LAN Only Network Issue

[kawzman]

PROBLEM. Surfing the net is frequently painfully slow. Webpage loading will stall for seconds to minutes before resuming again. Complex pages will not fully load (e.g. nfl.com and weather.com). The issue is a little different depending on the browser. Firefox and Chrome exhibit the issues described above. IE will not load any pages. After shutting down any browser an instance or multiple instances will still be running in the background, confirmed with windows task manager and process hacker (e.g. chrome.exe *32, iexplore.exe, iexplore.exe *32, firefox.exe *32). Typically all but one or two of the instances can be terminated. Once those one to two unkillable instances are running, the browser may not open when restarted, especially chrome. File transfer speeds between the desktop pc and devices connected wirelessly are normal. This issue is only occurring on the desktop pc. All devices connected to the network wirelessly do not exhibit any issues while down and up speeds are normal; tested with ppt, jpeg, mpg, and avi. Firefox is my primary browser and Chrome is my backup muscle to handle whatever Firefox can't or can't do better. IE is there as an absolute last resort.

TROUBLESHOOTING. At first I thought it was the Norton Identity Safe or Norton Family extensions (installed in all browsers). They have slowed the loading of certain pages in the past, especially those containing fillable and login fields. Disabled and/or uninstalled those, no effect. Rebooted router (NETGEAR WNDR3700v2) and cable modem (CISCO DCP2100R2), no effect. Switched out the LAN cable from modem to router and router to pc, no effect. Reinstalled mobo (Gigabyte GA-X48-DS4 rev 1.3) LAN drivers, no effect. Moved the LAN cable to each of the four router LAN ports and the two mobo LAN ports, no effect. Mobo LAN port LED's indicate no issues. Uninstalled OpenDNS, no effect. Reconfigured ipv4 and router to use Google public DNS servers, no effect. Reconfigured ipv4 and router to automatically obtain DNS server address, no effect. Reinstalled browsers, no effect. Scanned for baddies using Norton 360, Spybot S&D, Avira Antivir, and Malwarebytes Anti-Malware, came up empty.

Purchased new router (ASUS RT-N66U), unable to configure router or access router admin webpage on desktop pc. The page partially loads in Firefox and Chrome after several minutes and not at all in IE. The router's admin page loads quickly on my laptop and I was able to configure it; not the ideal method but I made it work. Nothing has changed for the desktop pc. At least I have eliminated the router as the cause. Speed tests without my ISP's logo plastered on their site measure my down at 4-9mb/s (three out of four were 4-6mb/s) and my up at 1.5-2mb/s. I pay for down at 20mb/s and up at 2mb/s. A couple test sites with my ISP's logo on it measured my speeds almost spot on to what I'm paying for, imagine that.

Looking for any suggestions and thoughts on this issue. I can't think of anything else to try before throwing in the towel. I listed all the relevant hardware and software specs below. Let me know if there's any additional information I can provide that's missing. Thanks for your help.

Cheers,
Kawzman

SPECIFICATIONS.
Firefox: 24.0 and 25.0.1
Chrome: 31.0.1650.57
IE: 10.0.11
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit SP1
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-X48-DS4 rev 1.3
Cable Modem: CISCO DCP2100R2
Router (original): NETGEAR WNDR3700v2, firmware 1.0.0.12
Router (replacement): ASUS RT-N66U, firmware 3.0.0.4.374_979
ISP: Time Warner Cable (down: 20mb/s, up: 2mb/s)

 

[RLGL]

Don't throw in the towel . Really try a NIC card if you want to do this on the cheap OR Toss the motherboard and start over, if the board is several years old. I average three years on my home built systems before a failure of some sort.

 

[kawzman]

not giving up, just at a road block and trying to figure the issue out. shouldn't the leds indicate that the mobo lan ports were having an issue? this board has been awesome, from my 2008 build.

 

[saratoga172]

LEDs don't always indicate. They could appear normal but still be going bad. Try a new nic and see if that works. Should be about $15 for one if memory serves me right.

 

[unixwizzard]

try running a utility such as ccleaner?

clean out the windows and browser cache and temp/tmp directories

run the disk cleanup utility.. have it clear out system files, old windows update and service pack files..

clear out all but the most recent system restore files..

defrag the c: drive (if not a solid state)

"reset" the swap/paging file.. set it at 200mb or whatever the minimum windows will allow - reboot then go and set it back to whatever size it was before (and it you want to be real anal about it, do the disk defrag after shrinking the swap but before enlarging it)

this is what I generally do first when working on a "slow" system.. you'd be surprised how much those little things can speed up an older system (older meaning 6+ months since OS install).

 

[kawzman]

first off, thanks for the responses guys. I appreciate it.

unixwizzard, I typically run ccleaner and glary utilities every other weekend. I mentioned several virus softwares that i ran but i only keep norton and spybot installed. I install the others on the fly to dig deep for something those might have missed and then uninstall them once finished. windows updates are current and i use secunia psi to help keep software up to date. drivers are all up to date. my hdds are defraged. I'll give the other suggestions a shot.

i'm feeling adventurous today and will prob venture out and pick up a cheap pci nic to completely rule out the mobo LAN ports as the culprit.

 

[lif_andi]

You could also try using vmware player or Hyper-V to create a virtual machine and try the browser on that. That way you could identify hardware or Windows installation problems.

 

[kawzman]

no dice with the pci nic, issue persists. think it's safe to say it's a software issue.

 

[lif_andi]

There is a way to re-install the entire network stack in windows. Can't remember it and can't be arsed to google it for you, but it can be done, and is known to solve issues.

 

[kawzman]

well thanks for the help guys. since i eliminated the hardware, went ahead and completed a fresh win 7 install. needed one anyway and will have a more current image to work with. lan is working without issues.

 

[saratoga172]

Glad to hear it's up and running. Sounds like a driver related issue. Could have been a patch install as well. We had a .net 4 install on a server 08 r2 machine take out an entire network at one of our locations until we shut the box down. Uninstall/reinstall fixed it but weird stuff.

 

[JackMDS]

http://www.windows-secrets.co.uk/2013/08/repair-the-windows-87vista-tcpip-stack/