BACKGROUND
We have three laptops - one that's been running Azureus v2 for years, a newer one, and my work laptop.
Two are running XP SP3, one running Win 7 (64-bit). The two XPs are running Java 1.6.0_17, the Win 7 is running 1.6.0_20.
All three are running through the same wireless router hooked up to Verizon DSL. In fact, the laptops are side-by-side.
I have started having a problem - described below - with my work laptop. Prior to this week, I would get DL speeds in the 100's routinely.
PROBLEM
The work laptop has slow download speeds.
This is happening on my work laptop only (which is running XP SP3), not on the other XP SP3 or the Win 7.
The problem is it will burst at a normally high speed, then drop to between 20K and 0. The NAT is green, the smiley icon is green, the NAT/Firewall test passes.
If I DL the same torrent on all three machines simultaneously, the work laptop operates at this slow speed while the other two machines hold the DL at speeds in the 100-200 kB/s range (again, same torrent, same wireless router, same DSL, same time). This happens if they are all on my desk (next to the router) or all in another room, it does not appear to be limited to just one room. (Note: I first noticed this problem on Monday, when I had the work laptop on a hotel's wireless network. Hotels are notoriously sporadic in their connection speeds, so I didn't think anything of it until Thursday night when I was back on my home network.)
I first noticed this problem on Monday. I've been running Vuze on this particular machine since December.
This has happened with every download I've attempted since Monday.
The "size" of the problem varies - the DL speed can spike up to 90 kB/s or so, but then just as quickly drop. It spends the vast majority of it's time at or below 10kb/s.
ATTEMPTS AT SOLUTION
I allowed Vuze to upgrade the work laptop Monday - the same time I noticed these issues. In the thought that the upgrade was the cause, I uninstalled Vuze and reinstalled 4.3.1.4. That does not seem to have made a difference. I've run Spybot, rebooted... nothing. Doesn't seem to make a difference if running on AC power or battery, or if the file is being stored on the local hard drive or on an external (USB) drive.
I did notice that the performance improved - somewhat - if I only had one active torrent running at a time. Up until then, I would typically have five or six at a time, and all would be well.
KNOWN CHANGES
I haven't (knowingly) made any changes to my machine's setup - either in Vuze itself, or in the system. Again, I get all green lights - so it thinks it's happy, I just know it isn't. But, since it is a work-issued laptop, they have been known to push software onto the machine and remotely tinker with them, unbeknownst to users. If there was some change to the machine's firewall, wouldn't that give me a yellow or red smiley or NAT problem?
So I know the cause isn't in the network, my ISP, the NAT, or the software version. I'm stymied as to where to look.
Thank you in advance for any and all assistance. (I THINK I pre-emptively answered any clarifying questions...)
wow, if everyone asking for help was this thorough, we would be living in a perfect world.
ok bonorbeen, you seem technically capable so that saves us the trouble of hand holding you. my initial thoughts were, have you isolated this only to vuze, or is downloading comparatively slow even while downloading via http (eg. software from download.com)? are uploads affected too?
if the issue is system wide,
1. check to see if any updates are downloading in the background
2. check out processes running in the background using HijackThis, look for suspicious or unknown processes or post a log here and someone will help you.
3. delete your WiFi connection, restart and set it up again.
if it's isolated to vuze,
1. check your options, i don't use vuze myself, but i'd be looking for global bandwidth limits and such.
2. uninstall, then reinstall it
3. try another client. no need to mention names, we all know what the best alternative is.
good luck.
Wow. I actually hadn't thought about that. Duh.Originally Posted by w31n3r
I HAD DL'ed Spybot. It was going very very slowly, so I switched mirrors, and it seemed ok. But I didn't try doing a side-by-side comparison of the same file on two machines. (I tend to not run around "trying" stuff until someone gives me a reason to; in my world that usually costs a lot of money. But I probably SHOULD have thought of trying this!)
I don't typically have great upload speed to begin with, but it does seem diminished.
Not really certain how to actively check that.
I think I've had my semi-weekly Windows update pushed onto the machine (but am not certain). I do get a weekly "security" update pushed by corporate every Thursday night. I noticed this problem for the first time on Monday, and I am reasonably certain that I used the affected machine successfully with Vuze LAST Thursday night (my wife's weekly "Grey's Anatomy/Private Practice" DVD), so I don't know...
But as far as seeing what updates are running in the background, I don't know how to see that (outside of the tray icon). Also, if an update running in the background were the cause, how does it explain that this problem has been happening continuously since Monday?
I've done that for other issues in the past and not had great success in finding people that really knew what they were talking about! But I certainly can do it - is this the forum for that?
