Arthritic Internet

[Grandpaw Grizzly]

Grandpaw Grizzly joining the slow movers club. My internet connection suffers from what appears to be common arthritis. Paying Comcast for 100mbps service but download speed tests consistently ranging between only 35 and 65. I guess my opening question has to be: When Comcast say they are providing 100mbps, do they mean I should be constantly averaging that speed or is that just what I might expect to hit for a few seconds on a lucky day when all the planets are in proper alignment? I could swim through this morass of postings to find a likely answer but if some knowledgeable person would just post it right here, it would be speedier (pun intended). I asked Comcast and got the usual talk-around garbled lawyer-programmed reply from a WestWorld call center employee in WTF-Urkistan.

[Pgoodwin1]

There's more than likely wording in fine print somewhere that says "up to" 100 Mbps. Some ISPs are a lot better than others at proving good solid service at or near that max.

[Grandpaw Grizzly]

Okay. I'll take that as an educated answer from a knowledgeable person. I will decline Comcast's offer to send a tech out to my home (at blank check cost to me) who will just give me the same bad news: it can't be fixed. I wish I could change to one of those "better" ISPs but I have the misfortune of living in an apartment complex that was wired by Comcast at construction in exchange for a monopoly agreement with the landlord. It seems this situation was very common for a long time. Don't know if it is still legal or not but even telephone companies won't give me potentially higher speed DSL internet because of Comcast' monopoly. Thanks for replying. I actually browsed your forum and quickly found much relevant information; all of it seems to add up to my being stuck with Comcast and poor internet speeds. My Roku movie streams keep re-buffering and other bears in the cave (especially the cubs) are growling at me dangerously....

[Pgoodwin1]

If you know anyone else in the complex that has the same plan as you (100/10), get them to run theirs on TesyMy, and hook up your laptop in their apartment and run the TesMy tests. You'd like to be able to say that everyone in the apartment bldg is getting significantly less than your ISP plan speed. If that's the case, you can approach the landlord as a group and tell him that things aren't quite up to snuff, and perhaps Comcast will address his equipment because of the number of customers with your issue. Maybe you could put a request in people's mailbox or post a flyer with simple direction to run TestMy tests and report the results to you. Even if only 10% of the people actually do anything, you might get enough info to start working on the landlord, and/or Comcast.

 

I'm assuming you have an Ethernet connection to a Comcast modem used by others in the complex. Is that the case? Or do you have your own cable modem? See if you can get the cable modem/router brand and model number. It's possible that the apartment complex equipment is 10/100 Ethernet and you'd never reach an average 100 Mbps. The best you might ever do is 80 avg. Not sure how much Ethernet traffic you have in that complex, but if there's a lot, the apt complex equipment may be the bottleneck.

 

i agree that for now, don't pay to have a tech come out yet. There's a few things we can try before going that route.

[Pgoodwin1]

And LOL on the bears in the cave

[Pgoodwin1]

I forgot to ask where you're located.

[Grandpaw Grizzly]

Pgoodwin1,

 

Thanks for the thoughts and suggestions.

 

Unfortunately, this is a "senior" apartment complex. I'm the youngest bear here and I'm 73. The cubs are grand-kids who visit now and then to watch my 65in Roku TV. They think its almost as good as the local theater, until the Roku STARTS TO BUFFER! Ergo, my frustration over broadband speeds. I don't really want to wake up those older grizzlys to start a revolutionary movement against the landlord and/or Comcast. Prefer to see if I can resolve my issues without involving them. I know the landlord wont budge on anything contradictory to their established paradigms anyway. They have a sign outside their office that simply says "NO".

 

Also, If I switch my laptop over to wi-fi, I see about half a dozen other residents on the list of available (all secured) wi-fi spots. Which confirms that most residents have been here so long they may not even know what "internet" means. Can't tell from the list who or where the small number of internet users might be.

 

I am on wired ethernet into my own router connected to my own modem (one "approved" by regional Comcast office) connected to a Comcast standard wall plate cable service plug. All wires, no wi-fi. I actually have 3 appliances connected to the same router: Acer laptop with Win10 OS; Roku Tv with built-in streamer; Magic Jack VoiP telephone adapter (land line). I am not connected to any complex-wide equipment or internet service in any way. EXCEPT that the cable wire coming out of the wall is obviously from some common branching within the complex i.e. its hardly likely coming directly from a comcast wire up on a pole or whatever.

 

My brand-new out-of-the-box modem is a D-Link model DCM-301, which Comcast have said is approved for 100mbps service; in fact I bought it because it is on a list of approved internet cable modems on their support site. Also, for whatever that interaction is worth, I phoned Comcast yesterday while installing the modem and they confirmed it is "supported" for 100mbps.

 

My SEPARATE older (maybe 4 years) network/wifi router is a Belkin Wireless Router Model F5D7234-4 v4...any lightbulb thoughts on that? I have been assuming that routers dont really care how fast the broadband coming from the modem is...? If there is substantial technical proof that I need a new router, I will consider buying one...

 

I live in Oregon. When I do flash-type speed tests, they usually ping Portland, OR. about 100 miles away from me.

 

I'm pretty sure there is no overwhelming internet in this complex; however, I'm on the edge of a very busy college town (University of Oregon- go ducks!) so I would not be surprised if this is a high-traffic area for broadband. And I did see in the Xfinity contract boiler-plate a mention that they reserve the right to lessen service to specific users on a selective basis when demand on the broadband is too high. So, to me that means Comcast can just cut my speed based on an undisclosed selection process like maybe because I have my own equipment, not renting it from them.

 

The final answer may be as simple as that. And there is no fix. But I sure would like to hear more of your ideas and suggestions on the matter. The cubs will be visiting tomorrow (Sunday) and it would be nice if I could keep up my appearance of an intelligent grandfather with them. :>

 

 

 

 

[Pgoodwin1]

The DCM-301 modem should be plenty fast enough.

 

i think I saw where you live in Oregon, and your test scores are to the TestMy Dallas server. You could try testing to a closer test server, like San Francisco or Colorado Springs - go to the Test Servers link at the far right top of the home page. You might get better test results, however, that will only give you a little more realistic view of what your system is doing. It won't change anything about your buffering issue.

 

You might find some insight on a Roku support site about buffering problems. Searching on TestMy and there for Roku TV buffering might give you some more ideas.

[Grandpaw Grizzly]

Pgoodwin1,

 

Thanks.

Roku support chat say buffering on Roku Tv is caused by low or suddenly dipping broadband speeds (like the 2.9mbps on Saturday nite; last nite).

I'll try a different TestMy server but as you say that will probably be just another doctor saying "you are sick" without offering any cure.

Here are two screen scans of my speed situation; the second one looks embarrassing familiar; probably represents Comcast.

Thanks for trying to help; I'll just move on to the herd of disappointed...

I'll tell the cubs 'its an act of God'; I'm sure they'll understand, especially on a Sunday. That's it, the ultimate grandpaw up in the sky is hogging the broadband today!

Edited July 30, 2017 by Grandpaw Grizzly
added info

[Grandpaw Grizzly]

Result from pinging Colorado Springs.

https://testmy.net/db/zDTufOZhU]