Slow wifi slows down loading the program

[alan_sh]

I've mentioned this before, but as I am away on holiday and don't have access to a fast internet connection, I thought I'd run a quick test.

I have the latest WWB 17 loaded. I have a slow internet connection using my phone as a hotspot. I have WWB set to just load up. Not to open any files

With the wifi connected to my phone, it takes around 50 seconds from clicking the icon to load it till the screen displays. The splash screen comes on and goes off in about 3 seconds - the rest of the time it's doing something - or waiting for something to time out. Looking at task manager WWB is shown as a task for about 6 seconds, then nothing until the main screen comes up. OOKLA speed test shows 3.8mb/s download and 0.4mb/sec upload with 42ms ping.

With the wifi not on, it takes just under 5 seconds to load up.

So, any clues as to what is going on? It's not a BIG deal for me (my internet at home is 600mb/s), but it may be for others.

Alan

[jerryco]

Did you try turning off check for updates?

[Pablo]

The only reason why WWB uses the Internet on startup is to check for updates.

[alan_sh]

Check for Updates on Startup is unticked on my PC. So, it's not that.

[Pablo]

There is no other network activity when the software loads.

Maybe it's related to your firewall configuration?

[alan_sh]

I have no external firewall. All I use is the standard Windows Defender with default options. I turned off the Windows Defender firewall and that made no difference.

Alan

[Pablo]

Do you see any connections made to external servers during the startup?
There must be a logical explanation...

[jerryco]

Maybe you are trying to load a file from e.g. OneDrive?

[alan_sh]

Using resource manager as my monitor, I don't see any extra connections made when I start it up. And all the files are stored on my C: drive. I don't do any backups etc. and I'm not loading a WBS file on startup.

It's very weird. I am thinking it may be one of the MS libraries that WWB uses which is checking something in the bakground.

Alan

[BaconFries]

Haven't seen this asked, so here it is how many extensions do you have installed?. What needs to be remembered is that each one is like a small program on its own, each using a tiny fraction of memory, so the more you have, the longer it will take to load the program itself.

[bkjohns]

That .4 upload speed would seem to indicate that some outbound traffic is occurring on startup that is slowing down the system. If it isn't WWB then the only thing left is some other program or the o.s. itself. What does the Windows task manager show you when WWB is starting?

[alan_sh]

BF - it can't be extensions as it's different when wifi is off.
BK - task manager shows nothing at all. We get WWB wuickly while the splash banner is shown. That goes away and then nothing for 30-50 seconds (depending on how good the wifi is) until WWB comes back again and the main structure all loads.

This issue will go away (for me) once I am back at home - but there is definitely something going on. I just don't know what.

Alan

[jerryco]

I don't think Pablo incorporated anything else then the check for updates (and activation routine) so something on your system must be bogging the startup procedure, maybe the check for updates was once black listed by anything security software and that is still holding it back now?

[alan_sh]

That .4 upload speed would seem to indicate that some outbound traffic is occurring on startup that is slowing down the system. If it isn't WWB then the only thing left is some other program or the o.s. itself.

No, that was from when I was running speedtest to show what the internet speed was.

Alan

[alan_sh]

I don't think Pablo incorporated anything else then the check for updates (and activation routine) so something on your system must be bogging the startup procedure, maybe the check for updates was once black listed by anything security software and that is still holding it back now?

Check for updates is turned off and has been for ages.

Alan

[jerryco]

You say you're using your phone for uplink? Maybe that has a firewall of somekind?

[alan_sh]

You say you're using your phone for uplink? Maybe that has a firewall of somekind?

But why would that slow things down? And I don't get any error messages from my phone (I don't think it's got one anyway - it's just a hot spot)

In my opinion, there is something timing out. But I don't know where to start looking (and I'm not ignorant of networking). I'll keep playing.

Alan

[Pablo]

But I don't know where to start looking (and I'm not ignorant of networking).

You will need to figure out if there are any network connections made during the startup.

[BaconFries]

Alan do you use any form of cloud storage? they to check for any new files to sync with so if you have synced with the program then this could explain the slow down, it should be possible to temporarily disable this. Another thing you may want to check is this what band is the hotspot using 2.4ghz or 5ghz? try switching between them. It may just be as simple as when using your phone as a "Hotspot" your provider caps how much data can be shared. Remember this is all guess work and may not be any of the mentioned but something else.

[alan_sh]

BF,

I have unlimited wifi on my vodafone contract - they cap it at 25Gb/month overseas (which is where I am now) but I've only used about 6Gb so far.

Cloud storage. Yes I do, but I tried disabling that (WWB doesn't use it) and it didn't seem to make any difference. Hotspot uses 2.4ghz. I can try 5 and see what happens. But I don't see how that can affect the speed so much (I am sitting about 6' from my phone).

Pablo - that is one thing I will check.

I am running out of time, as I have to leave tomorrow to fly home. So, this may have to wait until I head off on hols again - which is next month. That holiday, I will be using a Wifi router in my motorhome - so I'll see how that one works. It may give me more data points and clues.

ALan

[jerryco]

You say you're not ignorant of networking. However, you speak of "unlimited wifi". Do you mean unlimited mobile data?

[alan_sh]

You say you're not ignorant of networking. However, you speak of "unlimited wifi". Do you mean unlimited mobile data?

Yes, sorry - slip of the tongue.

Alan

[bkjohns]

"No, that was from when I was running speedtest to show what the internet speed was."

If you are only firing up Windows with the hot spot to use WWB then Windows might be checking for updates. On my Windows systems that seems to be the first thing Windows does when it finds itself connected to the internet and if definitely slows down the entire system until it is done checking. Perhaps try turning off auto checking for updates and see what happens. Just a guess but I don't think WWB is the problem. Good luck.

[alan_sh]

I don't think so as it happens any time of the day.

Alan