Internet speed question

[Hopeless]

Decided to do some checking on my internet speed.

Service I pay for says up to 12Mbps down / 2Mbps up. I did a speedtest from a pc that is connected using wireless g and speedtest.net showed 7Mbps / 4Mbps.

I'll be trying again wired to the router to see how much of a difference that makes as I thought it would show low due to being wireless but the upload showing more then it's rated at has me confused.

At this point I was wondering if my down is in line with service going through wireless G, and any ideas why up is showing double what it's rated at?

 

[brshoemak]

First off, don't test internet speed over wireless to check your level of ISP service, there are too many things that can affect speed - always use wired for that.

As far as your upload speed, ISPs do not always hold true to their exact level of service. I have Comcast and pay for 16/2 but I get 25/4 consistently. Just be glad it's higher and not lower than what you're paying for. Many people pay for up to 16/2 but may only see around 800kbps upload (as opposed to 2Mbps).

 

[Hopeless]

I'd already planned on re-testing wired to the router. The other day I didn't have the time to do it and was kinda curious to see how my wireless will compare with wired.

Main thing that started this is I was looking at cox website and they have it on there to check that you are using a docsis 3.0 device. My current one is a combo modem/cable phone service, that's a docsis 2.0 Arris. I was wanting to see what current speeds I was getting before hauling it back to cox to see about a replacement.

 

[Hopeless]

I just did a retest wired to the router and it showed 16Mbps down / 4 Mbps up.

The main point of all of this is now that I see that I'm actually getting higher then what I'm paying for, is there a big enough difference between docsis 2 and docsis 3 to take my current modem back to get one that is docsis 3?

 

[brshoemak]

I can't say for sure whether it's worth it to go from your DOCSIS 2.0 device to a DOCSIS 3.0 device. With Comcast, I was paying for the 16/2 tier and that's about what I was getting - sometimes around 18/3. When I switched to a DOCSIS 3.0 modem (Motorala SB6121) the speed jumped to 25/4 consistently so it definitely worked out in my favor.

Am I right that you are you leasing the combo unit from Cox? If so, you should be able to go to Cox and ask for a DOCSIS 3.0 unit - you're paying the same rental fee regardless. ISPs can be jerks sometimes (a lot of the time), but they are trying to phase out DOCSIS 2.0 modems from their networks so they shouldn't give you too much grief.

 

[lexco]

Glad to see someone is getting higher than the original speed offered by ISP. For me I am always getting lower speed than actually what my ISP offered. Also try to check the Internet speed using different speed checkers before coming to any conclusions.

 

[kmmatney]

Docsis 3.0 won't make a difference at that speed. I was getting 25/10 with my old Docsis 3.0 modem before I switched to "Blast Service", which at 55/10 required an upgrade to Docsis 3.0 to get full speed. With cable internet you will get different speeds at different times of day, since the line is shared between homes.

I just changed over to VDSL2 a few days ago, but still have my cable modem hooked up, and have been running speed tests on both of them. I can say the VDSL2 has more consistent speeds, although the top speed is lower. I'm supposed to get 40/5 but actual tests are 37/4.5, and this is very consistent no matter what time of day I test.

 

[Hopeless]

Thanks for the responses.

It's an emta that is including with the phone service at no extra charge. If I were to cancel the phone then I'd have to rent or buy my own stand alone modem.

Got it exchanged over the weekend. No real change in speed as was said, but a quick inital test it seems to have helped the slight pauses I was getting when surfing the internet.

 

[Mushkins]

Thanks for the responses.

It's an emta that is including with the phone service at no extra charge. If I were to cancel the phone then I'd have to rent or buy my own stand alone modem.

Got it exchanged over the weekend. No real change in speed as was said, but a quick inital test it seems to have helped the slight pauses I was getting when surfing the internet.

Glad it helped with something. Speeds aside, DOCSIS 3 devices are typically all around newer, more stable devices.

Cable companies can definitely be weird with what they give out. When I moved recently and signed up for Comcast they gave me a fancy cable box with all the bells and whistles + built in DVR for the limited starter cable (Im not paying for DVR service, dunno if that part actually even works), but a DOCSIS 2 modem for 25/12 internet.

Literally two months later they sent me a top of the line ARRIS DOCSIS 3 modem in the mail and told me to send the old one back. Dunno why they didnt just give me one to begin with *shrug*. Regardless I picked up an SB6141 a few weeks ago to get out from under their extortionate $7/mo rental fee. Its top of the line and will pay for itself in less than a year.

 

[kmmatney]

You can't go wrong with the SB6141, IMO, even though a DOCSIS 2.0 modem would have handled your speeds OK. I just tested my old 2.0 modem (Motorola SBG901) and with my 55/10 service it tests at 30/11. My Motorola SB6141 (3.0) tests at 55/11, so above 30 mb or so you need DOCSIS 3. I think the main reason they wanted to give you a Docsis 3.0 modem is so that they can get you to pay more money for a higher speed connection in the future. They kept raising the price on me, but gave my "free" speed upgrades along with it. Whenever I called to try to get a price decrease, they would not decrease the price, they would only offer speed upgrades, so in the end I was paying $85 for "extreme blast" 110/10 service (although i never saw the 110 download speed).