2 BIGGIES! Tech people please assist!

buttercupbee

Hi all,

up until last week I was running my internet connection via free dial-up in the apartment complex where I live. Expectedly, it was slow.
So my frustration finally got the better of me and I went and purchased 02's free broadband trial, which worked very well for me (at the 15GB allowance rate), so then I decided to go with their 7GB on pre-pay,
but this 7GB Huwai USB immediately 'malfunctioned' on me and I was unable to install it, so returned it and chose Meteor Broadband To Go instead.

Only Two days ago I installed Meteor, €20 Top Up and all went well.
All I did was browse through Boards (OF COURSE!) and downloaded a couple of movies (which were already about 80% completed BEFORE I installed and topped up with Metoer) then went and checked my Balance
but its telling me I have just "1.6 GB" left out of my MONTHLY allowance of "7.5 GB"!!!
And the credit left says I have "EUR .02" (and I quote this correctly) - "EUR .02"!!! - As in 2 CENT???!!!
I am now anxious that when I log off, that tomorrow I'll NO CREDIT LEFT AT ALL!
HOW could this be???



Also, ever since I've had this computer (circa 2004) I've experienced extremely slow internet browsing - at first I had Eircom Broadband on Billpay, (then as stated free dial-up and now Meteor To Go),
so no matter WHAT connection system I use I still have frustratingly slow IP speeds.
I get "IE/Opera/Firefox NOT RESPONDING" then freezes up on me for an ice age,
pages load INCREDIBLY slow, clicking links/next page often DROPS my connection COMPLETELY and displays "CANNOT LOCATE REMOTE SERVER" then I have to re start my connection all over.

Believe me, I have done all I can (including a SYSTEM RESTORE).
Proxies are off and Firewall has all my Internet Browsers included as 'Exceptions'.
I find I have to regularly switch between IE, Opera, Firefox and Chrome :mad:
Does anyone think it may be my ACTUAL COMPUTER at fault
- Dell Dimension 3000, Windows XP, RAM 512 MB, and my Local C Disk capacity has 98.63 GB still free/available.
I've consulted just about every help Topic Windows has to offer and followed all its advice.
What on EARTH could be causing this slowness???

ITDept

First problem, not totally sure about the credit, but it seems just about possible that downloading a couple of movies could eat up your Gb allowance. Even if they were mostly downloaded, a high quality movie file can be very large, and if the download had been interrupted it may have resumed from further back than you might think.

Second problem, if you're doing loads of other things at the same time as surfing then it may be too much for the RAM. The only solution there would be more RAM (www.crucial.com) or do less . If you're not doing much other than browsing, then it may be malware / virus is slowing the whole thing down to a crawl. I'd suggest using a free anti-virus program (e.g. AVG) and then a check with a malware remover (www.malwarebytes.org). HTH

pickarooney

Do they count bandwidth usage in both directions? If so, and you're sharing files you'll need to factor that in.

Would you not just get ADSL and have done with fiddly, unreliable wireless connections?

buttercupbee

pickarooney wrote: »

Do they count bandwidth usage in both directions? If so, and you're sharing files you'll need to factor that in.



Would you not just get ADSL and have done with fiddly, unreliable wireless connections?

Yes, thats correct, Ive seen red and green arrows for upload and download. Guess I'll stop seeding! Apart from knowingly sharing files ect, could there be anything else I might not be aware of that might be causing my system to 'leak' files and therefore CREDIT USAGE?

ADSL? Is that like a wireless ROUTER?
Just been on click.ie and seen routers and wondered IF I HAD A LAPTOP (which I haven't) would they be a reliable alternative to the USB Stick Modem thingys that are wireless broadband???
And if so (if ADSL IS a wireless router) WHo or HOW do I pay for internet providing? It would be a CONTRACT I presume?

sorry but the mind does boggle!

ITDept

ADSL is what most people refer to as broadband. You can get it from any fixed line provider (Eircom, BT etc), or through cable TV or some specialist providers. It's always a contract, and usually a minimum of 1 year.

When you sign up, you may well get a wireless router included in the deal so you could use it anywhere at home via a laptop (or PC with a wireless card).

Advantages: usually faster, larger download limits, often cheaper

Disadvantages: fixed to one location, contract, you need a landline or cable TV connection

