Jump to content

1 hour upload test


quid

Recommended Posts

Let me see what I can arrange for you.

 

Looks like you'd use about 14GB per hour. So that's not a big deal.

 

I'll mess around over the next few days with some code I've been developing and get back with you. Needs a few modifications to do exactly what you're after.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

   Thanks!

   btw, the reason for this is that I'd like to see what throughput I am actually getting from Cox Communications.  I recently installed some Arlo Pro 4 cameras and found that they dropped offline a lot.  In fact I have two cameras that cycle offline and online every couple minutes (even with nothing on the network but one camera, a smartphone (running the Arlo app) and a Netgear WAC120 access point, and router the camera goes offline).  So, I tried using my cell phone as a mobile hotspot (which delivered about 80 Mbps down and 50 Mbps up -- and that worked.   Arlo then, (unsurprisingly) said that my 150 Mbps down and 10 Mbps up plan from Cox was not enough.  Honestly, a 10 Mbps upload should be fine.

   So, I upgraded to 1 Gbps down and 35 Mbps up Cox plan.  The Arlo camera performance is much better, but, even running one camera, it drops offline occasionally.  And the network speed seems to drop a bit too sometimes.

   The speed tests you offer, as well as the automatic ones, are really pretty nice.  Still, since it is not continuous, it would miss occasional communications slow downs (which would derail my Arlo camera).  And cable plans don't guarantee a minimum throughput unfortunately. 

 

  So, I would like run a continuous test to document the actual throughput that a real-time devices (like security cameras) have to work with.  My application is not critical I suppose.  I need the camera to see when our cats show up at our back door to let them in (the occasional snowfalls are hard on them) -- so this is important to us.  It is surprising though how many folks complain about WiFi security cameras going offline.  It may be just that the ISP is not providing enough upload bandwidth.  And I can't get DSL around here which would provide a guaranteed bandwidth.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, quid said:

btw, the reason for this is that I'd like to see what throughput I am actually getting from Cox Communications.

 

btw, the reason this website exists was to test my Cox cable internet back when it was first released in 1996 (I was 15) ... to see what throughput I was actually getting from Cox Communications. :-P  (TMN got its name later)

 

Really though, I think the automatic test you've been running is already telling us a lot.

 

?t=u&d=01-16-2022+%2F+01-17-2022&y=u&l=25&q=quid's Speed Test Results

 

A couple things I would check,

 

  • Router placement: How far away is the router and what obstructions are present? Are there any mechanical devices near the router that may be interfering with the signal. Is the router confined in an enclosed space?
  • Other devices: What are the other devices doing? Can you run a test for a period with all other devices disabled? (1 pm to 1am your time should be a good period given what I see above)

 

Is your arlo power wired or battery? If it's a battery only unit I can give you instructions for how to give it hardwired D/C power, this not only will save you money on those expensive a123 batteries but it will make it more reliable in cold temperatures. You might even have a suitable power adapter that you can repurpose for free.

 

If you can, take a laptop outside near the arlo camera and run some tests. Go to https://testmy.net/mysettings and change the first (e.g. laptop, 1, 2, 3) so that we can tell the results apart. It could be that double pane windows, metallic window tint and/or materials your house is made out of are making it difficult to communicate. Your laptop may have more powerful wifi than the arlo but it may still provide some clues. Test first inside the door (maybe use identifier 1), then outside (identifier 2), then back inside (back to identifier 1). 

 

So first, I'd make sure the placement of the router is optimal. Then I'd make sure there aren't computers or devices mucking it up. Could be a torrent in the other room you forgot about (maybe a family member or roommate), could be your phone uploading a bunch of stuff to the cloud when you get home after a long day taking photos. There are many scenarios that can consume upload and make it an issue for everything network-wide. If your upload is it all taken up, you're internet's going to suffer across the board. If you disable all devices and the issue clears up but you don't know where to start, then maybe reconnect them one by one until you see the problem. Pinpoint and target the machine that seems to be slowing things down.

 

No matter what, I'm going to make sure you get early access to my new tool because it seems like it's right up your alley. It tests your home connection every second of every day while also respecting your network bandwidth. I've been running it myself since 2020 and have never noticed it running, unless I have connection issues. Then it makes its presence known. It's designed to run indefinitely and use minimal resources, all around. Like everything at TestMy.net it only requires a modern web browser.

 

This is actually different from the code in development I was previously talking about. And then in thinking about what you were saying,"test my upload throughput for an extended period" got me thinking since yesterday about a totally different upload test method, a hack to the current method that would provide deeper insight. Seriously, thank you! I don't know if it will work but it will be fun to experiment with. If it does work I can see a huge benefit.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@quid noticed your donation earlier, just noticed by checking the email address that it was you, thank you. I know that you know, you didn't have to do that.

 

I really appreciate you took the time. Your donation pays for Terabytes of much needed bandwidth.

 

I only have that link in the forums and get very few (almost no) donations. To be honest, I never wanted ads on TestMy.net. But this is a bandwidth intensive application. It's expensive to host and that's after I built a network and hardware stack to cut costs.

 

In the future I'd like to provide a service that people will see value in and happily pay a small monthly, quarterly or yearly fee to experience TestMy.net the way the developer intended. Ad free. If I can get enough support in that direction my dream is to make TestMy.net ad free for all.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  Reg

8 hours ago, CA3LE said:

 

btw, the reason this website exists was to test my Cox cable internet back when it was first released in 1996 (I was 15) ... to see what throughput I was actually getting from Cox Communications. :-P  (TMN got its name later)

 

Really though, I think the automatic test you've been running is already telling us a lot.

