I moved into a new house about 3 weeks ago, and 4 days ago my internet started to become extremely spotty. It either doesn't work, or is extremely slow.
The internet still works fine for all my other roommates, I ran a bunch of virus protection scans (it didn't detect any bugs), and I reset the router.
I'm out of ideas on what might be going on with it. Any suggestions?
I have a Lenovo Windows 8.1, for what it's worth.
I know you love your PC, but the problems is not the internet but your computer. You might want to get something to drink this is going to be lengthy. You system needs things called resources this is comprised of RAM ROM and HARD DRIVE (HDD) You Operating System (OS) takes up about 1 GB of information automatically to run. Then you have things such as your pictures and documents and additional programs, applications and games. These eat up memory or HDD. You can purge some of this to give more room. I'm not sure if Win8 has defragment but if it does you should schedule it to run once a week. RAM is not permanent memory it is used for the internet primarily and opening programs, applications, etc. If you have things running (APPS) while opening the internet it is going to slow you down. ALSO I almost forgot Temporary Internet Files Clog you up. You need to delete those and we don't hear about them much anymore but cookies are also a big downer. The downside is it will take a little longer for webpages to load once you delete them because cookies are used to help webpages load faster if frequently visited. SO, Once you do these things you just need to do a disk cleanup this is a good practice it is more for system operation. I feel I'm forgetting to mention something. However, This should get you well on your way to better performance.
Remove the spots, by cleaning your glasses, now lets speed up your system.
#1 clean out All system caches, including browsers, java, adobe etc.
#2 goto controlpanel, administrative tools, services, disable all the services you don't need.
#3 do a control-alt-delete then taskmanager. Look at all the processes you have runnning you don't need, you might have to go back to services to end them, you might have to uninstall programs etc.
#4 clean out registry, fixes lots of trash interference in computing, and defragging makes the HHD respond faster.
#5 Open up your brower, check your homepage has not been hijacked, and go in and disable add-ons you don't need.
#6 Hijackthis is a small program if your tech smart, to be able to remove runstatements, and get rid of bugs like run once statements that become redundant, and a few other issues. Use under tech guideance.
#7 factory REset your router. Go into the router webpage, flush, reset, and completely on your system delete and setup new control points.
#8 remove any toolbars, and other unexplainable programs you have in ADD n Remove programs.
Where do you keep your phone when you are using the computer or do you have any other wireless devices nearby? This can interfere with wireless signal from the router. Also distance can effect this as well.
A second thing to consider as this is a shared Wi-Fi. Are all of you using it at the same time? What are the others doing? Are they streaming a movie or an online game?
I would also check what type of router it is. Is it a wireless b/g/n and what works best with your computers wireless connection.
Lastly change to a WPA2 setting for your wireless router if you have it set on a WEP connection. Someone maybe stealing your bandwidth because WEP is not as secure.
How are you connecting? Ethernet or Wi-Fi? How are your roommates connecting (same options)? If you are using Wi-Fi are you certain that you are connecting to the correct router? Might you be accessing a different router?
Routers are tiny little computers that manage your network. Sometimes they require a bit too much of themselves and cause problems. That's why many routers require a regular restart. Sometimes you can easily fix this problem, but other times you may just have a bad router. Unfortunately, routers often don't fail by completely dying. Rather, they'll stop working well and you won't notice immediately. If your router turns into a declining dud, you'll probably want to get a new one.