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|| SportsShooter.com: Member Message Board
High speed interent problems
Robert Seale, Photographer
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Houston | TX | USA | Posted: 11:48 AM on 11.03.07 |
->> Comcast recently took over our cable service from Time Warner here in Houston. Our service, particularly upload speed has suffered greatly.
I upgraded to the top residential plan (60.00 a month), and my upload speeds were closer to what I was getting with Time Warner (600,000kbps), but after 15 MB, you can see the network gradually slow down to below 100,000.
I called their business service department and upgraded to their top business internet package (89.95 a month), which promises 8MB download/1MBps upload speed, and now my file transfers start out slower (in the 350,000 range), and quickly slow down after 15MB to 120,000 or so.
I've had four modem changes, and multiple service calls to my house, all the hardware, and the signal strength, cable lines have checked out fine.....I just can't seem to get a constant upload speed, making it very hard to transfer large files for work, and near impossible to archive photos via Photoshelter.
I tried ATT DSL, but I am too far away from their hub to get their highest speed service.
It is obvious to me that Comcast is trying to limit the use of their network, probably because people are swapping movies and music libraries online, but it seems like these software/coding throttles shouldn't apply to business level service.
Technicians on the phone and at my house keep telling me to go to various speed test web sites, which I think are very misleading, especially since, on upload, they only test a small packet of information. I'm looking at the speeds in FTP programs like Fetch and Transmit, but who knows how accurate these are either.
I don't really want to fork over 500-700.00 bucks a month for a T-1 line. Have of any of you had similar problems with Comcast, or are there other high-speed solutions out there?
Any advice or help is appreciated. |
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Eric Canha, Photographer
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Brockton | MA | United States | Posted: 11:55 AM on 11.03.07 |
->> Robert,
I have Comcast here. I see the same thing here all the time. I'm on the FIOS waiting list and can't wait to dump Comcast. I'd really like to hear what other FIOS users have to say. |
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Todd Spoth, Photographer, Student/Intern
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Houston | TX | USA | Posted: 12:02 PM on 11.03.07 |
->> 600K is pretty fast for uploads.
Of course, I havent been in my Houston apartment since Summer, but we have Verizon and it always seemed to work great. (Clear Lake area) I upload to photoshelter and use those same programs. im sure you transfer larger file sizes though.
I know what you mean about their customer service. It seems like their failsafe is to send you to SpeedTest.net and when its "ok" they'll say youre fixed and send you on your way.
good luck. |
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Jonathan Castner, Photographer
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Longmont | CO | USA | Posted: 12:05 PM on 11.03.07 |
| ->> I have Comcast and my upload speeds have gotten steadily higher over the last few months. I'm often sending at 1.2M bps. |
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Jim Cowsert, Photographer
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Grapevine | TX | USA | Posted: 12:15 PM on 11.03.07 |
->> Robert,
I would occasionally have problems with my cable internet most of the time it was outages completely. About two years ago Comcast changed to Roadrunner in my area and then the problems really began... my speed would rarely be above 1000kbps and would slow down to 60kbps. Dial-up would have been faster.
Luckily Fios became available in my town and I quickly switched and haven't looked back. I got the cheapest plan with 5Mbps download and 2Mbps upload. My speed over the last two years constantly stays the same now.
If Fios is available in your area I would highly recommend switching.
One question...600,000Kbps? Are you sure of that? My uploads
usually run around 1900Kbps and are pretty fast.
You might test your speeds through speakeasy.net.
Jim |
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Wesley Hitt, Photographer
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North Little Rock | AR | USA | Posted: 1:58 PM on 11.03.07 |
->> I switched from Comcast to DSL and love it. Comcast upload was slow and my cable did not get stations that I was paying for. Our Comcast repair man that came out four times and replaced every line that he could to my house, asked us to not have them send him out anymore because there was nothing else he could do. I got the impression that it was the old lines in my neighborhood and until they replaced them, service was not going to be good.
Wesley Hitt
www.hittphotography.com |
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Robert Seale, Photographer
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Houston | TX | USA | Posted: 2:05 PM on 11.03.07 |
->> I think I meant bps.
56k = 56,000
I'm getting 350,000 decreasing to 100,000 or so.
Sorry for the confusion. |
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Ken Shelton, Photographer
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Wyckoff | NJ | USA | Posted: 2:09 PM on 11.03.07 |
->> Currently I'm on Cablevision In north NJ & paying extra for 30/5 service. Running tests on to their server shows 32.1/4.6 Pretty close but it is all inside their system.
