# Anyone out there willing and able to advise me on a Home Networking issue?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-out-there-willing-and-able-to-advise-me-on-a-home-networking-issue/526721>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 28, 2010, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-out-there-willing-and-able-to-advise-me-on-a-home-networking-issue/526721 "2010-01-28T02:55:13Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\
**Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-out-there-willing-and-able-to-advise-me-on-a-home-networking-issue/526721/1 "2010-01-28T02:55:13Z")

</div>

I’ve got a very specific problem with my home network that I can’t seem to solve. I’m pretty savvy with a computer and I know a bit about networking but it’s definitely a weak spot in my knowledge, I’m hoping you folks can help me isolate the problem and decide if it’s a hardware issue, a software issue, a configuration issue or if it’s something I need to beat up Comcast over.

Here’s the Cliff’s Notes version:

I added a second computer to my network a couple weeks ago, a new laptop that connects to my network over Wi-Fi. Ever since I added it to the network my connection through both machines screeches to a halt when I run both computers simultaneously. Initially I assumed that I was just over taxing my bottom tier bandwidth package from my ISP. After doing so digging this appears to not be the case since the slowdown happens even when the second computer is online but doing nothing. The problem disappears entirely when I take one of the computers off the network. I visited [pingtest.net](http://pingtest.net) and [speedtest.net](http://speedtest.net) to evaluate and was able to determine that my latency was _through the roof_ when running 2 PCs, returning ping times well over 3000 ms. My upstream and downstream speeds are consistently solid.

So, long story short, why would adding a second PC to a network cause my ping times to increase exponentially?

Here are the main players:

Desktop PC: Vista  
Laptop: Windows 7  
Router: Linksys WRT160N  
Modem: Motorola Surfboard SB5120

What I’ve done so far:

Tried replacing my Wireless Router. I originally had a Linksys WRT54G that I’d never had a problem with and since the issue only seemed to crop up when I was routing both computers through it I assumed it was to blame. When I bypassed the router and connected to the modem directly things were fine. However when I connect the individual computers through the router both wirelessly and wired by themselves it works fine too. When I installed the new router the problem was identical. I spent the afternoon today on the phone with Linksys phone support and they couldn’t find a problem. They are sending a warranty repair for the new router but I’m almost certain it’s not the issue since the problem is identical between two different models of router.

I’ve called Comcast and tried trouble shooting the problem with them and it’s been no help at all. They reset the modem and basically created new problems. They claim that there’s no reason that 2 computers would effect their service like this but I’m not sure if I buy that. I’m not even convinced that their techs understand what I mean when I talk about latency.

I have a service appointment scheduled for tomorrow but I’m not optimistic since the guy will most likely determine that my signal strength is fine. If there is a service issue it probably has something to do with routing or DNS farther up the line.

I’m wondering if this could be a result of my cable modem going bad, but I don’t know enough about how networking and routers work to know if my cable modem would even see a difference when 2 PCs are routed through my wireless router versus one.

That pretty much sums it up. Anyone have _any_ ideas why my latency would go up exponentially with 2 PCs online but be excellent with one? Is there any way that this is a issue with something Comcast is doing? What is the likelihood that I’ve gotten 2 different models of routers with the same issue? What should I ask the Comcast tech about when he comes? Are there any more tests I can do?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\
**Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-out-there-willing-and-able-to-advise-me-on-a-home-networking-issue/526721/2 "2010-01-28T03:18:18Z")

</div>

I still incline to blame the router; it is allowing one port to hog the bandwidth and allow not the other any access. That’s either poor configuration or poor design; early lan network switches were like that too. That said, it would be a very dumb design or a very blatant fault in a wireless router. But check for a firmware upgrade for it.

Where do your IP address come from? Comcast DHCP, local DHCP, or static?

The pings you’ve tried, is that some external site like [Google.com](http://Google.com)? What about them both pinging the router, or even each other? Any packets lost?

What does ipconfig /all show on both machines when both connected via wireless?

What happens if one is wireless and one wired? Both wired?

I’m assuming your connections are as follows:

```auto

[PC1] ~~~~ ,
        [router]-[modem]-comcast
[PC2] ~~~~'

```

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![arseNal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@arseNal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/arseNal)\
**Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-out-there-willing-and-able-to-advise-me-on-a-home-networking-issue/526721/3 "2010-01-28T03:25:39Z")

</div>

I second pinging the router. Also, is there another machine you can add to the mix and remove the windows 7 one, and see what happens? (Alternatively, boot the windows 7 machine into linux using an ubuntu livecd or something like that, and see if two machines can both coexist that way). I’ve seen and heard of win 7 nic drivers doing strange things to networks, even knocking out routers in some cases.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\
**Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-out-there-willing-and-able-to-advise-me-on-a-home-networking-issue/526721/4 "2010-01-28T03:32:08Z")

</div>

Have you tried using the LinkSys router software, and alternatively removing the router software and letting Windows control things? See if there’s a difference?

Did you check to make sure your machines are getting different IPs from the router?

I third pinging the router, also pinging one machine from the other.

I’m no network expert by far. Just a person who has been in your shoes more times than I’d like!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\
**Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-out-there-willing-and-able-to-advise-me-on-a-home-networking-issue/526721/5 "2010-01-28T04:39:58Z")

</div>

I’ve been fighting with is some more and it seems that some of my earlier assumptions aren’t holding up.

For whatever reason the network falls apart whenever I connect the Windows 7 laptop to it. Both when connected wirelessly and wired it is painfully slow whether it’s connected alone or with the Vista desktop. However when it’s on the network both computers fall apart. As soon as I disconnect the Win7 laptop the Vista desktop starts screaming along.

This is baffling.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\
**Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-out-there-willing-and-able-to-advise-me-on-a-home-networking-issue/526721/6 "2010-01-28T04:48:58Z")

</div>

> [@Askance](#):
>
> I still incline to blame the router; it is allowing one port to hog the bandwidth and allow not the other any access. That’s either poor configuration or poor design; early lan network switches were like that too. That said, it would be a very dumb design or a very blatant fault in a wireless router. But check for a firmware upgrade for it.

Both the new router and the older one had up to date firmware. It’s the first thing I did and both are very popular models. Extensive Googling didn’t turn up and common issues with either.

> [@](#):
>
> Where do your IP address come from? Comcast DHCP, local DHCP, or static?

Comcast DHCP I think. The router has a internal firewall and the addresses are reassigned to an internal IP via DHCP as well in the usual 192.1.168.1XX range.

> [@](#):
>
> The pings you’ve tried, is that some external site like [Google.com](http://Google.com)? What about them both pinging the router, or even each other? Any packets lost?

I’ve been using [Pingtest.net](http://Pingtest.net). I’ve also used [Speedtest.net](http://Speedtest.net). I’ve also run tracert from the command screen to sites like [yahoo.com](http://yahoo.com) and [google.com](http://google.com). They all universally turn up 3000 ms lag at every jump.

> [@](#):
>
> What does ipconfig /all show on both machines when both connected via wireless?

Will have to check on that later.

> [@](#):
>
> What happens if one is wireless and one wired? Both wired?

As noted. When the Vista box is wired everything is great. When the Win7 lappy is connected wired or wireless everything gets bogged down including the Vista box.

> [@](#):
>
> I’m assuming your connections are as follows:
> 
> ```auto
> 
> [PC1] ~~~~ ,
> [router]-[modem]-comcast
> [PC2] ~~~~'
> 
> ```

Correct.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\
**Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-out-there-willing-and-able-to-advise-me-on-a-home-networking-issue/526721/7 "2010-01-28T04:51:30Z")

</div>

> [@arseNal](#):
>
> I second pinging the router. Also, is there another machine you can add to the mix and remove the windows 7 one, and see what happens? (Alternatively, boot the windows 7 machine into linux using an ubuntu livecd or something like that, and see if two machines can both coexist that way). I’ve seen and heard of win 7 nic drivers doing strange things to networks, even knocking out routers in some cases.

Don’t have access to a 3rd computer. I do however have access to a second independent network that’s running an XP desktop, Linksys wireless router which I can add the Win7 laptop to.

That was going to be my next experiment. Can’t add a second operating system to the laptop though, it’s shared and that’s not something I want to do since it’s essentially brand new.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\
**Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-out-there-willing-and-able-to-advise-me-on-a-home-networking-issue/526721/8 "2010-01-28T04:53:45Z")

</div>

> [@ZipperJJ](#):
>
> Have you tried using the LinkSys router software, and alternatively removing the router software and letting Windows control things? See if there’s a difference?

The original router was using no special software and was just controlled via Wondows. It had issues. When I added the new router I let the included software handle things and the issue persisted. The common element is the Sony laptop and the Comcast modem/connection.

> [@](#):
>
> Did you check to make sure your machines are getting different IPs from the router?

Not yet, will do.

> [@](#):
>
> I third pinging the router, also pinging one machine from the other.

How do I ping the router? Just ping 192.168.1.1?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Digital\_Stimulus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Digital\_Stimulus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_Stimulus)\
**Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-out-there-willing-and-able-to-advise-me-on-a-home-networking-issue/526721/9 "2010-01-28T07:28:04Z")

</div>

> [@Omniscient](#):
>
> Can’t add a second operating system to the laptop though

He mentioned an Ubuntu LiveCD – no “adding” necessary, so long as you’re able to boot from the CD drive.

> [@Omniscient](#):
>
> How do I ping the router? Just ping 192.168.1.1?

That’ll work from the command line (there’s probably a GUI tool that I don’t know about). That’s probably the correct IP, but if you don’t know, you should look up the manufacturer’s default. For instance, my NetGear defaults to 192.168.1.1, but I had to reset it to .2 because the DSL modem is .1.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\
**Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-out-there-willing-and-able-to-advise-me-on-a-home-networking-issue/526721/10 "2010-01-28T07:39:20Z")

</div>

Well, I figured I’d do some pinging and tracerts and post them here.

First, these were copied from the Vista machine, initially with it connected alone to the router and the connection working well:

```auto

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.0.6002]
Copyright (c) 2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Users\Ben>ping 192.168.1.1

Pinging 192.168.1.1 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64

Ping statistics for 192.168.1.1:
    Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
    Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 1ms, Average = 0ms

C:\Users\Ben>ping 192.168.1.1

Pinging 192.168.1.1 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64

Ping statistics for 192.168.1.1:
    Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
    Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 0ms, Average = 0ms

C:\Users\Ben>tracert google.com

Tracing route to google.com [74.125.95.147]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

  1 <1 ms <1 ms <1 ms 192.168.1.1
  2 * * * Request timed out.
  3 29 ms 8 ms 8 ms te-1-3-ur13.area4.il.chicago.comcast.net [xx.xx.
xx.xx]
  4 13 ms 10 ms 11 ms 68.87.230.89
  5 11 ms 19 ms 10 ms pos-0-1-0-0-ar01.area4.il.chicago.comcast.net [6
8.87.230.237]
  6 11 ms 11 ms 13 ms pos-1-12-0-0-cr01.chicago.il.ibone.comcast.net [
xx.xx.90.53]
  7 10 ms 10 ms 10 ms pos-0-2-0-0-pe01.350ecermak.il.ibone.comcast.net
 [xx.xx.86.78]
  8 9 ms 12 ms 11 ms as15169-1.350ecermak.il.ibone.comcast.net [75.14
9.230.198]
  9 11 ms 13 ms 31 ms 209.85.250.239
 10 23 ms 23 ms 20 ms 209.85.241.22
 11 23 ms 22 ms 21 ms 209.85.241.27
 12 30 ms 35 ms 35 ms 209.85.240.49
 13 24 ms 29 ms 23 ms iw-in-f147.1e100.net [74.125.95.147]

Trace complete.

```

At this point I connected the Win7 laptop via cable to the router and proceeded to ping and tracert every couple minutes. As you can see the ping times get progressively worse every few minutes.

```auto

C:\Users\Ben>ping 192.168.1.1

Pinging 192.168.1.1 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64

Ping statistics for 192.168.1.1:
    Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
    Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 1ms, Average = 0ms

C:\Users\Ben>tracert google.com

Tracing route to google.com [209.85.225.103]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

  1 <1 ms <1 ms <1 ms 192.168.1.1
  2 * * * Request timed out.
  3 8 ms 8 ms 9 ms te-1-3-ur13.area4.il.chicago.comcast.net [xx.xx.
xx.xx]
  4 7 ms 9 ms 12 ms po-20-ur12.area4.il.chicago.comcast.net [68.87.2
31.25]
  5 10 ms 9 ms 11 ms be-110-ar01.area4.il.chicago.comcast.net [68.87.
230.93]
  6 183 ms 214 ms 201 ms pos-1-13-0-0-cr01.chicago.il.ibone.comcast.net [
xx.xx.90.49]
  7 329 ms 215 ms 325 ms pos-0-3-0-0-pe01.350ecermak.il.ibone.comcast.net
 [xx.xx.86.158]
  8 262 ms 244 ms 230 ms as15169-1.350ecermak.il.ibone.comcast.net [75.14
9.230.198]
  9 315 ms 195 ms 67 ms 216.239.48.154
 10 315 ms 292 ms 258 ms 72.14.232.141
 11 358 ms 374 ms 335 ms 209.85.241.37
 12 241 ms 344 ms 68 ms 209.85.248.102
 13 22 ms 294 ms 278 ms iy-in-f103.1e100.net [209.85.225.103]

Trace complete.

C:\Users\Ben>tracert google.com

Tracing route to google.com [209.85.225.103]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

  1 <1 ms <1 ms <1 ms 192.168.1.1
  2 * * * Request timed out.
  3 332 ms 328 ms 159 ms te-1-3-ur13.area4.il.chicago.comcast.net [xx.xx.
xx.xx]
  4 311 ms 395 ms 157 ms po-20-ur12.area4.il.chicago.comcast.net [68.87.2
31.25]
  5 265 ms 240 ms 179 ms be-110-ar01.area4.il.chicago.comcast.net [68.87.
230.93]
  6 624 ms 422 ms 355 ms pos-1-13-0-0-cr01.chicago.il.ibone.comcast.net [
xx.xx.90.49]
  7 326 ms 524 ms 600 ms pos-0-3-0-0-pe01.350ecermak.il.ibone.comcast.net
 [xx.xx.86.158]
  8 439 ms 344 ms 407 ms as15169-1.350ecermak.il.ibone.comcast.net [75.14
9.230.198]
  9 306 ms 150 ms 145 ms 209.85.250.239
 10 375 ms 303 ms 299 ms 209.85.241.22
 11 240 ms 463 ms 283 ms 209.85.241.37
 12 102 ms 215 ms 143 ms 209.85.248.102
 13 285 ms 231 ms 349 ms iy-in-f103.1e100.net [209.85.225.103]

Trace complete.

C:\Users\Ben>tracert google.com

Tracing route to google.com [74.125.95.105]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

  1 <1 ms <1 ms <1 ms 192.168.1.1
  2 * * * Request timed out.
  3 1253 ms 1524 ms 1100 ms te-1-3-ur13.area4.il.chicago.comcast.net [xx.xx.
xx.xx]
  4 1215 ms 707 ms 962 ms po-20-ur12.area4.il.chicago.comcast.net [68.87.2
31.25]
  5 866 ms 835 ms 1271 ms be-110-ar01.area4.il.chicago.comcast.net [68.87.
230.93]
  6 720 ms 464 ms 710 ms pos-1-13-0-0-cr01.chicago.il.ibone.comcast.net [
xx.xx.90.49]
  7 1376 ms 1230 ms 1327 ms pos-0-2-0-0-pe01.350ecermak.il.ibone.comcast.net
 [xx.xx.86.78]
  8 1656 ms 1317 ms 734 ms as15169-1.350ecermak.il.ibone.comcast.net [75.14
9.230.198]
  9 1178 ms 1026 ms 862 ms 216.239.48.154
 10 678 ms 835 ms 389 ms 209.85.241.22
 11 701 ms 584 ms 1010 ms 209.85.241.37
 12 1441 ms 1418 ms 1100 ms 72.14.239.193
 13 1106 ms 1107 ms 787 ms iw-in-f105.1e100.net [74.125.95.105]

Trace complete.

