What speed is the 'speed test' at my ISP website testing ?

[5Miler]

I run a lot of ancient equipment in my home, often just to see if I can make things work for me. I still run Windows 7, 10 and 11 along with various distros of Linux.

The only time I have experienced a slowdown in my network speed similar to this was when I was getting less than 1 Mbps on WIFI but it doesn't sound like you are running on WIFI unless I missed something. My system at the time was running Linux and I was having issues with extreme slowdowns because of my broadcom WIfI adapter and the inability to find a proper driver. I slipped in a USB WIFI adapter based on an Intel chipset and the WIFI network was firing on all cylinders afterwards. This was all on an old HP DV7 dual core laptop.

Sometimes you need to let things go and upgrade your technology. My laptop was recycled. Ebay is a cheap source for what you may need.

 

[Retch The Grate]

since it has a newer OS (Windows 7)

and I thought <B>I</b> was bad with my Windows 8.1 machine that I'm retiring as soon as I break down and order a new gaming rig.

 

[John Galt III]

OP, you should keep your posts on this matter in one thread because most people are not following based on the info you previously provided, and it just makes things more difficult for you and others following.

All I wanted to know in this thread was what the speed test was testing. I have received that answer (throughput). But people are asking me questions, so I answer them. I guess I'll go back to one of my previous threads and tack on any new questions I come up with. By the way, some hopeful new info. I am getting the 37 to 45 Meg download speeds at the test website more often lately. No apparent reason. I had 37 Meg for a few consecutive speed tests around 6:15 PM, then back to 1.1 Meg 10 minutes later. During the 37 Meg window, youtube was running better, but not perfect. Still some jerkiness. And lots of 'frames dropped'.

 

[GrayHare]

During a slowdown, open the Windows Task Manager and see if any unexpected processes are using CPU time. If so, that can be the sign of a virus.

 

[John Galt III]

During a slowdown, open the Windows Task Manager and see if any unexpected processes are using CPU time. If so, that can be the sign of a virus.

Thanks. I have been watching things in task manager. I have 17 Firefox.exe tasks running all the time. That is supposedly normal. And seven more tasks, that are always there too, like rundl32, dwm, csrss, etc.. BTW, I am getting some half-decent download speeds this morning. Started checking at 6:00 AM. Getting around 6 to 8 Meg for the last hour.

 

[GenXguy]

Yeah, I have a lot more Firefox processes showing than that. Have you logged into your cable modem as I suggested? 6 to 8 Mbps is still very slow for 100 Mbps service.

 

[target2019]

What is written on your ethernet patch cable?

 

[John Galt III]

Yeah, I have a lot more Firefox processes showing than that. Have you logged into your cable modem as I suggested? 6 to 8 Mbps is still very slow for 100 Mbps service.

No I haven't, but sounds interesting. How do I do that?

 

[John Galt III]

What is written on your ethernet patch cable?

The ethernet cable going from modem to PC? It has the following, not in order. TIA/EIA E257448 568B.2 AWM 2835 UTP CAT.5E 30V RICHLAND 60(degree) C 24 AWG and one greek letter, or symbol.

 

[GenXguy]

No I haven't, but sounds interesting. How do I do that?

Didn't your new modem come with any instructions for that? Normally you would just enter the IP address of the modem and then enter the default username and password if you haven't already set a new one.

Edit:

See https://arris.my.salesforce-sites.c..._FAQs/SB6183-Troubleshoot-Internet-Connection

Try 192.168. 100.1 in your browser and review info in link above.

Use blank username and passwords

You mentioned being able to rent an ISP modem for about $6 or a modem/router for $10-$11. I might be a small price to pay to rule out your modem being an issue. You should definitely be using a router or a modem with a router built in.

Verify all your cable connections are secure at any splitters and such. Actually would be best if you didn't have any splitters while troubleshooting the issue. Remove any cable amplifiers if you have them.

 

[John Galt III]

No paper instructions at all. The printing on the box says to go online or phone 800 number, or download an app. I used your IP in the url bar, and got the following : hope it is readable.





Downstream Bonded Channels Channel Lock Status Modulation Channel ID Frequency Power SNR Corrected Uncorrectables 1Locked QAM25629399000000 Hz -0.7 dBmV38.2 dB00 2Locked QAM25617327000000 Hz -0.3 dBmV38.9 dB00 3Locked QAM25618333000000 Hz -0.1 dBmV38.9 dB00 4Locked QAM25619339000000 Hz 0.1 dBmV37.5 dB00 5Locked QAM25620345000000 Hz -0.3 dBmV37.4 dB00 6Locked QAM25621351000000 Hz -0.5 dBmV38.6 dB00 7Locked QAM25622357000000 Hz -0.3 dBmV38.7 dB00 8Locked QAM25623363000000 Hz 0.0 dBmV38.7 dB00 9Locked QAM25624369000000 Hz 0.2 dBmV38.6 dB00 10Locked QAM25625375000000 Hz 0.2 dBmV38.6 dB00 11Locked QAM25626381000000 Hz 0.0 dBmV38.5 dB00 12Locked QAM25627387000000 Hz -0.7 dBmV38.3 dB00 13Locked QAM25628393000000 Hz -0.6 dBmV38.3 dB00 14Locked QAM25630405000000 Hz -0.3 dBmV38.2 dB00 15Locked QAM25631411000000 Hz -0.7 dBmV38.0 dB00 16Locked QAM25632417000000 Hz -0.6 dBmV38.0 dB00


