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Posted: 8/27/2015 11:06:12 PM EDT
Hey guys, is there a way to monitor and record my internet speed over a certain time period?  Say 24 hours?  

I have been calling and complaining to Time Warner for the last 2 weeks about my internet speed.  I'm paying for 25mbps download and most of the time I am only getting between 4-5.  When I call customer service I get put on hold and it magically jumps back up to 25 again.

Tonight it is almost impossible to surf ARF.  And forget about trying to watch a Nutnfancy video. .  Just sits and spins.

BTW all of this is over a WIRED connection, not WIFI.

I had one technician on the phone who said he saw dropouts and was going to set up an appointment for someone to look at my service, but then he said he had to send me to the internet escalation unit? When I got to them, they said they didn't see anything wrong, and everything was fine.  I know they are either throttling me or there is a service problem in this area.  I can get up at 3am and it seems to run faster.  

Anyway to record this other than manually would be great.  Any other ideas?

Thanks...!!

EDIT....Also just had the cable modem replaced and have had them reset it several times.  Does not appear to be the issue.
Link Posted: 8/28/2015 12:42:05 AM EDT
[#1]
It could be one or several of dozens of issues. We aren't going to be able to help you.

ETA:  One thing you could do, sign up for business class service under a fake sole proprietorship out of your house.  You'll pay more, and you'll get better service.
Link Posted: 8/28/2015 12:59:54 AM EDT
[#2]
I just want to prove there is a problem.  When I have them on the phone they say oh your getting 25mbps, everything is fine.  I hang up and 10 min later it drops to 5 for the next 4 hours.
Link Posted: 8/28/2015 1:07:21 AM EDT
[#3]
Cable internet and load sharing maybe?
Link Posted: 8/28/2015 1:19:24 AM EDT
[#4]
Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Quoted:
I just want to prove there is a problem.  When I have them on the phone they say oh your getting 25mbps, everything is fine.  I hang up and 10 min later it drops to 5 for the next 4 hours.
View Quote

Disconnect everything from the router.  Plug in a single known clean device into the router, perform several speedtests while the issue is occurring.  Bonus points if you can get the cable modem plugged in at the demarc.
Link Posted: 8/28/2015 6:37:05 AM EDT
[#5]
Link Posted: 8/28/2015 3:02:45 PM EDT
[#6]
Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Quoted:
Cable internet and load sharing maybe?
View Quote


Modern cable doesn't work that way.  Bandwidth is split into multiple low bandwidth channels.  Since the cable company caps user bandwidth well below the theoretical maximum, it is impossible to saturate the connection.

1. Check the router.  Turn off wireless, unplug all devices, and plug in one computer to speed test
2. Check all cable connections and splits.  Cable modem should be as far upstream as possible (on first split)
3. Have TWC remotely diagnose your modem.  If it's a pre-DOCSIS 3.0 modem, replace it.
4. Have tech come out and test signal inside and outside your home.  Sometimes the tap on the pole gets water in it and corrodes, causing intermittent poor signal issues.
Link Posted: 8/29/2015 11:45:05 PM EDT
[#7]
Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Quoted:


Modern cable doesn't work that way.  Bandwidth is split into multiple low bandwidth channels.  Since the cable company caps user bandwidth well below the theoretical maximum, it is impossible to saturate the connection.

1. Check the router.  Turn off wireless, unplug all devices, and plug in one computer to speed test
2. Check all cable connections and splits.  Cable modem should be as far upstream as possible (on first split)
3. Have TWC remotely diagnose your modem.  If it's a pre-DOCSIS 3.0 modem, replace it.
4. Have tech come out and test signal inside and outside your home.  Sometimes the tap on the pole gets water in it and corrodes, causing intermittent poor signal issues.
View Quote View All Quotes
View All Quotes
Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Quoted:
Quoted:
Cable internet and load sharing maybe?


Modern cable doesn't work that way.  Bandwidth is split into multiple low bandwidth channels.  Since the cable company caps user bandwidth well below the theoretical maximum, it is impossible to saturate the connection.

1. Check the router.  Turn off wireless, unplug all devices, and plug in one computer to speed test
2. Check all cable connections and splits.  Cable modem should be as far upstream as possible (on first split)
3. Have TWC remotely diagnose your modem.  If it's a pre-DOCSIS 3.0 modem, replace it.
4. Have tech come out and test signal inside and outside your home.  Sometimes the tap on the pole gets water in it and corrodes, causing intermittent poor signal issues.


Thanks, I'll try that.  Not the neighbors, closest is a couple miles away.
Link Posted: 8/30/2015 12:49:41 AM EDT
[#8]


Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Quoted:



It could be one or several of dozens of issues. We aren't going to be able to help you.





ETA:  One thing you could do, sign up for business class service under a fake sole proprietorship out of your house.  You'll pay more, and you'll get better service.
View Quote
You don't have fake ownership of anything. I have Comcast Business Class from home, because I need a solid connection to work. I do pay more, but I always get an English speaking tech, there is no cap on data downloads, and if it goes down, they fix it immediately.

 
 
Link Posted: 8/30/2015 1:55:37 AM EDT
[#9]
I do tech support for a local cable company.  usually in these cases where internet speed over wired connection is doing what you say I would see a lot of CCER (Data Error Rate).  The cause of this can be anything from faulty wiring in the home, bad splitter, drop line coming in the house, or even at the tap in your yard.  They should definitely send out a technician.  And it doesn't always get fixed on the first trip.  Usually they do the bare minimum at first but putting new fittings on and tightening connections.  Then when that doesn't work they start looking elsewhere.  With our company, we may rewire the line to the modem and maybe the drop line outside if it's suspect.  

