Here's the deal. I have cable internet which is suppose to be around 10mb/s..... I use Download Accelerator Plus to speed up my downloads. I'm currently downloading Rappelz, an MMORPG. Everytime I downlaod anything, my speeds start off at around 190kb/s... It'll stay that high for about 15 minutes, then it'll drop to friggin 11kb/s or less and stay like that for over an hour. It'll have it's peaks and go back up to 100kb/s every now and then but for no longer than 10 minutes. If I download at 11kb/s for the majority of the time, I KNOW my connection must be screwed....

Anyone know of any fixes or tweaks to fix this?

what company?

Small town company called "Sudden Link".

"Suddenly Broken Link"
Is it happening on all downloads or just at that site?

Everytime I download something it does this.

And this current download started at 160kb/s, but for the past half our it's been going at 20kb/s.

Downloading it through a program or through a website? If the download always starts fast then gets slow, it doesn't sound much like an ISP issue, unless the net always stays slow after you boot up...

I'm downloading it from www.download.com using DAP aka Download Accelerator Plus. Even if I don't use download accelerator plus, it does the same thing.

ISP's always lie about speed. I doubt you can tweak it, they usually cap it.

You can check out dslreports.com and see if there's any tweaks that may work. You can also run some speed tests.

My connection is most likely a 1mb/s connection. Evertime I do a speed test I get around 700-900+kb/s. But still, my downloads shouldn't be this low....

Really, it sounds like some sort of cap put there by CNet for large downloads....

Ok, I just went to download this file on 4 different computers - at different times so they weren't all drawing from the same bandwidth. I was never lucky enough to get over 15 kb/sec. My ISP is smoking so I know it's not the net. The speed tester linked here always has me clocked at "Awesome" or better. I'd say you're lucky to get 190kb/s for the time that ya got it.

Maybe that's a good one to download when you go for vacation...

The download speed you see is usually an average of the speed you get through the entire time of the download. They seem to start faster because they have downloaded part of the file while you are telling it where to save the file but don't start the time until after that. It sounds to me like your download speed is decent but you are still going to be limited by the server you are downloading from. The best servers I've seen are Symantec when downloading antivirus updates and Microsoft for OS updates. How do your speeds look when getting updates from Microsoft?

But I know people with connections the same as mine, or SLIGHTLY better who get 300kb/s and up. What the hell? This is pissing me off. I'm downloading a file right now, and it's going to take 6 hours, and it's at 80%.

Do you routinely clean your cache, deleting temporary files and all that jazz?

I'm too tired to find the link...but I found a free download called Error Doctor...it scans and fixes corrupted files...it works well.

It sounds like you either need to clean your cache or contact your Broadband Company.

I'm always cleaning my cache, my histroy, my harddrive , etc. I even do a defrag every now and then.

Right when I bought this PC I noticed that my downloads were slow.

Did you ever try the speed tester in the thread I linked? Let's compare. I can easily get 300kbs/s downloading from other places. Here are my speed test results:

Communications 4.6 megabits per second
Storage 558 kilobytes per second
1MB file download 1.8 seconds
Subjective rating Awesome

I really think it's just the source, not you...

It's not the source. People who download the same games I do from the same links, get way higher speeds.

Just did a bandwidth test, and these are the HORRIBLE results:


371.6 kilobits per second
Communications 371.6 kilobits per second
Storage 45.4 kilobytes per second
1MB file download 22.6 seconds
Subjective rating Not bad



How is this a 1MB/s connection? That's not even half of 1MB/s.

Who said that??

Hmmm, how long has it been since you've done an adware/spyware & virus scan?

My interenet company is charging us $40 a month for a 1MB connection(Overpriced at that). My internet has been this slow since I first hooked up to the internet. And this PC was brand new at the time. So it's not spyware or a virus. I scan my PC every other day.

Bah, my subscription to this thread isn't working right, sorry for the delay though I'm running out of ideas. I'd actually consider calling my cable company and raising a stink... You're definately not getting what you are paying for if that is what they claimed you were getting. I wonder if you were to try that speed test at like 3am if you would get better results. Maybe you have too many people in your neighborhood pulling off the same cable lines slowing down the speeds? Here we are lucky and live around a bunch of retirees that don't use the cable for computers.

I'm pretty much only on the PC early morning hours. (12AM+) This is also a small town, and there arn't many people who surf the net alot. =/

Guess I should call my cable company.

Are you downloading from a P2P service or a direct host?

Many P2P applications have set upload/download ratios, so if you're uploading at say x/kbps, you're download speed will max out at 3x/kbps. So compare your upload speed with what your friends have.

