Comcast is screwing me! Please help!

[IDOCSortino]

I'm curious though. Why with Mercury am I getting 54+ Mbps Down, but when I test regularly (with my default server being Texas [which it has always been]) I get these results: https://testmy.net/F6d8ZJ5.png . Now I definitely feel as if I am getting 1.5 Mbps because I can't load an image, watch a stream, play games right now without lag/buffer.

 

And obviously with Speedtest/Comcast Speedtest I get the standard "54/12". Do either of you (CW and CA3LE) have an idea?

 

 

EDIT: I was browsing through the forums and I stumbled on this post: http://gyazo.com/f9bf4d31fb47bc1a58e26a8197474317 . I almost want to see if this is the problem I am having.

[Colin Weir]

Since you are getting your provisioned speeds with our on-net test, my hypothesis is that the problem lies beyond your equipment. I'm working on finding that "beyond".

[CA3LE]

I'm curious though. Why with Mercury am I getting 54+ Mbps Down, but when I test regularly (with my default server being Texas [which it has always been]) I get these results: https://testmy.net/F6d8ZJ5.png . Now I definitely feel as if I am getting 1.5 Mbps because I can't load an image, watch a stream, play games right now without lag/buffer.

 

And obviously with Speedtest/Comcast Speedtest I get the standard "54/12". Do either of you (CW and CA3LE) have an idea?

 

 

EDIT: I was browsing through the forums and I stumbled on this post: http://gyazo.com/f9bf4d31fb47bc1a58e26a8197474317 . I almost want to see if this is the problem I am having.

 

Modem issues are one of the many things that Ookla tests commonly fail to notice (pretty major fail). Even my own mother has seen it first hand.  Purposely had her test at speedtest.net (and Cox's ookla test just like Comcast's) when we knew for a fact there was an issue with her modem.  Speedtest.net/ookla made everything look perfect.

 

What do you expect to happen when the test ignores the worst portions of your result.  And they admitted this in their own wiki! https://testmy.net/ipb/topic/28902-why-do-my-results-differ-from-speedtestnet-ookla-speed-tests/  -- bottom 30% and top 10% are discarded.  So it's really no wonder why things would appear fine when they aren't, you've dropped the bad parts out of the result.  Exactly what you came to see and want to know.  

 

TestMy.net will always reflect your true speed.  I adjust nothing.  It is what it is.  Search twitter for "testmy.net" -- it's overwhelmingly one sided.  Here's a small clip.

 

 

It's never the other way around.

 

I think it's possible that it could be your modem.  But when the Comcast engineer is saying that he thinks it's beyond your home... let him do his job.

 

I've seen many times where a client is unable to pull decent speed with my linear test, but they're able to still pull good multithread results.  Swap of the modem and they write back, "thanks!  runs great now. Why didn't the ookla test show that?" --- "I don't know, at least you know where to test it now."  Ask regulars or read back in this forum a few months.  It's ridiculous how often this happens.

 

I made TMN to test and troubleshoot my own connection and then later continued to develop when I was a tech for Cox.  It would have never been able to help me with my job if it adjusted the result for a unknown variables.  It's really pretty simple, I don't know why others can't get it right.  I start a timer, transfer data (the same way your pages normally load) then stop the timer.  Your computer will transfer the data as fast as it can, if it can.  TMN is raw in its operation, not much to go wrong.  You can test confidently knowing that the only variable that can bring your score down is your computer and Internet service.  Just how I like it.

 

IMHO, it could be your modem.  Especially if you still have DOCSIS 2, maybe that was overlooked.

[IDOCSortino]

Apparently this is the newest modem they have. Yet even with my last modem, these same exact results were happening. 

[jimharle]

Since you are getting your provisioned speeds with our on-net test, my hypothesis is that the problem lies beyond your equipment. I'm working on finding that "beyond".

 

FWIW there is one major problem with an on-net test, whether it's Ookla-based or not.  An on-net endpoint is going to be low-latency to the customer (~ 7ms or so), and *if* there are packet loss problems within the last mile, those will be masked by a low-latency test because the TCP retransmissions will "recover" so quickly.  When performing a low-latency test, it needs to be done in parallel with a packet capture to ensure there is no significant packet loss.

 

See this thread for more:  https://testmy.net/ipb/topic/32071-upload-speed-issue-comcast/

[spudler_t]

It sounds like you changed your modem already? I only ask as a while back my modem lost its upload ability down to like 50Kbps and it killed my download and according to Comcast everything on my end looked great, I finally after hours of arguing with them demanded a new modem and bang it fixed my problem.

I am now having problems as I am supposed to be getting the 105Mbps download supplied with the X1 Tier I am paying for and they tech came out wed ( I was sick so had no energy or brain power to test anything let alone answer door and sign the no damage to property slip) but I have yet to get above 50 Mbps consistently.

I was also informed that most of the local techs are not Comcast but a Subcontracted company.

