Ubuntu 11.04 + Firefox 3.6 or Slow connection?

I am encountering the same issue with win xp with firefox 3.6 and there seem to be some problem running java scripts. Did you recently installed any add-on for your browser?

No, not that I know of. I only run "Update Manager" which I don't believe fetches add-ons for FF.

I also don't know how to monitor transfer speeds over several days to prove that my perception is real. I would predict that the results would be often "Slow", sometimes "Slower", and rarely "Interminably Slow".

Did u install ubuntu 10.10 to dual boot from win XP? If so, u need to uninstall ubuntu 10.10 with add or remove programs, reboot and reinstall ubuntu 10.10 to resolve this issue. "Update Manager" is from ubuntu so I suppose this is what u did. I also have the same issue but after reinstalling, everything works fine.

Before reinstalling ubuntu (major thing, make backup, etc.),

try if it is really firefox, e.g install an alternativ browser.

There is, e.g.
epiphany
chromium
konqueror
arora

install one of them, surf and check if the sluggishness is staying.
if yes -> not the firefox
if no -> deactivate all plugins,

if no -> deactivate javascript, or use the "noscript" plugin

To Gilbert: I do not dual boot. I'm using Ubuntu as my only OS.

To Tobias: I do have Chrome, and it does seem to load pages a little more quickly. But the connection speed plug-in still indicates very low transfer speeds.

Could it be hardware, and if so, how do I go about troubleshooting?
Is there an application that will monitor (just) the speed of the connection (via frequent pinging?) over several days and generate a graph or visual report?

In ubuntu select System tab, go to Administration, select Network Tools. U can try pinging from here.
Are u using your Ethernet port to connect to Internet? Or some other usb modem devices? Who is your ISP? Are u on broadband, atm or fibre or wireless? What equipment do u have? Direct connection via adsl/cable modem, or do u have a router? Is your router wireless? Do u enable NAT in your router's firewall?

Comcast providing cable broadband service
cable broadband plugged into Motorola Surfboard cable modem
ethernet cable from cable modem to ooma VoIP Telo
ethernet cable from Telo to Netgear RangeMax Dual-band wireless-N Gigabit router
ethernet cable from wireless router port 1 to ethernet jack on Sony Vaio desktop PC VGC-RA910G

I checked NAT filtering on the wireless router. the default settings are unchanged: "secured" is checked (versus "open") and "Disable SIP ALG" is unchecked.

Let me see, for wired connection your speed is slow compared with your wireless connection.
Only for Firefox but not for Chrome.
Have u tried installing other browsers using the ubuntu software centre and try for your desktop with ubuntu installed?

To test your ISP speed, try http://www.speedtest.net

Try to access the above mentioned website, firstly on Firefox, then on Chrome.
Next access the same website on your wired and wireless PC and compare the speed difference.
Post your results here so that we can narrow down your problem.
I suspect is a faulty plugin for your Firefox browser that is causing the speed issue.

I've run speedtest and pingtest in Chrome using the desktop PC (running ubuntu) and sometimes get above average scores and other times way below average scores. That was the reason I asked if there was an application that could be left running over several days - building a bandwidth/connection report so that fluctuations could be spotted, if any. The NetSpeed app never gets above 2Mb/s. I'm on wireless on my hp elitebook laptop running IE on WinXP, and the wireless connectivity is 130.0 Mbps.

It's all moot now, however. I had another active post in these forums regarding the monitor seeming to "freeze" and go dark - seemingly when just switching a web page. After someone recommended that I ensure my NVIDIA drivers were up to date, I attempted to do just that. It was probably unrelated to the slow transfer speed, though one could understand how a novice like me could draw a connection between the two.

The real trouble then began: the nvidia-installer ( "*.run file" ) only updated the driver but not the kernel, thereby creating a mismatch. I quickly found that such a mismatch prevents the Ubuntu OS from booting, leaving me in terminal mode with no knowledge of how to roll back the driver, edit the Xserver appropriately, or otherwise make the required programming changes to get the OS to load - even in recovery/low-res mode!

After what seemed like my 50th reboot, I began smelling hot plastic and other materials smoldering from within the tower.

The next reboot attempt failed completely. The PC will now not even try to power on.

End result was that while I noticed some early warning signs and fired off a couple of posts in launchpad, I could not isolate the problem quickly enough to fix it ahead of time. I somehow got in over my head with the "troubleshooting" recommendation and now I'm dead in the water and need to pay somebody with test equipment to find the faulty component.

I did not think anything could be as painful as using Windows. It's been a liberating few years, though not without some occaisional frustrations. I didn't think I was naive, but the evidence proves otherwise.

I suppose I'll mark this case as "problem solved" because there's no button for "problem worsened" - though I cannot blame any of the moderators and kind helpers that monitor these posts.

Thanks for your time.