```

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\
**Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-out-there-willing-and-able-to-advise-me-on-a-home-networking-issue/526721/11 "2010-01-28T07:43:17Z")

</div>

These are the results taken from the wired Win 7 laptop after it was added to the network:

```auto

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.1.7600]
Copyright (c) 2009 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Users\Ben>ping 192.168.1.1

Pinging 192.168.1.1 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64

Ping statistics for 192.168.1.1:
    Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
    Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 0ms, Average = 0ms

C:\Users\Ben>tracert google.com

Tracing route to google.com [209.85.225.106]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

  1 <1 ms <1 ms <1 ms 192.168.1.1
  2 * * * Request timed out.
  3 8 ms 9 ms 9 ms te-1-3-ur13.area4.il.chicago.comcast.net [xx.xx.
xx.xx]
  4 12 ms 11 ms 12 ms 68.87.230.89
  5 12 ms 12 ms 9 ms pos-0-1-0-0-ar01.area4.il.chicago.comcast.net [6
8.87.230.237]
  6 13 ms 10 ms 11 ms pos-1-14-0-0-cr01.chicago.il.ibone.comcast.net [
xx.xx.90.45]
  7 11 ms 9 ms 11 ms pos-0-3-0-0-pe01.350ecermak.il.ibone.comcast.net
 [xx.xx.86.158]
  8 10 ms 11 ms 11 ms as15169-1.350ecermak.il.ibone.comcast.net [75.14
9.230.198]
  9 10 ms 10 ms 11 ms 209.85.250.239
 10 24 ms 21 ms 21 ms 72.14.232.141
 11 21 ms 20 ms 23 ms 209.85.241.27
 12 35 ms 40 ms 35 ms 72.14.239.18
 13 99 ms 20 ms 21 ms iy-in-f106.1e100.net [209.85.225.106]

Trace complete.

C:\Users\Ben>tracert google.com

Tracing route to google.com [209.85.225.106]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

  1 <1 ms <1 ms <1 ms 192.168.1.1
  2 * * * Request timed out.
  3 395 ms 520 ms 128 ms te-1-3-ur13.area4.il.chicago.comcast.net [xx.xx.
xx.xx]
  4 490 ms 569 ms 152 ms 68.87.230.89
  5 570 ms 635 ms 364 ms pos-0-1-0-0-ar01.area4.il.chicago.comcast.net [6
8.87.230.237]
  6 621 ms 483 ms 873 ms pos-1-14-0-0-cr01.chicago.il.ibone.comcast.net [
xx.xx.90.45]
  7 734 ms 648 ms 493 ms pos-0-3-0-0-pe01.350ecermak.il.ibone.comcast.net