First thing i would do is try another coax cable to your modem if that's possible.  Sometimes the lines go through holes in the wall and can't just be swapped out.  If you know how to press a fitting on coax and have the tool then i would do that.  Make sure all connections are tight. even reseat the connections.  If you have a splitter on the line for your modem try to bypass it.  

Other than that i would call back and just tell the agent right off the bat you want a supervisor and to be escalated.  Make sue to tell them you have already done troubleshooting with agents and the service is not usable.  Not sure how comcast does things but they may be punished for sending techs out when not needed.  My company does no such thing and it entirely at my discretion.  I always send techs out if normal troubleshooting does not fix.

Something else to consider.  I have talked with many people in your situation and one issue often overlooked at first is the computer itself.  Take this college chick i spoke with last night as an example.  She had a macbook in an apartment. Pays for 50Mbs on internet but was only getting 2.4 Mbs down.  She was very pissed off and was feeling ripped off.  Already had a tech out there and his tests showed 51Mbs down and 5.2mbs up on Ethernet.  but WIFI performance was only 20mbs at best.  So first thing I had her do was plug her mac book into Ethernet.  She was getting the same shit performance at 2.4mbs down. it barely loaded the simple speedtest site.  So i did some basic stuff like defaulting and power cycling modem, reseat coax on modem etc and no change at all.  So i asked her if she had another computer and luckily she was able to go to her neighbors and borrow some old HP laptop.  Plugged it into Ethernet and instantly pulled 51 Mbs down.  And on wifi was getting the same as the technician at 20Mbs.  I was able to boost her wifi to about 38Mbs with a change in the wifi channel but she understood she lived in a shitty wifi envirment  So our shitty cable modem wifi just couldn't compete.  The lessen here is sometimes it is just your computer being shitty.  Could be hardware failing, virus/maleware routing your net through a vpn, or driver issue.  Hell, even a bad ethernet cord.

Good luck op.
Link Posted: 8/31/2015 9:55:28 PM EDT
[#10]
Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Quoted:
I do tech support for a local cable company.  usually in these cases where internet speed over wired connection is doing what you say I would see a lot of CCER (Data Error Rate).  The cause of this can be anything from faulty wiring in the home, bad splitter, drop line coming in the house, or even at the tap in your yard.  They should definitely send out a technician.  And it doesn't always get fixed on the first trip.  Usually they do the bare minimum at first but putting new fittings on and tightening connections.  Then when that doesn't work they start looking elsewhere.  With our company, we may rewire the line to the modem and maybe the drop line outside if it's suspect.  

First thing i would do is try another coax cable to your modem if that's possible.  Sometimes the lines go through holes in the wall and can't just be swapped out.  If you know how to press a fitting on coax and have the tool then i would do that.  Make sure all connections are tight. even reseat the connections.  If you have a splitter on the line for your modem try to bypass it.  

Other than that i would call back and just tell the agent right off the bat you want a supervisor and to be escalated.  Make sue to tell them you have already done troubleshooting with agents and the service is not usable.  Not sure how comcast does things but they may be punished for sending techs out when not needed.  My company does no such thing and it entirely at my discretion.  I always send techs out if normal troubleshooting does not fix.

Something else to consider.  I have talked with many people in your situation and one issue often overlooked at first is the computer itself.  Take this college chick i spoke with last night as an example.  She had a macbook in an apartment. Pays for 50Mbs on internet but was only getting 2.4 Mbs down.  She was very pissed off and was feeling ripped off.  Already had a tech out there and his tests showed 51Mbs down and 5.2mbs up on Ethernet.  but WIFI performance was only 20mbs at best.  So first thing I had her do was plug her mac book into Ethernet.  She was getting the same shit performance at 2.4mbs down. it barely loaded the simple speedtest site.  So i did some basic stuff like defaulting and power cycling modem, reseat coax on modem etc and no change at all.  So i asked her if she had another computer and luckily she was able to go to her neighbors and borrow some old HP laptop.  Plugged it into Ethernet and instantly pulled 51 Mbs down.  And on wifi was getting the same as the technician at 20Mbs.  I was able to boost her wifi to about 38Mbs with a change in the wifi channel but she understood she lived in a shitty wifi envirment  So our shitty cable modem wifi just couldn't compete.  The lessen here is sometimes it is just your computer being shitty.  Could be hardware failing, virus/maleware routing your net through a vpn, or driver issue.  Hell, even a bad ethernet cord.

Good luck op.
View Quote


Thanks, I'll check into some of that too.  We had a bad ice storm here about a year ago and service in this entire area has not been normal since.  When I say bad, I mean our power was out for a week and our cable service was out for 3 weeks.  I think something is still wrong with their infrastructure.  My FD that I retired from is in this area and pays for business cable through Time Warner to connect all the FDs together for their computer network.  They are having a lot of speed issues and have been complaining too.  Just found out about that today.  I would look at DSL but in our area speed sucks and they bill by data used.  I have 2 teenagers who would run me into the poorhouse.
Link Posted: 8/31/2015 10:02:50 PM EDT
[#11]
pic of your modem?


type 192.168.100.1  in your address bar and see if you can get to signal levels or upstream/downstream   should be between 8 to -8 for down, upstream 30-53 range. Ask for new modem, schedule a service call EVERY day until its fixed, you have to be a dick TWC has it set up so that almost no one can really help you in many circumstances, until you really start scheduling trouble call after trouble call, it messes their precious numbers up.  How old is your home?  Newer wiring, old as shit?  Ask a service tech to replace splitters?  Does your service come in underground or aerial?
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