(nb- Don't forget I have lots of corporate logon and security stuff on this machine).
I've noticed this both when I've used Windows and Dell ControlPoint to connect - and I also first noticed this on a different network entirely (assumed it was the network at first). This is certainly an easy solution, but I don't see how it explains the above.
Yeah, I've done that. I hadn't made any changes between it's good condition and it's bad condition, so I'm kind of stymied there. There are a LOT of options to look at, so I didn't do a full screen-by-screen comparison. Everything that should be maxxed is maxxed, and again, I didn't make any known changes. (But I will check again).
Thought I mentioned I did that - well, uninstalled and reinstalled a previous version. I DID keep the same config files, though (to preserve history and ratios and the like). You're recommending a completely clean install?
Actually, I don't. I've only used Azureus/Vuze (since way back before you were probably born - 2004!).
Thanks for your help. I'm not trying to be jerky with my pushback - I want to understand.
I also should try Windows' "System Restore" and take my system back to last week and see if THAT makes a difference.
Will try all this on Monday.
Thanks for your help!
not at all. sorry i drew up a blank :(
the reason i recommended hijackthis was to cover the possibility that malware was behind this. i've also used Network Monitor on occations, though for different purposes. you can try it to see if anything particular is eating up your bandwidth.
don't worry, someone will come by with more suggestions soon.
EDIT: and system restore is a great idea!
I don't think Network Monitor will tell me anything - if it was something hogging bandwidth, it would have to affect all machines.
I DID realize after my last post - I last observed this working properly around 11PM on Thursday May 6, and there was a corporate push around 4AM on Friday May 7 (and again on May 14), so there COULD have been something in that push to create the issue.
So here's what I will try:
1) Simultaneous side-by-side download of some random file off download.com, and see if there's a difference.
2) Simultaneous side-by-side UPload of a big honkin' file to yousendit.com, and see if there's a difference.
3) Will run HJT and print that puppy out.
4) Will do a System Restore to Wednesday May 5 and try DL'ing again.
5) Will run HJT post-System Restore and compare to the one run in Step 3.
6) Report back here to all of my loyal readers.
I know, quite the weekend cliffhanger! (Not quite a "WTF is the black smoke monster", but...)
--norb
The problem seems to have automagically disappeared after doing a System Restore. The HJT logs pre- and post-restore are absolutely identical.
I will have to let this go through this week's office network updates and see if anything goes haywire after that. Although I don't use IE (I use Moz FF), I understand that Vuze DOES use IE, so I will also update that before reposting if something does go wrong. (I haven't updated IE on the other XP machine, but that is running an older Vuze; the 64-bit is running 64-bit. So while sketchy, it isn't enough to throw out.)
Here's what's interesting:
I compared download and upload speeds on my work XP (the affected machine) and an older XP machine.
Downloaded a 4MB .m4a file to Desktop from Yousendit.com:
Work Machine = 27 seconds; Old XP = <2 seconds
Uploaded a 16MB .ppt file to Yousendit.com:
Work Machine = 3:48; Old XP = 3:24
Downloaded same .ppt file to Desktop from Yousendit.com:
Work Machine = 2:14; Old XP = 0:46
Downloaded 30MB .exe file to Desktop from Download.com:
Work Machine = 1:22; Old XP = 1:26
Downloaded 43MB MAC file (just for giggles) to Desktop from Download.com:
Work Machine = 2:14; Old XP = 2:05
So some variation in download between the two, but not consistent. These were not simultaneous downloads but back-to-back. I did the .m4a file twice, once at the beginning, and once at the end, and the results were the same.
Hmmm...
So, I will say - for now - problem fixed, but damned if I know why.
Still would like to know what the other "better" software is.
Thanks for your help.
well thats great news!
i wouldn't read too much in the variations in speed you listed above, looks pretty normal to me.
currently the most popular alternative to vuze is a prog called uTorrent. it isn't better per se, but is lighter on system resources and has a negligible memory footprint thus making it today's most popular bit torrent client. not quite as feature rich as vuze, but does everything you can ask from a torrent client including automatically moving downloaded files to different directories, download from RSS feeds, yada, yada, yada.
no real reason to switch though if you're perfectly happy with vuze, but worth a look see if it's the first time you've heard of it.
I thought the disparity between the yousendit.com and download.com was interesting.
I tried uTorrent about 3 1/2 years ago and didn't feel compelled to switch. I may give it a try in a bit.
Missed "24" last night, so I had to DL it - but I used my home, not work computer. Slow at first, but then again there was only one seed when I started. I imagine within the hour that number picked up!
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