Network connections, speed problems and more!

[Technoobguy]

Alright I'd like my questions to be answered asap thanks. I used to know a lot about computers way back then but now I'm completely clueless, so sorry if these are really dumb questions. I will be blunt;

[I use win XP professional]

in Network Connections under LAN/ High-speed internet there is

Local Area Connection

Local Area Connection 3

and another "Connection"

what are these, and why do I have two "Local Area Connection _". The first one, Local Area Connection, can't even be enabled because a "network cable is unplugged". Do I need both these connections? Where are these connections being supplied from (I want to use the one with the most speed, if that makes sense).

Also what is a "Net Adapter". What is the benefit of it being turned off/on?

Also Local Area Connection 3 has a speed of 100mbps? What is this and I thought it was limited to 20Mbps (the download speed my ISP limits me to, or are they different?)

Another thing, yesterday I was watching videos (tv episodes) and it loaded them very fast. My upload speed is only like 0.49 which seems really bad but it was loading the video very fast (and these are 18-40 minutes videos), however today they are loading very very slow. Before, it wouldn't actually play the video immediately, but after around 10 seconds it would play but it would be loaded a lot, and now it plays it immediately and loads it very slowly. I have looked into this and apparently it's all about how many programs are running that can take up bandwidth or something, however I assume I had the same programs running yesterday.
Is there any sort of program that can limit the amount of programs being used for optimal speed? there are so many shady ones out there that I don't trust downloading. I know GameBooster works well for games but is there something similar for watching videos? Thanks!

Also when I went on the computer this morning I noticed my ESET security thing notify me "blah blah connection refused ... IP (then it listed some IP). What the hell is this and should I be concerned? It looked like someone was trying to access my computer or something (by the way I use a wired network so I'm sure that doesn't make sense)

Oh that reminds me, speaking of GameBooster, I booted it up and used it, it saying "New Version available" (even though there was no new version, I already was using it) and it linked me to this website to download, and then my internet security went haywire and spammed me "(the website I was on) access denied Connection terminated" and it wouldn't stop! It would keep notifying me, I went away from the website, I went so far as even uninstalling GameBooster closing all windows clearing my cache and it was still notifying me so I turned my computer off. It didn't say anything about a virus, just terminating the connection or something like that. Should I be concerned, is my anti-virus being stupid?

My last question (sorry so many questions) I was using a laptop here, at my place (using WIFI I guess) and then after I went on my PC and the history of the laptop was somehow integrated into my PC as well. Like, it didn't list the history, but when I went on YouTube or whatever on my PC, it would notify me "you watched blah blah" even though I didn't watch that video on my PC, only watched it on my laptop. I know WIFI is very risky and insecure and I live in a basement suit, would the people above me also get the same thing and the same history too? I use wired for my PC and everything except my laptop but could the people above me access my wired connection somehow? This is probably a stupid question but whatever.

Anyways thanks and please answer all of these I'm sure it wont be a problem since most of you are computer-pros, I used to go on this site all the time and you guys where very helpful. Thanks and please post asap.

 

[MysticMiner]

Alright I'd like my questions to be answered asap thanks. I used to know a lot about computers way back then but now I'm completely clueless, so sorry if these are really dumb questions. I will be blunt;

[I use win XP professional]

in Network Connections under LAN/ High-speed internet there is

Local Area Connection

Local Area Connection 3

and another "Connection"

what are these, and why do I have two "Local Area Connection _". The first one, Local Area Connection, can't even be enabled because a "network cable is unplugged". Do I need both these connections? Where are these connections being supplied from (I want to use the one with the most speed, if that makes sense).
[/quote]

These may result from communication issues on the computer, they don't really mean anything, you can delete them, though you may have to work at doing it, using safe mode for example. I'm sure Microsoft has directions for cleaning it up.

Also what is a "Net Adapter". What is the benefit of it being turned off/on?

I don't know for sure what it is, since I can't see it, but the name indicates it is a Networking Adapter, which would mean it's the hardware that enables your computer to communicate on the network, but it could be something else.

Also Local Area Connection 3 has a speed of 100mbps? What is this and I thought it was limited to 20Mbps (the download speed my ISP limits me to, or are they different?)

