weird download problem

[divorced]

I'm having a significant problem with my new PC. If I try downloading anything of any real size, the download keeps stopping. I have to essentially "pause" the download and then have it restart (not from the beginning). This happens very frequently.

For instance, I purchased Gears of War on the PC from GFW Marketplace (no jokes. It's pretty much the only place this is available.) When I tried this when it first came out, my PC wasn't up to the task but my new one should be awesome with it. I use Firefox so I can keep track of my downloads in the popup window. It's a hefty download (10.9 gigs), but every 60 seconds or so it just stops. So I hit the pause button, wait a sec and then hit the resume button. With a download this size, you can see how this would be VERY annoying!

Any ideas? I have Uverse. This is a relatively new connection that I had them put in after I got married (wife didn't want the computer in the living room). Is it likely the ethernet drop on the wall or could it be something internal on my system?

[Armando Penblade]

Hard-pressed to think of anything on a standard Windows install that would make it act like that. If you went with a really funky custom firewall or the like, theoretically, but my bet is on the networking hardware somewhere--a funky security setting enabled on the router or something to that effect.

If you're in a position to plug the PC in directly to the modem, try that. Try different PCs with the same connection. Try to narrow down the exact circumstances (all downloads? Just HTTP? Just over a certain size? Just over a certain speed? Torrenting, say, the Ubuntu Live CD ISOs and rate-limiting might help you test some of this stuff, especially in a client like uTorrent where you can control the ports and the like).

[GloriousMess]

It won't be anything physical as packetloss is usually constant, and it wouldn't halt your download. Unless someone is unplugging your cable every 60 seconds.

My guesses are:

• Firewall: ensure you have all the permissions necessary to download the file. If it's using a different protocol (FTP for example) make sure your firewall isn't interfering.
• Router firmware: is it up to date? Try a reboot of it just to make sure.
• Router wireless access: is it secure? WPA at least should be the authentication method. Change your password.
• Realtime virus protection: disable it and try your download. It might be messing with you.

One thing you could do is use an FTP client and connect (anonymously) to ftp.blizzard.com/pub/ and find something hefty to download. If it goes fine then you can narrow down the problem further.