Slow Internet Connection

[seriousdamage]

Hi,
I have just changed ISP and by taking 2 years contract I got a free mini laptop
with the below specs.
I understand that this might not be the fastest laptop,
but the internet connection speed is killing me.
I have a 20MB speed connection, the laptop is used wireless just like the others I have in the house and is the only one with the problem.

Any ideas what I can do?

Specs:

Windows XP Home Edition Service Pack 3 (build 2600)
1.60 gigahertz Intel Atom N270
48 kilobyte primary memory cache
512 kilobyte secondary memory cache
154.80 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
143.44 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space
Board: Acer Base Board Version
Serial Number: Base Board Serial Number
Bus Clock: 533 megahertz
BIOS: Acer v0.3305 05/09/2008
1012 Megabytes Installed Memory
Atheros AR5007EG Wireless Network Adapter

[halokid]

seriousdamage, start from your laptop and work your way out.
(this is assuming you are using a router for  your wireless and not using a pc as a gateway, please tell us if thats the case)

First and easiest... try  the laptop right next to the wireless router, it may be that the place its used at  there is something in the way of the laptop and the router like walls, metal, fridge, etc... right click on view wireless networks and see what your signal strength is.( toolbar right hand side pc icon)

1. Does your laptop have any bandwidth stealing viruses or programs running, including processes.

2. Make sure your cache and cookies are cleared and not bogging it down

3. clean computer if it feels kinda slow using the disk cleanup tool startmenu/accesories/system tools

4. Make sure your laptop is connected to "your " network and not the neighbors, etc. ( in the bottom right hand corner usually, right click on pc icon "view available wireless networks" and see if its connecting to yours and if there are others there as well make note of it.

5. Turn off all the devices and only turn on your modem, router, and the problem laptop. If it works better then you may be having a conflict with wireless signals from the other devices, in which case, you may need to change the channel/frequency of your laptop.. Note: if you have any other wireless devices portable phones etc you may want to power down those as well. Sometimes wireless routers/gateways can only handle so much wireless devices.

[Afraz01]

Hi All
Thanks