Win 8.1 Very Slow Ping Time and Reduced Download Speed

Ron AKA

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For once I am posting a solution instead of a problem. I had complained to my ISP about a hesitation and speed issue. They agreed to upgrade my service from 15 to 25 Mbps. However when the guy was here to check the system he got that increased speed on my old Win 7 laptop, but could not get it as high with my new Win 8.1 much faster desktop PC. Ping time ranged from 40 to 56, and I was getting about 21 for download and 2.8 for upload. My laptop was doing about 7 for ping, 23 for download and 2.8 up. This is using the Speedtest by Ookla. He was unable to solve the problem but said he didn't like Windows 8.1 and Windows 7 was much better. Haven't we all heard that before.

In any case I did some Google searching and found similar advice - blame it on Win 8.1. I then stumbled onto a very accurate response that nailed the problem for me. I thought I would pass it on for those who may be having similar issues, or just want to tweak their system to best internet performance. Go to Control Panel, Device Manager, Network Adaptors, and open your adapter. Under the Advanced tab select Speed & Duplex. I found mine set to Auto Negotiation. It appears that this Auto Negotiation can slow your ping and even download time as it seems to take some time to get the negotiation done. I manually set my speed at first to 100 Mbps Half Duplex (which is what the poster said worked for him), but for me that didn't work at all. I then tried 100 Mbps Full Duplex, and Bingo. Ping time improved to 6 ms, download was 24.7, and upload 3.0. I am presuming that when you go the manual setting route, you have to match the communication protocol of the network adaptor. And when you manually set it, it speeds things up.

Speedtest.net by Ookla - My Results

Hope that is of some help to others,
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 8 x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    AMD FX-8350
    Motherboard
    Asus M5A99FX Pro R2.0
    Memory
    16 GB Viper 3 DDR3-2133
    Graphics Card(s)
    HIS Radeon HD 7770
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Asus PA248Q
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1200
    Hard Drives
    128 GB 840 Pro Samsung SSD
    2 x 1TB Seagate Barracuda (Storage Space - Simple)
    PSU
    Antec 550
    Case
    Antec Sonata II
    Cooling
    CoolerMaster TPC 812
    Keyboard
    CM Storm Quickfire XT Brn - wired PS/2
    Mouse
    Roccat Lua - wired USB
    Internet Speed
    15
    Browser
    IE10
    Antivirus
    MS Defender
OK, now I am posting a problem. I have discovered that when I shutdown the computer and do a cold reboot, I loose the benefit of making the Speed & Duplex change from "Auto Negotiate" to "Full Duplex 100 Mbps". Ping times go bad again, and upload speed is reduced. When I go in and manually change it back to Auto and then back again to Full Duplex, my fast times are restored!!!

Any thoughts on what is going on?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 8 x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    AMD FX-8350
    Motherboard
    Asus M5A99FX Pro R2.0
    Memory
    16 GB Viper 3 DDR3-2133
    Graphics Card(s)
    HIS Radeon HD 7770
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Asus PA248Q
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1200
    Hard Drives
    128 GB 840 Pro Samsung SSD
    2 x 1TB Seagate Barracuda (Storage Space - Simple)
    PSU
    Antec 550
    Case
    Antec Sonata II
    Cooling
    CoolerMaster TPC 812
    Keyboard
    CM Storm Quickfire XT Brn - wired PS/2
    Mouse
    Roccat Lua - wired USB
    Internet Speed
    15
    Browser
    IE10
    Antivirus
    MS Defender
I updated the Realtek network driver and no change to the issue.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 8 x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    AMD FX-8350
    Motherboard
    Asus M5A99FX Pro R2.0
    Memory
    16 GB Viper 3 DDR3-2133
    Graphics Card(s)
    HIS Radeon HD 7770
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Asus PA248Q
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1200
    Hard Drives
    128 GB 840 Pro Samsung SSD
    2 x 1TB Seagate Barracuda (Storage Space - Simple)
    PSU
    Antec 550
    Case
    Antec Sonata II
    Cooling
    CoolerMaster TPC 812
    Keyboard
    CM Storm Quickfire XT Brn - wired PS/2
    Mouse
    Roccat Lua - wired USB
    Internet Speed
    15
    Browser
    IE10
    Antivirus
    MS Defender
its probably settings of your adapter.. look and google every single one of those in "your" system though...

this is my system.. which will be different than yours..

