ASUS AI Suite and ASUS Network iControl Slowed Me for 2 Months!

Internet speed returned
The Trusty BBC iPlayer Internet Speed Test Shows That My Need For Speed Has Been Fulfilled Once Again

Woo hoo! I have proper Internet again! Took me 2 months to sort it out.

In May I changed ISP and bought a new PC. Since then my Internet connection sucked, especially in Chrome. Some pages took forever to open. I even blamed Google CSE for making my website load slowly! I have spoken to my new ISP several times, complaining about slow speeds, but their tests showed that my line was OK (the  router confirmed that speeds were good). Entanet, the new ISP, have been great – they seem to be one of the few good ISPs left. Get this – they talk to customers!

Then today, by chance, I spotted something called Network iControl running on my PC. I Googled it, and it is an ASUS thing. I Googled more and found a thread on Toms Hardware in which someone was having problems with slow uploads when it was switched on.

So I then Googled [how to turn off Asus Network iControl] and it is set in ASUS AI Suite. A bit more reading and I learn that ASUS AI Suite seems to be mostly used for Overclocking – something I do not use. Several people recommend uninstalling it and using BIOS to overclock, if that’s your thing. Several people on Tom’s Hardware mentioned that fiddling with the AI Suite caused their systems to overheat – overclocking is for hardware experts only!

So I uninstalled ASUS AI Suite, using the Windows Control Panel, in normal mode, then restarted my PC (to be sure everything cleared…. ) and now have fast Internet once again, and Chrome is working as expected. Phew.

Some pages that saved me:

Beware: Asus Network iControl can kill upload speeds on Tom’s Hardware

Want to go old school and remove Asus AI suite on Hard Forum

So, if your new Windows 7 machine with an ASUS motherboard is running slow, especially if browsers are slow, then try removing the ASUS AI Suite and see if that fixes it. If you do not overclock, or are not worried about monitoring the core temperature of your CPU, then it is probably not needed and could be slowing you down.

19 Comments on “ASUS AI Suite and ASUS Network iControl Slowed Me for 2 Months!”

  1. After building my third PC using an ASUS Sabertooth Z77 MB I was experiencing the exact same problem of very slow web page loading and generally slow system performance as well. Needless to say, this was a serious problem that I could not live with. I uninstalled the ASUS Network iControl module from the AI Suite and my problem disappeared. I now have a speedy PC. Thank you very much Webologist

  2. Thanks for the information. I was having the same problem. I knew about this problem but I could not imagine that it would kill upload speeds.

  3. Same here. My Z77 Sabertooth was getting .2 upload while my other computer was getting .68 upload. After banging my head all day I found this post, I removed Network iControl, now the the Z77 is getting .68 like my other computer. Download speeds were the same for both computers before and after removing Network iControl.

  4. I too have a asus motherboard name as sabertooth 990fx and it has the AL Suite 2 ,does AL Suite 2 has the same problem ??

  5. I do not know. Is it installed now? Are you using it? Run an Internet speed check, if the results are way off what your are paying your ISP for, and no other computers / webpages are downloading, the there could be an issue. If your Internet is slow, open the admin panel for the AL Suite 2 and switch it off, and re-test the Internet connection.

  6. Yep. Discovered the issue a while ago and it was driving me crazy until I started a process of elimination. Once I figured out it was that damned AI Suite and removed it, everything returned to normal. Thought about it this morning and figured I would see if others had the same problem. Guess I’m not alone…

  7. Nope, not alone. I wonder how many other people are struggling. Unfortunately most will just think that it is normal.

  8. Thank You, I had the same problem. AI Suite II is the collection of 11 different programs. You don`t have to uninstall all these, only Network iControll is enough.

  9. Can confirm this fixes this problem. Can’t believe ASUS provide software with this problem, with their hardware.ALso you have to make sure it is uninstalled, and not just disabled. Disabling won’t fix it, the software has to be removed.

  10. Never ever had a problem with Ai Suite, Besides, Turbo EVO under AI Suite is for overclocking, Ai suite is for a wide range of programs. This page feels like just some ad for Google. “Dur. I fixed my internet and now my life is complete now that my Chrome browser is working.” Anyways, perhaps if you’d taken the time to get to know your Asus Sabertooth Z77 and it’s controlling software (and did you ever even goto Asus’s site and upgrade your software? That’s kinda important. I don’t see any mention at all about it though.) Your first instinct when something goes bad is “Get rid of it, these people don’t know what they’re doing and are screwing up my computer.” instead of, hey, newer software for products is always being released. Why not check the website and see if there are any updates. I have a Sabertooth Z77 and I always make sure to update everything, out of the box, you’ll find there are about 10-20 updates to install to increase your performance. Funny how you don’t mention that to people.