ricman

AS far as i know you are only allowed to download 10gig max per month on the wireless o2 service.1 movie is usually 700meg 1gig = 1000megabyte.Go to the website for download limit/cap per month info.YOU can install a program that records how much data you are using per day,per week.OR it may be built in to the wireless acess o2 program.YOU need to be careful how much data you use, after 10gig they charge x amount per megabyte of data, so just browse txt ,ie boards ,1up,.com ie dont download video/mp3s or watch video website,s until the month is over.
OR if you are a heavy net user get a phone and smart broadband cost 65euro per month,that includes line rental.
WIRELESS net 2/ 02 is designed for light users,its up 2 you how much do you wanna spend,eg on smart you could dl at least 100gig,in my opinion ,theres no specific cap , but there is a limit.Some MOVIES ARE 1.5GIG depends on the codec/hd/sd compression format.BUT on ten gig you can watch alot of youtube ,ie 5mins of sd youtube is 25megabyte approx.once over 10gig ,you will be charged extra per megabyte until the 1st of the next month.VIRUS, malware can slow down net acess ,or you could have a faulty ethernet card, or a dodgey phone line, or bad wiring from the main phone socket to an extension socket,or you could be too far from the telecom exchange.
OR you may need to reinstall windows xp on the pc.CAN you borrow a friends laptop,and see if that is faster re loading web pages.
WINDOWS runs much faster on 1gig of ram,cos the os takes up round 300meg ram,depending on
what startup progs you are running.
SOMETIMES i use a 500 meg ram thinkpad, on speedtest .net i get 4megs per sec acess speed
but then i,m using phone broadband.WINDOWS xp pro is my os.
YOU may have too many processes and services running taking up memory,eg
wifi wireless ,remote diagnostic,etc services i turned off about 11 services cos i dont need em ,i dont use wifi or bluetooth .
GOOGLE disable windows xp services guide.PRESS cntrl alt del to see task manager, click performance ,disk usage .IF its using alot of disk temprary ram for storage that means you need more ram memory.512MEG RAM costs 50euro in maplins on average ,depends on is it ddr2 ,pc100,pc1200 etc.

buttercupbee

Thanks guys for all the useful info!

I have since uninstalled (what I wouldnt have typically called 'clutter')

-the likes of old anti-virus programs (Norton ect, whereby I have been running AVG for quite a while, so no real need for these others, that were expired anyway, but none the less I suppose causing a pile-up),

- the other internet browsers that I had not set as my default

- I just finally decided on Opera as default as Version 10.50 was released today and so far so good - immediate access to Boards! Instead of half a dozen of them fighting for attention,
200 or so music files (clutter, yes),

- and also what I think was most significant - other programs I had previously allowed to automatically RUN ON START-UP (which I've discovered were a MASSIVE memory clogger, even if you dont open/run them and just close them on sight, its the fact that they are THERE and use a certain amount of 'energy' just to present themselves).

Since my 4 day encounter with meteor B/band ended and I went back to my free local network connection (apartment building) my PC is now seemingly running faster than ever
and now that I'm aware of the paltry limitations of mobile broadband should
I ever get a laptop I think it may be wiser to pay for an ADSL connection (as rec'd by one reader!) and am now thinking its a bit of a gimmick
(who CAN sit in the garden in Ireland?) - I'd say fair if a person HAD TO TRAVEL FOR WORK - I'm just totally turned off the idea of mobile B/band now - I mean not many of us have the spares to afford more than €20 top-up that runs out after a few HOURS watching U Tube FFS!
Work out your COST PER USE people and spend it wisely!
Pool the line rental or SOMETHING and set up ADSL!

ricman

Get this its a version of chrome, more private than chrome ,download and install it.see here, http://www.srware.net/en/software_srware_iron.php.
i find it waaay faster than opera.its the most discreet ,private browser to use on the web.
ON TEN gig allowance that means you can watch thousands of youtube videos, if they are like music video 5mins long.
CLICK,START,RUN MSCONFIG, CLICK STARTUP TAB, un click items you dont need at startup.IF you have a phoneline it makes sense to get smart broadband ,ie they give the best value per buck, see smartelecom.ie,its not avaidable everywhere though.
IF YOU are a student,casual user ,person who carrys around the laptop,then
a usb modem is reasonable value.AND you can use it anywhere ,within x distance of a telecom mast.SOME antivirus programs take up alot of memory eg norton ,some more than others.
if you are getting phone broadband make sure the cap is at least 50gig,or go for smart bb if you are a heavy user.
windows xp needs at least 5gig free hd space, to use as a temporary swapfile, if you have only 500meg ram.i find the usb modems need to be near a window to get a fast ,strong signal,
my friend gets 900kper sec, she uses a 5ft usb cable and has the modem taped behind the curtain, about 12inchs from the top of the window ,almost on the glass.
1 end to modem, other end plugs into the laptop.
CABLE IS USB female to male.

Nollog

I'm glad you came to your senses on 3g internet.
I recommend Utv for adsl.

I'd like to add that firefox has known issues with eating ram.
I'm sure it would have had an impact on your computer speed to just not use it.
512MB isn't much nowadays, though it should be enough if you rarely use it for anything other than xvid movies and browsing the internet.

And as above, I concur - Iron is great.

ricman

theres a version of adblocker for google chrome ,that stops ads ,which may speed up net acess to some degree.
google adblocker chrome browser.

Nollog

ricman wrote: »

theres a version of adblocker for google chrome ,that stops ads ,which may speed up net acess to some degree.
google adblocker chrome browser.

That blocks them by hiding them, they still load.

ricman

Thats true ,see http://x-pose.org/2010/01/chrome-ad-blockers-adthwart-vs-adblock-round-1/ i presume your cpu doesnt have to load,run ad grahics/animations which helps if you only have 512meg ram.
you can use firefox with adblocker extension to truly block ads.IE it only downloads the web page minus ads , it doesnt download the ads at all.