Different, and unrelated. The ISP's limitations on your bandwidth are not detectable by your computer, which is just connecting to other hardware, and detecting the quality of that connection.

Another thing, yesterday I was watching videos (tv episodes) and it loaded them very fast. My upload speed is only like 0.49 which seems really bad but it was loading the video very fast (and these are 18-40 minutes videos), however today they are loading very very slow. Before, it wouldn't actually play the video immediately, but after around 10 seconds it would play but it would be loaded a lot, and now it plays it immediately and loads it very slowly. I have looked into this and apparently it's all about how many programs are running that can take up bandwidth or something, however I assume I had the same programs running yesterday.

Your upload speed and your download speed are entirely different things. Streaming videos is typically downloading only. I don't know what the problems you're having are without seeing it, it could just be your ISP is throttling you, or it could be the server you're using is congested, or it could be somebody cut a cable with a backhoe. or it could be some program is using up your bandwidth.

Is there any sort of program that can limit the amount of programs being used for optimal speed? there are so many shady ones out there that I don't trust downloading. I know GameBooster works well for games but is there something similar for watching videos? Thanks!

Taskmanager can work for many, or you could try something like CCleaner to check your start-up entries, or you could try a program like Close-all to close programs for you.

Also when I went on the computer this morning I noticed my ESET security thing notify me "blah blah connection refused ... IP (then it listed some IP). What the hell is this and should I be concerned? It looked like someone was trying to access my computer or something (by the way I use a wired network so I'm sure that doesn't make sense)

Hard to say without seeing it or knowing what you've used, but it could be something, or it could be nothing more than you having used a P2P program.

Oh that reminds me, speaking of GameBooster, I booted it up and used it, it saying "New Version available" (even though there was no new version, I already was using it) and it linked me to this website to download, and then my internet security went haywire and spammed me "(the website I was on) access denied Connection terminated" and it wouldn't stop! It would keep notifying me, I went away from the website, I went so far as even uninstalling GameBooster closing all windows clearing my cache and it was still notifying me so I turned my computer off. It didn't say anything about a virus, just terminating the connection or something like that. Should I be concerned, is my anti-virus being stupid?

I would be concerned, and would test it, and would run some other programs to detect malware just to be sure.

My last question (sorry so many questions) I was using a laptop here, at my place (using WIFI I guess) and then after I went on my PC and the history of the laptop was somehow integrated into my PC as well. Like, it didn't list the history, but when I went on YouTube or whatever on my PC, it would notify me "you watched blah blah" even though I didn't watch that video on my PC, only watched it on my laptop. I know WIFI is very risky and insecure and I live in a basement suit, would the people above me also get the same thing and the same history too? I use wired for my PC and everything except my laptop but could the people above me access my wired connection somehow? This is probably a stupid question but whatever.

Your Youtube account, if you use the same one on different computers, then Youtube (who is owned by Google) knows what you did, and the information is shared.

But yes, computers on wireless and wires on the same router can share information. You could, with the right router, segregate the networks, but this may be more trouble than it is worth. just make sure your wireless is secured.

 

[Technoobguy]

Thanks for the reply really helped.

No I didn't use any P2P program, I just booted the thing up and before I could do anything my anti-v notified me of that.

I just installed Microsoft's Malicious Software Removal Tool (is it any good?) on top of my anti-v to look for anything suspicious.

No, I don't even have a youtube account. It just said "watched", even though I only watched it on the laptop and not my PC.

"Streaming videos is typically download only" You sure? My download speed is roughly 19-25 mbps, so I highly doubt that's the problem. The site does have a lot of ads (I use adblocker on Mozzila to get rid of them) so I don't think it's the website... I'll try the programs you listed to see if it will help.

 

[MysticMiner]

Do you have any accounts with Google at all? They do share information now.

And yes, streaming a video is download only, or at least, that's the only part that matters, the reply back to request more, or to verify receipt isn't. Having a lot of ads though, it may be the player is Flash, and so are the ads, so Flash is getting bogged down.

As for the "intrusions" they could be nothing, or they could be random hammer attempts, hard to say without seeing the logs. Microsoft's tools are decent enough, they're better than some stuff you might buy.