    Anyways, under Ai Suite, under Network iControl, there’s a switch you can turn it on or off with. So yeah, not really necessary to uninstall and is actually a dumb thing to recommend to people as a lot of the board’s features go through it, hell, you won’t even be able to adjust fan speeds without Ai Suite, They’ll just run full tilt whether idle or load.

    I feel sorry for anyone who’d get the idea taking technical advice from you is a good idea. lol

  11. You may be right. Although this was a brand new computer, so I would be surprised if the software was already out of date. There is usually a better solution for those who know what they are doing, I was interested only in a solution which allows me to start using my computer and Internet normally again. Everything has been running fine for 10 months now, so I am happy with that.

    As for ad for Google – nonsense. This is just a personal blog about my exploits online. If I was an Apple guy, I’d say that my Safari browser was working OK. Although, if I was an Apple guy, I guess this problem would not have happened 😉

  12. Just wanted to say thanks.

    I’ve been dealing with this for almost four months now. I have the ASUS M5A99FX, and (in a brief moment of insanity) I installed AI Suite with the iControl software. I just got rid of it, and my life is much better. (Even without Chrome)

    For the record, my software was up-to-date, according to the ASUS download page. And the built-in updater agreed. But I uninstalled it, and my PC hasn’t burst into flames yet. I even kept my overclock enabled. (What can I say? I like to live dangerous.)

  13. Just wanted to say thanks, too.

    I’ve been disturbed by sudden drop in DOWNLOAD (yes- not only UPLOAD as the other guys mentioned) speed, from 60 Mbps to 2 Mbps. The Upload Speed dropped from 60 Mbps to les than 1 , too. Tried everything- unloaded Intel Drivers, reinstalled Microsoft then back- no luck. Every time Speed jumped back to normal then after some time (sometimes a day) dropped back.

    After reading the above, I’ve just disabled Network icontrol and … Internet Performance returned back to the previous Levels.

    My platform (custom build) : Sabertooth Z77, Intel CPU, Windows 8 64-bit, all SW constantly kept up-to date.

  14. Just to add this:

    – This Problem with “Network iControl” is 100% reproducible. Procedure is as follows:

    Simply use some Net Speed web site (p.e. http://www.speedtest.net/ ) and ASUS Suite II Network iControl application. Switch it “ON” and your Internet (both up/down directions) is 30 times slower!! Then swith it “OFF” and then run Speed test again- your Speed is back to the level where it has been without influence of ASUS Suite II application Network iControl. You can do it as many times as you want- the behaviour doesn’t change and your Internet connection is on the same top levels as it has to be. No reboot, nothing! It is as simple as this.

    All other applications/functions of ASUS Suite II are working without problems, while Network iControl is OFF.

    I am writing all these details in a hope that someone from ASUS will read it and launch the necessary bug correction process. Thanks in advance!

  15. I haven’t noticed any speed problems, but the “systray icon I did not asked for” annoyed me.
    After turning off a task with the taskmanager, the icon was gone (and hopefully any future speed/network problems).
    The task was: “ASUS Network iControl Help Execute” (C:\Program Files (x86)\ASUS\AI Suite III\Network iControl\NetSvcHelp\NetSvcHelpEntry.exe)

  16. Have two new Asus pcs , desktop and vivobook, on same network. Internet on the Desktop intolerably slow. Looked around the Web and based on comments concerning previous problems with Asus AI Network iControl, thought I try uninstalling the more recent ASUS AI Suite II which was only on the Desktop. The uninstall now lets you install one element. I uninstalled Dr. Net, and immediately got rid of interminable loading times for sites, and miserable navigation times.
    Wanted to pass it on.

  17. AI Suite is very useful for monitoring CPU temps, fan RPMs, etc. The better solution is to simply open AI Suite and untick Network iControl.

    I never noticed any internet BW issues, but then my ISP connection is such utter crap that slowing it would take me back to dialup modem speeds. What I did have a problem with was the NetSrvHelp.exe component. One day it simply started crashing on startup, and it’s not anything I need.

    For the hypercarefuls out there (like me), I also took ownership of the Network iControl folder, then removed inherited permissions from it and all contents. The end result is nothing can access it unless I restore the permissions, not even System or the dreaded dreadful Trusted Installer.

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