 [xx.xx.86.158]
  8 227 ms 553 ms 218 ms as15169-1.350ecermak.il.ibone.comcast.net [75.14
9.230.198]
  9 243 ms 439 ms 628 ms 209.85.250.239
 10 484 ms 686 ms 553 ms 209.85.241.22
 11 337 ms 556 ms 491 ms 209.85.241.37
 12 514 ms 629 ms 701 ms 209.85.248.102
 13 653 ms 575 ms 713 ms iy-in-f106.1e100.net [209.85.225.106]

Trace complete.

C:\Users\Ben>tracert google.com

Tracing route to google.com [209.85.225.106]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

  1 <1 ms <1 ms <1 ms 192.168.1.1
  2 * * * Request timed out.
  3 268 ms 187 ms 314 ms te-1-3-ur13.area4.il.chicago.comcast.net [xx.xx.
xx.xx]
  4 593 ms 883 ms 746 ms 68.87.230.89
  5 569 ms 149 ms 9 ms pos-0-1-0-0-ar01.area4.il.chicago.comcast.net [6
8.87.230.237]
  6 15 ms 11 ms 11 ms pos-1-14-0-0-cr01.chicago.il.ibone.comcast.net [
xx.xx.90.45]
  7 12 ms 24 ms 11 ms pos-0-3-0-0-pe01.350ecermak.il.ibone.comcast.net
 [xx.xx.86.158]
  8 112 ms 56 ms 25 ms as15169-1.350ecermak.il.ibone.comcast.net [75.14
9.230.198]
  9 10 ms 12 ms 29 ms 209.85.250.239
 10 25 ms 23 ms 35 ms 72.14.232.141
 11 41 ms 25 ms 22 ms 209.85.241.27
 12 112 ms 35 ms 55 ms 209.85.248.102
 13 167 ms 101 ms 21 ms iy-in-f106.1e100.net [209.85.225.106]

Trace complete.

C:\Users\Ben>tracert google.com

Tracing route to google.com [74.125.95.106]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

  1 <1 ms <1 ms <1 ms 192.168.1.1
  2 * * * Request timed out.
  3 883 ms 1143 ms 1507 ms te-1-3-ur13.area4.il.chicago.comcast.net [xx.xx.
xx.xx]
  4 1631 ms 1119 ms 1389 ms 68.87.230.89
  5 1593 ms 1119 ms 1206 ms pos-0-1-0-0-ar01.area4.il.chicago.comcast.net [6
8.87.230.237]
  6 1177 ms 922 ms 773 ms pos-1-13-0-0-cr01.chicago.il.ibone.comcast.net [
xx.xx.90.49]
  7 916 ms 1384 ms 1579 ms pos-0-0-0-0-pe01.350ecermak.il.ibone.comcast.net
 [xx.xx.86.34]
  8 1396 ms 1328 ms 680 ms as15169-1.350ecermak.il.ibone.comcast.net [75.14
9.230.198]
  9 658 ms 450 ms 561 ms 209.85.250.239
 10 879 ms 958 ms 1667 ms 72.14.232.141
 11 1280 ms 1288 ms 760 ms 209.85.241.27
 12 474 ms 521 ms 647 ms 72.14.239.189
 13 1094 ms 592 ms 842 ms iw-in-f106.1e100.net [74.125.95.106]

Trace complete.