Procedure Status Comment Acquire Downstream Channel Locked Connectivity State OK Operational Boot State OK Operational Configuration File OK
Security Enabled BPI+ DOCSIS Network Access Enabled Allowed

 

[John Galt III]

Thanks for the ip address ! Didn't see any red flags in the link to Arris self-help. And the info I got from the Arris page looks OK, as far as I can tell. I did have some error messages in the 'event log'.


Tue Jan 16 21:28:24 2024 Error (4) DHCP RENEW WARNING - Field invalid in response v4 option;CM-MAC=24:94:cb:ff:9d:d3;CMTS-MAC=00:a2:89:27:5a:41;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;


Sun Jan 07 21:29:15 2024 Critical (3) Received Response to Broadcast Maintenance Request, But no Unicast Maintenance opportunities received - T4 time out;CM-MAC=24:94:cb:ff:9d:d3;CMTS-MAC=00:a2:89:27:5a:41;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;


Sun Jan 07 21:28:27 2024 Notice (6) TLV-11 - unrecognized OID;CM-MAC=24:94:cb:ff:9d:d3;CMTS-MAC=00:a2:89:27:5a:41;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;


Sun Jan 07 21:28:27 2024 Error (4) Missing BP Configuration Setting TLV Type: 17.9;CM-MAC=24:94:cb:ff:9d:d3;CMTS-MAC=00:a2:89:27:5a:41;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;


Sun Jan 07 21:28:27 2024 Error (4) Missing BP Configuration Setting TLV Type: 17.8;CM-MAC=24:94:cb:ff:9d:d3;CMTS-MAC=00:a2:89:27:5a:41;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;

 

[John Galt III]

I do have one splitter, which splits the cable feed into 2 coaxials, one goes to the TV the other goes to my modem. Nice and tight, but it is old, as in 1986. But that is OK, according to my cable co tech. TV signal is perfect at the outlet I am using for my modem. Having the TV on at the same time as the computer doesn't seem to affect anything.
I didn't see anything mentioning the actual download speed in the Arris website. But it looks like all is well except for the error messages in the event log.

 

[GenXguy]

Looks ok. It might be time to get the router and try a different computer. You might need to follow up with your ISP or even rent a cable modem from them to rule that out.

My 75 Mbps service slowed to just a few Mbps recently, but it was an external issue with my ISP which had gone away when I checked a few hours later.

 

[Retired Expat]

My ISP has a website with a speed test button. It doesn't clearly state what it is testing. It implies the speed is the speed they are sending me, on their side of my modem. It is very low. It ranges between 0.7 and 1.3 Mbps. On 2 occasions it was 37.0 Mbps. But 95% of the time it is around 1.0 Mbps. I am signed up for 100 Mbps. Thanks

The speed you are contracted for is most likely a wired connection. So you need to connect to you router/modem with a quality Ethernet cable. Often ISP’s give us crappy 2.4 ghz wireless routers so you need to upgrade to a fast router with 5Ghz assuming it will reach you or consider a mesh router system. I replaced my modem router and then split of a mesh router for the whole house but at my desk I plug in.

We live in a seasonal area and when everyone is here in summer things slow down quite a lot to 30 or 40 Mbps. Where ordinarily I get 200-400 while am contracted for 100. Those are 5G WiFi speeds. If I use my ISP’s provided router I get less than half what my routers provide I also use a seperate dedicated VPN router purely for online banking and getting channels that are geo blocked ( such a pain)

 

[LivetheDream]

speedtest has 3 important figures.

Speedtest.net or OOkla will give you 3 readings. Download speed on average during the test, upload speed during the test, and the milliseconds ms it took to ping the server it is connecting to for the test. send a small packet from your computer to host computer and back again ( latency).

Not sure if it was discussed yet, but if your phone is connected to the same internet in your house do a speed test on your phone. get the speedtest app, or just google ookla on your phone and do a speedtest on your phone without the app.

 

[GenXguy]

The speed you are contracted for is most likely a wired connection. So you need to connect to you router/modem with a quality Ethernet cable. Often ISP’s give us crappy 2.4 ghz wireless routers so you need to upgrade to a fast router with 5Ghz assuming it will reach you or consider a mesh router system. I replaced my modem router and then split of a mesh router for the whole house but at my desk I plug in. pain)

Not sure if it was discussed yet, but if your phone is connected to the same internet in your house do a speed test on your phone. get the speedtest app, or just google ookla on your phone and do a speedtest on your phone without the app.