netwroksard.JPG
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 (HOME not Pro) 64bit
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    (So not very nice) Lenovo Y410P
    CPU
    i7 quad 2.4Gig
    Memory
    16G ram
    Graphics Card(s)
    nvidia 2gig 755m
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 840 Evo

    supercache2 m2. mini card.
    Antivirus
    Win Defender
re-read your posting again,...

what exactly are your ping times right now? i have always had [DEL]20..[/DEL] 18-20
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 (HOME not Pro) 64bit
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    (So not very nice) Lenovo Y410P
    CPU
    i7 quad 2.4Gig
    Memory
    16G ram
    Graphics Card(s)
    nvidia 2gig 755m
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 840 Evo

    supercache2 m2. mini card.
    Antivirus
    Win Defender
re-read your posting again,..what exactly are your ping times right now? i have always had [DEL]20..[/DEL] 18-20

When I reset the Speed & Duplex setting after boot up I get a consistent ping of 6-7 ms. Never more. However after I reboot, the ping time is slow and erratic. About as low as I have seen it is 30 ms, but it can go as high as 55, with 40 ms being typical.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 8 x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    AMD FX-8350
    Motherboard
    Asus M5A99FX Pro R2.0
    Memory
    16 GB Viper 3 DDR3-2133
    Graphics Card(s)
    HIS Radeon HD 7770
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Asus PA248Q
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1200
    Hard Drives
    128 GB 840 Pro Samsung SSD
    2 x 1TB Seagate Barracuda (Storage Space - Simple)
    PSU
    Antec 550
    Case
    Antec Sonata II
    Cooling
    CoolerMaster TPC 812
    Keyboard
    CM Storm Quickfire XT Brn - wired PS/2
    Mouse
    Roccat Lua - wired USB
    Internet Speed
    15
    Browser
    IE10
    Antivirus
    MS Defender
I updated the NIC drivers again with the latest direct from Realtek. No change. I had hibernation disabled, and enabled it again. Also enabled Fast Start. Thought it might save my configuration when I shut down and avoid the apparent loss of driver settings on reboot. Again no success.

This appears to be an issue between Windows 8.1 and the NIC driver. Sounds like a stone age solution, but I wonder if I bought and installed a dedicated PCIe network interface card if I might work around it?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 8 x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    AMD FX-8350
    Motherboard
    Asus M5A99FX Pro R2.0
    Memory
    16 GB Viper 3 DDR3-2133
    Graphics Card(s)
    HIS Radeon HD 7770
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Asus PA248Q
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1200
    Hard Drives
    128 GB 840 Pro Samsung SSD
    2 x 1TB Seagate Barracuda (Storage Space - Simple)
    PSU
    Antec 550
    Case
    Antec Sonata II
    Cooling
    CoolerMaster TPC 812
    Keyboard
    CM Storm Quickfire XT Brn - wired PS/2
    Mouse
    Roccat Lua - wired USB
    Internet Speed
    15
    Browser
    IE10
    Antivirus
    MS Defender
As an update, I bought an Intel Gigabit PCIe card. It behaves the same way as the built in Realtek, or perhaps a bit worse.

I have discovered that it may not be setting "Speed & Duplex" at 100 Mbps Full Duplex that is fixing the problem with ping time. It must be something associated with simply resetting Speed & Duplex. I am now running with a good ping time, and it is set to "Auto Negotiate". It seems at times just the resetting of it, puts it in fast mode. There also seems to be something flakey about Device Manager when it is doing this. I get a blue busy circle for quite a few seconds, and then when it clears the whole Device Manager display window will blink on and off several times, for up to 30 seconds or long after you click OK. I'm beginning to think this is a bug in Window 8.1, or something very weird with my particular setup.

Only tried it once but it seems a potential work around is to not shut the computer down, but put it into Hibernate. I've tried it once, and it preserved my fast ping time. If anyone has any better solutions I would sure like to hear them...

Here is what I am currently getting running with it set at Auto Negotiate.

4017901388.png
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 8 x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    AMD FX-8350
    Motherboard
    Asus M5A99FX Pro R2.0
    Memory
    16 GB Viper 3 DDR3-2133
    Graphics Card(s)
    HIS Radeon HD 7770
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Asus PA248Q
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1200
    Hard Drives
    128 GB 840 Pro Samsung SSD
    2 x 1TB Seagate Barracuda (Storage Space - Simple)
    PSU
    Antec 550
    Case
    Antec Sonata II
    Cooling
    CoolerMaster TPC 812
    Keyboard
    CM Storm Quickfire XT Brn - wired PS/2
    Mouse
    Roccat Lua - wired USB
    Internet Speed
    15
    Browser
    IE10
    Antivirus
    MS Defender
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