[ale] Diagnostic help needed
Jay Lozier
jslozier at gmail.com
Sat Jan 14 14:25:21 EST 2012
On 01/14/2012 02:06 PM, Jim Kinney wrote:
>
> Keep in mind that cable modem speed is heavily impacted by subscriber
> count use on your cable leg. 100 users watching tv is the same
> bandwidth as 100 users watching netflix or downloading DVDs. The
> advantage of dsl is your speed is mostly constant. With cable it can
> vary wildly based on your neighbors activity. Watch your speeds drop
> when school gets out @ 3pm!
>
I have had both cable and dsl. With cable, which I currently have, I
notice slow times on weekdays around noon and after school until about
dinner time. Both times are due to heavier use around me.
> On Jan 14, 2012 12:48 PM, "Ron Frazier" <atllinuxenthinfo at c3energy.com
> <mailto:atllinuxenthinfo at c3energy.com>> wrote:
>
> Hi Sean,
>
> I'm have Comcast service. I just ran a test at
> http://www.speedtest.net. You can use them but I would stick to speed
> testing and not use their PC optimization tests, etc. I got 21 Mbps
> down and 4 Mbps up, which is pretty typical for me. Regarding
> your last
> sentence, the technician should KNOW where to look when he comes.
> Once
> he's gone, you can do some further testing yourself. One basic
> strategy
> is to eliminate everything between your PC and the cable modem. First
> make sure you have a software firewall running in your PC. I would
> never recommend connecting a PC DIRECTLY to the internet without a
> firewall running. Take the PC down near the modem if possible. Turn
> off or disconnect any wireless connections. Using the prefab LAN
> cable
> (as opposed to homemade) that came with the cable modem, connect the
> cable modem DIRECTLY to your PC. Your PC should get an IP address
> from
> the modem and have direct unfettered access to the internet.
> Then, run
> your speed test. You may also wish to check that the coaxial cable
> running from the cable modem to the wall outlet is tight on both ends,
> not crimped, etc. Actually, the connectors should be crimped on, the
> wire should not be crimped or severely bent. If the speed test works
> then, you can start moving your PC further away from the modem. Try
> connecting it with a LAN cable to a port on your router. Then, try
> wireless, etc. If, at some point, performance suffers
> dramatically, you
> may have found the culprit. Be aware that cable internet performance
> will vary depending on how many users in the area are online.
> However,
> in general, you should get numbers similar to mine if you're on
> the same
> pricing package. Also, be aware that the speed may drop down to about
> 16 Mbps for long downloads and that depends on whether the remote
> server
> can keep up that speed. I've downloaded many Ubuntu ISO's where the
> remote server could only send 1-2 Mbps and I knew my system was
> working
> fine. (In that case, find a better mirror server.)
>
> By the way, I had a scenario once where my download speed was
> fluctuating widely and occasionally dropping badly. It took 4 visits
> from the techs and me INSISTING that something was wrong.
> Finally, they
> found a nail had been driven through the cable out on the power pole.
> Depending on the wind, it would either work or not. Once that was
> replaced, everything was fine.
>
> Hope this helps.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Ron
>
> On 1/14/2012 9:27 AM, Drifter wrote:
> > Abandoned Speakeasy and its DSL connection through Covad and AT&T.
> > Went with Comcast as the (slightly) lesser of evils -- the other
> being
> > AT&T.
> > Comcast technician was scheduled to arrive between 9-11 am on
> Thursday.
> > He arrived at 10:55 and insisted he was on time.
> > I was not amused.
> > Technician did his job: installed a cable "modem" that provides
> internet
> > and VOIP, thus allowing us to cut all our ties to Ma Bell. When the
> > installer left Thursday at 1 pm Speed tests showed 20 mbs down
> and 3.7
> > mbs up. Much better. :) That was Thursday afternoon.
> >
> > Friday morning a friend came over and helped me rewire the cat-5
> cable as
> > I needed to move the router down next to the cable "modem."
> (Friend is
> > MUCH better at wiring new plugs on the end of cat-5 cable than I
> will ever
> > be.) When my friend left Friday afternoon a speed test still showed
> > similar numbers throughout the house. All seemed good.
> >
> > After lunch Friday I noticed that download speeds seemed to be
> lagging so
> > I ran another test (using Speakeasy's test). Speeds had dropped to<3
> > coming down but had increased to>4 going out. WTF? By Friday night
> > download speeds had dropped to<2 and uploads were humming ~4.
> >
> > I am clueless. I whined and Comcast is sending out another
> technician
> > late this afternoon. Only guess I have is that the "modem" has
> a fubar
> > component.
> >
> > Thoughts would be appreciated. It would be nice if I knew where
> to tell
> > the Comcast guy where to look.
> >
> > Sean
> >
> >
>
> --
>
> (PS - If you email me and don't get a quick response, you might
> want to
> call on the phone. I get about 300 emails per day from alternate
> energy
> mailing lists and such. I don't always see new messages very
> quickly.)
>
> Ron Frazier
>
> 770-205-9422 <tel:770-205-9422> (O) Leave a message.
> linuxdude AT c3energy.com <http://c3energy.com>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Ale mailing list
> Ale at ale.org <mailto:Ale at ale.org>
> http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale
> See JOBS, ANNOUNCE and SCHOOLS lists at
> http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Ale mailing list
> Ale at ale.org
> http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale
> See JOBS, ANNOUNCE and SCHOOLS lists at
> http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo
--
Jay Lozier
jslozier at gmail.com
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mail.ale.org/pipermail/ale/attachments/20120114/61781cfd/attachment.html
More information about the Ale
mailing list