Ah, Georgepa, here we go again.
First: As I posted above, I ran bandwidth tests while I was experiencing the problem, and achieved the same response I normally do. This was not the case for your client, according to your post.
Second: My landlord currently uses only one machine; a laptop, used to connect only when he's home. When he's out (as was the case then) there's no computer downstairs. My computer (the only other one on the network) is currently in Windows, but was booted into Debian at the time of the problem. No spyware on Debian. My OSX laptop was off at the time.
Both of these would lead me to believe that spyware wasn't the problem in that particular case. Nor was random uploading. I haven't taken a look at this laptop recently, but in that particular instance it shouldn't have been a problem with his network.
Third: you just admitted your client had exactly the same symptoms I did...and then turned around and said that no one's ever had this issue. How can you still call my problem an isolated instance? You would appear to be contradicting yourself in your zeal. My girlfriend has also reported similar problems (though far less frequently).
I personally think my problem was for different reasons. Either way, if you're going to say my problem is an isolated instant because of spyware...well, look up the stats on how many machines are infected with spyware across the US. And how many VOIP users are on college / university networks. Hardly a minority population.
Are they all isolated users? Are they not allowed to voice complaints because they're on large networks, and don't have control over their peers? What about people on municipal Wifi nets? You'll have to put a little more thought in your persecution of me (and yes, I feel persecuted) before I'll take that seriously.
Comcast has recently installed a new cable modem for my landlord, and their hardware and download / upload specs are almost exactly the same as my girlfriend's. She has far less problems with the service than I do. My landlord previously used both Lingo and Comcast's VOIP service before a bandwidth upgrade, both of which reportedly worked fine. My girlfriend also had a Gizmo that worked out of the box, while mine took many days of tinkering (apparently it shipped with *very* out of date firmware). Not a service problem, but a hardware issue, as far as I could tell.
Based on that, I'm inclined to think that my connection and their service aren't necessarily the problem, and I'm wondering if a Gizmo swap will help. Sorry if that bothers you, George.
I agree with you on the spyware issue, however...too many people don't take care of their networks, and don't understand the cause of their bandwidth problems till something like this happens. I've supported enough small networks to know how often this is the case.
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Now that we've dealt with the customary protests whenever I have a problem with Sunrocket:
While SR phone support was as terrible as always, I have had one extremely positive response from their email support (the builditbetter@SR address). Last year I could never get a response from them on anything critical.
This time, I got a response in two days (not bad) saying that he had received my email, and had looked into my call records (impressive), and agreed that I had had a high instance of having to call back inbound callers. He escalated the tech support ticket, promised someone would get back to me, and said he would be checking personally with both tech support and with me to make sure that the follow up took place (very impressive, especially compared with before).
He also added $25 in referral credit to my account, though he said he knew this didn't solve my problem, and said he's waiting on info from tech support before sending out a replacement modem.
My expectations were low after the initial call, but I must say I'm *extremely* impressed with the way the email was handled. This is the first time they've offered me a freebie to make up for a service issue, and the first time they've been so thorough in escalation / followups. I'm confident that I'll at least get the followups, and hopefully figure out a fix.
My opinion of their call-in support is still abysmal, but their email support on this one was top-notch. I'm actually in the surprising position of preferring email support to calling in next time something goes wrong.
D.
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Dave A. Chakrabarti
Sunrocket Review
Nirman - My dealings with a dishonest Varanasi, India nonprofit organization that ended up stealing my computer equipment when I volunteered for them for over 3 years.[/quote]