The scenario:
Ok, I'm officially in the mood to murder a few people.(=D)

We've just recently called our interenet company TWICE. They said they would call us back TWICE, but never did. The first time we called, I had a short conversation with a guy who seemed pretty "legit" and nice. I specifically asked him "Are you sure we're paying for a 1megaBYTE connection and not a one megaBIT connection? Because there is a difference", he then replied and said "Yeah, it's a 1megaBYTE. Can you do a bandwidth check for me?". So, I do a bandwidth test online, and the result is (ZOMG!) 107.6 kilobits/per second. He then says "Ooh... that's pretty low. It should be about 1,000KB/S.". Then, he checks his computer and asks "Did your modem go offline?", and I reply "No, I'm actually using my browser at the moment.". He sounds surprised and asks me to unplug my modem and unscrew the cable from it and wait a few seconds. I do so, then replug everything. Once my connection is online again, he asks me if I plugged everything back and I reply "Yeap". He tells me yet again "Hmm.. It says your modem is offline on our computers. That's weird. Can you look on the bottom of your cable modem for a white sticker and read me the Cable RF Mac Address number?". I check the number and read it to him, then he enters it into his computer(I'm guessing) and tells me that the number isn't even their system. I read it to him yet again so we can double check, but to no avail, it seems as though my modem number isn't even in their system. He then tells me they'll call me back tomorrow, because I'd need to speak with someone else, but they never call back. We call the next day, and he says yet AGAIN "This time I'll mark it as urgent and they should call you back within 2 hours.". But guess what? They never call.

What my connection should be:
Now note: 1megaBYTE connection is equal to somewhere around a 8-10 megaBIT connection. That's a pretty good connection for a home connection. And 107.6 kilobits a second is barely a 10th of the speed I should be getting.

Why I'm suspicious:
A 1MB(Byte) connection should have a pretty fast download speed. The fastest my downloads have EVER gone was 150Kb/S. No matter what source, or what file. My friends who download the same games as I do, download 10 times faster than me, with connections slower than mine(One has a 4megaBIT connection. 1megaBYTE > 4megaBITs). Now, that's not the entire reason I'm suspicisous. I would understand if my connection would be whacky and the download would drop at random times to random speeds, HOWEVER, my downloads act the the same way, always in a pattern. I'll start downloading a file at around 105kb/s or slightly over, then at about exactly 15 minutes later, the download will drop to 20-25kb/s, ALWAYS. It'll ALWAYS drop at the same time, to the same speed. It even does this on limewire. I can't keep a steady download rate without it dropping to 25kb/s on average. Does this mean that my connection is capped? Something fishy is going on.

Is there a possible way I'm being "hijacked" by someone else who's stealing my bandwidth?

There are ways but I doubt it because of this:

Sounds to me like it's screwed up on their end, in a big way.

BUT....


Source

I really am clueless about this, but it does relate to the mac address and stealing cable. There are probably other ways to do it but from the quick search I did it doesn't look like it's common knowledge or a simple and easy process.

Do you plug directly into your cable modem or do you also have a wireless router? Even if you did have wireless, they would have to be doing some pretty serious traffic on several computers in order to steal so much bandwidth that regularly for so long... either constantly running peer to peer uploading & downloading, running spam aps, or something of that nature. I suppose it's possible but it just seems more likely to me your cable company is wack.

Time Warner got really crazy here for awhile, we had to harass them for close to an entire summer one year. The signal coming out of the line up on the telephone pole (why it's up there I have no idea) was going weak, but it was only during the mid-day heat. We couldn't connect at all when it was really hot, then we'd get dial up speed, and eventually when it cooled off it would be back to normal. They kept sending people out at 6-8pm when we had no problems. They'd tell us they couldn't find anything wrong.... Well, no kidding! We already told them they had to come mid-day from 11-3 or it would work just fine!! So I called several times and finally went up to the office and acted like I was really angry. I felt bad for the guy at the desk, but sometimes you really just have to be mean and angry like to get them to get off their coffee drinkin van sitting rears to do anything. They put a booster on the pole which lasted for about a month then we had the problem again. They finally replaced some reciever or something and it's been good ever since, but I had to feign mean again a second time to get them to do it in a timely manner. Do you have a wife or girlfriend that can go to the office and put on a really nasty attitude if she tries hard enough? They seem to be more afraid of angry women.

Straight into the modem itself via Ethernet wire.