I hope you can get some help as I am not sure I can help you much at the moment though if I think of anything I will be sure to add my 2 cents worth 

[IDOCSortino]

Just wanted to touch base. Here are some stats from this morning.

 

10/20/2014 - 10/21/2014

9:30am Central - continuous

Speed test results: https://testmy.net/Sf9CmKR.png

Twitch.TV was the site I was trying to use. I was looking at the video playback stats and I was trying to watch a stream at 1200 kbps and it kept buffering. 

Not sure what exact server.

Here is the Tracert route:

 

Tracing route to live.twitch.tv [199.9.252.216]

over a maximum of 30 hops:

 

  1     1 ms     1 ms    <1 ms  10.0.0.1

  2    13 ms    13 ms    16 ms  73.44.240.1

  3    11 ms    19 ms    13 ms  68.85.204.17

  4    14 ms    14 ms    14 ms  te-0-4-0-7-ar01.elmhurst.il.chicago.comcast.net

[68.86.189.102]

  5    26 ms    13 ms    15 ms  he-1-6-0-0-11-cr01.seattle.wa.ibone.comcast.net

[68.86.92.33]

  6    17 ms    19 ms    17 ms  be-10406-cr01.350ecermak.il.ibone.comcast.net [6

8.86.84.210]

  7    39 ms    38 ms    38 ms  be-10206-cr01.newyork.ny.ibone.comcast.net [68.8

6.86.225]

  8    99 ms   111 ms    43 ms  be-10002-cr01.ashburn.va.ibone.comcast.net [68.8

6.86.233]

  9    41 ms    44 ms    39 ms  he-0-13-0-1-pe07.ashburn.va.ibone.comcast.net [6

8.86.86.54]

 10     *        *        *     Request timed out.

 11     *        *

 

 

 

 

 

Any ideas?

[mudmanc4]

What you are seeing is likely devices in place to prevent DOS attacks, synfloods or simply that ICMP packets are being tossed since they have the lowest priority. Or the UDP packets are timing out before they even reach the destination. (TTL)

 

You could try a different flags to either get past the firewall (which also may be set to ignore or drop specific packets), or extend the TTL, change packet type ect...

traceroute -I x.x.x.x
traceroute -T x.x.x.x
traceroute -T -m 60 x.x.x.x

The latter will raise the TTL

 

You might want to do this from the router, as windows capabilities are somewhat different. 

 

 

[IDOCSortino]

What you are seeing is likely devices in place to prevent DOS attacks, synfloods or simply that ICMP packets are being tossed since they have the lowest priority. Or the UDP packets are timing out before they even reach the destination. (TTL)

 

You could try a different flags to either get past the firewall (which also may be set to ignore or drop specific packets), or extend the TTL, change packet type ect...

traceroute -I x.x.x.x
traceroute -T x.x.x.x
traceroute -T -m 60 x.x.x.x

The latter will raise the TTL

 

You might want to do this from the router, as windows capabilities are somewhat different. 

Do you believe this is what could be causing my slow internet speeds (that I originally stated in the OP)?

[mudmanc4]

These are standard. 

 

The timing out could be any number of other issues, since the service you are trying to use, already has settings to overcome any configs that would adversely confuse itself. 

[CA3LE]

What he means is "No"   

 

It's normal to see that in traceroute.  Beside that, you would need to see a traceroute from both directions (e.g. the server needs to traceroute back to you) to properly analyze it for issues.  TestMy.net does this for you regularly as a member. It's called TraceMy.net.  Here's the trace for your address.  Most residential connections route through routers that ignore ICMP, it's more rare going out to commercial services.

 

The issue that you're having with that trace is that the address isn't there.

ca3le$ ping live.twitch.tv
PING live.twitch.tv (199.9.251.233): 56 data bytes
Request timeout for icmp_seq 0
Request timeout for icmp_seq 1
^X^C
--- live.twitch.tv ping statistics ---
3 packets transmitted, 0 packets received, 100.0% packet loss

Hard to trace something that isn't there.  

 

I guess it could be ignoring ping too.

[jimharle]

You might also like VisualRoute.  It's not free, but does have a 15-day trial which could be used for analysis.

[spudler_t]

Hmm, Just curious what are your Firewall settings? Also again are you using just a modem, modem with connected router or a Wireless gateway ( router/modem/phone all in one unit?)

[IDOCSortino]

Hmm, Just curious what are your Firewall settings? Also again are you using just a modem, modem with connected router or a Wireless gateway ( router/modem/phone all in one unit?)

 

 

I've gone to the length of turning off my firewall entirely over the course of a day to see if it was that or not. Same results. I'm direct connected to the PC. I have a Modem with a built in router from Comcast.

[spudler_t]

when you say turned of your firewall, Are you referring to the one on your computer? The one in the router? or both of them?

You had said it was the newest modem they have? DO you know if it is the Arris TG862 or the Cisco DPC 3939?

