problem with download speed on laptop

[sijmer]

Hey,

I have recently encountered a strange thing on my laptop. When I close my laptop, my download speed drops very much.

The first time I noticed it, was when I was downloading a torrent. When my laptop is open, he downloads with maximum speed my internet can have, 380 kB/s. When I close my laptop, and then open it again, I notice that he downloaded with 60 kB/s during the period he was closed. I can see this because the average speed has dropped drastically and on the speed-time plot. When I open my laptop, I see the speed going from 60 kB/s to 380 kB/s again in almost no time. I tried this with BitComet and with uTorrent, with different torrents from different websites. They all have the same problem. So it seems to be a problem with my laptop.

I also checked this with iTunes, while downloading podcasts (mp3's). Again, my download speed dropped during my laptop was closed, but less than with torrents.

So apparently, it has something to do with my laptop. Now, my laptop does NOT go in standy or sleep mode when he is closed. In my control panel, the settings are that there is no action on closing the laptop. All programs keep working, also the download keeps going on, just slower.

I don't have any idea how this can be solved and would be very gratefull if someone could help me.

Kind regards,

Sam

[kluelos]

Well, self-evidently when the laptop closes, something changes. You'll need to find out what.

Since you've told us absolutely nothing other than you have a laptop, and I infer that since you're running BitComet, the laptop runs some version of Windows, I don't think anybody can be of much help to you.

[sijmer]

I'm sorry. I have a Sony Vaio VPC EC3L1E laptop with a Windows 7 64bits installation, and a wireless internet connection.

[kluelos]

Just in case, have you looked at the system BIOS? Sometimes there are power standby settings in the BIOS that override, or just operate independently, of any settings in the operating system.

That model's apparently not available in the USA, and I can't find any specific documentation for it, but you may want to devise a test to see if it's going into hibernation when you close the lid, regardless of settings.

I think I would try setting BitComet up for remote download. This isn't as easy as it might be, for the function is utterly undocumented and relies heavily on experience with other servers to figure out, but it does give you something server-like that will respond to an external browser, and that's all you need. If you can't figure it out, a simple web server will do, even if it only serves up a static page. You just need it to respond to a received query over the network.

Make sure you can reach BC remote download (or whatever), and access it with the Sony running normally, then close the lid/do whatever it is you do that's NOT supposed to make it hibernate, and try to reach BC Remote Download again. Can you still do it? If not, this suggests the machine IS doing sleepy things with the lid closed.

[greywizard]

Another thing which comes to mind.

Try using the wired connection (I'm assuming that you're connecting to your own router) and see if you get the same behavior. Perhaps modifying the position of the antenna reduces the captured signal and thus the drop in bandwidth.

Just a thought.