Using other test sites show big differences.
NYC 20/2.5
Miami 8,8/.8
DFW 9.3/.8
LA 1.0/.5
Verizon is installing my FIOS on 11/8. The TV/Phone/Internet package I ordered promises 20/20 internet speeds. Our 30-home neighborhood was just 'fibered' and we have a private cable back to the Central Office. This SHOULD smoke for uploads.
I'll run some real FTPs to Dallas next Saturday & check back here.
Ken |
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Robert Seale, Photographer
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Houston | TX | USA | Posted: 2:25 PM on 11.03.07 |
| ->> Be careful - speed tests are deceiving....if I run a speed test, it says I'm getting close to 2MB up, which is nowhere near what it actually is when you send a large file via ftp programs. |
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Kevin M. Cox, Photographer, Assistant
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Galveston / Houston | TX | US | Posted: 2:46 PM on 11.03.07 |
->> Yeah, sounds like Robert was talking in bits. Here are a couple online convertors to get everyone on the same page:
http://www.levinecentral.com/ool/speed.asp
http://www.easycalculation.com/bandwidth-calculator.php
For reference, the consistent speeds I'm getting with my Earthlink cable internet (over Comcast) are:
Uploads (mainly to my paper's FTP server):
45 KB/s or 368 kb/s or 45,000 bytes or 360,000 bits
Downloads
981 KB/s or 7848 kb/s or 981,000 bytes or 7,848,000 bits |
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Aaron M. Sprecher, Photographer, Assistant
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Max Simbron, Photographer, Assistant
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Phoenix | AZ | USA | Posted: 5:03 PM on 11.03.07 |
->> Robert,
If you're on sprint, you can get their wireless aircard for 60 a month. I've got that, and the upload speeds are about 100K a second (so thats around 800,000kbps). By doing that,and keeping a value plan on comcast rather than their business or high end plan (which obviously aren't that great), you don't stand to spend a lot more money.
I suggest sprint because they don't, AFAIK, have a download or upload limit per month (Verizon is reported to issue notices after 5gb per month). Also, sprint wireless even has a parnership with linksys, that offers a router that can work with several sprint pcmcia cards so you can use their wireless as your only solution. Certainly interesting.
Of course, these are not answers to your problem, simply alternative solutions. I've had sprint about 6 months now, and I'm very pleased with their service. Even in the mountains of Arizona, I've gotten at least some connection, and in any city, I get EV-DO Rev A speeds
To be honest, I would do this, simply because having a wireless aircard is good on the road, and I just wouldn't want to give Comcast any more money than I have to.
Max |
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Jeff Stanton, Photographer
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Tucson | Az | USA | Posted: 9:02 PM on 11.03.07 |
->> I have Comcast here in Tucson and have been very pleased with its download and upload speeds. Sometimes they do vary, especially during the evening hours, but mostly the service has been very reliable and fast.
I just got an Alltel PC wireless card and will most likely discontinue my Comcast internet, because I want to be able to work on the road and I don't need two providers. Alltel costs more, but I'm getting the additional service and benefits for the money.
Just FYI, we ran a story recently in the paper on the United States being the slowest country of the industrialized nations in the world for Internet Speed. I forgot the figures, but as I recall, Japan ranked first and their speeds simply blew everyone else away. |
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Jesse Beals, Photographer
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Silverdale | WA | USA | Posted: 1:38 AM on 11.04.07 |
->> Comcast here is Washington state were I live (Bremerton) is garbage. The more and more I try to FTP photos the slower and slower it gets. I have called many times and complained.
The day I find a better internet supplier is the day I switch. Will call comcast in town Comcrap becuase of the quality and service. |
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Larry W. Smith, Photographer
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Valley Center (Wichita) | KS | USA | Posted: 8:51 AM on 11.04.07 |
->> Well I'm in Kansas and on Cox Cable same business package Robert mentions but I'm having the same problems as Robert, been getting worse and worse ever since they supposedly put in new main lines. over the past year I"ve had everything replaced 3 times and usually have a Cox person out 2-3 times a week figuring eventually they will fix it right to stop me from calling. The DSL here does not offer anywhere close to the same upload speeds. Wonder if all providers are limiting customers like Robert said. I had one worker tell me they don't want people running a server out of their homes is why they limit upload speed.
Larry |
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Jeff Stanton, Photographer
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Tucson | Az | USA | Posted: 11:04 AM on 11.04.07 |
->> Larry, that's strange, because Cox here in Tucson rocks with speed, faster than anything offered in this area. When I recently moved into an unincorporated part of the city, Comcast was the provider. They're not as fast, but the service has been very reliable.