 

?t=u&d=01-16-2022+%2F+01-17-2022&y=u&l=25&q=quid's Speed Test Results

 

A couple things I would check,

 

  • Router placement: How far away is the router and what obstructions are present? Are there any mechanical devices near the router that may be interfering with the signal. Is the router confined in an enclosed space?
  • Other devices: What are the other devices doing? Can you run a test for a period with all other devices disabled? (1 pm to 1am your time should be a good period given what I see above)

 

Is your arlo power wired or battery? If it's a battery only unit I can give you instructions for how to give it hardwired D/C power, this not only will save you money on those expensive a123 batteries but it will make it more reliable in cold temperatures. You might even have a suitable power adapter that you can repurpose for free.

 

If you can, take a laptop outside near the arlo camera and run some tests. Go to https://testmy.net/mysettings and change the first (e.g. laptop, 1, 2, 3) so that we can tell the results apart. It could be that double pane windows, metallic window tint and/or materials your house is made out of are making it difficult to communicate. Your laptop may have more powerful wifi than the arlo but it may still provide some clues. Test first inside the door (maybe use identifier 1), then outside (identifier 2), then back inside (back to identifier 1). 

 

So first, I'd make sure the placement of the router is optimal. Then I'd make sure there aren't computers or devices mucking it up. Could be a torrent in the other room you forgot about (maybe a family member or roommate), could be your phone uploading a bunch of stuff to the cloud when you get home after a long day taking photos. There are many scenarios that can consume upload and make it an issue for everything network-wide. If your upload is it all taken up, you're internet's going to suffer across the board. If you disable all devices and the issue clears up but you don't know where to start, then maybe reconnect them one by one until you see the problem. Pinpoint and target the machine that seems to be slowing things down.

 

No matter what, I'm going to make sure you get early access to my new tool because it seems like it's right up your alley. It tests your home connection every second of every day while also respecting your network bandwidth. I've been running it myself since 2020 and have never noticed it running, unless I have connection issues. Then it makes its presence known. It's designed to run indefinitely and use minimal resources, all around. Like everything at TestMy.net it only requires a modern web browser.

 

This is actually different from the code in development I was previously talking about. And then in thinking about what you were saying,"test my upload throughput for an extended period" got me thinking since yesterday about a totally different upload test method, a hack to the current method that would provide deeper insight. Seriously, thank you! I don't know if it will work but it will be fun to experiment with. If it does work I can see a huge benefit.

 

 

  Regarding router placement and other devices, the test result you referenced was done using an access point near the Arlo that is remote from the router  (and both test computer and Arlo not very near the access point)-- so, yep, I did not expect great performance.  btw, I do the tests generally when my teenager's devices are not in use.  And when I document performance (ie a test with just an arlo camera, phone and access point) it is just that.  When I test Cox Com performance, I just use my computer connected to the router (via Cat6a)  and no other devices.

 

   There are really two issues I need to address.  The first is, what actually is the Cox throughput.  To do this, I connect the computer to the router by Cat6a and remove other devices.  Doing a test, say once per minute, is helpful; but it the not the same as a 1 hour continuous test.  The latter test will catch any performance degradations during that one hour (where any such degradation could disturb the Arlo).  The former only catches problems if they happen to arise during the brief interval of a test.

 

   The second issue regards access point placement.    I have installed an access point near the camera (in an opposite corner of the house from my router (the router, a SonicWall TZ400, does not have an integral access point).   I have also run the Arlo in communication 10 feet from an access point  that is connected via 7' of Cat6a cable to the router and it also cycled offline and online  I have been testing the throughput of this as well.  Still, the is really a secondary issue.  It Cox Com does not provide a minimum upload of 3 Mbps (ie the thrust of issue #1 above), then the Arlo camera is likely to have trouble and i will return it to get a more robust solution.  (Arlo claims that each Pro 4 camera needs 3 Mbps -- although they seem to use less.)  There may be design issues with the Arlo as well that make it more sensitive to disruption of throughput (last month I had had an Arlo Pro 4 that did not cycle offline and online but returned it because the speaker did  not work, which has then lead me into this current rabbit hole). 

 

   The only significant improvement I have encountered so far was the Cox ISP upgrade from a 10 Mbps upload plan (where the camera(s) had cycled offline and online every 2 min) to a 35 Mbps upload plan (where the camera(s) cycle offline and online every few hours.    Oh, and use of a smartphone as a mobile hotspot also dramatically reduced the propensity of the camera(s) to cycle offline and online.   Clearly, the Cox Comm is contributing to the problem.  On my side, it is easy to test (plug my PC, running just your tool, into the LAN port of my router and unplug all other devices, except the cable between the WAN port and my Arris Surfboard SB8200 cable modem). 

 

   The Arlo Pro 4 uses an internal battery.  A contact charger cable can be installed for continuous power.   I have been pretty happy with the battery life.  And the image quality is nice even at night with the spot light off.  And the camera can handle snow and rain storms and freezing rain nicely.  Honestly, the Arlo Pro 4 has a lot to recommend it.  However, it is not reliable (and this may be due to a combination of Arlo and Cox issues). 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...