Not much better than dialup.. someone stealing bandwidth?

Not much better than dialup.. someone stealing bandwidth?
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subignition @ 2nd Nov 02:19AM:
Not much better than dialup.. someone stealing bandwidth?

Since about last Wednesday I have been having to put up with pitifully slow download speeds. Only seems to happen from about 8pm onwards, but holy crap, it hurts.

Quote speakeasy.net:

Last Result:
Download Speed: 140 kbps (17.5 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 6564 kbps (820.5 KB/sec transfer rate)

I have to connect directly to the eMTA to get signal levels and etc, will do that in a minute and post them (since I don't understand what any of them mean).

At first I thought I had used too much bandwidth and was getting throttled, but I double-checked and I've only torrented 300 GB in the last five months. I account for at least 95% of the bandwidth usage in my house.

The only thing I can think of is that someone in the area hacked into their cable modem, uncapped it and is soaking up every single last kilobit they can get.. the download speed drops below 1200kbps, and has been as low as 70.
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subignition @ 2nd Nov 02:56AM:
Re: Not much better than dialup.. someone stealing bandwidth?

And uh, feel like an idiot, but can't find the edit button. Here's the info I -should- have included:

Concise description of the problem:

Edmonds, WA

Modem:
HW Revision 1.0 VENDOR Thomson
BOOT Revision 2.1.7i SW Revision ST75.01.06.09
MODEL DHG536
Firmware Name DHG536-75.01.06.09-090406-S-1C1.bin
Firmware Build Time 17:56:14 Mon Apr 06 2009

Home networking: Wall -> eMTA -> WRT54GL -> all computers.

We're either subscribed to the 16/2 or the 22/5. I am not sure because the upload speed is anywhere from 4-7Mbps on a good day.

Signal Levels
RF Parameters
Downstream
Frequency 597 MHz Power 11 dBmV
Signal to Noise Ratio 32 dB Modulation QAM256
Upstream
Frequency 37 MHz Power 44 dBmV
Upstream Data Rate 5120 Ksym/sec Modulation QAM64
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gar187er @ 2nd Nov 06:35AM:
Re: Not much better than dialup.. someone stealing bandwidth?

hook up straight to your modem.....then see how your speeds are.....

your downstream is a little strong.....not crazy strong, but would be nicer to see it lower...

also kill the torrent application while doing tests.....that in itself is a resource hog...
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Drizew @ 2nd Nov 06:39AM:
Re: Not much better than dialup.. someone stealing bandwidth?

gar187er beat me to it... so Ditto.

I am assuming you have Digital Voice, so how is the clarity? Has it changed since you started noticing the problems with your speed? I would give Comcast a call and see if they will roll a truck to lower your downstream power level a little.
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wanger @ 2nd Nov 07:39AM:
Re: Not much better than dialup.. someone stealing bandwidth?

The SNR is a lil bit too low for having a direct connection, but is still within spec. Could be noise or a bad line to your modem or another line somewhere causing some issues. Also, the 22/5 service needs a D3 eMTA or modem to handle those speeds, so it would more than likely be the 16/2 tier. What speed tier you have is important to know when you try troubleshooting speed issues.
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heat84 @ 2nd Nov 08:47AM:
Re: Not much better than dialup.. someone stealing bandwidth?

said by subignition :

And uh, feel like an idiot, but can't find the edit button.

It only appears when you're logged in. This forum software is weird.
--
Bit Torrent is my DVR.
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snolsen @ 2nd Nov 09:12AM:
Re: Not much better than dialup.. someone stealing bandwidth?

said by heat84 :

said by subignition :

And uh, feel like an idiot, but can't find the edit button.

It only appears when you're logged in. This forum software is weird.

It's weird to have to be logged in before you can edit a post? Really?
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EG @ 2nd Nov 10:05AM:
Re: Not much better than dialup.. someone stealing bandwidth?

Do you have the wireless security features enabled in your router ? A neighbor may be leeching your bandwidth.
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subignition @ 2nd Nov 02:02PM:
Re: Not much better than dialup.. someone stealing bandwidth?

Nobody's leeching off of our wireless network, our network is secured with WPA2 and the SSID isn't even broadcast.

I closed everything that utilized the network before running speed tests, as I should..

And it wasn't an edit button so much as a tiny red link, which threw me off.

11:00 AM -

I'm noticing the needle jumping all over the place, especially on the upload test, where it's usually steady.

I can measure speed directly from the modem in a few minutes.
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subignition @ 3rd Nov 06:37AM:
Re: Not much better than dialup.. someone stealing bandwidth?

And it's all gone to crap again.

None of the modem's line statistics have changed.

This is really bothersome, since I'm usually up late working and it's make that extremely difficult. (Had to use the java speed test, flash one wouldn't even load tonight.)

