Okay, this is one of the stranger problems i've come across so I thought i'd share and ask for any suggestions.
I will try & cut this as short as possible but there's a bit to explain. The computer I am talking about is a fujitsu-siemens laptop and it's about 18 months old.
I noticed that my CPU usage was sitting at 60-80% constantly, and according to the task manager that usage was not assigned to any process at all.
After a lot of fiddling i realised that it only happened when my wireless adapter was enabled AND connected to a network (if the wireless was enabled but not connected to a network, CPU usage was normal). I was connecting wirelessly from an upstairs room, router was downstairs. Also, the net speed i was getting was WAY WAY below what it should be with the cable connection we have (i'm talking sub 56k standards).
So i spent a load of time fiddling with drivers and settings etc etc, nothing seemed to help. So my next step was to see if the same problem occurred when i plugged the lappy into the network via a cable - so i took it downstairs and plugged it in - low & behold, it ran perfectly fine, normal CPU usage, net speed was 10mbit down. So i unplugged the cable again, turned on the wireless and bam - it was working perfectly as well. So my immediate thought was the problem is caused by distance from the router... so i walked the laptop back upstairs watching the CPU usage - got to my room, and it was perfectly fine.... very weird.
So, as the battery was getting low from being downstairs for a while, i plugged it back in, low & behold as soon as i plugged it in to the power socket in the wall, CPU usage is back up at 80% and the network is slow as hell..... What the hell is going on? I even tried turning off the ceiling fan in my room and stuff to see if that made a difference, tried swapping my power adapter over (i'm using a UK plug in australia), no difference. In either one of the sockets in my room, i get this 80% CPU usage and slow networking, but when unplugged it runs fine!!
Now, just to make it even stranger - I wanted to see if the same happened when connected to the router via cable again. So i plugged the laptop in to the router and into the wall DOWNSTAIRS and what happens? nothing, it's perfect. So i try the wireless network, using the downstairs power socket, still runs perfectly... so somehow the two sockets in my bedroom are interfering with my wireless connection and giving me 80% CPU usage constantly - any ideas???
tl;dr - when laptop is plugged into either of the 2 power sockets in my bedroom, I have 80% cpu usage and the network access is slowed to a crawl - but plugging the laptop in downstairs it works fine. Any ideas?
EDIT: Just as an update - I found 2 more sockets in my room, both of them do the same thing. I tried a socket in another bedroom upstairs - same thing again. But as soon as I come back downstairs, it works perfectly again.
EDIT 2: I used an extension cable to take the power from downstairs, up into my bedroom - but when my laptop is plugged in to the downstairs socket, but is sitting in my bedroom upstairs, i STILL get the 80% CPU usage and low net speeds.... so there must be some kind of interferance going on somewhere - but what could it be and how the hell do i fix it???
I will try & cut this as short as possible but there's a bit to explain. The computer I am talking about is a fujitsu-siemens laptop and it's about 18 months old.
I noticed that my CPU usage was sitting at 60-80% constantly, and according to the task manager that usage was not assigned to any process at all.
After a lot of fiddling i realised that it only happened when my wireless adapter was enabled AND connected to a network (if the wireless was enabled but not connected to a network, CPU usage was normal). I was connecting wirelessly from an upstairs room, router was downstairs. Also, the net speed i was getting was WAY WAY below what it should be with the cable connection we have (i'm talking sub 56k standards).
So i spent a load of time fiddling with drivers and settings etc etc, nothing seemed to help. So my next step was to see if the same problem occurred when i plugged the lappy into the network via a cable - so i took it downstairs and plugged it in - low & behold, it ran perfectly fine, normal CPU usage, net speed was 10mbit down. So i unplugged the cable again, turned on the wireless and bam - it was working perfectly as well. So my immediate thought was the problem is caused by distance from the router... so i walked the laptop back upstairs watching the CPU usage - got to my room, and it was perfectly fine.... very weird.
So, as the battery was getting low from being downstairs for a while, i plugged it back in, low & behold as soon as i plugged it in to the power socket in the wall, CPU usage is back up at 80% and the network is slow as hell..... What the hell is going on? I even tried turning off the ceiling fan in my room and stuff to see if that made a difference, tried swapping my power adapter over (i'm using a UK plug in australia), no difference. In either one of the sockets in my room, i get this 80% CPU usage and slow networking, but when unplugged it runs fine!!
Now, just to make it even stranger - I wanted to see if the same happened when connected to the router via cable again. So i plugged the laptop in to the router and into the wall DOWNSTAIRS and what happens? nothing, it's perfect. So i try the wireless network, using the downstairs power socket, still runs perfectly... so somehow the two sockets in my bedroom are interfering with my wireless connection and giving me 80% CPU usage constantly - any ideas???
tl;dr - when laptop is plugged into either of the 2 power sockets in my bedroom, I have 80% cpu usage and the network access is slowed to a crawl - but plugging the laptop in downstairs it works fine. Any ideas?
EDIT: Just as an update - I found 2 more sockets in my room, both of them do the same thing. I tried a socket in another bedroom upstairs - same thing again. But as soon as I come back downstairs, it works perfectly again.
EDIT 2: I used an extension cable to take the power from downstairs, up into my bedroom - but when my laptop is plugged in to the downstairs socket, but is sitting in my bedroom upstairs, i STILL get the 80% CPU usage and low net speeds.... so there must be some kind of interferance going on somewhere - but what could it be and how the hell do i fix it???
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