I need to reinstall my network driver to get decent speed, why?

gagarin17

Reputable
May 29, 2014
11
0
4,510
I have a strange issue. My desktop system is connected by Cable to internet. it is a 100mbit/10mbit. The thing is that my download speed drops to 2-10 Mbit approximately two Days after a new install of the network card drivers. I cannot use the repair function for the driver. That does not solve the problem, i need to uninstall the network card completely and then install it to recieve the speed my Cable can deliver. It doesnt affect ping times and doesnt affect upload speed. It only affects my download speed.
This is my system:
AMD A10-7850K
ASUS A55BM-plus
4x4GB Corsair CMZ16 1600mhz
AMD R9 200 series
Win 8.1
Realtek PCIe GBE 100 Mbit/s network card on the mainboard.

Anyone have an idea what it is in my set up that cause this issue?

Best regards
Gagarin17
 
Solution
You might want to consider re-installing all of the drivers after the BIOS update process. Sometimes that helped, sometimes it made no difference...
Not sure if you're using the drivers that came with the motherboard, the ones from the MB drivers page or windows native drivers but here is the most recent drivers for your LAN adapter according to the ASUS website. I'd download the drivers and extract them to a folder then uninstall your current drivers, reboot and install these drivers.

http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/lan/Realtek_LAN_V7854252014_Win7_V8314232014_Win8.zip
 
If that doesn't work we can try the specific network adapter chipset drivers from the Realtek website. The OEM drivers are usually a better place to start though as they sometimes do things with the chipset not addressed with the reference drivers.
 

gagarin17

Reputable
May 29, 2014
11
0
4,510
Thanks for the Quick replay, unfortunatly i have already tried both the driver from the asus website and the drivers from realtek. It doesnt solve the problem. I do have a WD cloud connected to my router, can it steal bandwidth? or is it Another win8.1 bug?
 
Not that I doubt you, I just want to be sure we don't skip past an obvious fix, are you sure you tried the same version I linked to? There are several available versions. If so, ok.

As far as the ones on the Realtek website, there are about fifty different chipsets that are all labeled as GBE controllers but they all use different drivers. Do you know the exact chipset of your adapter? If not, run msinfo32.exe or navigate to system info in administrative tools and open the components>network and click on adapter. On the right hand side the chipset will be listed under "service name". That is the chipset we need to correct drivers for. You might have the correct ones installed but there also is a good chance you might not. Many of the drivers will work with other chipsets as they only have small differences but will present unusual errors or problems, like yours.

I would also check your BIOS version against the newest BIOS version on the ASUS site for your board. Since it's an integrated controller there's a good chance there could be a related issue that's addressed through a newer version update.
 

christinebcw

Honorable
Sep 8, 2012
472
0
10,960
Welcome to Win 8.1. One of the great joys of Win 8.1 is that so many devices required all new drivers from 8.0.

I've never seen such wholesale changes required for a Dot.One release, but there it is.

Not only did Mfrs discover they needed all new drivers, they quickly discovered they needed fixes. Some motherboard makers had Sep 2013 fixes, some had Nov 2013 fixes (ASUS) and then they had to have newer updates after that - 3/2014 and 6/2014.

There is definitely something wrong going on because we've seen a host of motherboard-Realtecs have intermittency and perma-drop problems on LANs, and they've suffered early and often. We too have gone to Realtek to seek "horse's mouth" solutions and had changes in behavior, but not superior ones. We think it's a Win8.1 because, going back to Win8.0, those devices with W8.0 drivers work perfectly.
 

gagarin17

Reputable
May 29, 2014
11
0
4,510
As far as I can see I have the correct drivers from realtek, but my bios version is pretty old. I have version 0902 dated 12/10/2013. The latest version is 1601 dated 03/07/2014. I will update my bios and i will know in about 2 Days time if it solves the problem. Thank you for your help.
 

gagarin17

Reputable
May 29, 2014
11
0
4,510
Bios update did not solve the problem, but i found out that the speed drops when rebooting. If i uninstall the drivers and install them i get speeds of approx 90 Mbit/s down and 12,84 Mbit/s up. When i reboot the system i get the speed of 7,5 Mbit/s down and 12,84 Mbit/s up. Something weird happens when i reboot. I guess win8.1 was a bad choice...
 
