VISTA - Losing ability to browse web.. driving me CRAZY

Okay, I've seen many threads of people having problems but can't find a solution.

As soon as I start downloading a torrent I can't surf the web, or access my router config page.

I've tried the following. (I've had this dell E521 for a week) There is barely any other programs installed, I'm using VISTA home premium.

-increased the number of TCIP connections as posted in this forum (I did this even though I wasn't getting the error in the events log)

-disabled all firewall windows/mcAfee/Netgear M814, all defenders, anything I can think of.

-changed torrent clients (same promlem)

-I changed the 2 settings listed in other thread in the uTorrent client (1.7) -- I could list the exact settings, but if I were to open uTorrent and check, I'd loose my connection because it starts downloading.

Here is my reasoning for thinkinking it's something with vista and not a router problem... I have 2 computer, one with VISTA one with XP, same client and version, the XP works fine, the VISTA doesn't.

If I close uTorrent, wait a couple of seconds, reboot, or wait a couple of seconds and repair the connection it works fine.

I've also skipped the router all together and plugged the internet connection straight into my NIC and I still have the same problem.

My wife is getting mad because I'm going bonkers trying to figure this out.. please help. I know from googling the problem, many people are having it.. someone has got to know how to fix it!

Try Ultima's interrupted connection/slow speed guide:

http://forum.utorrent.com/viewtopic.php?id=15992

...my personal guess, you may be able to use the web if you set µTorrent's half open connection max in advanced settings to 4 or lower.

"my personal guess, you may be able to use the web if you set µTorrent's half open connection max in advanced settings to 4 or lower."

nope... not able to.

So what happened to all the other suggestions in the thread Switeck linked to?

Sorry I only replied to the part I knew the answer to. I'm going to go through and list and do everything in that thread and post it. I'm even going to re-do the parts I have already done.

I have the same problem. I've used utorrent for a year without problems. But, since I started to use the 1.7 version strange things started to happen.

1. I loose my ability to browse.

2. I get only one peer connection out of hundreds, looks like 1 (537).

3. It is hard to close down the client.

I run on XP.

What is your net.max_halfopen set to, klepzo?

Yeah, the combination of uTorrent + Vista + Netgear router is hopeless, and positively lethal if wireless is involved. These FAQ:s which moderators and others keep linking to *do not help* when it comes to this particular setup. None of the suggested measures work. You can lower your max connections/torrents/peers/slots/half-open connections to 1/1/1/1/1, you can disable every potential troublemaking option and troubleshoot till your eyes bleed, it will still crash and hang and disconnect and you will still find yourself rebooting the router and fiddling with disconnect/reconnect in Vista's Network settings to the point where you're breathing fire.

My solution was to end my stupid loyalty to Netgear and get a D-Link DIR-655, which has been running without hiccups since I first plugged it in 2 weeks ago. I can use three computers full blast and combine surfing/uTorrent/video streaming like there was no tomorrow, and the router goes "is that all you've got?"

Netgears have been known to *suck*. D-Links have too, but if yours works fine for you...

HEY GUESS WHAT?!!?!?!? You guys are not going to believe this. First I disabled McAfee all together, because I was going through and doing the testing steps, that didn't help. BUT Today I was taking a break from fooling aroung with uTorrent, and doing some other tasks that are on a list (this is a new computer). One of them was uninstall mcAfee because it was a trial version. I uninstalled it, and now everything is working! IT WAS SOMETHING IN MCAFEE!!!! Even when it was completely disabled it was somehow blocking torrents, but once it was uninstalled it worked fine... I'll try and post the version of mcAfee I was using for others.... Crazy eh?

Yah, we've always suggested that people not simply disable, but actually uninstall possible culprits, as disabling them doesn't necessarily get rid of their influence on the system (especially not with security suites). And McAfee has always provided sub-par software, so I'm not all too surprised that it was the problem