Problems with my internet connection, any ideas?

[phishfood]

We had been having troubles with connections timing out, etc, before with dialup.

Just recently, we got a Verizon MiFi wireless hotspot. For general information, it is basically a cellphone that is used exclusively for a WiFi connection. We have a Belkin USB wireless adaptor that plugs into a USB port, since our computer is so old that it doesn't have a built in wireless receiver. We have tried IE, Safari, Chrome, and Firefox.

We are having a serious problem with reliably accessing websites. It doesn't seem to be any particular website, when the problem rears it's ugly head, we can't log on any site. We either get a page saying that the server at the website isn't responding, or the connection has timed out, as the server is taking too long to respond. The problem can still remain after restarting every device and program in the "internet chain", and even restarting the computer. Sometimes, all that is required is putting down the sledgehammer and walking away from the computer for 10 minutes, then you can whiz all about the net without problems. Other times it won't straighten itself out for an hour.

The MiFi box could be showing NO reception bars, and everything works fine, or it could be showing 2 or 3 bars, and still not be able to surf the web. The wireless adaptor always shows the signal strength to be "excellent" at all times. We have played around with the proxy server settings, and my wife has done a whole bunch of other stuff that I couldn't even begin to comprehend.

Can I just pick up the sledgehammer and smash the tower into little pieces, or is there something else I should really try first?

[Austin]

Well smashing is a solution, but it the last one.

It sounds like it's just not fast enough most of the time.

Have you called their customer support?

[Chris]

I am using my verizon phones hotspot 99% of the time I am on the web and it works pretty good. I have not had any of the problems you are talking about. It is slightly slower then my home internet but that went out a month ago and I haven't had enough time off for them to come out and work on it.

[speedbump]

I'm wondering if the Belkin USB wireless has the right driver installed. Did your operating system come up with the message "your hardware has been installed and is working correctly" the first time you plugged the Belkin in?

[DogPatch]

could be you need a clean up of your hard drive

[phishfood]

No, we haven't called customer support. Before we changed the password, my son was getting on the net with his laptop and wasn't experiencing problems, which makes me think that it is with our desktop. And, at times I can watch videos without a problem, so I tend to not think that it is a speed problem.

My wife set up the wireless adaptor, and I remember her saying something about installing the drivers for it. I will ask her about that.

She has also defragmented and cleaned up the computer, with no positive effect.

Thanks for the replies so far.

[speedbump]

Just in the event that you might have some nasties lurking on your hard drive, it wouldn't hurt to download Malwarebytes update to the latest definitions and run a full scan. I have had Malwarebytes find things that Avast let through and vice versa.

Another problem could be your machine acquiring an IP address. I have had three machines hooked up in my man cave, two working normally and be working on the third and have the wireless connection be fine on the first two, but the one I'm working on keeps losing it's connection then regaining it back. It was an IP issue. I gave it a static IP address and it worked great after that.

[DaveBennett]

I agree with post above, Malwarebytes never hurts but is likely not the problem. Verizon has had a lot of problems with their mobile hotspot products from what I understand. I would investigate switching to something else if at all possible. I bluetooth tether to my phone and its fast as hell. Mobile hotspots are just problematic though.