Windows 8.1 - knocking every device of my network until I do a system refresh

Stevies

Stevies

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Stephen
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Hi folks,

On my previous laptop I had Windows 8 and then upgraded to 8.1 Pro. I eventually sold the laptop though (well apart from wanting a change and a complete change of machine!) because every few months all of a sudden the network (2 x laptops, several tablets, smart phones etc) will start to slow down and after a day or two stop completely. I eventually discovered that if I do a system refresh I'm back to normal as are the other machines on the network. Before the refresh if my laptop was off the others worked perfectly.

I changed the laptop in September or so but a week or so ago I ran into the same problem. I don't mind reinstalling my programs again although it is a pain in the rear end and takes a fair few hours.

I was wondering if you have had similar problems? I've control over what updates happen and I'm not having any wireless updates that are knocking things off.

Thanks

Stevie
 
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It won't be Windows.

What software is installed?
Is it connected wirelessly or wired?
What happens when you restart your router?
 
LR5, PS6, Illustrator 6, Office 365 for work and a few Steam games for when the notion takes me. I also have a flight sim. Other than that and the usual antivirus software, CCleaner etc nothing exceptional.

It's connected wirelessly (over a very short distance) but doesn't matter if I can connect via LAN - same result. I've tried restarting the router but it had zero effect. To be honest at the start I thought it was on BT's end and they sent an engineer on several occasions and in the end they replaced the line to he cabinet, different connection in the cabinet and reset it on there server side. It was strange as it was so intermittent.

Thanks

Stevie
 
Have you got home groups turned on?

What av?

Does the laptop slow down? Do you use torrent sites?

Does the network slow down or is it the internet? Ie transferring files from 1 computer to another compared to using the internet.

Is the network slow when the laptop is turned off?
 
if it killed network connectivity for all devices stone dead I'd say you'd got an IP conflict, like the laptop had the same IP as the router or something.
But it sounds like its a gradual slow down, which on the face of it doesn't make sense. It's definitely not windows, as neil says. Could be some crapware you've installed or has installed itself that's doing something nasty over the network choking traffic I guess. I'd probably look at the router first....
 
Thanks for the replies. Will try and answer all the questions.

Homegroup is turned on.
We have two network storage connected directly to the BTHub 3 router which goes out to the white box. One is a Lacie, the other a Synology. When the network slows away down from 43mbps download/13 upload to just about getting Google to load I can't access either storage over WiFi.
Don't use Torrents at all, either on the storage or laptops. When my machine is turned off everything works again. It even stops our mobiles connecting to WiFi while machine is on.
To me it makes no sense as the moment the machine gets the system refresh it works and continues to do so for another few months. I got 5 months from this Dell before it happened and I had to refresh at the weekend and I don't want that to start.
i don't know if the static ip is populated tbh.
I have several Hub 3's and a Hub 5 but found the third version fasted.
AV wise our Bluray player is connected over LAN and the PVR over wireless, both Samsung. The PS3 is also connected, a Kindle Fire HD, Asus Transformer, HP printer, ipod touch, two by Nokia 920 plus numerous friends phones and occasionally my camera over WiFi.

Thank for all the help.

Stevie
 
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Turn off home groups, annoying and a waste of time, then see how it goes.

Do file transfers between machines slow down?
 
Is is just your Windows 8 computer that loses connectivity?
Or are your other devices using the network similarly affected? - Can you still browse the internet using your phone via Wireless?

I doubt the system refresh is necessary to restore connectivity.
I suspect it's possibly an IP address conflict, a DNS problem, or something to do with the machine that gets elected the "master browser".

If you answer the above two questions, then I might be able to offer some further help.
 
Hope the following makes sense. When my Windows 8 laptop is running nothing else on the network at the same time works (no internet at all) whether it be Vista, 7 or phone. When the Win 8 machine is off the rest work as they should.

Thanks

Stevie
 
Firstly, lets separate out internet and network.

I would be interested to know, with the win8 laptop running, what happens when you ping another device on the network.
Then the same again, when the win8 laptop is not running.

Then I'd ping ping an external address e.g. www.hotmail.com when the win8 laptop is running.
Then again when it isn't running.

Do you know how to ping?

start > run > type "cmd" > press enter > type "ping <<address>>" where address is either a hostname (computer name or domain name) or ip address > press enter

You can also try typing "ipconfig /all" at the command prompt on the win8/win7 laptops and perhaps send me the results you get via PM

I hope that makes some sort of sense.
 
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