Internet / router speed help

[p0tn00dle]

Hello there. I have an 8mb internet connection with a company that does not have a Fair Usage Policy which i pay a little extra to get this so there is no slow down at peak times. My PC usually gets a nice 5.2 mbs speed which is good for me and im more than happy with but this only lasts for around 15 mins to 1 hour after i power up my PC then it drops to 50kbs to 80kbs and stays there until i power down and restart and this only lasts as long again before my speed tiggers off again. When i check my router menu it shows my internet connection is a steady downstream of 7232kbps and upstream of 448kbps and this does not move much either way so i dont think its my ISP that are having the slowdown.
I recently purchased a new modem router. I had an 'N' rated belkin but the firmware firewall with this is too strict and playing online games was an issue (and in some cases impossible) and had problems connecting to servers, even with the DNS firewall switched off, the belkin would not allow some games through even if the port mapping had been correctly configured. I looked this up on google to see that many, many others were complaining of the same problem and belkin help would not agnolage there was a problem with its firmware and no update pending so i moved to a D-Link 'N' rated router. This solved the problem immediatly but then i started to notice my net slowdown. I cannot say if i was having the same issues with the belkin regarding speed as i had other constant problems with it but it is safe to say that the problem is between my router and the PC and not my ISP.

Can there be programs running taking away my bandwith? I have a internet connection usage program installed which shows how much kpbs up and down steam im using and it only seems to show the correct amount im using at that time so i dont think there are any hidden programs taking my bandwith.

My router is secured with an encription code and it also tells me how many connections there are to it and it only ever shows as my network PC is connected, so i dont think anyone in the neighbourhood is stealing my bandwith.

I have run speedchecks on an online speed checker regulalry to confirm which speeds im getting and it always starts off good for the first small time frame but after an hour it is at the slow speeds stated.

I have run virus and spyware scans using norton 360, spybot S+D and windows defender, all come up with nothing.

Any help as to this would be appreciated.

[Canuck]

A quick way of checking what's going on in the background is to go to Start > Run > type in msconfig > click the startup tab ... how many entries have a check mark next to them? Ideally there really shouldn't be more than 3 - 6. If there are, google each entry and see if they are really needed ... most are not. Keep anti virus and firewall programs, also if a laptop keep the mouse pad program. Keep us posted.