BleepingComputer.com: Slow Internet despite good speed tests

Please help me. I am very frustrated here!
I just moved from NY with Cablevision to Madison with Charter. So far I have been extremely dissatisfied with the service.
I am running on an:
HP Pavilion p7-1020 with AMD Phenom II X4 960T / 2.9 GHz Quad-Core, 8 GB DDR3 SDRAM - Non-ECC, Memory Speed 1333 MHz, Hard Drive 1 x 1.5 TB - Standard - Serial ATA-300 - 5400 rpm, Fast Ethernet, Ethernet, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11n, IEEE 802.11g.
I am using a Zoom 5350 Router/Modem combo with these specs:
Product Name Docsis 3.0 Cable Modem/Router WL-N 4 Port Switch Any Service
Product Type Wireless Router
Power Over Ethernet No
Ethernet Port Yes
Fast Ethernet Port Yes
Gigabit Ethernet Port Yes
Wi-Fi Standard IEEE 802.11n
ISM Band Yes
UNII Band No
ISM Minimum Frequency 2.40 GHz
ISM Maximum Frequency 2.48 GHz
Number of Antennas 2
USB Yes
VGA No
Number of Network (RJ-45) Ports 4
Network (RJ-11) No
Powerline No
Management Port No
Wireless Transmission Speed 37.50 MBps
Form Factor Desktop
Product Model 5350
Certifications & Standards
IEEE 802.11b
IEEE 802.11g
IEEE 802.11n
IEEE 802.3
IEEE 802.3u
IEEE 802.3ab
FCC part 15B and 15C UL
Features Quality of Service (QoS)
MIMO Technology
Management
DHCP
SNMP v1/v2/v3
Security Features
NAT
NTP
DMZ
Port Forwarding
VPN pass-through
PPTP
L2TP
IPsec
MAC address Filtering
Port Filtering
IP Filtering
Parental Control
SPI
Denial of Service Protection
Wireless Security
64/128 bit WEP
WPA
WPA2
WPS
IEEE 802.1x
Input Voltage 110 V AC
220 V AC
Power Source AC Supply
Additional Information

Downstream Data rate: Up to 343 Mbps (8 channels)
Upstream Data rate: Up to 143 Mbps (4 channels

When I do speed tests, I get pretty good results (see below):

http://www.speedtest.net/result/1538196836.png
and
http://www.dslreports.com/im/99155320/7888.png

As you can see there is a discrepancy between speeds depending on what test and how far I am pinging. However, both are reasonable download/upload speeds over an advertised Charter speed of "Up to 18Mbps".
The problem is that each page takes forever to actually load and I frequently time out. Another thing that is annoying is that if I leave my browser open for more than 10-15 minutes without activity, when I come back and try to go to another page I get a timeout message. I then have to completely shut down the browser and re-open another (sometimes twice) before getting connection. These problems happen no matter what browser I use (IE Explorer, FireFox, or Opera).
When I called Charter Tech help, they were absolutely useless! Saying that since my speed tests are good, there is nothing they can do.
I feel like I've gone back to the days of dial-up
HELP

Ping some websites you are trying to load http://www.mediacollege.com/internet/troubleshooter/ping.html

Here's one to a site I really need to get on frequently but never can:

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.1.7601]
Copyright © 2009 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Users\mpetrodoc>tracert uconnect.wisc.edu