It's clear many people don't bother to read the thread before responding. It's been stated repeatedly the OP has no router, just a new basic cable modem connected directly to a computer with a very capable ethernet cable. There is no wireless capability.

 

[LivetheDream]

oops

looked like I jumped from page 1 to page 3 in the thread and missed a good chunk.

 

[John Galt III]

OP here. Got some new stuff to report. I finally broke down and called up the cable co to report the slowness.


They are monitoring the connection today, and will call me to say whether they could fix anything on their side. If they can't, then they will send a tech out to my place to investigate. No charge for the service call, even though they know I am using my own modem.


Also, I 'logged in' again to my modem by going to the IP address GenXguy gave me, and now it shows something it didn't before, which is that some of the 'corrected' and 'uncorrectable' slots in the 'Bonded Downstream Channels' are now non-zero. They were all zero before, pretty sure.



I have 5 instances of 'corrected' and 3 instances of 'uncorrectable'. Hmmm.


The speed is still 1.0 meg often, but am seeing a fair amount of speeds in the twenties and tens also. Still nothing above 34 meg ever.

 

[GenXguy]

OP here. Got some new stuff to report. I finally broke down and called up the cable co to report the slowness.

I'm glad to hear you finally called them. You should still get a router. Hopefully they will be more helpful than to say that everything is good on their end.

Also, I 'logged in' again to my modem by going to the IP address GenXguy gave me, and now it shows something it didn't before, which is that some of the 'corrected' and 'uncorrectable' slots in the 'Bonded Downstream Channels' are now non-zero. They were all zero before, pretty sure.


I have 5 instances of 'corrected' and 3 instances of 'uncorrectable'. Hmmm.

The speed is still 1.0 meg often, but am seeing a fair amount of speeds in the twenties and tens also. Still nothing above 34 meg ever.

I wouldn't be concerned about those. Mine was showing a high count over 10,000 uncorrectables on a some channels. These reset to 0 when I rebooted the modem. My connection has been very reliable and tests even faster than what I subscribe to.

 

[GenXguy]

Any updates from your cable provider? It's been about 18 hours since I rebooted by cable modem, and I checked it again just now. The uncorrectables are around 1500 on quite a few of the channels, and I have had no problems at all. Correctables run around 500 on quite a few of the channels. Working fine. So don't get concerned on those low numbers you are seeing with that.

 

[John Galt III]

No callback from cable co, as promised. I had to call them. They decided to send someone out, and he came over today. Didn't fix the slow download, but explained why it was happening.

He said my computer's hardware is not robust enough to accept more than the meager speed it is accepting. I asked why it was 1.0 sometimes and 34.0 sometimes and he just blamed it all on old hardware (2.7 Ghz cpu and 2 Gig ram.)

I mentioned I know someone with an older machine than mine, that also runs Win7, like me, and that she can process 150 meg on her machine. He said her machine must be configured in a better way. (She does have 4 gig ram as opposed to my 2 gig ram) .


He removed the ethernet cable from my computer and plugged it into his 5 year old laptop so he had the output from my modem. He ran a speed test on his laptop and got 93 meg, showing that a newer machine can 'throughput' 93 meg as opposed to 1.0 meg or 34.0 meg. He played some youtube which loaded and played immediately.

So my modem works great, apparently. Yay. No need to rent the cable co modem to check it out.

He suggested I upgrade my existing build, or buy something new with lots of CPU Gig and ram gig. Supposedly will fix the slowness problem.

Still I'm disappointed I can't be in the cool Windows 7 crowd that can watch Youtube with carefree abandon on our retro machines. They are out there. Maybe are better configured.

 

[GenXguy]

OK, good you finally got someone to hook up a decent system to verify your cable modem is working well to provide the bandwidth.

Even a 2.7 Ghz system should test better than that. Even my old Celeron laptop with an SU2300 1.2 Ghz processor on wifi tests better more consistently than that. But your 2 GB RAM is pathetic. My old laptop has 4 GB, SSD drive, & Windows 10. It's painful to use, so I rarely use it since I have newer laptops and a desktop. My 12+ year old desktop with a 3.4 Ghz processor (16 GB RAM, SSD drive) tests consistently at about 90 Mbps on a wired connection.

I wouldn't bother upgrading that dinosaur of yours. You could get get a used / refurbished computer much better than than yours with 8 to 16 GB RAM, an SSD drive, and Windows 10 for under $200. Or spend a little more for even better specs.

And don't forget to get a router.

Still I'm disappointed I can't be in the cool Windows 7 crowd that can watch Youtube with carefree abandon on our retro machines. They are out there. Maybe are better configured.

I actually have a hard drive with Windows 7 that I can put in my computer just in case something doesn't work with Windows 10. The internet speed tests were just as fast when booting from it, but since Windows 7 isn't updated with security patches, I don't use it in practice. You really should be on an updated OS and using a router both.

 

[John Galt III]

Thanks !

 

[MRG]

Besides the antique hardware that everyone is talking about its probably the card if it hasn't been upgraded.