server lag

[amauriel]

Ha ha. The cable company HATES it when I call. Bad news for them - I've already diagnosed the issue and let them know that it's their fault and usually what it is. I typically get silence on the end followed by "Let me transfer you to a tech."

And I was one of the techs that would get transferred to. The job I had up until recently, I called customers back when the techs and agents wouldn't do their jobs (i.e. sending a tech out because "some channels are in Spanish") and educating over the phone (do you have an SAP button? press that. Viola!). The company really did tell everyone to make sure everything was the user's fault, because sending technicians out was expensive.

Here's how I did it (when managers weren't listening):

Me: Hi, what operating system do you have?

IF
Them: Windows XP Pro SP 2 (or something equally knowledgeable)
Me: What's the problem?
Them: Can't get online.
Me: Check to see if something's messed with your proxy settings.
Them: Already did.
Me: Sending a tech.

IF
Them: Linux (or even better, when they'd say something like "Gutsy Gibbon" to try to throw me off, ha!)
Me: Can you be the one there when the tech arrives?

IF
Them: Mac OSX Snow Leopard (or the system number)
Me: And what have you tried?
Them: *lists off several things*
Me: Sending a tech.
 
IF
Them: I think it's a Mac.
Me: Usually standard Mac troubleshooting. Usually had them go to the Apple store, as there were several close to our service area, unless it was blatantly our problem or we got it with the basic stuff.

IF
Them: Windows?
Me: What version?
Them: Ummm....99?
Me: Can I talk to your son??

IF
Them: What's an operating system?
Me: Yeah, not gonna be our problem, probably. Might want to see about having PC repair look at it.

It's not really right, but this is the way that I kept the length of my calls under the requirements (affected my bonus) and kept my technicians from having a ton of repeat calls (as going back out to a house over and over affected THEIR bonuses).

[htimreimer]

windows 7 pro and my laptop is the  toshiba satellite C650-001

[bugs181]

windows 7 pro and my laptop is the  toshiba satellite C650-001

I think you misunderstood. amauriel was just using that as an example for something off topic. Your OS doesn't really apply to this here.
We need to find out whether its YOUR computer or the internet your using. Please follow the instructions below.

• Go to your Start menu -> Click run, then type cmd
• from there, a black window will appear - then type in: "tracert vgcollect.com" (without the quotes)
• Proceed as my previous instructions stated for copy/paste'ing the info here.

[amauriel]

Yeah, sorry, I was just responding to @darko's post. These threads tend to take a life of their own around here.

[kirbysuperstar]

That's what I liked about my previous job - I was the IT support, the sysadmin, the comms guy and the inventory manager. If somebody had a problem, I immediately knew what their PC was because of my stupidly good memory, so I didn't have to worry about supporting "Windows 2010 and Office 7".

Of course, that place can burn in hell now, seeing as they retrenched me the day after I bought a new car, leaving my poor boss to cope with the workload that BOTH of us struggled to get done.

Uh, what were we talking about again?

[htimreimer]

sorry about that

[dstone]

Wow, those response times are through the roof.

[bugs181]

Wow, those response times are through the roof.

I try my best.

Okay, so I think we found our problem. Notice how most of the numbers are well above 200 and some even as high as 800?
If you add all the numbers together thats about 8 seconds just to communicate with the server. Let's think about this for a second.
If EACH image and information section on a webpage has to communicate with the server and each time it takes 8 seconds this could very quickly add up to several minutes. These numbers shouldnt be much higher than 60 to 80 on most modern internet connections - yet we see very high numbers here. There are a few possibilities with this.

• You're internet by nature is really slow.
• You have an issue with your computer making the internet slow.
• Your device is starting to go bad causing excessive delay.

One thing you havn't mentioned is whether this is a wireless or wired connection. If wireless, there may be some interference from another device. There are a few fixes.

• Ensure your device isn't sitting too close to your wireless hub, router, or modem.
• Ensure that wireless mice and keyboards are at a good distance from your wireless antenna on your computer.
• Try a different channel setting on your wireless router.
• Contact your ISP for tech support and tell them you're getting interference causing speed issues on your wireless.

If however, this is a wired computer. There are also a few fixes.

• Ensure all wires are fit securely into their ports. Loose wires cause problems.
• Try a different ethernet cable as it could be broken causing irregular signals.
• If at all possible, replace or upgrade your network card.

I hope some of these suggestions fix your issue. If not, then please come back and we will try to diagnose even further.

[darko]

Wow, those response times are through the roof.

Yeah, that's pretty bad.

If I had to guess, I'd say you're using wireless. If you are, the steps for you to take are already listed above.

One other thing, are you dl'ing torrents or something? Also, could anyone in your house be streaming videos while you're online? That could be killing you.

If it's none of the above (previous post included), definitely call your ISP. There's something going on.

[bugs181]

Wow, those response times are through the roof.

Yeah, that's pretty bad.

If I had to guess, I'd say you're using wireless. If you are, the steps for you to take are already listed above.

One other thing, are you dl'ing torrents or something? Also, could anyone in your house be streaming videos while you're online? That could be killing you.

If it's none of the above (previous post included), definitely call your ISP. There's something going on.

I also concur with this post. As darko stated, if none of my above instructions were to fix your problem then the only other thing besides the ISP would be your network times being affected by downloads or other users on your network. If you're using wireless it's also a good idea to make sure you have encryption enabled on your network. Otherwise, anyone will have access to your internet and this would be VERY bad. Preferably set it to anything higher than WEP, WEP should be used as a last resort.

[amauriel]

Another thing to make sure of if you are using wireless is what frequency it's at. If you still have a 802.11 g router, they are usually at 2.4 GHz frequency, which is the same frequency a lot of older cordless phones and also baby monitors are. Besides making sure that a wireless keyboard is not close to an antenna, you want to make sure your router is not sitting under the cordless phone base or anything like that.

I had a customer once with lag like you have, but only at certain parts of the day. Come to find out, she lived in a studio apartment, and the cable technician had installed her router on top of her microwave. She'd put dinner in, try to get online while she was waiting for it, and be unable to connect. Microwaves sometimes run at that 2.4 GHz frequency too. 

[disgaeniac]

Is there an interpreter here that can translate the last 5 - 10 posts before this one into English???

[jobocan]

Is there an interpreter here that can translate the last 5 - 10 posts before this one into English???

Magic.

*Edit*
I understand all of that stuff, but saying that it's magic just seems to explain it so much better

[dstone]

• Something is making your connection slow.
• Is your computer wired or wireless?

That pretty much sums 'em up. 

I tend to refer to stuff as PFM: pure friggin' magic.

[disgaeniac]

• Something is making your connection slow.
• Is your computer wired or wireless?

That pretty much sums 'em up. 

I tend to refer to stuff as PFM: pure friggin' magic.

I like your style XD