Is Someone Siphoning My Internet? A Frustrating Tale of Slow Speeds and Mysterious Issues

Have you ever experienced a sudden and inexplicable drop in your internet speed? This is precisely what I’ve been grappling with lately, and I could use some help sorting through the chaos.

I’ve been a CenturyLink fiber internet user in the Pacific Northwest for about nine months now, enjoying speeds that typically hover around 950 Mbps. However, out of the blue, my download speeds plummeted to an agonizing 4 Mbps. To make matters more confusing, speed tests often fluctuate wildly—sometimes showing 20 Mbps, other times spiking to 100 Mbps, and occasionally dropping as low as 1.5 Mbps. Meanwhile, my upload speeds remain consistently high, sometimes reaching up to 900 Mbps.

After noticing the slowdown, I contacted CenturyLink support. The technician who responded ran several diagnostics and could not find anything amiss. He even sent out a field technician, who inspected the newly installed line, replaced the modem, and swapped out the Optical Network Terminal (ONT) while also using fresh Cat6 cables—all to no avail. The connection was especially sluggish over Wi-Fi, and when testing with an Ethernet connection, the experience hardly improved.

Throughout the process, the technician repeatedly asked if I was using a VPN, which left me scratching my head. I have minimal technical knowledge about VPNs, and I assured him I wasn’t utilizing one, but that didn’t seem to satisfy him. He left with a puzzled expression, and I was left stuck. When I reached out to tech support again, I received the same response: “Everything checks out,” along with the persistent inquiry about a VPN.

Adding to my confusion, I have started encountering CAPTCHA prompts in Google Chrome, indicating suspicious activity on my connection. This situation has left me wondering: is someone else leveraging my internet connection through a VPN, or could it be something else entirely?

If you have any insights into this perplexing situation, your input would be greatly appreciated. I’m feeling a bit lost and anxious, and I hope to resolve this mystery soon.

Update: As I continue to search for solutions, thank you to everyone who has offered their feedback. I haven’t resolved the issue yet, but I’ll keep you posted!