I recently moved into a college dorm and have been dealing with a strange network problem. My computer connects through Ethernet and can reach around 900 Mbps when nothing is running, but the connection seems to stop working as soon as I open any web browser. Online games still work, but Surfshark does not. I registered my MAC address with the school, tried multiple browsers and Wi-Fi networks, flushed DNS, updated network drivers, performed a network reset, and tested with a clean boot. Two campus IT staff members also checked the cable, wall port, and connection without finding the cause. The Ethernet port and cable worked normally at home, and Internet access works perfectly through my phone's hotspot. I'm wondering whether some software, proxy, VPN, or browser-related setting could be interfering with web traffic.
1 Answer
Since the phone hotspot works and the dorm connection was tested, try isolating whether the problem is specific to this computer or to the dorm network. A USB-tethered phone connection can provide another comparison, and connecting a router to the dorm Ethernet jack may help test the connection independently of your PC. If only browsers fail while games continue working, check for a system proxy, VPN, security filter, or DNS-over-HTTPS setting that could be blocking normal web traffic.
The phone hotspot works perfectly, and the Ethernet cable, wall jack, and computer port have all worked elsewhere or were tested by campus IT. I also ran a speed-test application directly on the computer and got normal speeds until I opened a browser, at which point web access stopped. I’m starting to suspect a software or web-traffic-specific issue, even though I’m using a fresh browser install.