Ok about 2 to 4 months ago i use to easily get 200 to 280 KB/sec + on download speeds (KB = kilo bytes per sec) I now only can get up to 150 KB/sec if that. I was paying $45 a month with that speed 2 to 4 months ago but now i am paying $50 a month and only get 150 KB/sec tops on the same download i use to beable to 200 to 280 KB/sec. I think thats unfair and i am wondering if there is anyway to get it back because now i am paying more a month for slower download speed I already have the tweaks i had before when i use to get 200 to 280 KB/sec + 2 to 4 months ago when i was payiong only $45 a month. Because my cox@Home in louisiana price went up $5 Stupiod cable isp. If anyone else here lives in louisiana and has cox@Home or a cable modem please let me know too because i would like to know what downlaod speed u get and such.
And that 200 to 280 KB/sec + download speed i use to beable to get 24/7.
I am using the same modem that i was able to get the faster speed on so i know its not that. I think its some kind of problem somewhere. Like maybe with download bandwidth or something. But i do know sometimes i see packet loss on some of their severs when i traceroute them or no reponse but when i call tech support they say they dont see that. And most people on tech support say there is no problem. But one person named RJ thinks i have a problem at those download speeds because he can get 400 KB/sec + on this download and i tried the same download and only got 150 KB/sec so he says with that there is for sure a problem. And i think that too. But one person on level 2 tech support did say anything over 50 KB/sec is considered acceptable and we dont do anything about it till its lower than that. But i know i still have a problem because i use to get so much better download speed 2 to 4 months ago and it just doesnt make sense with having 150 KB/sec tops all day even at 3am. But like i said i use to beable to get 200 to 280 KB/sec + 24/7. I will do anything to fight my Cable isp to get my speeds back. I am working with some local cox@home people that work with them in louisiana but they havent seem to locate the problem yet but i hate all this waiting and wish they would do something. And they even a tech came out a connected it to his laptop my cable modem and had the same problem.
So its not my computer. Plus he would get a lot of no reponse or packet loss when he traceroute like www.apple.com , home.excite.com , etc on his laptop. So their is something overloaded maybe. I really want to get this problem fixed so badly. I am willing to do anything. Cant wait till more than one cable isp will be in my area so they can comptete and offer better service to the consumer. I just think since my price went up to $50 a month i should get the same service with download speed as i did paying $45 a month because it really doesnt make sense.

Any help is very appreicated
Thank You So much

If it makes ya feel any better bud, I'm paying $80/month for 1.5/384 DSL, which is usually the same speed of cable... which costs about half what I'm paying.

Your speed may have decreased because of an increase in users on your "segment".

Cable bandwidth is shared. Everybody in your neighborhood is using the same bandwidth as you.... and therefore the more that sign up, the slower it will get during peak times. DSL is a "dedicated" line, and therefore all the bandwidth is yours and yours alone. That's one reason it costs more.

Take a look at Speedguide.net for further info on this stuff.

Atreyu well guess what i had this service for 2 to 3 years and it never went down before during those time it was same speed 24/7 which was 200 to 280 KB/sec + 24/7. Now after 2 to 4 months ago it does this with $5 more a month. It doesnt make sense but i am having a tech come out sunday my gateway pinged up to 100 ms which isnt good.

Actually there are a number of reasons why your service may be slower than it was. First and foremost is the number of subscribers in your area. It is true that the bandwidth is shared among all the people in the area. The more people on it, the slower it can be.

Another cause for the slow down can be headend equipment in the cable companys head end. The more Fiber nodes connected to the UBR router, the more bandwidth trying to get through the same pipe. A second or third UBR in the headend can alleviate crowding, but the cost and space required for it may not be available.

Another cause can be ingress on the cable lines from outside frequencies. Cracks and damages to the physical cable can allow off air frequency into the shielded cable lines causing interference with the forward and return signals to your cable modem. Usually this can be identified by a visual check of your television set. Any off air broadcast channels will have a ghost or other such motion in the background caused by the ingress. If there are no anomolies on your local abraodcast channels, then there is most likely no ingress.

Yet another cause can be water in the cable lines. Could be in your drop line to your house. Could be in the main lines outside. A check of your signal level with a meter can tell you if there is water since it will attenuate the signal.

Loose connections can cause problems as well. Also splitting your signal to feed multiple outlets and/or cable modems can attenuate the signal as well.

It is true that what the customer deems acceptable download speeds and what the company will work on are two different things. As a Network Technician responsible for the outside lines for the cable company where I live I can attest to that. I have @home service here in the Portland OR area and I have seen my download speeds vary significantly.

Have you run the Bandwidth speed test at http://webservices.cnet.com/bandwidth/

I just ran it and had 2008 Kbps. I ran it again and had 435 Kbps. Ran it again and had 635 kbps.

So as you can see, bandwidth varies. But the cable company is correct that there is no guarantee of download speeds. Check your contract. It may be different in your area.

Ed

Interesting update. Yesterday I did some upgrade work for a friend of mine who has the @home service from AT&T. Before I worked on her computer I went to the http://webservices.cnet.com/bandwidth/ and checked her speed. All of 200 kbps. Substantially slower than my service at my house. My thoughts immediately were that there was something wrong outside...couldn't be any reason for this slow of a speed other than something outside of her house. After doing the work on her computer (she was running WindowsME) and doing a complete format and reinstall of her system (still running WindowsME) her bandwidth test came out at 1850 kbps. Yes, thats right, 1650 kbps faster than before the reinstall. My only conclusion from this is that there are things in the OS and other programs that can cause the service to be slower.

In light of this, my question is have you recently reinstalled your OS? Clean install ie: rebuild from scratch? Might be worth a shot.

Ed

i think i fixed my problem my enabling my @Home proxy. But i reinstall my win2k pro a lot sometimes so whenever i do it again i will see what happens with proxy off but i know its my cable isp because i seen it once when the service came back on for a few secs after a router when down. This router going down is something else that happen its not dealing with my speed to let you know. It took down the whole service but sometimes i could use it for like 30 to 60 secs and i got to and i downloaded something right before it went out and my speed was back to normal but once when the service was fixed it wasnt. I am thinking its the users or a traffic issue. Or not enough bandwidth for everyone.