My ongoing battle to get a decent internet service is just about driving me mad.

My connection yo-yo’s between quite good to absolutely terrible. At the minute it is probably beyond this. It is a TOT 512kbps connection. The download speed is terrible. I get ‘unable to display’ a lot of the time. In some instances I simply can not open pages. For example, I can open the Amazon home page and I can search for items, but I can not look at the actual items. It just won’t do it. In many instances I have to click on something once and then again because the first time it failed.

I feel I should get TOT in, but I wonder could it be anything else. Could it be a virus or something? Should I take the PC into a shop to have it checked out? I did try that once and the guy wiped my important info. from the hard drive the situation didn’t improve really, although that was a while ago.

My ongoing battle to get a decent internet service is just about driving me mad.

Sorry, where are you? God! You're really lucky you're not in Thailand, you know. People have been complaining about the Internet access here for, well, let's see, just about forever. Of course, complaining about it wouldn't help if you were here ... lucky you're not here (otherwise you'd know already that there's not a lot you can do about it at all). Why not try giving BT or whoever a call. I'm sure they'll be able to help you out.

My ongoing battle to get a decent internet service is just about driving me mad.

Sorry, where are you? God! You're really lucky you're not in Thailand, you know. People have been complaining about the Internet access here for, well, let's see, just about forever. Of course, complaining about it wouldn't help if you were here ... lucky you're not here (otherwise you'd know already that there's not a lot you can do about it at all). Why not try giving BT or whoever a call. I'm sure they'll be able to help you out.

Is that supposed to be some sort of joke?

I realise that internet service (along with many other services here) is below par. However, as I said I am not sure if it could be something else, like hardware. I don't want to have a go at TOT unless I'm more certain. It seems strange that some things download ok and other just will not. I find it hard to believe that any connection can be as bad as the one I have. Thats why I was asking the opinion of those more computer savvy than me.

Thanks

My dad had the same problem with his old computer, in the US with a good DSL service. My laptop worked fine, but his computer was incredibly slow, displaying pages, everything.

We took it in to a computer shop and found that just increasing the RAM on his computer wasn't enough. The processor was old and slow and as soon as he bought a new, faster computer, his problems stopped.

So, first question, how old is your computer and how much RAM are you using?

sounds like it's DNS as opposed to general "crappy internet service" - check your settings - even use external nameservers.

Its about 2-3 years old, with a Pentium 4 3Ghz CPU and 512 MB Ram. I think that should be enough really. I have considered a new PC, but I don't really need more power. I only use it for basic functions. I had an anciant PC on dial up in the Uk that was better than this.

Thanks for the help anyway.

My dad had the same problem with his old computer, in the US with a good DSL service. My laptop worked fine, but his computer was incredibly slow, displaying pages, everything.

We took it in to a computer shop and found that just increasing the RAM on his computer wasn't enough. The processor was old and slow and as soon as he bought a new, faster computer, his problems stopped.

So, first question, how old is your computer and how much RAM are you using?

You have a point. If the PC is over about seven or eight years old (slower than a 200MHz Pentium), and has less than about 32MB RAM, that might be a factor.

DNS issues were just discussed last week. Search this forum for OPENDNS and you'll probably find the solution to your problem.

Its about 2-3 years old, with a Pentium 4 3Ghz CPU and 512 MB Ram. I think that should be enough really. I have considered a new PC, but I don't really need more power. I only use it for basic functions. I had an anciant PC on dial up in the Uk that was better than this.

Thanks for the help anyway.

No, that should be fine. Have you tried the usual suspects? emptying the cache, deleting temp files, run a virus scan etc?

I use ccleaner for cleaning my computer and avast for anti-virus.

Do you use a firewall? You should, at the very least, use the firewall that comes with XP. I use Zonealarm free, but am looking at comodo as an alternative.