NP. Hope it works out. You may end up wanting to just buy an add in PCI network card that is known to operate normally in Microshafts Win8.1.

I'd recommend something with an Intel chipset rather than Realtek. Supposedly all the newer Realtek chipsets work fine in 8.1 but I've experienced poor connectivity with most of them. I rarely hear this about the Intel adapters and I'm actually getting one myself as the Ethernet on my new Sabertooth board isn't exactly worth writing home about. Make sure to do a little review reading and verify whatever card you pick does in fact work trouble free in 8.1 or that 8.1 drivers are specifically available for it.
 
Windows 8.1 isn't really the problem. Poor support from manufacturers for the platform is the real problem. Devices with good support work as good or better than the same device in Windows 8, it's just that many of them are not providing compliant drivers. And that probably goes both ways a little bit. This is nothing new and has occurred after pretty much every single operating system release Microsoft has ever had.
 

christinebcw

Honorable
Sep 8, 2012
472
0
10,960
(Dark, I'll disagree with the "this is nothing new" because 2-3 driver updates within months of a Dot Update OS change is completely different. Win 3.0 to 3.1 has significant changes, too, but those were the good ol' days of text INFs which could be tweaked or copied. But Win3.1 castrated all HP printer drivers because Microsoft changed the Beta Driver specs to the Released Driver version. Win went back with fixes to re-adjust and allow millions of LaserJet users to re-access printers. But since then, I've never seen so massive, such a wholesale change in a mere 'Dot One' driver release.

(Within 2 years, the drivers were merely labeled "Win 3.x" at that point, working with 3.0, 3.1 or 3.11. We're not going to see that gathering because the Driver Formats have changed from 8.0 to 8.1.)
 
I think you must not remember the massive driver problems that happened between windows XP and windows 7. Or maybe it's just that everybody prefers to pretend like Vista never happened. I know I do.

And do you recall the transition between Windows 98 and ME? Seemed like nothing worked in ME for the first few months.
 

gagarin17

Reputable
May 29, 2014
11
0
4,510
I guess my solution will be to find a win8.1 compatible Pci-e gigabit card from intel then. I have looked around in my local stores, but have not found any so far. The ones the sell is first released in 2010 and only compatible with win 7. I'll keep on searching. Thank you both for your help.
 

christinebcw

Honorable
Sep 8, 2012
472
0
10,960
Yeah. Some help. (ha ha - if ya need help with any other depressing issues, I'll send Dr. Kervorkian's phone number, eh?)

Hey - on a sidenote - I went out to NewEgg, over to their Networking, then Wired Networking...

...then their Network Interface Cards...

So, I'm scrolling along thru these... la de da da... plenty of options... but wait - why are none showing Win8.1 drivers? I keep wandering thru those...

That first Rosewill - if you can blow up the full-face photo, you'll see "RTL" chipset - that's Realtek - and you'll see the antlers' style logo. These will typically be the smaller of the 2 chips on any network card.

You'll probably want to avoid that logo'd chipset.

There's a pricey ($19) DLink that doesn't use Realtek, but when I look at the drivers download section, it was dated 7/2013 - before Win 8.1 was released officially. Ugh.
 

christinebcw

Honorable
Sep 8, 2012
472
0
10,960
Well, Realtek has a ton of drivers that all claim Win8.1 compatibility. Surely they've struck gold by now!
PEsitOS.gif
 

christinebcw

Honorable
Sep 8, 2012
472
0
10,960
ASRock has done something fairly interesting on recent waves of releases - dual built-in NICs, one Intel, one Realtek.

Then to see both flop-! ha ha...

Yes, Shirley... er, surely... but someone said it much better than me:

Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright;
The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light,
And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout;
But there is no joy in Mudville-- mighty...