Just got cable....

[Rebel7254]

Someone suggested that I go to www.pcpitstop.com to test my connection speed. On the download bandwidth test I was getting around 170 kb/s. I ran their auto fix thing and now I'm getting around 350 kb/s. It should be noted that I have the 1.5 Mbps max variety of cable internet, not one of the slower ones. Shouldn't I be getting like 900 kb/s or something like that?

 

[vi edit]

1500/8 = 187.5k/sec

 

[Rebel7254]

Yeah, but I went to www.bandwidthplace.com and ran that speed test. I got like 242 kb/s there while others in the forums with 1.5 Mbps cable said they are getting like 1.1 Mbps and stuff. On the speed chart my connection on the bar graph is not much larger than 56k. Also in Unreal Tournement 2003 I can't get any pings under 150 once I actually get in the game. Something is wrong. Every site I go to that has comparison charts has me way below where I should be.

 

[vi edit]

1. speed tests aren't really accurate
2. every cable provider has difference tolerances and ways of capping bandwith
3. bandwith != ping time/latency

 

[Rebel7254]

Well if Comcast says 1.5 Mbps then we should at least get somewhere near that. I think it sucks to pay $40 / mo for 1/5 of the advertised speed. It can't be a coincidence that every site I go to rates my connection barely above a 56k modem. And it's nearly midnight here, not like it would be heavy traffic time.

 

[Rebel7254]

I just read that most new cable modems are DOCSIS or something like that and they are limited to 500 kbps download. Wtf? It also said something about the ISP's capping bandwidth to make the distribution better or something. If they are doing that, then how can they get away with advertising "1.5 Mbps"?

 

[vi edit]

You are not understanding. 1.5mb = 1500kbs.

1500kbs=187.5K (1500/8)

Your original test of 170k was indeed correct.

 

[Rebel7254]

Yes I do understand. There is a difference between kb/s and kbps. I was giving you an incorrect figure. Change every time I said kb/s to kbps. My kb/s is somewhere in the 40-60 neighborhood. I think I got it right now.

 

[Need4Speed]

bits and bytes

1.5Mbits = 1500kilobits = 187kilobytes

1bit = .125 bytes

 

[Rebel7254]

Welll, I just ran some tests now and got 1.1 Mbps. Go figure. Granted, I was running it last night when more people would be on, but it's only been out for a week. If it is already slowed down that much then I can't even imagine what it's going to be like in a few months.

 

[Pauli]

Rebel, there are many factor that affect actual bandwidth over the internet. A "bandwidth"-measuring website often cannot give you an accurate measure of your actual available bandwidth. When you are connecting to a web-based measuring site, you don't know how many other people are accessing the same site and going through god-knows-how-many routers so it may be affecting what is reported to you. The best thing to do is to download a large file from your ISP's server (this is the most direct route between your system and your provider) and calculate the speed from that file transfer.

 

[Need4Speed]

Originally posted by: Pauli
Rebel, there are many factor that affect actual bandwidth over the internet. A "bandwidth"-measuring website often cannot give you an accurate measure of your actual available bandwidth. When you are connecting to a web-based measuring site, you don't know how many other people are accessing the same site and going through god-knows-how-many routers so it may be affecting what is reported to you. The best thing to do is to download a large file from your ISP's server (this is the most direct route between your system and your provider) and calculate the speed from that file transfer.

agreed. as a matter of fact, that is exactly how most techies test broadband after installation at a customer's residence.

 

[Rebel7254]

I contacted tech support and they have told me that my download speed is way below normal. He pinged my modem and stuff......had me unplug it for a few minutes, shut the comp down, reboot and everything. No change. The odd thing is that before 5 pm today it was working great, but ever since shortly after 5 pm it has just been getting slower and slower. The same site I got 1.2 Mbps earlier now gives me 122 kbps. That's pathetic for cable folks. I did some other tests and they're all slow too.

He told me that my upload speed is higher than it should be. He didn't give me a figure, but he said that my upload speed is higher than normal and that could be slowing me down. He said it sounds like there could be something wrong with my cable line. A technition is supposed to come here Friday and look at it.

Man I hope they fix it. It would suck to have to live with these speeds with a CABLE modem.

