Calling All Technical Experts on TYM

[GamerBlake90]

My curiousity has finally overwhelmed me, so I turn to you all for answers.

When I first moved to Oklahoma City, we derived our Internet service from Cox Cable. After getting accustomed to it, I ran a speed test, and it showed that my connection had quite an impressive status...at A+ rank and faster than 95% of the country.

However, as time went on and I ran more speed tests, it started showing my connection at weaker statuses...eventually dropped below B-rank and 80%...now, it's dropped to this:

Last time I ran a speed test before the current one was back in December 7, 2012 so I could show it to Pig of the Hut. The result is below:

This has caused me concern in the sense that it could negatively affect my online experience. I suspect the following two possibilities:

1) My Internet connection has somehow gotten worse the longer we've had it, but is this even possible?

2) People in my region of the country are upgrading to connections that are just as good as when I had mine two years ago, if not even faster.

So...if anyone has answers...speak up.

Just to put this out there before you post, I've played on wireless Internet for quite a while (we have laptops so it's a necessity), if only because when I tried to wire to my new modem after first getting it, the online matches kept dropping randomly and my PS3 kept losing Internet service, so I went back to Wi-Fi. But just a few months ago, I tried wiring to the router instead and to my surprise, it registered as a wired connection all while keeping the wireless Internet active in the house. Since then, I've played while wired up.

TL;DR - I'm no Internet expert and I am in need of guidance.

 

[BenGmanUk]

Sorry to be captain obvious but have you spoken to your ISP? Check what you're getting is what you're paying for.

 

[Red Reaper]

They might be lowering it because they realize that people tend to not notice. Internet kompanies kan get pretty shady. Best thing to do is to kall.

 

[Rip Torn]

You are probably on a shared connection, especially since you go through a cable company. Basically, the more people that get service in your area, the less bandwith you get. The good news is, you have decent upload speed. The bad news, your connection is getting slower and if it gets any slower you will see some lag. Also, since you stream, you should buy the best upload speed you can get.

 

[WarlordRenegade]

almost all the cable companys i know run shared connections on the internet services they provide, as stated above, the connection speed depends on the number of people that are on the net at that time.

 

[GodsLonelyman]

Okay, for starters, once your router is configured and the modem is wired to one of the routers ethernet ports, it will always broadcast your connection through it's wireless function, even if all other ports on the router are unoccupied/occupied. As long as your router and modem are powered and your modem is recieving the signal from the ISP, it will continue broadcast. Wiring your PS3/xbox to one of the routers ethernet ports will not affect wireless connectivity for any other non wired device using your connection. With that said, There are several things you should do to determine what is causing the drops in speeds.

1st : (We need to establish power/signal levels on the modem) To do this, you need to find your modem's configuration page. To do this, look at the make of your modem and google the digits ie: "Motorolla modem configuration page adress". Once you get them, type them into your browsers adress bar to access the page. Mine for example is http://192.168.100.1/

Alternitavely, you can disconnect the router. Then connect the modem directly to your computers ethernet port, and do an IP check. You go to start, look for run, then type CMD. This will open the command prompt window. In that window you type ipconfig/all and locate the number.

2nd: (We need to establish if your wireless network is secured ) To do that, you need to access the routers config page. It's usually http://192.168.1.1

once there you will be prompted for a username and password, The default is admin password. Once in, look at your wireless network settings and make sure it is password protected whether by WEP/WPA etc. If it's not passsword protected, the network you are broadcasting wirelessly will be open to your entire neighborhood. Meaning, they can connect to it and use YOUR internet connection/bandwith.

3rd. If you have cable internet and your IP adress is dynamic, you might be on a a really busy node, this happens to me from time to time. What you want to do is change your Ip adress' range ie: your current ip adress is 66.222.333.11, when changed it will be a new set of numbers like 77.333.444.22. To do this, you need to change your MAC adress and restart both the modem and router. Since you have a router connected, you can do it directly through the router. To change the MAC adress on your router, you need to access the config page (see above). Look for the mac adress and change the last digit to anything. Once saved, power cycle the modem and router for a few minutes and power back on.

If your network is secured, your modem has the recomended power and noise levels, and changing your ip didn't help, then you should call the company and have them send a technician out to inspect the lines. There may be an issue with the lines or a bad splitter somewhere in the house. Another thing to keep in mind is that the router and wireless broadcast can impact the speeds, such as multiple people using the internet simultaneously while you run a speedtest, interference in your house disrupting the wireless signal etc. so when testing your speed, do it wired to your pc/laptop. If you leave the router connected to test, disable the wireless network or at least make sure no ones on the internet. But the best way is to just wire the modem directly to your PC/laptop for accurate results.

Another possibility but HIGHLY unlikely is that your ISP is throttling your speeds deliberately.
EDIT: Just remembered, some modems are modem/router combos, so you might want to check if thats the case. If so, adding another router to the mix can cause a shit storm and hinder performance. Oh, and whatever you do, DO NOT AND I REPEAT DO NOT, post your ip adress, mac adress, or modem srial number or any detail for that matter on a public forum.

 

[aj1701]

GodsLonelyman has lots of great tips. Another option, if its available, would be fios. Cable internet seems to be hitting the limit of what it can do, and dips has been awesome for me.

 

[FrothyOmen]

Blake, you gotta call your ISP. They'll send a guy out to come check your hardware out, and make sure that it's not a wiring problem or anything like that. But looking at how your speeds are changing over time I can tell you right now that it's probably not a hardware issue on your end. The shared connection theory everyone else has, I agree with. Occam's razor man, that's the simplest explanation. Just talk to the ISP about it and see what they can do, if anything.

