3,439
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    105
    He may have bit torrent running in back ground. Or file sharing.

    Depending on the router, some have what is called bandwidth profiling, sharing and priority. If it does he may have it setup to give his computer priority.
     
  3. surfasb

    surfasb Titles Shmm-itles

    Reputations:
    2,637
    Messages:
    6,370
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    205
    Or the desktop is using wireless B. There are so many scenarios without more information.
     
  4. kairi2

    kairi2 Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    47
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    what information do you need? this is frustrating and i need all the help i can get! :)
     
  5. kairi2

    kairi2 Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    47
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    he says there is nothing running in the background. how can we check the router setting? it is a westell adsl2 modem router.
     
  6. surfasb

    surfasb Titles Shmm-itles

    Reputations:
    2,637
    Messages:
    6,370
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    205
    Humm, how old is the desktop? If it is running Wireless B, that could explain some of the slow down.
     
  7. kairi2

    kairi2 Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    47
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    it's a dinosaur, very slow. our estimate would be that it's from 2004? but it's connected directly to the router.

    how do we check if it's wireless B?

    we are looking at the router settings right now at http://192.168.1.1
     
  8. surfasb

    surfasb Titles Shmm-itles

    Reputations:
    2,637
    Messages:
    6,370
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    205
    Ah, never mind. If it is connected through a wire, it isn't wireless.

    If it is connected by a wire, then it is unlikely the problem is hardware. That leaves us with software problems. I assume you've ran a virus scan on the computer? I believe Mcafee has a free online virus scanner.
     
  9. kairi2

    kairi2 Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    47
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    yeah, no viruses. well we looked at another thread and it suggested changing the router channel. we changed it from 6 to 1 and it seems to be helping so far. :)
     
  10. surfasb

    surfasb Titles Shmm-itles

    Reputations:
    2,637
    Messages:
    6,370
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    205
    Ya, I always forget about changing the channel. I'm glad that helps. Routers are frustratingly finicky, like small dogs.
     
  11. blue68f100

    blue68f100 Notebook Virtuoso

    Reputations:
    1,020
    Messages:
    3,439
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    105
    I think the virus or root kit may be a very likely option. Need to load netstat to see what is using bandwidth on the desktop. Use more than one AV program, they all detect differently. Most of the majors AV players have a online scan software.