Internet Speed Crisis: Is My Connection Being Siphoned?

In today’s digital age, internet connectivity is crucial for both work and leisure. However, what happens when you suddenly experience a drastic drop in your internet speed? This is the perplexing scenario I recently encountered, and I’m reaching out for insights.

I installed CenturyLink’s fiber internet service about nine months ago at my residence in the Pacific Northwest. Initially, I enjoyed brisk speeds of around 950 Mbps with comparable upload speeds. But out of the blue, my connection has staggered to an alarming crawl. Nowadays, I’m fortunate to scrape together 4 Mbps. Even more baffling, my speed tests fluctuate wildly—ranging from 20 Mbps to a disheartening 1.5 Mbps—while uploads remain solid, occasionally hitting 900 Mbps.

After a frustrating experience, I reached out to CenturyLink’s customer support for assistance. A technician arrived and conducted various diagnostics. After confirming that everything should be functioning optimally, he replaced my modem, the Optical Network Terminal (ONT), and ran new Cat6 cables. We conducted tests via an Ethernet connection, but the issue persisted. To worsen matters, the Wi-Fi speeds were even lower. During his visit, the technician repeatedly questioned whether I might be using a VPN. Honestly, I’m not very familiar with VPNs and assured him that I was not using one.

In addition to speed issues, I’ve recently encountered a new, frustrating phenomenon: whenever I search in Chrome, I’m frequently prompted with CAPTCHAs, indicating potential suspicious activity on my network. This raises the question: could someone be utilizing my connection without my knowledge?

I’m genuinely puzzled and lack the technical know-how to diagnose this problem. Is someone secretly tapping into my internet service? If so, how can I determine where the issue lies or how I can safeguard my connection?

For those who are also tech-savvy, I would greatly appreciate any advice on diagnosing this anomaly.

Update: I’m using Macs, in case that matters. While I haven’t resolved this yet, I’m grateful for all the feedback I’ve received so far. I will continue to update once I have more information—hopefully not at 4 AM!