Should I call Comcast?
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EG @ 3rd Nov 09:57AM:
Re: Not much better than dialup.. someone stealing bandwidth?

said by subignition :

Should I call Comcast?

That would be a start.
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snolsen @ 3rd Nov 07:12PM:
Re: Not much better than dialup.. someone stealing bandwidth?

Go to Speaskeasy.net and run the speed test from Seattle.
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beachintech @ 3rd Nov 07:41PM:
Re: Not much better than dialup.. someone stealing bandwidth?

Was that last result directly connected to the modem after a powercycle?
--
Tech at the Beach.
I speak for myself, not my employer.
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subignition @ 12th Nov 03:54AM:
Back again

Been a bit more than a week, problem hasn't resolved itself so here are some more diagnostics. I'm doubting my original suspicions, especially because of the connection issues I'm now having.

@snolsen: It gets stuck at "preparing download test" and never goes anywhere, probably because at this point I'm getting 28% loss to sea.speakeasy.net

@beachintech: No, but I will do so in the morning when I can access the modem.

Some new things: got this new page of error messages out of the modem's event log:

Index Time Level Event ID Description
35234 2009.11.11 21:52:13 2 53 INFO: Chattering line warning - Excessive digit map failures (AALN/0): ROH 0
35192 2009.11.11 21:51:04 2 53 INFO: Chattering line warning - Excessive digit map failures (AALN/0): ROH 0
35180 2009.11.11 21:50:29 2 53 INFO: Chattering line warning - Excessive digit map failures (AALN/0): ROH 0
35169 2009.11.11 21:28:09 2 53 INFO: Chattering line warning - Excessive digit map failures (AALN/0): ROH 0
35151 2009.11.11 21:26:22 2 53 INFO: Chattering line warning - Excessive digit map failures (AALN/0): ROH 0
35145 2009.11.11 21:15:03 2 53 INFO: Chattering line warning - Excessive digit map failures (AALN/0): ROH 0
35128 2009.11.11 21:14:02 2 53 INFO: Chattering line warning - Excessive digit map failures (AALN/0): ROH 0
35110 2009.11.11 21:13:37 2 53 INFO: Chattering line warning - Excessive digit map failures (AALN/0): ROH 0
35025 2009.11.11 19:49:43 2 53 INFO: Chattering line warning - Excessive digit map failures (AALN/0): ROH 0
35009 2009.11.11 19:48:56 2 53 INFO: Chattering line warning - Excessive digit map failures (AALN/0): ROH 0
35005 2009.11.11 19:37:09 2 53 INFO: Chattering line warning - Excessive digit map failures (AALN/0): ROH 0
34982 2009.11.11 18:35:09 2 53 INFO: Chattering line warning - Excessive digit map failures (AALN/0): ROH 0
34965 2009.11.11 17:56:21 2 53 INFO: Chattering line warning - Excessive digit map failures (AALN/0): ROH 0

Also did a line quality test and noticed packet loss out the wazoo, apparently: »/linequality/nil/2585509

Edit: Here are updated stats from the modem. The downstream SNR is wavering between 31-33 dB, changing in value every second or two. Worrisome?

Downstream
Frequency 597 MHz Power 11 dBmV
Signal to Noise Ratio 31 dB Modulation QAM256
Upstream
Frequency 37 MHz Power 41 dBmV
Upstream Data Rate 5120 Ksym/sec Modulation QAM64

I'm going to call Comcast tomorrow. What should I complain about first? (or, what is most likely to actually get someone to help fix the problem?)
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beachintech @ 12th Nov 07:46AM:
Re: Not much better than dialup.. someone stealing bandwidth?

Are any of these tests without your router in the picture? All the packet loss is either showing before it hits comcasts network or at your home. Quick way to rule a lot of things out is to connect your PC directly to the modem.
--
Tech at the Beach.
I speak for myself, not my employer.
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subignition @ 12th Nov 08:11PM:
Re: Not much better than dialup.. someone stealing bandwidth?

Powercycled modem, connected directly with laptop after some hassle.

Downstream
Frequency 597 MHz Power 10 dBmV
Signal to Noise Ratio 34 dB Modulation QAM256
Upstream
Frequency 37 MHz Power 42 dBmV
Upstream Data Rate 5120 Ksym/sec Modulation QAM64

Speakeasy:
Download Speed: 18796 kbps (2349.5 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 1046 kbps (130.8 KB/sec transfer rate)

Line quality: »/linequality/nil/2585796

Huh. I don't know if it was the powercycle that did it, but later tonight when the home network is back online I'll see if it's the WRT54GL that's having problems. :/

Also, it's not the time of day the problems usually occur. dunno if that's significant.
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