```

As you can see, it too builds and got progressively worse over time. I essentially would run a trace on one PC and then start one on the other when it finished. All these span about 5 minutes.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\
**Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-out-there-willing-and-able-to-advise-me-on-a-home-networking-issue/526721/12 "2010-01-28T07:58:39Z")

</div>

That those long ping times are on hops far outside my network baffles me. Why would adding a second machine effect those?

Now I disconnected the laptop and reran a few traces to show how the speeds rebound on the Vista machine:

```auto

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.0.6002]
Copyright (c) 2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Users\Ben>tracert google.com

Tracing route to google.com [209.85.225.99]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

  1 <1 ms <1 ms <1 ms 192.168.1.1
  2 * * * Request timed out.
  3 9 ms 8 ms 9 ms te-1-3-ur13.area4.il.chicago.comcast.net [xx.xx.
xx.xx]
  4 11 ms 13 ms 27 ms 68.87.230.89
  5 13 ms 11 ms 11 ms pos-0-0-0-0-ar01.area4.il.chicago.comcast.net [6
8.87.230.233]
  6 11 ms 10 ms 11 ms pos-1-14-0-0-cr01.chicago.il.ibone.comcast.net [
xx.xx.90.45]
  7 33 ms 18 ms 10 ms pos-0-1-0-0-pe01.350ecermak.il.ibone.comcast.net
 [xx.xx.86.38]
  8 10 ms 20 ms 15 ms as15169-1.350ecermak.il.ibone.comcast.net [75.14
9.230.198]
  9 11 ms 12 ms 12 ms 216.239.48.154
 10 21 ms 21 ms 54 ms 209.85.241.22
 11 26 ms 22 ms 20 ms 209.85.241.37
 12 21 ms 35 ms 21 ms 72.14.239.18
 13 22 ms 26 ms 21 ms iy-in-f99.1e100.net [209.85.225.99]

Trace complete.

C:\Users\Ben>tracert yahoo.com

Tracing route to yahoo.com [209.131.36.159]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

  1 <1 ms <1 ms <1 ms 192.168.1.1
  2 * * * Request timed out.
  3 9 ms 11 ms 12 ms te-1-3-ur13.area4.il.chicago.comcast.net [xx.xx.
xx.xx]
  4 10 ms 10 ms 10 ms 68.87.230.89
  5 14 ms 17 ms 9 ms pos-0-0-0-0-ar01.area4.il.chicago.comcast.net [6
8.87.230.233]
  6 12 ms 10 ms 13 ms pos-1-13-0-0-cr01.chicago.il.ibone.comcast.net [
xx.xx.90.49]
  7 12 ms 11 ms 9 ms pos-0-3-0-0-pe01.350ecermak.il.ibone.comcast.net
 [xx.xx.86.158]
  8 * * * Request timed out.
  9 10 ms 10 ms 11 ms if-7-1-0-17.core1.CT8-Chicago.as6453.net [66.110
.27.49]
 10 81 ms 80 ms 81 ms if-13-0-0-1166.core3.SQN-SanJose.as6453.net [66.
110.27.62]
 11 82 ms 79 ms 81 ms if-9-0-0.mcore4.PDI-PaloAlto.as6453.net [216.6.3
3.6]
 12 83 ms 90 ms 83 ms ix-11-0-3.mcore4.PDI-PaloAlto.as6453.net [207.45
.196.90]
 13 86 ms 85 ms 173 ms UNKNOWN-216-115-107-79.yahoo.com [216.115.107.79
]
 14 80 ms 80 ms 87 ms te-9-1.bas-a1.sp1.yahoo.com [209.131.32.21]
 15 80 ms 81 ms 78 ms b1.www.vip.sp1.yahoo.com [209.131.36.159]

Trace complete.

C:\Users\Ben>tracert espn.com

Tracing route to espn.com [199.181.132.250]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

  1 <1 ms <1 ms <1 ms 192.168.1.1
  2 * * * Request timed out.
  3 9 ms 10 ms 8 ms te-1-3-ur13.area4.il.chicago.comcast.net [xx.xx.
xx.xx]
  4 7 ms 10 ms 9 ms po-20-ur12.area4.il.chicago.comcast.net [68.87.2
31.25]
  5 11 ms 7 ms 8 ms be-110-ar01.area4.il.chicago.comcast.net [68.87.
230.93]
  6 8 ms 9 ms 11 ms pos-1-12-0-0-cr01.chicago.il.ibone.comcast.net [
xx.xx.90.53]
  7 8 ms 9 ms 10 ms xe-9-0-0.edge1.Chicago2.Level3.net [4.71.248.33]

  8 10 ms 9 ms 29 ms vlan51.ebr1.Chicago2.Level3.net [4.69.138.158]
  9 40 ms 34 ms 35 ms ae-3.ebr2.Denver1.Level3.net [4.69.132.61]
 10 71 ms 70 ms 71 ms ae-2.ebr2.Seattle1.Level3.net [4.69.132.53]
 11 61 ms 61 ms 62 ms ae-23-52.car3.Seattle1.Level3.net [4.68.105.36]

 12 65 ms 59 ms 61 ms WALT-DISNEY.car3.Seattle1.Level3.net [4.71.152.2
2]
 13 * * * Request timed out.
 14 61 ms 62 ms 62 ms disneyauctions.go.com [199.181.132.250]

Trace complete.

