Internet streaming headache

[Archer]

I have cable internet and pay for 30 Mbps.  I have my own modem and wireless router. 

When I first moved in to the rental and set up my internet I had to trace coaxial cable all over the house – seemed like there were miles of the stuff going to half a dozen rooms.  I eliminated all those cables and connected the existing coaxial cable running from outside the house into the cable that's plugged into my modem. I ran an initial speed test and noticed I was getting 24 Mbps out of the 30 I was paying for – which I was OK with.  A couple months later and I think my connection is unstable (not sure if that's the right word to describe what's happening?).  We do all of our "TV" watching online, so shows or movies that would normally be shown in HD are only HD for less than a minute at a time before becoming grainy.  They stay that way for the majority of the show with occasional spurts of HD mixed in. It also will freeze ocassionally.  I ran a speed test about a week ago and now I'm only getting 15 Mbs, or half of what I pay for.  But I'm pretty sure that should still be more than enough to stream an hour long show.  What gives??

[Pheo]

Yeah extra wiring can definitely be a huge problem.  My dad had to do the same thing at their place and only got partial response by removing wiring too.  He was able to get things better than what they should be with a simple coax signal booster though.  Have you tried one out?  They're pretty cheap but can make all the difference.

[Akavit]

For starters, I'm pretty sure the rated speed of internet packages refers to max speed which only ever happens for short bursts.  I've noticed when downloading that the first second is almost always at a super high speed then everything slows for the remainder of the download.

Also not sure how long you've been there but as more people sign up and more people start engaging in high-bandwidth activities, the more the speed gets choked down.  I'm on DSL at both work and home and noticed everything seems a lot slower in both places this past year.  My suspicion is that providers aren't increasing infrastructure as fast as they're getting new traffic.

[Kaesekopf]

Archer are you on time warner? 

I have had TERRIBLE internet for the last month or two.... 

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[Archer]

Yeah extra wiring can definitely be a huge problem.  My dad had to do the same thing at their place and only got partial response by removing wiring too.  He was able to get things better than what they should be with a simple coax signal booster though.  Have you tried one out?  They're pretty cheap but can make all the difference.

I have not looked into that yet.  Thanks for the tip.

Archer are you on time warner? 

I have had TERRIBLE internet for the last month or two.... 

Yeah, that's my provider. The jury is still out - not sure if I'm a fan yet or not, mostly because I'm unsure if my problem is on my side or theirs.   

[Kaesekopf]

I am having issues but I hate dealing with twc.

It might be my router though.  How old is your equipment?

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[Archer]

I am having issues but I hate dealing with twc.

It might be my router though.  How old is your equipment?

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My modem is brand new this year, my wireless router is a 5+ year old netgear.  Might that be the problem?

[Kaesekopf]

The wireless router might be shot, I am asking my techie friend about lifespans, but I think five years is generally the lifecycle...  which is where im at too. 

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[LouisIX]

I think it is just as if not more likely that the problem is with the cables rather than your internet provider.  We pay for something like 30 mbps as well and get 15+ consistently.  Not only is this enough to get to 1080 HD within the first 20 seconds of streaming a movie, it's enough to stream live television at probably around 780.

Do any of your streaming devices work wirelessly or are they connected into the modem?  Do you employ any splitters?  Are your cables of unequal lengths or unnecessarily long lengths?

[Basilios]

Unfortunately, paying for a certain speed almost never means actually getting that speed. Very few people are that lucky. I am on a "35Mbps" plan, but get 5Mbps, and my mother gets 1Mbps. The small print will usually say something like, "up to" when mentioning speeds. Benchmark tests are also not very reliable; do a few at different times of the day over different devices to get a more true estimation.

I don't have experience with the weird way American internet works (cable TV + Internet combo) so I can't help much there. I would mention a few things to check though:

If you haven't already, go straight from your primary access point into your PC (i.e. don't go WiFi) - primary means (if applicable) the master socket from the telephone line is being used (assuming you have a similar type of set up to this country). So use the cables and plug in to your computer. Then start doing some speed tests there (let it stabilize over a few hours as above certain factors may be in place which limit speeds). If nothing changes with speeds once plugged in, switch off all your other devices that use the internet (all of them) except your plugged in PC. Now try again some speed tests. This is assuming you only access via WiFi and don't already have something plugged in as it were.

If that doesn't work, try checking on different devices their speeds. I say this because if it's an old laptop or phone it may be a hardware or software problem. If all devices are just about equal, check your usage on each device and see if there is something there that's constantly draining the bandwidth (not likely but to cover all areas). If that isn't the case I would check your data usage over the past few weeks and see if it fits into your plan - if you're capped at say 20gigs a month and you've used 25gigs, many companies will start charging you ridiculous amounts and also really slow down your internet speeds as a nice gift. Again, unlikely but covering all areas.

It may also be worth checking your WiFi channels and how busy they are. If they are, switch them manually to a less busy channel (there is software that can do this for you but I recommend accessing your router with the IP address and do it that way, your router should have instructions on how to do it). This small change actually can work wonders sometimes when working with WiFi devices because interference especially in busy towns is a big problem.

If none of the above work it may be your router/modem. Obviously the simplest way to check is to swap out the hardware and start doing tests again. If that doesn't work you may have been the victim of your providers wrath; often times what providers decide to do (secretly) is choke your bandwidth. I have been a victim of this in the past. It's possible for them to stop doing this, and you'll need to ask them to stop doing it. If they claim they aren't, then insist on getting someone to come and sort out your internet because you've done everything you can to check yourself.

Lastly, you may just be experiencing the whole net neutrality type war very acutely.

These are the things to check and fix and do that I would do, but I don't know American set ups so it really may not apply. If all the obvious things fail just phone the provider and ask for a technician to come over (may cost an arm and a leg).

[Pheo]

Well we may pay more up here, but I average between 40-50Mbps on my 30 plan.  Holds it as high as 100 on off-peak times too.

[Pheo]

Well I figured I'd test mine at my desk at work...

[LouisIX]

Hah.  That'd be awesome to have at home.

[james03]

I have sophomoric knowledge of network wiring due to work with industrial control networks.  There is a tradeoff with the thickness of the wire, range vs. bandwidth.  If possible, temporarily connect as close to the service wire as possible and see if that helps.