Experiencing Internet Slowdown with Kaspersky: A Frustrating Encounter

In my recent experience with Kaspersky antivirus, I have encountered a significant issue that has become a major concern for my internet usage. Specifically, I noticed that my internet speed plummets by nearly 60% while Kaspersky is running. As soon as I close the software, my connection speed returns to normal. This decline in performance is particularly troubling for me, as I often download large files, which requires the full bandwidth of my internet connection. Ironically, those are also the times when I need the protection of an antivirus the most, making it difficult to simply disable the software.

Before switching to Kaspersky, I had been a loyal user of Bitdefender for the past five years. I never encountered any internet speed issues with it, even while it was actively scanning for threats. In testing various other antivirus solutions like McAfee, Norton, and Avira, none of them caused any slowdown. Thus, it seems clear that this particular problem lies solely with Kaspersky.

To troubleshoot, I methodically disabled Kaspersky’s protection features one by one to identify any specific setting that might be causing the slowdown. However, after extensive testing, I saw no meaningful improvement, even when I turned off all features. My experience with Bitdefender involved similar features but without any impact on speed—leading me to believe there’s something peculiar about Kaspersky’s implementation.

I reached out to Kaspersky’s tech support for assistance, but unfortunately, the experience was less than satisfactory. They were unable to resolve the issue and denied my request for a refund, leaving me frustrated and stuck with software that I find ineffective.

While I don’t want to disparage Kaspersky without reason, I must insist that potential users exercise caution before committing to this product. Based on my recent experience, it seems there is something amiss with its performance.

As a final note, some may argue that a 60% speed reduction on a 400 Mbps plan is still usable, but for me, every megabit counts. Given the cost of my internet service and the nature of my work, experiencing such a drastic slowdown is simply unacceptable.

If anyone has alternative suggestions or solutions, I would greatly appreciate your input!

Screenshots of the speed tests for reference: