[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>
>
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-- 
Jay Lozier
jslozier at gmail.com

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