for the last 5 days, my dial up speed has been between 9-12 kbps. Prior to this, it was 46.6. What's reason?

Question

I have run anti-spy and anti-virus and it shows none are present.I have tried shutting down and restarting, to no avail.

Answer 1

If the speed of the connection itself has dropped then there's something with the phone lines between your PC and the ISP. If your throughput has dropped then it's either a PC issue or lag on the web.
Since the question isn't specific I'd say first check if the actual dial-up icon shows speed at 9-12 kbps. If so this is physical. Check to make sure your phone cable is plugged in tight and that the cable isn't damaged. Next check and see if there's anything that has come closer to the cable that uses electricity, motors, or magnets. If so move whatever it is and the cable farther away as it may be producing EMI and damaging the signal. If nothing is wrong with your cable then you should call the ISP and see if they are having issues. If they are not then you have a choice to make. Is the impact enough to pay a tech to come test the wires and see if something has gone bad? If not wait it out and hope it clears up. If it doesn't for a while then it may be worth having a tech check the cabling. You can check it yourself but without proper training and tools you may not find much. The main thing is to look at the cable you can get to and see if it's cut, corroded, or otherwise damaged. If it is replace it.

Now if the dial-up icon is showing higher speeds and it's just things like browser based speed tests then it's probably a PC issue. The ISP may be having lag problems so it's worth calling them, but most of the time those only last a few hours to a day. If anti-spy and virus don't show anything try shutting down the PC for 10 minutes then powering it back up. If that doesn't help try defragging the main hard drive. If all else fails and it's not with the ISP call a technician.

On a side note if you're convinced it's an ISP issue and 3 techs there tell you it isn't then it truly isn't. I worked for a major ISP for 1.5 years and while you might occasionally get a tech that is clueless or too lazy to really check for you after 3 of them saying it has to be your PC then it is. Try a different anti-virus or anti-spyware product as some work better than others.

Answer 2

It sounds like the quality of your phone line has gotten worse. If you just pick up your phone and press one digit (like a 5) to get the dial-tone to turn off and listen, do you hear bad noise? Call the phone company repair and complain.

Answer 3

Ma Bell hates the customers.

Answer 4

hell
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Answer 5

Something may be wrong with the actual copper phone line. Do your phone calls sound clear still?

Answer 6

Have you tried the obvious??
Calling your ISP and asking them??

Answer 7

this is always temporary
just unplug and replug your connection and soon it will be restored