Too Much Speed with Comcast??

[pradeep1]

I bought a new wireless router (Linksys WRT54G v1.1 with DD-WRT firmware) and my internet access is very fast.

I ran speedtests and this is what I am getting:

http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/

Download Speed: 15059 kbps (1882.4 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 405 kbps (50.6 KB/sec transfer rate)


http://www.dslreports.com/speedtest?flash=1

14,314 kbps download
402 kbps upload


That is about 3.5 times what I was getting before using my regular wired Linksys router.

My worry is this. Back about 3-4 years ago, some ISP called the Feds on some people who had "uncapped" their router or modem to get super speeds. I am getting a lot better than advertised speeds and I am getting worried. I don't want the Feds knocking on my door about this.

Any thoughts, or are these crazy speeds normal?

Thanks,

Pradeep

 

[Kelemvor]

If you haven't "hacked" your actual cable modem, you have nothing to worry about. Your router is your own business. It's the modem that does the connecting and speed stuff.

 

[pradeep1]

I called Comcast. I have their regular 6 meg. service. They said they are putting out a new "powerboost" which may top out at 12 megs sporadically.

I am now getting:

Download Speed: 15124 kbps (1890.5 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 407 kbps (50.9 KB/sec transfer rate)

 

[pradeep1]

Originally posted by: Kelemvor
If you haven't "hacked" your actual cable modem, you have nothing to worry about. Your router is your own business. It's the modem that does the connecting and speed stuff.

So how did I go from 4 mbps to 15 mbps? That's crazy. I hope it continues, though.

 

[p0lar]

Originally posted by: pradeep1

Originally posted by: Kelemvor
If you haven't "hacked" your actual cable modem, you have nothing to worry about. Your router is your own business. It's the modem that does the connecting and speed stuff.

So how did I go from 4 mbps to 15 mbps? That's crazy. I hope it continues, though.

Whenever your cable modem starts up, it asks for a special configuration file from the CMTS (Cable Modem Termination System).. via TFTP. It uses this configuration file to set itself accordingly. Contrary to popular belief amongst unwitting users, cable modems are regulated right at the CPE rather than a centralized location. Thus, if you were ever 'hacking' your cable internet, you would most certainly know it because you would be the perpetrator of such actions.

Now, this being said, unless you're really crafty, you won't be able to generate a proper config file because you don't have the encryption key/token necessary to hash all the options and connect to that CMTS server. If you had that particular key, you are golden. Back in the good ol' days, many ISPs did not even use a key to ensure that the configuration file options were provided by them so users could easily generate these files themselves, do some trickery with their modems to point to their own TFTP servers, and voila...import their own settings. ISPs combatted this by writing scripts to detect out of bounds configurations in their CMTSs and embedding a specific token in the configuration files. As well, some will regulate which modems are able to connect to their networks, but this is mostly just so that they have some standard that they can manage and upgrade. If you have a cable modem that permits you to change the mac-address of the cable-modem interface, you can most likely use it on their networks as long as it is otherwise DOCSIS-compatible (though this is technically impossible since DOCSIS compatibility dictates that you are UNABLE to change the mac-address on the cm interface).

I digress.. go as fast as you want and brag about it, they're not rate-limiting you at the CPE (your cable modem).

 

[pradeep1]

Originally posted by: p0lar

Originally posted by: pradeep1

Originally posted by: Kelemvor
If you haven't "hacked" your actual cable modem, you have nothing to worry about. Your router is your own business. It's the modem that does the connecting and speed stuff.

So how did I go from 4 mbps to 15 mbps? That's crazy. I hope it continues, though.

Whenever your cable modem starts up, it asks for a special configuration file from the CMTS (Cable Modem Termination System).. via TFTP. It uses this configuration file to set itself accordingly. Contrary to popular belief amongst unwitting users, cable modems are regulated right at the CPE rather than a centralized location. Thus, if you were ever 'hacking' your cable internet, you would most certainly know it because you would be the perpetrator of such actions.

Now, this being said, unless you're really crafty, you won't be able to generate a proper config file because you don't have the encryption key/token necessary to hash all the options and connect to that CMTS server. If you had that particular key, you are golden. Back in the good ol' days, many ISPs did not even use a key to ensure that the configuration file options were provided by them so users could easily generate these files themselves, do some trickery with their modems to point to their own TFTP servers, and voila...import their own settings. ISPs combatted this by writing scripts to detect out of bounds configurations in their CMTSs and embedding a specific token in the configuration files. As well, some will regulate which modems are able to connect to their networks, but this is mostly just so that they have some standard that they can manage and upgrade. If you have a cable modem that permits you to change the mac-address of the cable-modem interface, you can most likely use it on their networks as long as it is otherwise DOCSIS-compatible (though this is technically impossible since DOCSIS compatibility dictates that you are UNABLE to change the mac-address on the cm interface).

I digress.. go as fast as you want and brag about it, they're not rate-limiting you at the CPE (your cable modem).

Thanks for your excellent information. This is the same Motorola Surfboard modem that I originally got from the BestBuy Comcast Self-Starter Kit back in 2004.

I am glad I can get these speeds. It makes using wireless service faster now than using my wired network in the past.

 

[sswingle]

What is this powerboost thing? I saw Cox advertise it too. Any word on time warner getting something like that?

 

[p0lar]

Originally posted by: ScottSwingleComputers
What is this powerboost thing? I saw Cox advertise it too. Any word on time warner getting something like that?

It is a max-burst option inside the aforementioned DOCSIS configuration file that is pulled into your modem and used in conjunction with other rate-limiting tokens. Ignore the marketing hype; it works, but it has nothing to do with the power output of your cable modem or the CMTS.

 

[KenAF2]

Be aware throughput with "PowerBoost" is decieving. You only see the improved throughput for the first 10 megabytes of a file, or the first ~15 seconds of a connection, depending on how the cable provider has configured their system. All of these speed tests complete within that time frame. If you use a speed test that doesn't complete in that time, you'll see your speed drop back to 4Mbps, 6Mbps, or whatever your standard plan says.

Some people see 15Mbps or 20Mbps with PowerBoost and think "wow, that's incredible." What these people don't realize is that PowerBoost now exceeds 30Mbps in many areas, especially during off-peak hours. They are being "held back" by their router, whose CPU can't sustain higher throughput. For example, no Linksys WRT54G or WRT54GL will sustain more than ~21Mbps wired with the firewall enabled, and less via wireless with WPA2. Some do less, it varies by model.

Look at the Comcast and Cox speed test results reported by others -- using higher performance routers -- with Powerboost:

Comcast: http://www.dslreports.com/arch...mcast.net&start=Search
Cox: http://www.dslreports.com/arch...m=cox.net&start=Search

Look at the wide range of areas that exceed 28Mbps with PowerBoost. If you've got one of those ~$50 Linksys or Buffalo routers, you're throwing away almost 30% of your potential speed.

 

[Genx87]

I have this trusty Cisco SOHO router since 2003 and well, with cable speeds going double digits she will have to be retired I think. The external port has a max 10Mbps line speed