Internet Connection Speed Issue

I am working on a computer that has been rebuilt with a fresh XP Home install. I am going through all the XP update downloads. This has been a very slow process. The downloads are taking a long time, sometimes they install, and many times they fail. Each attempt gets a few more XP Updates installed, but it is a slow and painful process. So, one would ask... how am I connecting to the Internet for the downloads? The connection is a high speed cable connection. I believe that this should be a much faster process. The downloads should be much quicker than they are. Does anyone have any suggestions for making this a better situation? If more details are needed, I will be glad to provide what I can.

Thanks,
Jody Wood

Is it the actual downloads that are slow, or the installation process? And what time of the day are you trying to connect? The Windows Update site can get very busy at times, and even high-speed Internet connections usually slow right down during the busiest parts of the day.

Yes, the downloads are slow. I have attempted this at a variety of times during the day - 8 AM, 2PM, 6PM, 8PM, 10PM, 12AM, 1AM, etc. Time of day has not made a difference.

I have had a similar experience downloading other items, such as updates to Spybot and AdAware, where the download is taking a lot of time. Not sure how browsing performance is because I am focusing on getting the PC setup to be secure, etc.

During the download process, it will go okay for a little while. Then, it will stop communicating for a while and not be downloading anything. I turned on the status notification icon to see this.

I understand and realize that downloads may take time at varying times of day, but with a high speed connection I don't expect dial-up performance.

Looking for the magic for improvements on this computer. Thanks in advance for your help.

Jody Wood

It sounds as if you might need to tweak your connection settings.There are some excellent diagnostic tests here:

http://www.dslreports.com/tools

And a nice tool called DrTCP which will enable you to easily make changes.

Thanks for the information. I will give it a try tonight and let everyone know how it worked out.

Jody Wood

JodyWood--You could use (the link to) the speed test on the page to which SuperSparks has referred you to determine if your actual connection speed is low or if the problem is elsewhere
http://www.dslreports.com/stest
In any event, it does not hurt to know what your connection speed is for the next suggestion.
Since you have cable and I presume are paying a substantial sum for it, I would call the cable company if SuperSparks suggestions for tweaks do not help. They should send a tech out. Do not accept excuses like service "upgrades", their servers down, other servers down, etc. Do not accept poor service, if, indeed, it is the cable company that is not delivering. You might ask for some reduction in fee.

I played with the settings some, but nothing seemed to make all that much difference. I have left the settings at what are supposed to be optimal for xp, hopefully it will work properly in the normal environment for this pc.

Other PCs using this network / internet connection do not have these speed issues. So, I know it is not an ISP issue.

Here is another resource that I have found - http://www.speedguide.net/

I have completed my other work on this pc, so it is currently out of my hands.

Thanks again for your help and suggestions,
Jody Wood