13 Posts
63
754383
SmartByte, limits speed
If anyone has really fast internet and when you do a speed test you only get 100 Mbps, check to see if Dell has slipped the SmartByte application on to your PC. I have a 400 Mbps connection and 802.11AC wifi and my Inspiron PC would only get 100 Mbps at my ISP's official speedtest site. i went through 3 different AC cards thinking it was them because my Ipad would always give me a speed of 400Mbps. Just by happenstance I uninstalled the SmartByte app, and lo and behold my speed now gives me 400+ Mbps. Here's the kicker, a day later the dang application was back and i was getting 100 Mbps again. I didn't install it, it installed itself! Every time i would uninstall it, a day later it would be back...ugh! I do not know how to keep it from self installing so what I did was go to the "Services" tab of Windows 10's task Manager and stopped the service "SmartByte Network services" after doing this i have my full speed back again, and the app doesn't "restart" itself.
sparksdls
44 Posts
0
October 8th, 2018 17:00
Thanks steveymacjr for find this solution!
Bought a new Dell desktop 3 days ago. After seeing my download speed at 5Mbps I was able to debug and also find SmartByte as the culprit. I disabled it and the Rivet Dynamic Bandwidth Management in Services and my speed went to 175Mbps! Spent a lot of time on this. I wish I had seen this thread first (I found it by Googling SmartByte).
If still under the purchased warranty, click the "Get Help Now" icon on the right to start a live chat session.
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killernetworking
93 Posts
0
February 28th, 2019 11:00
We have just released a new version of SmartByte that should address all of these issues. You can find the current version on our website, here - http://support.rivetnetworks.com/. Simply download the package, run it, and follow the prompts to update to the latest version. If there is an updated interface available, the installer will forward you to the Windows Store to install the new interface.
If you have any other issues with SmartByte, we encourage you to tell us about it by clicking here to contact us directly!
-- Anthony with Rivet Networks
Need further assistance? Use the "Get Help Now" option at the bottom right to chat with a Dell technician right away.
Mary G
4 Operator
4 Operator
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20.1K Posts
9
August 6th, 2018 16:00
Also check the Startup Tab in Task Manager to see if it is there. Disable it if it's listed. A search for smartbyte shows lots of complaints and tips. Thanks for posting.
Tesla1856
8 Wizard
8 Wizard
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17K Posts
4
August 6th, 2018 19:00
Yes, SmartByte is confirmed to be troublesome and I just tell people to uninstall it.
However, I've never heard of it coming back. Are you still running Dell Update? How are you uninstalling it?
steveymacjr
13 Posts
6
August 9th, 2018 13:00
the only dell app i have installed is Dell SupportAssist..
When i uninstalled the SmartByte app i would use the windows control panel.. and then a few hours later i would see "Smartbyte" again in the control panel.....
Tesla1856
8 Wizard
8 Wizard
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17K Posts
2
August 18th, 2018 09:00
1. I uninstalled that also.
https://www.dell.com/community/Alienware-Desktops/My-Aurora-R6-The-Adventure-Continues/m-p/6095405/highlight/true#M3971
2. Spooky. Maybe they should rename it Stupid-Byte ?
Colonel Dookie
2 Posts
4
September 12th, 2018 15:00
Yeah, Smartbyte creates fatal issues that are not intuitive to fix. Malfunctions that don't make any sense, the worst kind!
I was having issues with FileZilla, the FTP client. I could do everything (read, modify, create files on the server), but I couldn't upload files to the server. I tried so many things, but nothing made sense. Using a VPN resolved the issue, but again, this made no sense until I realized what was causing the problem! So I went through all the software on my PC. Found this thing called Smartbyte and discovered it was capable of tweaking my bandwidth. I uninstalled it, and my issue was resolved. I guess the reason everything worked using a VPN was because all my data was encrypted, and Smartbyte couldn't identify the type of traffic, and therefore didn't mess with it.
I also had issues with online speed test services (Ookla). The download test was fine, but the upload test stuck at zero, and Ookla gave me an error, something about possible firewall issues. Worked fine using a VPN, just like with the FTP issue. This was also fixed when I uninstalled Smartbyte.
Smartbyte is not smart. Uninstall it.
(edited)
Colonel Dookie
2 Posts
4
September 12th, 2018 15:00
Oh, and Smartbyte also seemed to have messed with Steam, the gaming platform. No issues after uninstalling Smartbyte.
nicky89797
1 Message
1
September 21st, 2018 21:00
thank you for this!!! My out of the box brand new Dell was just..failing miserably in installing WoW. I have pretty high end internet, and couldn't figure out for the life of me why it was so awful to download, and was honestly considering returning it as completely useless. Removing this awful bit of software that I didn't ask for, enable, or realize was running completely resolved the issue, and I'm back to being able to actually use my internet connection effectively.
JacekD2
8 Posts
1
September 26th, 2018 05:00
Hi! I ran into your post by accident - looking for info about SmartByte and what it is and accidentally resolved my issue with cutting my Internet speed in half. Great job! Thanks a lot!
JacekD2
8 Posts
0
September 26th, 2018 05:00
Uninstalled with Revo uninstaller it came back. Uninstalled with IOBit Uninstaller didn't. Never got to play with the service. Cheers!
kiwiwings
1 Message
2
September 26th, 2018 19:00
I have just removed smartbyte after doing a speed test on my inspiron 15 7000 and seeing terrible results. My wifi download speed improved from 5MB to 25 MB and my ethernet download speed improved from 5MB to 178MB
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EvilDeadGuy
33 Posts
0
September 27th, 2018 11:00
Thanks for posting this it was a big help :)
Mata_Las
1 Message
0
October 3rd, 2018 09:00
Me too! It happened to me in the past couple of days. But after trying to disabling it first from Task Manager and went to speedtest, everything came back from 3-4Mbps to 20Mbps+. I immediately uninstalled it from control panel and hope it never goes back!. No idea on how it got installed in my laptop.
Sparkee100
1 Message
0
October 4th, 2018 18:00
OMG you are a life savior. I was getting 5mbps then uninstalled this program and I got a wooping 200 mbps. The difference...