Slow MBP - Please Help

Hi all,

I have a problem with my MBP running slowly.

I have a late 2007 MBP 15inch 2.33Ghz Core2Duo running 10.6.5
Back at the beginning of this week, it started to run really slowly when doing anything that requires internet connection (Safari, Firefox, Mail, iTunes downloads). It's basically taking what feels like an age to load up any webpages or download anything.

I would normally hold the internet speed responsible, however I have run the speedtest.net app through my iPhone 4 and it's getting my normal download speed of 3Mbps.I have also fired up my old iMac running Leopard and run the speedtest website through that. I also got the same speed results as the iPhone. The MBP however wouldn't load the page even after 5 mins. All three devices were the same distance from the wireless router and all connected via wifi at the time. I have also done numerous restarts of the wireless router.

I did at the end of last week download and install Dropbox for the first time. I have since removed Dropbox and the machine appears to have sped up very slightly on internet tasks but not much. I removed all traces of dropbox I can find.

I have also carried out numerous permission repairs and shut down and restarts. None seem to make any difference to speed.

It appears at the moment that it's only related to internet tasks. I can use Word and Excel as normal and with normal speed. iTunes plays music as normal from the catalogue stored on my HDD. I have just done a quick check in Aperture and that seems to be running at normal speed. I also have 24Gb free on the hard drive, so I wouldn't say it was a lack of space.

There is no external monitor attached, it's just the laptop as it came from the Apple store. The only hardware changes made have been to upgrade to the max 3GB RAM, which I did last summer. It's been running fine since then.
Oh and the battery that came with the laptop is pretty much dead. I get 10mins from a full charge, although all the problems have been while it's running on mains power.

I am currently typing this in my local Starbucks on the affected MBP. I am using their Wifi and it seems like a reasonable internet speed. I have managed to load up the Speedtest website off their Wifi, which is more than I can do at home. This leads me to think it might be some internet conflict at home rather than the MBP itself?

I am as I type also downloading the new 10.6.6 update in the hope that it may help fix whatever issue is going on here. It certainly can't make it any slower!

Does anyone have any suggestions please? I am desperate, I have tried everything that I can think of and am now out of ideas.
I start an intensive university course on the 10th Jan and am going to need to do a lot of research. I was going to be relying on this MBP for the next year.
All help and suggestions appreciated. I will try pretty much anything.

 

I had tried restarting the router, not resetting it.
I have now gone through a reset and 'touch wood' it appears to be back at near enough normal speed again.
I am hoping that it's just that and nothing more serious. I have every intention of replacing this MBP but not for another year until i've finished my course.

Thanks for the help people. If it is more than a simple router reset or it doesn't work then I will be back for more help.

Thanks.