At one point do you assume its your ISP causing slow speeds?

[Lightingbird]

Been helping a lot of customers and I hear it all. They almost always say its their ISP. They refuse its is their computers or router. Agressively refuse to try a direct connection into their modem. Not even knowing the speed they are paying for exactly.

So at what point after you have tried everything to figure out what is causing speed/wireless issues do you assume it must be the ISP?

Then how do you convince the customer as well?

After I have usually tried all of this:
Running netstat -b 5>activity.log to get a list of connected programs.
Running sfc /scannow
Checking the signal strength
Broadcasting the SSID
Disabling the firewall
Clearing the browsers
Checking for virsuses and spyware
Attempting a direct connection to the modem
Checking physical connections
Error Check under my computer
Defrag
a few registry fixes...


Then my way of showing proof are with several speed test like on speakeasy.com and testmy.net.

How about you?

 

[raybay]

It is the ISP most of the time.
Many times the ISP signal is reduced by the number of computer on the connection in that neighborhood...
The slick thing so many ISP's are now doing is connecting new customers at 1.5 Gbps... which quickly reduces to 70 or 80 kbps... We see ComCast as low as 72 when they promise 1.5...
There are sells who promise 4 Gbps who are only providing 2.8... then divide that down...

Take a close look at what they are really providing, and how much that signal drops when the neighborhood is online... Examine Comcast, Dkaota, Cox, Verizona, Netzero, AT&T, Starband, WildBlue, Charter, Earthlink, AOL, Qwest, Covad, AOL, Earthlink...
All or nearly all of them are NOT providing what they promise when you test them with accurate equipment... They cannot... the demands are simply too great...

Threaten them and they drop your customers... look at the fine print in the contract.

This is a major issue that will only get worse, and in out area of US, Mexico, Arizona Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, Idaho, Washington, and Oregon, they are all liars... intentionally....

It will not change until users raise hell.

Test using accurate eqjuipment then faise a fuss, and ti will co up... for a while.

 

[LookinAround]

<snip>
Test using accurate eqjuipment then faise a fuss, and ti will co up... for a while.

What equipment??? How much more accurate does a home user need to be then a simple end-to-end download and upload test using a site like www.speedtest.net??

 

[raybay]

A great number of the speed tests are quite faulty... as a result, some of the ISP's will not listen to you, nor will your state agency.
Find out what is accepted where you live... then keep a chart... they want to see the tests a late night early morning... and other times throughout the day....

The difference between the service for which you are paying, and what you find in a test series must be rather significant...

Usually, once you are known to be keeping logs, the ISP will come out to check your neighborhood, or split the users into smaller numbers.

 

[JoshWes]

It is the ISP most of the time.
Many times the ISP signal is reduced by the number of computer on the connection in that neighborhood...
The slick thing so many ISP's are now doing is connecting new customers at 1.5 Gbps... which quickly reduces to 70 or 80 kbps... We see ComCast as low as 72 when they promise 1.5...
There are sells who promise 4 Gbps who are only providing 2.8... then divide that down...

I am just clarifying this; do you mean to say that 1.5 Gigabits(Gb) is equal to 70-80 KiloBytes(kB)? In one byte there are eight bits. 1.5 Gb = 1500 Mb = 187.5 MB = 187500 KBps. If there is an ISP that gives that much bandwidth; where do I sign? However, I believe what you meant to say was Mbps as opposed to Gbps. That's the thing you have to watch for "b" and "B". If it is lowercase, divide by 8 to get uppercase and then you will have the commonly understood value.

 

[tipstir]

Most of what comcast shell out is off the mark with the VOIP sharing the same cable modem Airtek seems to reduce peformance. Check that you are using RG6 2.3GHz and spliters cables instead of the RG59 with the old 900Mz spilters.