Fluctuating Internet Speed

[Opusbuild]

Hi all,

I am trying to understand why my Internet connection keeps dropping. I am running some tests (wired) using an ethernet cable to my router (ADSL). These are my results so far. These tests have been ran over 6 hours. As you can see the results are up and down.



I thought initially this was my wifi connection, but then I ran these tests with ethernet and finding the same problem. I should be getting a max of 17mb, according to the area I live in and what the ISP said I can get (but my experience is that you always get less then this in reality).

I can cope with 11-12mb/s, but when it drops to around 1mb/s, it is just not good at all, its far too slow then.

Any Ideas what this might be and how to fix it.

Thanks

 

[Pinky]

While wired try a constant ping test with a large packet size to google, if you get drops (along with the above test results) I'd say you're looking at a call to your ISP.

The command to run is:

ping www.google.com -t -l 1024

Also try circumventing your router, plug a computer directly into the modem (be sure to have your firewall on) and perform the same tests. If you still have the same poor results make sure to tell the technician you did this so they can't claim it's anything with your equipment.

 

[Opusbuild]

While wired try a constant ping test with a large packet size to google, if you get drops (along with the above test results) I'd say you're looking at a call to your ISP.

The command to run is:

ping www.google.com -t -l 1024

Also try circumventing your router, plug a computer directly into the modem (be sure to have your firewall on) and perform the same tests. If you still have the same poor results make sure to tell the technician you did this so they can't claim it's anything with your equipment.

Thanks Pinky,

Sorry I made an error, I only have a modem (no router). All the internet connection wired and wireless is through the modem.

Here are some ping test I did the other day (seems a little spiky to me).

 

[kyfire]

You sid you're on ADSL (phone line) correct? It so, at least here in the states, internet speed on ASDL will vary by the number of users connecting at the same time. This might be your case too and what you're seeing is a spinke in the number of people on.

 

[trents]

You sid you're on ADSL (phone line) correct? It so, at least here in the states, internet speed on ASDL will vary by the number of users connecting at the same time. This might be your case too and what you're seeing is a spinke in the number of people on.

I think this is incorrect. In fact, one of the marketing points of ASDL service providers a few years ago as I recall was that the speed is constant and not affected by user load.

 

[||Console||]

I think this is incorrect. In fact, one of the marketing points of ASDL service providers a few years ago as I recall was that the speed is constant and not affected by user load.

+1
Cable slowed with more users ADSL didn't

 

[kyfire]

The following was taken from The Beacon 2 years ago.........

The Federal Communications Commission performed a study on the speeds of DSL, cable and fiber optic Internet connections. During peak periods, it found a difference in actual speeds compared to speeds advertised by providers.

According to the study, “During peak periods, DSL connections delivered average download speeds that were 82 percent of advertised speeds, cable-modem services delivered 93 percent of advertised speeds and fiber-optic lines delivered service that was 14 percent faster than advertised.”

With DSL and cable, Internet users did not get the speeds they paid for. With fiber-optic Internet however, they received faster speeds.

So as of the time of that study yes DSL slowed down more than cable, but yes cable slowed down to but not as bad.

 

[||Console||]

The following was taken from The Beacon 2 years ago.........

The Federal Communications Commission performed a study on the speeds of DSL, cable and fiber optic Internet connections. During peak periods, it found a difference in actual speeds compared to speeds advertised by providers.

According to the study, “During peak periods, DSL connections delivered average download speeds that were 82 percent of advertised speeds, cable-modem services delivered 93 percent of advertised speeds and fiber-optic lines delivered service that was 14 percent faster than advertised.”

With DSL and cable, Internet users did not get the speeds they paid for. With fiber-optic Internet however, they received faster speeds.

So as of the time of that study yes DSL slowed down more than cable, but yes cable slowed down to but not as bad.

Thx for the info Im just rehashing "what we were told"
I have been a cable user and lucky to live in a places with very few ppl so speeds never really suffer. First High speed I had was 500k down 500k up ( the 500k up @ the times was amazing when most cable users that were severing files on irc from the states were lucky to push 30k-60k when I could easy push 500k all day long ) yes im old =) and yes I downloaded 700meg movies on a 56k connection that took a few days to get .

 

[Pinky]

Thanks Pinky,

Sorry I made an error, I only have a modem (no router). All the internet connection wired and wireless is through the modem.

Here are some ping test I did the other day (seems a little spiky to me).

If I saw results like that for a client's connection I'd be calling the ISP. They need better filtering on the line or the modem is faulty. There should not be huge ping spikes like you're seeing, ping is a minuscule load on the connection and shouldn't be affected much by whatever else is going on.

You would be better off getting your own router and only having them supply you a modem, most modem/router combos provided by ISPs here in the states are junk. Then in situations like this you can bypass your equipment as I previously described and hold their feet to fire to get the problem with their line or modem fixed. Now you're entirely at their mercy to diagnose and resolve since you have no way of proving it's the line, modem, router/routing, or your equipment/computers. They can literally do nothing saying their tests show everything is fine and you literally have no recourse.