Shadow on the screen

[doversoul1]

My internet connection has slowed down to this:

You connection was connecting at roughly 330Kb/s

I have done a few line tests instructed by the server but they have not yet been able to determine the cause. In the meantime, I have noticed that shadowy bands / stripes are moving continuously sometimes up and other times down the screen. I am wondering if this is a sign of age of my hardware: the desk top in its 7th year, the screen 13th. Could it be that the system is giving up?

I’m not sure if I can post this but even if I can, as I may not be able to respond to any advice and questions, my apologies in advance (I am hoping that I’ll be able to view the site, even just)

P.S. sending and receiving emails does not seem to be too much affected nor the use of Word.

[Anastasius]

The good news is that it almost certainly not your computer. The fact that you are using Word OK reinforces that view.

When you say 'few line tests instructed by the server' ...which 'server' are you referring to? Who is your ISP?

There is a difference between normal emails (ie those without huge attachments) and most webpages these days which seem to be overloaded with pictures ! But For3 should be fine.

It is either going to be your router or something in your local exchange.

Routers can exhibit very strange problems. I had one that would pass an FTP (file transfer protocol) test using a small file of a few kbytes but ask it to upload a larger file of, say, 100kbytes and it would fall over. So on the face of it, the FTP test suggested that the router was fine. It was not.

So that is one reason why I have a spare router - pre-configured with passwords and settings etc - so that I can swap it out to either replace a faulty router or help with fault-finding diagnosis.

Good luck. I hope you're not with TalkTalk or BT. I've never been impressed with their IT support.

Your shadowy bands sounds like a different fault. What sort of electricity supply do you have? Overhead wires, by any chance?

[Dave2002]

What data rate should you be getting? If this is "regular" broadband via the phone networks, up to 8 Mbps, then I'd suggest trying replacing the microfilter(s) - there may be more than one needed.

Also, if you are using ADSL, then sometimes turning the router off for quite a while, then restarting will force the link to reset itself, and it will then adapt or relearn the appropriate line conditions. Changing the micro filter can certainly do this, or it can be initiated by the people at the server end.

However we don't know exactly what broadband you have. You might be on cable, or on a higher speed ADSL line. High speed lines will possibly require a more considered approach - and you really will need to get help from the providers. If you are on any form of ADSL you'll almost certainly be using BT (or BT Openreach). If you are with other providers you will probably still be using BT Openreach as hardly any ISPs have their own networks, so they outsource the real work back to BT Openreach. The consequence of this is that if - for example - you are with TalkTalk, then TT will take forever to faff around, and maybe eventually decide there is a fault - but they then pass this back to BT for checking etc. To say that the companies don't cooperate too well might be an understatement. The slightly better thing about BT is that if one has a contract with BT, and there is an outage, they will generally admit that, and at least give a slight discount on the bill for the period of downtime. Other ISPs, such as the other one mentioned, will likely try to claim it was not their fault (blaming BT of course ...), and they will resist any attempts to claim compensation or not charge for loss of service.