hi,
ping is used to query if an ip over the internet or intranet is reachable or not. to ping a particular ip, goto run, type cmd and then in the command prompt type, for example, ping 192.168.1.1, this could be ur default gateway or an ip u want o ping on the network. ping can be used with atributes as well like the following table shown below.
Usage: ping [-t] [-a] [-n count] [-l size] [-f] [-i TTL] [-v TOS]
[-r count] [-s count] [[-j host-list] | [-k host-list]]
[-w timeout] target_name
Options:
-t Ping the specified host until stopped.
To see statistics and continue - type Control-Break;
To stop - type Control-C.
-a Resolve addresses to hostnames.
-n count Number of echo requests to send.
-l size Send buffer size.
-f Set Don't Fragment flag in packet.
-i TTL Time To Live.
-v TOS Type Of Service.
-r count Record route for count hops.
-s count Timestamp for count hops.
-j host-list Loose source route along host-list.
-k host-list Strict source route along host-list.
-w timeout Timeout in milliseconds to wait for each reply.
secondly, u mentioned that ur net has slowed down, i would first ask u to do a bandwidth test, for which u can stop all download or upload activity and visit
Speedtest.net - The Global Broadband Speed Test or
www.tsetmy.net and follow the onscreen instructions to do a bandwidth test. if u find that the speed test indicates that the bandwidth u are receiving is not what u have asked for, then. there could be many factors responsible for it like, connectivity, worm, virus or trojan or that the port is not forwarded correctly or maybe the ISP has capped the bandwidth.
thirdly, as far as dc++ goes, it depends on network and to assure urself of this, firstly, chk the connectivity by pinging ur default gateway by 65500 bytes for which the command would be, for example, ping 192.168.1.1 -l 65500 -t. this would show u that ur ip is sending 65500 bytes of data and the reply that u get would show the time taken by the packet to communicate in terms of ml, miliseconds taken to travel to its destination. if u find that ur pings are broken, example, u send pings and u find that u get 2 replies and 2 timeouts and again 2 replies and timeouts and so on, then this would reflect a network issue which would be addressed by the isp as it would be a connectivity issue for which u could make a complaint.
as far as ur lan card goes, i dont think anythings wrong with it atm.