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Ragingbear · 05-09-2008, 05:05 PM

I used to have cable Internet, but I recently had to switch due to bandwidth limitations from my old ISP.

I was pretty much forced to go with AT&T, and discovered a new level of suck with their customer service, but that is another rant entirely.

I tried using the install CD, and reached the point where I registered a user name, and then produced an error saying that it could not access the servers necessary to register it. Yet for some reason, the actual DSL network registered it, because after another call to customer support, I entered my new name and password and was finally on the net.

This led me to the actual problem. When I try to start up the net, it takes FOREVER to log in. With cable, it took 2 or 3 seconds to load in google (as my homepage) from firefox being off. Now it suddenly takes around 20 seconds to get started. Then, you will get the feeling that it is actually loading. Sometimes it will load very quickly, other times it will load so slowly that it reminds me of the old dial-up days. There seems to be little consistency in regards to this speed. Other times, I get a message that my internet connection does not seem to be working, but if I refresh, it may or may not load in.

I tried this in IE and FF. Same results. Windows Update site will not properly connect, and I have checked all sorts of settings, researching things on Google. My computer is still running horribly.

I have used CCleaner, Ad-Aware, Spy-Bot and a virus scan from Avast! Avast found 2 instances of a piece of adware when I tried installing from the CD. I believe I got all that scrubbed off. No change.

I did reboots, repowers, resets and all sorts of other standard (unplug it and plug it back in) type stuff. Somewhere along the line, I got a bizzare error from Firefox where it would say that it was running, but was not displaying. I eventually ran it in safe mode, and it fixed. That was a nice Twilight Zone Error.

During all this, I ran a repair install from my Windows disk, wondering if some DLL's got messed up.

I am at my wit's end, and can't figure out what the origin of this error is, or how to fix it. AT&T DSL Support is just a bunch of idiots reading from a screen for the most part. However, running the net like this is simply unacceptable.

Specs~~

CPU: AMD 64 3700+
RAM: 2gb DDR1 (PC3200)
Hard Drive: 2 sata2 RAID drives in mirror configuration. 360gb
GPU: ATI Radeon X1900XT

Browser: Firefox (all test ran with IE as well)
DSL: Motorola (no identifiers noted. Little silver box about the size of your hand)

DSL Lights: {Power} {Ethernet} {DSL} {Internet} {Activity}. All lights are green except activity, which blinks regularly. Ethernet light will occassionally blink when pages are loading and such.

05-09-2008, 05:05 PM	#1 (permalink)
Ragingbear Registered User Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 5 OS: XP-Professional x64	Switched to DSL, nuked system? I used to have cable Internet, but I recently had to switch due to bandwidth limitations from my old ISP. I was pretty much forced to go with AT&T, and discovered a new level of suck with their customer service, but that is another rant entirely. I tried using the install CD, and reached the point where I registered a user name, and then produced an error saying that it could not access the servers necessary to register it. Yet for some reason, the actual DSL network registered it, because after another call to customer support, I entered my new name and password and was finally on the net. This led me to the actual problem. When I try to start up the net, it takes FOREVER to log in. With cable, it took 2 or 3 seconds to load in google (as my homepage) from firefox being off. Now it suddenly takes around 20 seconds to get started. Then, you will get the feeling that it is actually loading. Sometimes it will load very quickly, other times it will load so slowly that it reminds me of the old dial-up days. There seems to be little consistency in regards to this speed. Other times, I get a message that my internet connection does not seem to be working, but if I refresh, it may or may not load in. I tried this in IE and FF. Same results. Windows Update site will not properly connect, and I have checked all sorts of settings, researching things on Google. My computer is still running horribly. I have used CCleaner, Ad-Aware, Spy-Bot and a virus scan from Avast! Avast found 2 instances of a piece of adware when I tried installing from the CD. I believe I got all that scrubbed off. No change. I did reboots, repowers, resets and all sorts of other standard (unplug it and plug it back in) type stuff. Somewhere along the line, I got a bizzare error from Firefox where it would say that it was running, but was not displaying. I eventually ran it in safe mode, and it fixed. That was a nice Twilight Zone Error. During all this, I ran a repair install from my Windows disk, wondering if some DLL's got messed up. I am at my wit's end, and can't figure out what the origin of this error is, or how to fix it. AT&T DSL Support is just a bunch of idiots reading from a screen for the most part. However, running the net like this is simply unacceptable. Specs~~ CPU: AMD 64 3700+ RAM: 2gb DDR1 (PC3200) Hard Drive: 2 sata2 RAID drives in mirror configuration. 360gb GPU: ATI Radeon X1900XT Browser: Firefox (all test ran with IE as well) DSL: Motorola (no identifiers noted. Little silver box about the size of your hand) DSL Lights: {Power} {Ethernet} {DSL} {Internet} {Activity}. All lights are green except activity, which blinks regularly. Ethernet light will occassionally blink when pages are loading and such.