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Upload speed drops during 'evening' hours


Frank Kelm

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Hello,

I've been having upload issues with my Mediacom internet.  I work from home so I need a consistent upload speed during the day.  After my last go around with the technician, he claimed that all of my problems were with my modem, and suggested that I get a Netgear modem, AND, that he was going to test my connection on a 10 minute interval for a week to prove his point.  (which is how I found your program). 

 

I've been using the program for a week now, and during the week end, the upload/download perormance was pretty dismal, as usual (paying for 200/20 and getting 20/2).   However, starting on Monday, during work hours, my speed is running 200/20.  Then, between 7:30 PM and 9PM it drops back to 200/1.  In the morning, between 6AM and 7:30 AM, it jumps back up to 200/20.  I do run an occasional Speed Test and it seems to verify these numbers.

 

Any ideas on why I would have a 'work hour network'??

 

thanks,

Frank

 

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One cause could be that those people at work are mostly not on your Mediacom so the bandwidth load at Mediacom is much more severe after they get home from work. You could ask them to switch you to a different path in their equipment. And ask them if they have a bandwidth pinchpoint in your local area. Gathering the test data is good to have on hand when talking to them. Be patient but persistent with them.

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I'm wondering if you have some kind of sync going on.

 

Maybe you're getting home, your phone's connecting to your wifi and then all of your photos and video are being uploaded to a cloud service.  e.g. Google Photos

 

Just a guess, seems to happen on a regular interval.  Like every day... around the time many people are getting home from work.  And then going through the night... I see last night it stopped a little earlier... and then tonight, seems like no issue.

 

Frank Kelm's Speed Test Results

 

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To me, the upstream issue does not appear to be cloud-syncing related, especially when the problem starts at a random time in the middle of the night. 

 

For testing the modem, one idea that comes to mind is to turn it off for a few minutes to see whether it affects the upload speed.  If it's software or an internal component acting up during the slow upload speeds, turning it off for a while should temporarily restore the upload speed.  Similarly, if a component that handles transmissions is failing such that it only works properly when the modem is warm, then turning it off for a while will likely cause the upload issue until the modem warms back up.  If the fault is not with the modem, then turning it off/on should have no effect on the upload speed. 

 

So here's a few things to try:

  1. When the upload speed is poor, turn the modem off for 10 minutes, then run a speed test right after the Internet comes up.
  2. If the upload speed improved, try that step again the next time the upload speed is poor.  If turning off the modem had no effect on the upload speed, wait until the next time the upload speed is back to normal and perform step 3. 
  3. Then turn the modem off for 10 minutes and run a speed test right after the Internet comes up.  If the upload speed deteriorated, try this step another time the next time the upload speed returns to normal.

 

If turning off the modem improved the upload speed when it was poor or caused the upload speed to drop when it was otherwise fine, then the modem is likely the culprit.  Otherwise if these steps had no effect on the upload speed, then the issue is likely at the ISP end or somewhere else. 

 

If you know a neighbour with the same cable ISP, it's worth asking if they could run a speed test at the time your upload speed is poor.  If their upload speed is also poor, then the issue is clearly at the ISP end. 

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@CA3LE @Frank Kelm , I would check the routes during and after disconnect from the VPN.

 

Windows+R to open 'Run' box. Type 'cmd' and then click 'OK' (without ticks)

 

netstat /r

 

Check during active VPN connection, make a note of it, then check after you have disconnected from the VPN, it is possible you have more than one network adapter running.

 

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

After two weeks of working on this, the final piece of the puzzle turned out to be the green box in my yard.  This one sits between the sidewalk and the curb.  As such it has taken several hits from the snow plows over the years.  The entire box and its base was loose and able to rock back and forth.  This apparently caused some sort of break in the connection.  They dug the base up and replaced it.  reinstalled the box and packed the soil in around it.  Now I'm running at full speed 24/7.  Good job by Mediacom in resolving this issue.

Frank

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