```

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\
**Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-out-there-willing-and-able-to-advise-me-on-a-home-networking-issue/526721/13 "2010-01-28T08:33:24Z")

</div>

Are you sure there’s no malware on the second PC?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\
**Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-out-there-willing-and-able-to-advise-me-on-a-home-networking-issue/526721/14 "2010-01-28T08:35:28Z")

</div>

I can’t say with absolute certainty, but it’s less than 3 weeks old and has been used sparingly. I’ll run a few scans to be sure.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![arseNal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@arseNal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/arseNal)\
**Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-out-there-willing-and-able-to-advise-me-on-a-home-networking-issue/526721/15 "2010-01-28T13:54:50Z")

</div>

Well, as **Digital Stimulus** noted, when I suggested booting the win 7 machine into linux, I only meant to use a Live CD of some sort, which does not put anything on the hard drive at all and makes no permanent change on the laptop at all. It boots off the CD and creates a RAM disk for temporary storage. Knoppix (probably best choice), Ubuntu, Kubuntu, all have this as far as I know. This will help you take windows 7 out of the equation while keeping the laptop in it.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![yoyodyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a9a28c/32.png) [@yoyodyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yoyodyne)\
**Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-out-there-willing-and-able-to-advise-me-on-a-home-networking-issue/526721/16 "2010-01-28T15:11:06Z")

</div>

Try turning off ipv6 in the adapter properties of the laptop. In an administrative command window run “netsh interface ipv4 show subinterfaces”, what does it say for MTU?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\
**Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-out-there-willing-and-able-to-advise-me-on-a-home-networking-issue/526721/17 "2010-01-28T17:59:27Z")

</div>

I had the Comcast tech out today and he found some packet loss and high ping times on my line. He had to escalate it to an outside line call which will be completed in about 72 hours. We’ll see if that isolates the problem.

I do intend to test the laptop on a different network with similar specs to see if there’s anything specific to it that’s causing an issue.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\
**Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-out-there-willing-and-able-to-advise-me-on-a-home-networking-issue/526721/18 "2010-01-28T18:38:17Z")

</div>

> [@yoyodyne](#):
>
> Try turning off ipv6 in the adapter properties of the laptop. In an administrative command window run “netsh interface ipv4 show subinterfaces”, what does it say for MTU?

Turned off ipv6.

Here’s the MTU

```auto

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.1.7600]
Copyright (c) 2009 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Users\Ben>netsh interface ipv4 show subinterfaces

   MTU MediaSenseState Bytes In Bytes Out Interface
------ --------------- --------- --------- -------------
4294967295 1 0 963520 Loopback Pseudo-Interface 1
  1500 1 47946575 353347151 Wireless Network Connection 2
  1500 5 0 94464 Wireless Network Connection
  1500 5 0 0 Local Area Connection

```

Not sure what to make of it.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\
**Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-out-there-willing-and-able-to-advise-me-on-a-home-networking-issue/526721/19 "2010-01-28T18:46:35Z")

</div>

> [@yoyodyne](#):
>
> Try turning off ipv6 in the adapter properties of the laptop. In an administrative command window run “netsh interface ipv4 show subinterfaces”, what does it say for MTU?

I’m curious what the thought process on the IPv6 is. It’s active on the Vista machine which works fine. Still waiting to see if the lag builds again with it off on the laptop.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\
**Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-out-there-willing-and-able-to-advise-me-on-a-home-networking-issue/526721/20 "2010-01-28T19:21:57Z")

</div>

Just share a story. My problem was with a 600N and 54G (both linksys) and Win7. I kept hearing that the problem was that the 54G router didn’t like Wireless-N. That wasn’t the problem. The second issue was the total lack of support for the Win7 drivers for the 600N. Soon a non-issue through RAlink. The issue was a setting in Win7 putting the adapter to sleep.

I know its not the same problem as you but the forum there is very helpful and sometimes Occam’s razor does not answer the problem.

[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-out-there-willing-and-able-to-advise-me-on-a-home-networking-issue/526721.md?page=2)