 

[ojai00]

Depending on the area you live in, you're not always going to get consistent speeds. The posts above have been giving you all the possible scenarios that you can run in to. If you're hooked up to the neighborhood box that everyone else is connected to and surfing at around 6:00 PM, then you're going to see a drop in speed. That won't happen every day, but depending on your location, it might be a majority of the week. Have you tried running tweak tests at Speedguide or DSLReports? When your upload speed is higher than normal, there might be something in your registry that you can tinker with to change that.

 

[Smurfwow]

Rebel7254: DOCSIS doesn't limit speed.

My isp is running the latest version, and i get speeds of up to 750KB/sec (~6mbit).

 

[Mucman]

You realize that your down stream bandwidth needs to be equalled by the upstream bandwidth of the web server right?

Heck, I am on an OC-3 at work and I only get 200KB/s from some sites! I want my 150Mbit/s dang it!!! Try download Adobe Acrobat Reader... I always get awesome speed from there, the same goes
for Active State Perl (I managed 2.1MB/s :Q).

 

[Rebel7254]

Here's the thing. I don't really live in a "neighborhood". The houses in my immediate area are fairly spread out. It's not like backcountry but it's not like a subdivision either.

Right now it's 1:10 AM and I'm getting terrible speeds. There's no way that there is that much traffic to make my speed under 200 kbps right now. I conversed with the same person I talked to last night and he's got low speeds too. Now the one thing we have in common is that our cable modems are hooked up to our computer through USB port. The Comcast tech support guy told me using an ethernet card is better, but he said having it connected through USB shouldn't be slowing me down THAT much.

Who knows.

[edit] I just downloaded acrobat reader at 25 kb/s.

 

[Mucman]

The max bandwidth of USB is 1.5MB/s so I don't see how that is slowing you down.

Try setting up an FTP server and have your friend download a 25MB file off of you. That way you can see if the problem is on your end. If your friend is on the same node, he should
be able to donwload from you at 1.5Mbit/s

 

[Rebel7254]

That sounds like a good suggestion. Maybe I'll try that tomorrow. I doubt he's on the same node as I am.......he lives about six or eight miles away.

Then again he may be. Maybe that's the problem. They might not have enough nodes or something.

I dunno. Thanks again for all the help.

 

[Rebel7254]

Ok, it HAS to have something to do with traffic. Now I'm getting insane speeds everywhere I go (well what they should be anyway). But it's after 2 am here now. That can't just be coincidence. Fast before 5 pm and then fast again after 2 am? Sound to me like traffic has something to do with it.

That really sucks then. They've only had this for a week. In a month during high traffic areas I will be slower than 56k!

 

[lobadobadingdong]

You got the cable bug, broadband sucks everybody knows it, get you some good ol' fashioned baseband like me my dsl link is stable and I never get slowed down by time of day, users, weather, tide charts, etc. 2.0Mb/s max all the time download 512Kb/s max all the time upload, you can clock it with a stop watch on open servers.

I've installed several cable modem setups for people and have seen 1 user range from 6.0Mb/s using time logs and 2 hrs later barely pulling 128Kb/s when all the school kids get online. Screw dat, I wan't my connections to have stable speed.

2MB on Cable is rare around here, most people get an average of 640Kb both up and down, with a few users reaching 1MB up and 640 down occasionally, like between 2AM and 6AM, the 6MB/s I saw was roadrunner(time warner) in Waco, right after they released it to the public. a couple of weeks later she never say anything faster than 2MB/s but she paid $80 a month for the added bandwidth, my dsl only costs $35/mo. For $65 I could get 3MB down and 1MB up.

 

[JackMDS]

Originally posted by: lobadobadingdongYou got the cable bug, broadband sucks everybody knows it.

I have both DSL, and Cable.

My DSL is always stable at 800Mb/sec.

My Cable is unstable, 3.5 Mb/sec. most of the day.

2.7Mb/sec. when it slows down.

2Mb/sec. when it bogged down.

Unless they change the math since I left school, the low unstable 2Mb/sec. is still faster then a stable 1 Mb/sec.

 

[Rebel7254]

Well, DSL isn't an option for me. I'm one mile to far away from the nearest Sprint switch.

I hit an all time low this evening. 91 kbps. It's getting worse. Next week by this time it will be 56 kbps or worse.

I'm gonna give Comcast hell all week next week if they don't start trying to fix this.

 

[ojai00]

I'm gonna give Comcast hell all week next week if they don't start trying to fix this.

Give them hell all you want...the more you yell, the more they'll ignore you