I was having some strange issues last 3 days with the TG862, since they replaced that with the DPC3939 I am getting 120ish Mbps down and around 20Mbps upload.

I need to run about 20 more tests to see if it stays consistent.

Sadly though even with my 300Mbps Wifi  my wifi speeds are under 90Mbps down.

Though sorry that has nothing to do with helping you.

[IDOCSortino]

I turned off both just to test the speeds and nothing changed them. The model is the Cisco DPC 3939.

 

Me knowing nothing about modems or their settings, are all of my downstream/upstream channels supposed to be locked? http://gyazo.com/e9e7c9ac9eadb46ae571e4eb9a71e6ce

[IDOCSortino]

Just a little update. I've replaced Comcasts modem with my own. This is the modem: http://www.amazon.com/Motorola-SURFboard-SBG6580-Packaging-570763-006-00/dp/B0040IUI46

 

Like I expected, my speed tests haven't changed and little has been done to rectify my situation on Corporates end. Of course when speaking to their techs, reps and corporate reps and explaining my TMN speed results, they immediately dismiss my findings and deem this site "unreliable". I have gone to the extent of explaining even when I ping to their servers, I get slow results; no dice.

 

Is there any way I can provide them with some sort of cred that will make these idiots understand TMN is extremely reliable?

[nanobot]

I have the 50/10 package with Comcast, send them my stats:

https://testmy.net/quickstats/nanobot

My Comcast specific tests:

https://testmy.net/compID/6714353092

Thanks,

EBrown

[Colin Weir]

I'm still looking to find the cause of OP's issues.

 

Since his signals are great (16 down and 4 up perfectly in-spec channels) and his Comcast on-net speed tests are good (95% of his provisioned speed), and the issue persists after he bought his own modem, I don't believe the issue lies with his premises or equipment.

 

I'm looking beyond his premises, which takes time, because I have to work with teams at the local level.

[IDOCSortino]

I'm still looking to find the cause of OP's issues.

 

Since his signals are great (16 down and 4 up perfectly in-spec channels) and his Comcast on-net speed tests are good (95% of his provisioned speed), and the issue persists after he bought his own modem, I don't believe the issue lies with his premises or equipment.

 

I'm looking beyond his premises, which takes time, because I have to work with teams at the local level.

 

Which I appreciate 100%! I'm still going to do what I need to do on my end to make corporate aware of the issue and hold them responsible.

[IDOCSortino]

So I'm just noticing something. If you check my speedtests I'm getting significantly higher speeds when I test through WiFi on my Galaxy S5:

 

 

 

 

 

Yet when I go to test on my Desktop, I get these reduced speeds:

 

 

 

 

 

What could this entail?

Also, I just ran these two tests at the exact same time.

 

My Desktop Speed Test:

 

 

My Galaxy S5 Speed Test: 

 

Is there a setting on my PC that could be causing a reduced speed?

EDIT: Nevermind. I'm now getting 1.3 Down on my Galaxy S5. I ran a few tests from my PS4 to see the results there and they were the same.

[TriRan]

Once upon a time I was having issues aswell I kept complaining they kept sending techs it took about 3 months and finally I had a Cox tech in a boomtruck show up he said he was going to check the neighborhood nodes and about an hour later he came. Back and said he replaced a few amplifiers even though they looked good after that I never had another issue

[IDOCSortino]

Once upon a time I was having issues aswell I kept complaining they kept sending techs it took about 3 months and finally I had a Cox tech in a boomtruck show up he said he was going to check the neighborhood nodes and about an hour later he came. Back and said he replaced a few amplifiers even though they looked good after that I never had another issue

 

 

I'll go ahead and mention this to the next Comcast rep I speak to.

[TriRan]

Also have you reached out to any of your neighbors? See if they are having anything similar

[IDOCSortino]

So it's been months and no resolution with Comcast. Including zero response from the Comcast rep who posted in this very forum who claimed they were going to help.

 

I've talked with corporate today about giving me a "trial" of the Extreme speed which is somewhere around 105 DOWN/ 10 UP. Ran a few more speed tests and same results: poor.

 

Comcasts speed tests on the other hand show 126 DOWN/ 24 UP. Again, same issues as before. TMN shows real speeds> technicians call it unreliable> Techs use Comcast speed test> Speed test show awesome speeds> techs leave.

 

I then decided to purchase my own modem JUST TO MAKE SURE. No dice. No change. I then contacted Motorola (my modem, which is the SURFboard SBG6580) to see if they can help me out. They ran me through testing my power levels to my downstream. Here is a screen shot: http://gyazo.com/6f7f8e655b10da00db9b1c29da89711d

 

 

 

 

According to the rep I spoke with, my power levels are too high and need to be as close to zero as possible. He said with that high of a power level, it would distort my speed test by that much.

 

Does anyone have any insight? Thoughts? Comments?