You can always be a diva and demand that you get the internet you're paying for, as you no longer are. They'll either comp you some cash at least, or upgrade you to a better package at very reduced/free rates lol. You're gonna wanna try getting connected to the "Voice of the Customer" line, or they may call it "Customer Retention", something along those lines. Bitch enough to those people and they'll give you whatever you demand for free lol.

 

[MKB]

Wish I could help...

Here's mine:

 

[NB Semi Evil Ryu]

*snip*

I almost think that this should be stickied somewhere. A very nice write-up!

 

[DanCock]

Not sure how to help you Blake, however People shouldn't do speed tests from their computers to compare online gaming speeds. Both Xbox and psn have speed tests you can perform and this shows exactly what you are using while online.


Sent from my iPad 2 using Tapatalk

 

[GodsLonelyman]

Not sure how to help you Blake, however People shouldn't do speed tests from their computers to compare online gaming speeds. Both Xbox and psn have speed tests you can perform and this shows exactly what you are using while online.


Sent from my iPad 2 using Tapatalk

Not sure about the Xbox but I've noticed my PS3 tends to limit my speeds by a large margin even when hardwired straight to the modem.

 

[CURBOLICOUS]

I've had a similar problem. I feel like my connection itsself has gotten worse because I used to have amazing connection with everyone but at the same time it can be due to people in the US getting better internet. GamerBlake90 does it feel like your connection got worse?

 

[DanCock]

Not sure about the Xbox but I've noticed my PS3 tends to limit my speeds by a large margin even when hardwired straight to the modem.

Both systems dumb down the speeds. Not sure why.

What's sad is the world has better and cheaper speeds then us. The fact that only a few companies have a monopoly on our Internet is frustrating.

Sent from my iPad 2 using Tapatalk

 

[Killphil]

Both systems dumb down the speeds. Not sure why.

What's sad is the world has better and cheaper speeds then us. The fact that only a few companies have a monopoly on our Internet is frustrating.

Sent from my iPad 2 using Tapatalk

Off topic: I'm kinda annoyed then. My internet speed from the computer is <1 mb/s down and <.5 mb/s up. Its really amazing that I can even connect to the internet and supposedly no other ISP works in my area. (complete bull, as I'm still working on fixing my speed issues). Long story short: my speed as is is only good for internet browsing and nothing more. If my gf wants to watch a youtube video I can't play any game on the internet.

 

[Rip Torn]

Both systems dumb down the speeds. Not sure why.

Do you guys know about port-forwarding? There are certain ports on your router that you want to have bypass your firewall in order to get the best connection. When I was on my old router I had to do this otherwise the connection was ass: http://support.xbox.com/en-US/xbox-live/connecting/network-ports-used-xbox-live

Newer routers already have the xbox/psn ports open so you don't have to worry about it. If you do an xbox connection test it will tell you that your connection is limited and you need to open up those ports.

 

[BenGmanUk]

Don't bother with port forwarding tbh. Just put your console in a DMZ i.e. no port restrictions. There is no security risk at all.

 

[GodsLonelyman]

Do you guys know about port-forwarding? There are certain ports on your router that you want to have bypass your firewall in order to get the best connection. When I was on my old router I had to do this otherwise the connection was ass: http://support.xbox.com/en-US/xbox-live/connecting/network-ports-used-xbox-live

Newer routers already have the xbox/psn ports open so you don't have to worry about it. If you do an xbox connection test it will tell you that your connection is limited and you need to open up those ports.

PS3 tends to limit my speeds by a large margin even when hardwired straight to the modem

It's not a port forwarding issue nor a console issue. I believe it's a Sony Sever issue. I'm pretty sure the servers they allow people to use have limited bandwith shared amongst thousands of people. They are free to users after all, I highly doubt you'll get an unlimited service where you can use your bandwith to the max.

 

[lennyzamora]

I only have 1 Mb/s and I don´t complaint

 

[Rip Torn]

It's not a port forwarding issue nor a console issue. I believe it's a Sony Sever issue. I'm pretty sure the servers they allow people to use have limited bandwith shared amongst thousands of people. They are free to users after all, I highly doubt you'll get an unlimited service where you can use your bandwith to the max.

PSN just has crappy slow servers. I would expect everything that involves a PSN server to be super slow (system updates, PSN store, PSN messages, PS Home).

 

[redrum_am]

Off topic: I'm kinda annoyed then. My internet speed from the computer is <1 mb/s down and <.5 mb/s up. Its really amazing that I can even connect to the internet and supposedly no other ISP works in my area. (complete bull, as I'm still working on fixing my speed issues). Long story short: my speed as is is only good for internet browsing and nothing more. If my gf wants to watch a youtube video I can't play any game on the internet.

If your connection is that bad look into Satellite internet! Google it, this is used for rural areas with this type of problem. Over!

 

[BenGmanUk]

If your connection is that bad look into Satellite internet! Google it, this is used for rural areas with this type of problem. Over!

I do hope you're joking.

 

[RiBBz22]

I didn't read the entire thread but your modem could have gone bad if you are using the one from the ISP. Might try to take it back/replace it.

 

[GodsLonelyman]

PSN just has crappy slow servers. I would expect everything that involves a PSN server to be super slow (system updates, PSN store, PSN messages, PS Home).

Exactly

 

[GodsLonelyman]

Don't bother with port forwarding tbh. Just put your console in a DMZ i.e. no port restrictions. There is no security risk at all.

i wouldn't recommend having the router in DMZ all the time. There are security exploits. If upnp is not an option then port forward by all means.