Tracing route to uconnect.wisc.edu [144.92.16.230]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 8 ms 13 ms 7 ms 10.131.180.1
2 13 ms 9 ms 9 ms dtr01ftbgwi-gbe-9-17.ftbg.wi.charter.com [96.34.
20.82]
3 10 ms 10 ms 11 ms crr02ftbgwi-tge-0-1-0-4.ftbg.wi.charter.com [96.
34.16.37]
4 9 ms 9 ms 12 ms edr01ftbgwi-gbe-7-0-0.ftbg.wi.charter.com [96.34
.16.155]
5 10 ms 9 ms 10 ms r-peer-xe-2-1-0-954.net.wisc.edu [144.92.233.230
]
6 10 ms 9 ms 10 ms r-cssc-b280c-9-core-vlan-1627.net.wisc.edu [146.
151.175.61]
7 12 ms 9 ms 9 ms r-animal-122a-1-core-vlan-2043.net.wisc.edu [146
.151.167.41]
8 10 ms 9 ms 9 ms r-csc-101h5-1-node-vlan-1514.net.wisc.edu [146.1
51.164.94]
9 9 ms 9 ms 17 ms 144.92.249.2
10 * * * Request timed out.
11 * * * Request timed out.
12 * * * Request timed out.
13 * * * Request timed out.
14 * * * Request timed out.
15 * * * Request timed out.
16 * * * Request timed out.
17 * * * Request timed out.
18 * * * Request timed out.
19 * * * Request timed out.
20 * * * Request timed out.
21 * * * Request timed out.
22 * * * Request timed out.
23 * * * Request timed out.
24 * * * Request timed out.
25 * * * Request timed out.
26 * * * Request timed out.
27 * * * Request timed out.
28 * * * Request timed out.
29 * * * Request timed out.
30 * * * Request timed out.

Trace complete.

C:\Users\mpetrodoc>ping uconnect.wisc.edu

Pinging uconnect.wisc.edu [144.92.16.230] with 32 bytes of data:
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.

Ping statistics for 144.92.16.230:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 0, Lost = 4 (100% loss),

C:\Users\mpetrodoc>

What about other sites ping results? If all or most shows request timed out, its time to call your ISP.

No most other sites are ping-able without too much lag time.
I still have long delays in page loads however. Maybe not all the time, but enough so that I notice it and don't want to spend so much time on the internet!

Post the actual link from the site so we can test it here also.

Well, I have ping test the site and it also made same result. All request timed out.

Her are the results for three other sites:

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.1.7601]
Copyright © 2009 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Users\mpetrodoc>ping accuweather.com

Pinging accuweather.com [207.242.93.24] with 32 bytes of data:
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.

Ping statistics for 207.242.93.24:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 0, Lost = 4 (100% loss),

C:\Users\mpetrodoc>ping uwcu.com

Pinging uwcu.com [64.202.189.170] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 64.202.189.170: bytes=32 time=84ms TTL=117
Reply from 64.202.189.170: bytes=32 time=83ms TTL=117
Reply from 64.202.189.170: bytes=32 time=83ms TTL=117
Reply from 64.202.189.170: bytes=32 time=83ms TTL=117

Ping statistics for 64.202.189.170:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 83ms, Maximum = 84ms, Average = 83ms

C:\Users\mpetrodoc>ping pbs.org

Pinging pbs.org [149.48.228.139] with 32 bytes of data:
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.

Ping statistics for 149.48.228.139:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 0, Lost = 4 (100% loss),

I was able to connect all sites on first access in IE8. But not the uconnect wis site.

OK. But what does that mean for me?

I cannot access uconnect wis site but can open pbs. uwcu and accuweather. How about on your end? Try resetting the modem/router and if you connect by USB cable, use the ethernet ports instead.

I think you are so far away from the router. If you use WiFi close up to router and ping again, for better connection use ethernet cable and try to be close.

Thanks for the input tyrant. Given all the suggestions and possible scenarios, here is the manual http://media.cox.com/support/print_media/internet/equipment/Zoom_5350_User_Manual.pdf for your modem/router. I see on page 54 a Firewall menu option to check/uncheck proxy/cookies/java and applets. Might wanna try those settings first. DO NOT uncheck Firewall protection option when troubleshooting the website not able to access.

Proxy/cookies/java and applets all now disabled.
I also disabled the IP flood detection but have left the firewall enabled.

Can you access those sites now or not? I was able to access today U Wisconsin, is this the site? - http://www.wisc.edu/

This post has been edited by jhayz: 18 October 2011 - 06:48 PM