After DLing 200-300 MB My Internet Shuts Down?! Any Ideas Why?

[RandomHero]

Over the summer I built my first computer so I could save some money. Here are the specs:

Amd 64 3400+ processor
1 gig of Kingston Technology HyperX 512MB PC4000 DDR DIMM Memory Ram
BFG Geforce 6800 OC graphics card
ASUS K8N-E Deluxe Mobo

I recently moved back to college (UMASS). I set up my computer and its internet connection. Everything worked fine. I can access the internet and play games online with no problems at all.

The problems occurr when I try to download anything. All I2 Universities use dc++ to join a hub called i2hub.com. There everyone can share files and chat. Its a University only hub so dl speeds are fast. I used the same program last year and had no problems using it. This year I start to DL a few things. I DLed about 200-300 MB worh of data when my transfer speeds start to decrease dramatically. (2MB/s down to 750 bytes/s) Before I know it, I get a message in the dc browser saying that my connection is reset by the server. After a while, the browser automatically connects again and the speeds are just very slow. I decide to close the browser and open it again. It reopens with slow speeds. I decide to browse the internet to find out a solution why this is happenign this year. Webpages begin to take forever to load. I mean several minutes just for 1 page. I reboot the machine.

After rebooting, the internet is back to speed. I can view webpages very quickly. I begin to Dl again and BAM after dling 200-300MB of data it crashes again. Almost like something starts to strangle my internet cause it to slow down to a snail pace. I reboot.

Speeds are back. I decide to go to EA.com to dl the MOH PA demo that they just released. File Size 500+MB. I begin to download. After about 200-300MB the download just freezes. I reboot. I try Fileplanet and the same thing happens. I start to think that maybe the university just put a limit on the internet.

At school, I also have a Dell Laptop. I plug that into the internet and beging to download the demo. BAM It works. It dls the whole demo lightening fast. I open the dc++ browser and begin to dl from that. Fast speeds with no slowdown even after DLing sever gigs worth of data. My laptop has no problems with the internet which makes me believe that something is wrong with my computer that built.

I use the same connection and wires with each computer. I use the on board LAN connection on the ASUS mobo for my built computer. Does ASUS have some ethernet connection controller to prevent big downloads? I use McAfee Security VirusScan Enterprise 7.1.0 on both computers.

Any ideas why this happening? Any and all help would be appreciated. Thanks!

[entropy]

To me, it sounds like something is messed up in your built in ethernet. Either it's junky or fubared. Have you got an old NIC laying around you could test with?

[Cyclonite]

Yeah. Sounds like a possible bad NIC. They do weird things when they screw up.

[RandomHero]

that is what i was thinking too...unfortunately i dont have one so i will buy one...any good ones you guys can suggest...i want to pick it up so make sure its a name brand where stores like CompUSA and Bestbuy would have...thanks for the input

[Straight_Man]

Um, check your HD free space-- please, with something that shows the virtual file\swap file size included in the display and possibly defragment your HD. BEFORE doing hardware changeouts.

With a 200-300 MB die AT THAT SIZE RANGE EVERY TIME.... Diff could be size of swap file at die time being different, but a pretty full HD (I ran inot this way back several times, tried EVERYTHING, and in this case in fac the free space on HD had ended up misstated also by the amount of the file sizes I had TRIED to download and failed in mid-stream plus some which I traced to a corrupt swap file, but that is a weirdity although it fits symptoms so far given), or a computer trying to increase swap file and running out of room also.... OR even a wonky cable that has an intermittent short, but same size dies of that size might not be the NIC at all (COULD be NIC settings in drivers though, if you tried to optimize them at home and the tuned different than last year at University).

I've also had BT do this (especially if folks want the file you are downloading in large numbers as you are grabbing it, but sometimes also if they want one file of a set that you have one of already (Mandrake's BT network can do this), proxies that proxy FTP streams suddenly try to feed many folks the same proxy stream (file) to folks or proxy many FTP connects at once do this, and I would say check that by going to a public FTP server that is real high capacity (like Switzerland's Switch FTP server), or a popular download that everyone wants from a small number of servers suddenly get chopped in speed to a drag, or a server farm that is really loaded suddenly allocate slow mode to all FTP streams-- I've NEVER had Switzerland's Switch do this, RARELY had uninett.no do this, and have had FilePlanet in Australia do this when proxied. but, I live in the US, and I FTP from Switzerland's Switch by choice if they have what I need (mostly open source stuff, like Mandrake ISOs or Fedora ISOs.