Now I am trying the Alltel wireless pc card. |
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Robert Seale, Photographer
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Houston | TX | USA | Posted: 11:21 AM on 11.04.07 |
->> Corey Perrine just emailed with a cool tip.....I hadn't even thought of using Activity Monitor (mac only) to check transmission speed. It seems to be very accurate. Instead of the gradual decline you see in Fetch or Transmit, you can actually see the network put the brakes on at 15MB. After that, it maxes out at 121 kbps.
Try sending a big file via ftp and see what you are actually getting versus the quick internet speed tests, (which I'm beginning to think are complete BS). |
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Al Goldis, Photographer
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East Lansing | MI | USA | Posted: 11:56 AM on 11.04.07 |
->> Robert, you need to keep calling Comcast and get them to fix it. If you're paying extra for the business service, there might be (should be) a different business number to call that ought to get you better results than calling the regular consumer number.
Yes, Comcast uses "Powerboost" to give you initial faster speeds. Download Powerboost is pretty much everywhere and upload is in most markets but not all yet.
The thing is, the business service isn't supposed to have Powerboost; you get your rated speed all the time with no initial bursting monkey business (Powerboost screws up QoS algorithms on business-class routers and networking equipment).
Your 350Kbps is pretty close to their standard non-business upload rate of 384Kbps. Dropping to 100Kbps is unacceptable no matter what plan you're on. The non-business Comcast phone reps will tell you the speed isn't guaranteed but if I'm not mistaken, when you shell out for the business service it actually IS guaranteed. |
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Frank Casimiro, Photographer
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Houston/Sugar Land | TX | USA | Posted: 12:55 PM on 11.04.07 |
| ->> Yesterday, after initial reading this thread Robert began, I sat and wrote a long reply. Fire spewed from my fingertips furiously as I typed about my recent frustration's with Comcast. After I finished typing, I reached for a sip of my coffee, took a deep breath, read what I wrote, and then erased my anger and moved on without posting. I'm only writing today to let you know I'm following this thread with great interest as you're not alone in your frustrations with the Comcast service here in the Houston area. |
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Kevin M. Cox, Photographer, Assistant
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Galveston / Houston | TX | US | Posted: 2:48 PM on 11.04.07 |
->> I use Net Monitor to keep track of my transmission speeds:
http://homepage.mac.com/rominar/net.html
I have it set to run in the menu bar so I can see my speeds during transfers. |
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Chuck Steenburgh, Photographer
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Larry W. Smith, Photographer
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Valley Center (Wichita) | KS | USA | Posted: 9:13 AM on 11.05.07 |
->> Jeff I've had Cox for years but for the last 2 years since I moved one block away I have had problems and keeps getting worse. They installed new main lines to keep up with all the HD new tech and it keeps getting worse. I had a person out everyday last week and have them scheduled to come back out again this week. I think some of these companies are trying to offer and guarntee more than they can provide right now.
L |
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Jeff Stanton, Photographer
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Tucson | Az | USA | Posted: 11:58 AM on 11.05.07 |
->> Larry ... I found out with my Cox service that most of the lines in the area were new with the exception of one that came into the house.
There was an old line, believe it or not, coming into the house which was leftover from an old cable provider that no longer services the area. The service would go down every afternoon when the heat intensified here in Tucson.
Once Cox discovered that problem, they replaced it and it was smooth sailing after that. So a problem could be something where there is a weak link, fitting, frayed wire, whatever.
I have had no such problems with Comcast, but they are not as fast as Cox. |
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Larry W. Smith, Photographer
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Valley Center (Wichita) | KS | USA | Posted: 2:31 PM on 11.05.07 |
->> Jeff I would agree but they have replaced everything 3 times even the line coming into the house, they keep blaming it on the main line.
Larry |
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Margaret Bowles, Photographer
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Houston | TX | | Posted: 3:21 PM on 11.05.07 |
->> Robert,
I live a couple of miles from you. I am having the same problem with Comcast. I actually get faster transmittal of data using my Verizon wireless broadband card than I do with the Comcast cable, and it takes 10 minutes per photo to transmit with the card. It's very disappointing. I'm glad you started this thread because I've got to find some way of transmitting photos faster. I sometimes leave my computer on all night in order to upload data to the FTP servers of my clients. It's a joke. I'm happy to join in any local effort to find a solution. |
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Jeff Stanton, Photographer
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Tucson | Az | USA | Posted: 4:49 PM on 11.05.07 |
| ->> 10 minutes per photo????? That sounds like dialup1 |
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Max Simbron, Photographer, Assistant
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Phoenix | AZ | USA | Posted: 5:31 PM on 11.05.07 |
->> Margaret,
Is your Verizon card EVDO Rev A or 0 compatible? Older cards may not be, and you need both the card and the service to support this for the speeds to be high. So if you have a non compatible card, you would work at 1xRTT speeds (re: Slow)
If your cell tower is Rev 0 (good), and your card is Rev A (better), then you're stuck at Rev 0 speeds until your tower gets upgraded. So make sure your area has Rev 0 or A, and get a card to match if you don't have one already.
