Cable connection slow

[Gemini82]

Ok I have a quick question

My mother recently purchased broadband service form a company called Cox Cable. When they came to install the service they said they could not install it because there was to much data on the hardrive. She called tech support and they told her she would have to clean the harddrive. This what little information my mother gave me over the phone, i'm currently out of state.

My question what does the storage capacity have to do with slow internet speed. I'm don't know everything but the storage capacity has nothing to due with the connect, or preventing the guy from installing the service.

Maybe the company needed to have some software installed or some browser which they offer.

If anyone has any answer please fill free to post maybe you know something i dont.

[IntegraGSR]

They were probably trying to install software that you don't necessarily need for a cable connection, as long as you use something like PPPoE or you have a router, you don't need any software. Road Runner tried the same spiel with me, they wanted to install their proprietary RR Internet Explorer, I talked them out of it and they installed the cable anyway, works fine.

Cliff Notes: Hard drive storage has nothing to do with availability of cable service.

[doctorgonzo]

I did not have any software installed when I got cable. You shouldn't need any; they were probably trying to install some unnecessary proprietary garbage. The only thing I can think of possibly software if the cable modem connects through USB. If it's just an Ethernet connection, it should be good to go.

[Gemini82]

Thanks you guys for anwsering thats pretty much what I thought.

I think it is connected through a usb port, but it still shouldn't need any software right.

[pam123]

What OS does your mother use ?
I know XP doesn't need any extra software but is that what she has ?

[Gemini82]

windows 98

[IntegraGSR]

I recommend using an ethernet PCI card as opposed to USB, but if you have no choice then USB will serve her pretty well.

[pam123]

Originally Posted by Gemini82 windows 98

I hate to tell you this but your Mom needs the software.
The first will be software for the ethernet card, which is usually on a floppy disk ( avoid usb with 98, they shouldn't even suggest it ) and the second will be the cable company software ( if your lucky maybe COX puts everything on one cd ).
It sounds like the install techs were right, if unnecessarily abrupt.
Someone will have to pull all the data she needs to keep off the computer as well as download and burn a free copy of a firewall to install before you hook up the cabe connection .
Then either nuke the current install or run the restore cd .
If there's dial-up software you may need to disable it.
When that's done and, if necessary all drivers are installed, you can install the firewall and then the cable stuff.
Last act would be to reinstall her data files, carefully, she may not be able to keep everything.
Summer weekends are a good time to pay visits.




edit : I don't think Microsoft has any recent updates for IE that run on 98 so if COX gives you the option of switching take it.
If your mom need IE for the bank or something similar you can always make it the non-default browser limited to the bank alone.

[Gemini82]

i dont know what exactly the tech did but she has internet access they just said they needed more storage space for it to run at optimal speed.

[Hi Ho]

Well if the hard drive is completely full it can slow the entire computer down including the internet. How much space is left on the hard drive?

[pam123]

Originally Posted by Gemini82 i dont know what exactly the tech did but she has internet access they just said they needed more storage space for it to run at optimal speed.

Yes a hard drive running out of space will be slow things down.

[IntegraGSR]

Technically yes it does slow things down because you have less virtual memory to work with, and swapping information via large temp files is faster than constantly swapping a small one. However, network performance shouldn't be that affected by hard drive space.

Drivers for USB Ethernet adapter = 2MB at most, and that's pushin' it.

[Gemini82]

She has two drives. The C drive is almost full about 200 mb left

The other drive has about 800mb to 1 Gb

That why i was kinda curious also.

[glc]

200 MB left on the system drive is getting pretty full, it would be strongly advised to do a cleanup or get a bigger hard drive.

Standard procedure for cable installs is to install the provider's software, whether it's needed or not. There are ways around it, but the installer has to be willing to work "out of the box" to do it - and there is no obligation to do so. The software is usually just IE and OE customizations (some of which may be spyware/adware) and some network utilities. If it's USB, there will be modem drivers too.