What I use here for NICs by choice and by partly thier rep and price versus performance is Intel CSA Gigabit embedded network interfacing, but thier Gigabit capable cards are also decent and come in PCMCIA and PCI variants also with very close to CSA performance. Even with those, from time to time I have had to play with drivers, every once in a while I get a corrupt driver or patch fixed driver that has a bug in it. 3COM has some kicking network cards also, but they are somewhat pricy now that Intel has Gigabit NICS out.

To be honest, there are bunch more things, including flaky cables that show symptoms mostly when warm and being pushed to high performance levels (an intermittent "hot-open" in cable strand is one example, from a damaged conductor or slightly corroded contact in cable ends, NIC contacts in socket (Wall or NIC) or plug, etc.). Often when pushed to high end performance, a marginal cable results in missyncs and FTP software then slows down also. If the cable works for a while when not loaded at all for a long time, could be cable (even the patch cable to wall from NIC) or light connector contact corrosion.

[RandomHero]

i dont know of any special tools so this is what i know

Maxtor 120 GB drive with 8MB cache 7200 RPM

used about 26.3 GB
Free about 88.1 GB

with Compress drive turned off and Index Service on

i havent touched any of the drivers...i dont optimize them because i do not know how to so i just leave them alone...the only thing i do is keep them updated.

[MediaMan]

The consistent part of your message is between 200-300 MB of data and the connection begins to slow down and then resets.

I wonder if the school has a built in monitoring program that allows for only so much of a continuous data download. I say this because you reboot and seem to search the net just fine...it works with no problems or slow downs.

As soon as you go for a 200+ DL..problem.

Anyone there in the same complex that is on the same line that you can check with to see if they have the same problem? I suggest to go next door to someone else's PC and try the same exact download and see if they get cut off at 200+ MB of a continuous download.

Either that or a less than $20 new NIC card will solve the problem if it is indeed the NIC that is dying.

[Straight_Man]

i dont know of any special tools so this is what i know

Maxtor 120 GB drive with 8MB cache 7200 RPM

used about 26.3 GB
Free about 88.1 GB

with Compress drive turned off and Index Service on

i havent touched any of the drivers...i dont optimize them because i do not know how to so i just leave them alone...the only thing i do is keep them updated.

OK, as far as NIC drivers, if they are at stock and have not been subject to internet connect tuning software or direct tuning in Network settings, then PROBABLY not NIC drivers, unless this happened starting soon or right after an update with one restart after update.

So, you have nominally over 3\4 of HD free (I'm hoping backups and restore points are not something you have a lot of, these might not show in free space stats at all and I have seen the max of HD for those at 30% of HD plus a swap of 2-3X RAM when a heavy FTP machine is configured which might ALSO not show up). Have you run Disk Defragmenter in the System Tools part of the Accessories area in Start Menu??? There are two reasons for this run, actually. First, it does a base check of file system. Second, it may be pretty fragged after intense downloading. Even on XP Pro SP1 or SP2 here, if I grab and burn an ISO set (about 2 GB+ of ISOs) the burn runs FASTER by an average of 8X on CD Burning speed if I defrag before burning than if not. That's for one set. There is a more minor third-- when done, look at the report, see if your $MFT file shows more than three fragments or is showing 99% full. If yes, a restart might result in an $MFT resize, though NOT less fragments. Remember when grabbing files you are giving storage and RAM a much heavier load at real fast rates than at slower ones.

[RandomHero]

That is what i thought at first that the school has implemented some download cap. The thing is on my laptop I have no internet problems. I can download as much as I want without a single problem. Plus I went on that I2hub.com using DC++ and not one person at my university has this problem.

I has always thought that maybe the mobo had some internet controller that limits the amount of data dled to prevent an overload for the mobo. It doesnt seem like that is the case. It is probably the NIC card. I wanted to hear what others thought as I am no way a computer expert.

My harddrive is defragged 100%. I will see if that makes a difference with the downloads.

Thanks for all the help. I totally appreciate everything. Thanks!