Browsers stop connecting to pages if I'm downloading something

**i-CONICA** · October 1st, 2011, 02:56 PM

Hi,

I've got a strange issue that's begun recently. No idea what caused it. I don't think I did anything to cause it...

I usually use Chrome, or Firefox, but now, if I'm downloading a file, I can't connect to webpages. It's "sending request" but then times out saying the DNS lookup failed. I can ping addresses, but can't tracert them in cmd.

Once a large download has finished, everything returns to normal. It's as if the download is being given 100% of the network resources, or something. The download doesn't have to be in the same browser, or even in a browser to cause this issue.

Does anyone have any clues what this could be caused by?

Many thanks.

**bigBonehead** · October 2nd, 2011, 10:52 PM

What type connection to the web?

**i-CONICA** · October 3rd, 2011, 04:58 AM

Hi,

The connection is Ethernet to the router, then 20Mb/s Sky broadband of which I get about 7Mb/s.

I'm a software developer and not naive to pop-ups or adware. I'm pretty sure it's not a viral threat, and it's not caused much damage if it is. Seems strange to cause an issue like this. It has to be some kind of config issue somewhere.

**bigBonehead** · October 4th, 2011, 11:04 PM

With that type speed, you should be able to have a dozen tabs open and download...

Have you done a speedtest? My ATT DSL slows occasionally, and I gotta reboot the wireless router from on the ATT router url... How many processes are you seeing in Task Manager, and where is the temp folder located for yer downloads... Is it on a slow/nearly full HD?

**i-CONICA** · October 5th, 2011, 03:54 AM

It's not a speed issue. If I'm downloading something, it could be coming in at nearly 1MB/s (8Mb/s) but it "hogs" all
The bandwidth seemingly, so everything else times out, such as web pages. It's like something is giving the download 100% priority.