Is Suddenlink the speed problem or other issues ?

[HubCity]

I have Suddenlink service. During peak usage hours, such as evenings and weekends, TestMy.net shows I’m only getting around 2 Mbps download speed. However, during non-peak hours, I get from 30-40 Mbps with TestMy.net.

Here’s the problem. Using Suddenlink’s speed test, it says I’m getting around 30 Mbps during the hours that TestMy.net says it very slow (2 Mbps or less). The Suddenlink test I’ve traced to only testing basically within their own backbone so I don’t believe it’s results either as its not testing the throughput of its routers.

I have also run other tests during the peak hours, from many of the university sites, such as http://speedtest.umflint.edu (java testers) and other like it that indicate my speed is around 25 Mbps. The fact is only TestMy.net show such a very low speed during these peak hours, which leads me to believe there is also congestion on your end.

Since Suddenlink’s speed test shows it is fine, they will take no action and perhaps none is called for. However, any downloads I make are noticeably slower during peak periods.

I’m still running Window XP, and it has been tuned for faster speeds as during off peak I get around 30-40 Mbps.

So what gives, is it Suddenlink or other factors causing the peak period slowdowns. I have full Suddenlink service, TV cable, phone, and internet. Internet speeds have been okay during peak hours until around a month ago, when I noticed some slowdown and TestMy.net giving terrible results.

By the way, I live south of Abilene and traced the TestMy.net test packets to Houston, not a very far distance, but outside my Suddenlink backbone.

Here is a traceroute from my location to TestMy.net

Saturday, December 15, 2012 13:55:14: TraceRoute

# Generated by CyberKit [Version 3.0 beta 1 Build 06/09/2001-2] (Copyright © 1996-2001 by Luc Neijens)

Host: 174.120.187.140

Tasks: 5

Timeout: 5 secs

Delay: 500 ms

Start Hop: 1

End Hop: 20

Packets: 5

Packet Size: 32

Don't Fragment: No

Resolve Hostnames: Yes

ICMP Implementation: Raw Sockets

Mode: Normal

#1 192.168.0.1 (Unavailable): TTL Exceeded in Transit, ttl=64, 1.8 ms

#2 10.250.128.1 (Unavailable): TTL Exceeded in Transit, ttl=254, 15.9 ms

#3 173.219.249.84 (173-219-249-84-link.sta.suddenlink.net): TTL Exceeded in Transit, ttl=253, 17.3 ms

#4 173.219.248.220 (173-219-248-220-link.sta.suddenlink.net): TTL Exceeded in Transit, ttl=252, 32.6 ms

#5 173.219.254.171 (173-219-254-171-link.tex.sta.suddenlink.net): TTL Exceeded in Transit, ttl=249, 45.1 ms

#6 206.223.118.24 (te1-5.bbr01.eq01.dal01.networklayer.com): TTL Exceeded in Transit, ttl=248, 47.4 ms

#7 173.192.18.227 (po31.dsr02.dllstx3.networklayer.com): TTL Exceeded in Transit, ttl=247, 51.6 ms

#8 70.87.255.70 (po32.dsr02.dllstx2.networklayer.com): TTL Exceeded in Transit, ttl=242, 52.2 ms

#9 70.87.255.14 (po12.car15.dllstx6.networklayer.com): TTL Exceeded in Transit, ttl=245, 53.1 ms

#10 174.120.187.140 (8c.bb.78ae.static.theplanet.com): Echo Reply, ttl=52, 50.7 ms

Out 10, in 10, loss 0%, times (min/avg/max) 1.8/36.8/53.1

[CA3LE]

You may be getting routed through a route that's picking up the slack for some of the downed routes due to Super Storm Sandy. A lot of people started emailing me and posting since that happened. Many of which said, "... I started seeing slower speeds right after the Hurricane..."

What state are you in? I see that you're testing only to the main server. You might want to try testing to one or more of the other servers. On the TestMy.net homepage at the top you can choose a different test server. ... this issue is intermittent and it's happening during peak hours so it must be routing. ... doesn't mean that the test is wrong. That's the speed you're getting to Texas... other servers you visit in Texas may or may not take the same route. But along the route to TMN you're hitting a snag. TMN's main server is hosted in a very popular location so this means that your connection is most likely degraded to many other sites as well.

Let me know what you get to the other locations.

-D

... by the way, WELCOME!

[HubCity]

Thanks for the info about test sites. I have always just used the default of Central USA. As I stated I'm south of Abilene, TX and the traceroute was from my home to the TMN server site at Houston. I ran the test just a few minutes ago, 5:15 p.m. and was getting 1.2 Mbps, terrible. I then tried Western USA and got 16 Mbps and Eastern USA gave me 27 Mbps. So it most diffinately seems something is wrong going to the Central USA location which is the closest one to me causing the routing congestion.

[CA3LE]

Thanks for the info about test sites. I have always just used the default of Central USA. As I stated I'm south of Abilene, TX and the traceroute was from my home to the TMN server site at Houston. I ran the test just a few minutes ago, 5:15 p.m. and was getting 1.2 Mbps, terrible. I then tried Western USA and got 16 Mbps and Eastern USA gave me 27 Mbps. So it most diffinately seems something is wrong going to the Central USA location which is the closest one to me causing the routing congestion.

Well, I checked with my host to make sure that there wasn't congestion on their end. I pasted your route to them...

Hello Damon,

The route you show looks to be ok and there are no reported problems at this time reported by our network team. The time your customer is getting is normal for the location. You should note further away you are the longer it will take to get a response back. So going from Houston to Dallas you would get a better Mbps than you would if you go from Houston to D.C. I hope this information helps you with your questions. If you have further questions, please feel free to update this ticket.

Thank you for choosing SoftLayer!

James A.

Customer Support Technician

... So there isn't congestion in their route. Your route goes straight from suddenlink to networklayer (networklayer is within my hosts network) with no intermediate peers so if it's not on my end... it has to be on Suddenlink's end.

[mudmanc4]

Interesting your getting the TTL exceeded message -- at the router , and the modem {or the ISP} 10.xx address, which clues us in it's a local issue.

On a simple network this can be caused from repeated packet transmission, causing the packets to be out of order, which is caused by traffic overload.

Strange your golden on a secondary testmy.net server , with your posted results.

Curious, have you removed any and all devices between the test machine and the modem - for testing only ?

[HubCity]

^{Suddenlink sent me an email reply, that they had problems with a server in Dallas, but it should be fixed by now. Not sure if it is fixed as I just ran a test to Central USA on} TMN^.

^{I have no equip connected from my comp to the high speed modem and I use direct cable connect.}

^{Mon Dec 17 2012 @ 3:13:04 pmUS 10 MB 3.46Mbps432 kB/s HubCity 4609278807}

I also just ran West coast and East Coast on TMN and got 20-27 Mbps. Something wrong with that Central test from my location. I'll give it another day and recontact the Suddlink maint supervisor if it continues.

[HubCity]

Did a quick test of Central USA before bedtime, late tonight.... Its for sure off peak usage and get a great score, will try again tomorrow.

Tue Dec 18 2012 @ 3:47:36 am US 10 MB

43.08 Mbps 5.39 MB/s