Slow Connection (Tech Help)

I was recently forced to format my entire harddrive but after reinstalling everything, Playonline seems to be running extremely slow. My other programs work fine and my internet connection is excellent. Playonline worked perfectly before the format. I tried running a defrag and checked for corrupt Playonline files; nothing. I even tried reinstalling Playonline to no effect. Even downloading files for Playonline and FF11 have been extremely slow. I have a cable modem and it never took this long to download patches. And to make things worse, I keep getting an error when downloading the FF11 patches saying my connection was interupted even though my connection is perfectly fine. Even the screen saver is disabled. So Im here after a full day of trying to install this game and Im kind of frustrated. ;_;

Is there something I'm missing? Is there some obvious detail I overlooked? I dont know of you can help me, hopefully you can. ^_^

And yes... my monitor is on. -_-

Is your modem plugged in and turned on? (couldn't resist)

I'm an internet helpdesk agent, and although I've not worked with the cable technology before, here are a few simple steps that might get you pointed in the right direction

1) Unplug the power from your modem for a full 30 seconds and then plug it in; at the same time, restart your computer

2) If you're behind a router, unplug it as well...do not plug it back in until a full 30 seconds after your modem has restarted.

3) Depending on your modem, there may be a diagnostic light on it with a name like Cable or Line Sync; If you see *any* flickering on this light whatsoever, contact your ISP's helpdesk and ask them to check your sync rate and troubleshoot if appropriate

4) Actually, it wouldn't hurt to call your ISP and check your sync rate even if your cable/line sync light is solid green

5) Take note of any Windows error messages -- write them down in case you are unable to reproduce them during troubleshooting.

6) Run MSCONFIG (from Start -> Run) and disable any unnecesary services from the Startup tab

7) Run a full virus scan

8) Download, install, and run both Lavasoft Ad-Aware 6 and SpyBot Search & Destroy

Where you have just done a full format of your system, you should have excellent speeds both on the internet and off; there are few chances that anything could be pooched in your operating system. If nothing else, it couldn't hurt to call your ISP and try the slow speeds troubleshooting, and tell them of any issues you have (Don't mention FFXI, just any issues you have with browsing/email, as any internet connectivity issue would affect FFXI)

Plug the Modem in!? Mark! You are a Genius! LOL!

Seriously, thanks for the help Mark. ^_^

I unplugged all my connections to the internet for about a half hour (and I noticed my modem was kinda hot) and tried downloading the patches again only to notice the maintainance being done on all servers. So when the maintenance is done, I'll see if it works.

:crosses fingers::

Thx again Mark! :mog: