Content of some sites sometime slow to load-why?

[Mark Hennessy]

The trouble is, there are many variables at play here, and TalkTalk are only responsible for some of them...

Using a speed test website will give you a measure of throughput, which includes the whole chain between you and the website itself. In that chain is your computer, your connection to your broadband router, the router, the phone line (your parts and BT's parts), the DSLAM at the exchange, the "magic" between the DSLAM and the rest of the internet, and whatever connects the internet to the server that hosts the speed test website.

TalkTalk will have control and/or responsibility over some of this chain. But not Old Sparky's computer, for example. Or his wiring inside his house (I tripled my ADSL speed by sorting my wiring, so this can make a big difference). They know this. So if he calls them, they will likely try to blame his equipment first of all, especially if they determine from their DSLAM that there is a reasonably good sync speed. And they might very well be right to do so.

Again, we need to hear back from Old Sparky. Please see post #37 and tell us your sync speed. At the very least, please tell us that you are still following this thread.

[Murphyv310]

Come on Old Sparky it would be most helpful if you can answer Mark's questions. Its a learning curve for me too and helpful for us all (well mostly old codgers like me)

[Old Sparky]

I've just sent a PM to Mark about this problem, and also followed the advice in post #36. What i get is 'ipconfig/flushdns'. If I then press OK, something flashes on and off the screen in about 1 second which I'm unable to read. If I change this to 'ipconfig/all', either a similar thing happens, or 'windows cannot find 'ipconfig/all' appears. I'll have to leave all this for the time being, and may get back to it later. In the meantime the computer is useable!

[Mark Hennessy]

OK - in that case, try the other way:

1.1 Alternatively, you can press "R" while holding down the Windows key on the keyboard. This pops up the "Run" dialogue. Type "cmd" in there and hit enter.

That will get the "DOS" command window on the screen - it will stay there until you close it. Then, you'll be able to type "ipconfig /all" and see the result with no problem.

[Old Sparky]

Following 1.1 above results in a Black screen headed 'C;\WINDOWS\system32\cmd\exe,' but no info. is displayed. In the meantime I've run two or three speed checks via Talk Talk's own website, changing the microfilter in between. Best results i can get are 'Download 1.9Mbps, Upload 9.4Mbps', despite their site saying average speeds of 30Mbps (should be)available. My computer is connected via an extension cable(which I fitted) to the master socked-the same installation I've had for years. Due to the location of the master socket, I'm unable to connect the computer directly to it so, unless a higher quality extension cable is available, there appears to be no answer to the problem, which, if I'm honest, doesn't trouble me greatly.

[Mark Hennessy]

Having got to the black screen, you need to type "ipconfig /all". Don't include the quotes.

Meanwhile, if you are definitely getting 9.4Mb/s uploads, then you can't be using ADSL; you must be using VDSL. How do Talk Talk describe the product you are using? Is the word "fibre" anywhere in there? Alternatively, could you be confusing download with upload? Could you provide a screen shot of the results? Right now, it sounds like something is very, very wrong indeed.

Regarding your phone socket, what matters is where the router plugs into the phone line - not the computer. The router should ideally plug in to the master socket. The Cat5 cable joining the router to the computer can be as long as you like, as that signal is nice and robust, but the signal on your phone line is fragile and needs handling with great care. However, let's not get side-tracked at this stage - we can come back to this later.

[Old Sparky]

I've always had my router on top the the computer and connected via the extension cable. In any case since the router needs to be connected to the PC via an ethernet cable, and the PC is about 10 feet from the master socket, it's not practical to move the router. As for upload/download confusion, I wondered about that, too, but the same results occur with two different speed checkers, the lower of the two speeds definitely being marked 'download' in both cases

[Mark Hennessy]

Please let's not get side-tracked. Have you typed "ipconfig /all" into the DOS box yet?

[ppppenguin]

Just to show what you should see, here's the important part of what you should see when you type ipconfig/all at the command prompt. The important bit is the default gateway which in my case is 192.168.1.1 It will usually be 192.168.x.y or sometimes 10.a.b.c. There are other possibilities but if you've got one of those we'll deal with it when we know.

So I then type 192.168.1.1 into the address bar of my web browser. In my case this asks for a username and password for my router. Yours may well not ask for those details but we won't know until you try. If it needs username and/or password these will often be on a label on the router. You want the router or system password, not the wifi password which is also usually on the router's label.

[Old Sparky]

Earlier this afternoon, I downloaded a 48 page service manual, plus an instruction manual, and a one-page diagram from HiFi Engine in a matter of maybe less than 30 seconds, which is O.K. by me. When I try to type anything into the?DOSBox?(Black Screen) even at full-screen size, very small illegible words appear.. I'll try again later, or maybe tomorrow, but don't want to spend many hours trying to sort this out.