Also, I've read (on places like EVDOForums) that Verizon throttles people who go over a 5GB limit. Sprint, on the other hand, has no such limit. But the tradeoff here is that people generally frown on sprints customer service (and I agree, I've had to make countless phone calls to get some stuff working).
I can upload files consistently at 100KB per second, or a 2 meg jpeg in about 20-22 seconds. And just to test it a few times, I uploaded about a gig of different files to my MediaMax service. Each time, it was consistently speedy so long as I didn't drive around town with the wireless (as the service switches from tower to tower there can be speed dropoffs. Service remains intact throughout).
I hope this (at least the card and service compatibility) is of some help to you.
Max |
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Roger Ogden, Photographer
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Brookline | NH | USA | Posted: 12:31 PM on 03.09.08 |
->> I've run into a very serious issue with uploading to photoreflect. I cannot get an event to ever finish uploading. Even a test event with 1 image may or may not work. I called express digital and they gave me the comcast story. I'm not sure I'm buying it, although I suppose that my provider, Charter Communications could have found a way to only affect photoreflect uploads. FTP of JPGs is still as fast as it ever was.
I even bought a new computer! That hasn't helped. I also removed my phone box and my router from the mix, so I went directly to my cable modem. No difference...only photoreflect uploads are slow. and I mean slow, I can't even finish a very small event. (10 total mb of images) |
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Allen Hubbard, Photographer
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Spokane | WA | USA | Posted: 3:10 PM on 03.09.08 |
->> Roger,
I have Comcast and use Photoreflect with no issues.
I can upload an event with several hundred images pretty fast and no errors. I am on the standard residential service. |
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Fraser Britton, Photographer
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Ste Anne de Bellevue | QC | Canada | Posted: 3:28 PM on 03.09.08 |
->> Comcast is indeed throttling connections, as someone posted links to above. They are using sandvine technology to do this. It is different in different areas (even within the same city) as the units have to be installed individually and they are targeting high traffic areas first.
More and more providers are moving to this, particularly the large wholesalers, as the market is getting more competitive and the high bandwidth users account for 80% of the traffic and are under 2% of the user base. Part of the plan is to force users off of their networks onto other networks entirely, all the while being able to un-congest their own internal networks as well as saving money on upstream bandwidth to peering partners.
You may want to start looking around your area for a smaller, more consumer oriented provider. www.dslreports.com forums are a good place to start your research. Good luck! |
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Ian Halperin, Photographer
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Plano(Dallas) | TX | USA | Posted: 10:00 PM on 03.09.08 |
| ->> I live in Dallas and switched to Verizon FIOS. It's fiber and it smokes. I have the low end and it's 5mbps down and 2mbps up. I think they offer a 10/5 and a 15/5. But I can watch streaming vids and upload full size files in seconds. All that, digital TV and local and LD phone for $109 month. |
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Nic Summers, Photographer
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Mount Prospect | IL | USA | Posted: 6:25 AM on 03.10.08 |
| ->> Comcast sucks donkey balls! |
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Juliann Tallino, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Port Townsend/Seattle | WA | USA | Posted: 11:17 PM on 03.10.08 |
->> Jesse,
Have you tried Qwest? I've been very happy with it in both our homes (Port Townsend and Ballard) the upload speed is great. I've not heard good things about Comcast cable internet here in Seattle, sounds like it's pretty much the same nationwide. |
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Stew Milne, Photographer
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Providence | RI | USA | Posted: 10:13 AM on 03.11.08 |
->> I was having the same issues of throttling with Cox in New England. I couldn't wait until the competitor (FiOS) installed their system in my neighborhood. I have the 20/5mbps internet service. Blazing fast uploads.
So, sign up for FiOS if you can. If not, get on their waiting list and they will inform you when they do have your neighborhood fiber-wired. The cable companies are very scared of the FiOS technology, as they should be.
-sM |
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