And I'm 18 years old, soon to start college so I'm still living with my parents. My mom can be nasty sometimes, especially when shes not getting her money's worth LOL. I was the one who talked to the guy though, and he seemed very legit and nice. But this is just getting to me. I JUST finished downloading a 214MB file that took me 3 hours, and it went at 24kb/s. Not only that, but it was going at 24kb/s(LOW speed) and it was lagging my entire connection. My ventrilo client kept disconnecting. =/

Is there any fix for these "traps" if this is the case?

Man luxury problems.

On a 512Kbps line here lol

If someone is stealing it? I wouldn't have a clue. I couldn't find anything else about it online, but then I wouldn't much know what to look for. Maybe that would be another good way to get them out there, cry "my cable is getting stolen!"


Hey, you got him beat! For now anyway.

So stressful! I just found out that my ISP caps your speeds. I knew from the very beggining this was the case, as my downloads would follow a pattern! What I can't believe is how bad I'm being capped! I am pissed off enough to LITERALLY kill someone. We called suddenlink over 7 times, and they are NOT admitting to capping, and they are NOT going to fix it. They keep telling us that our modem is running fine by checking it from there side! What a load of BS!

Here's the deal. I'm suppose to have a 10mbit connection. That's a 1megabyte connection. I know people near my area and online, that have a slower connection and are paying less(6mbit/s for $30) and can sometimes get download speeds of 400-1MB/S. My speeds are capped to TWENTY FRIGGIN FIVE KILOBYTES per second! 25kb/s!!!!

Not only that, but when I download at 25kb/s I can't even browse the web, and my ventrilo dissconects! This much of a speed cap should be illegal! I can't even download any of the files I want. Beta testing a new game is impossible, as it would take me over a week to download the file(Literally, a week). I've recently seen download speeds of 12kb/s!!!

I want to know if there is any legal, or at least "slightly" legal way to uncap my modem. I find it VERY justified, as I'm being ripped off. 25kb/s is more than a 90% cap on my speed. I'm only getting 10% of what I'm paying for! I can't take it anymore, and I dont' know where to turn!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Getting another ISP is also out of the question. They are the only cable company around here, and we can't get DSL.

Have you used any other ISPs in the past? Are any of your neigbhours having the same problem?

If you want legal advice, hire someone to come out privately to confirm that there's nothing wrong on you're end, and then take it up with your ISP again. If you're still sure that they're capping your speed, I guess you have a case.

Yes, I even checked online, and almost all suddenlink customers are getting ripped off this way. The only other ISP I ever had was a dial-up connection, and believe me, I don't see much of an improvement switching to suddenlink's "broadband". I have never even gotten a chance to experience broadband.

I guess it's what you get used to, however, I will tell you this.

Up until a week ago, I was on dial-up and upon downloading one particular file, I watched periodically as a file downloaded from the net. Dial-up, on average, downloaded at 4kb, it took approximately 2 hours to download this file, whereas had I been on Broadband it would have taken 25 mins at the most.

You would not have been better off on dial-up, it's just that more is expected nowadawys with broadband.

No, but you don't understand, my broadband is like dial-up. 3 nights ago, it took me 20 hours to download a 700MB file. It's barely any faster than dial-up, and that's not even 10% of the speed I'm suppose to be getting! I have to do something, because "getting used to it" is out of the question. I'm very tempted to do something to my modem to get the damn speeds to normal.

I've been "getting used" to this connection for over 2 years, and I have enough! This is over ridiculous! I've never heard of a cap this bad before.

Zero, I have SuddenLink as well, and we are definately not connected. The company SUCKS. I dont know if this has been addressed before, but sometimes their modems are just no good. I had a small thin black modem and I was going about the same speed as you; then the whole serve crashed for two weeks, and it took forever to get any type of customer service.

If you are renting your modem I suggest you get another one from them. Just demand it be done because thats the type of attitude it takes to get through to them. I now have a Motorola 5B4200 SURFboard cable modem. It is 56 times faster than dial up. For example....I can download an entire movie in less than an hour. Songs only take about 30 seconds. After many hours of waiting on the phone for any type of human customer service, it did pay off in the end.

I hope your problem can be fixed.

Blimey, even on dial-up that seems slow! I would seriously question whether your Broadband company is even giving you broadband in the first place!

Hmm. I bet they'll tell us there is no problem with the modem and will refuse to give us one. I guess I'll try to be ugly enough that they'll either give me a modem, or cut my service! I can't take this anymore. The modem I'm on now doesn't even have a brand on it.


EDIT: I'm so tired of dealing with them, I think I might just go and buy a $50 cable modem from Wal-Mart. Do you think this would help? And what if they're capping my bandwidth, how would getting a new modem get passed that?

Exactly! Question whether you are even getting Broadband!! I wouldn't be pleased with those download speeds and why should you pay for a service that is so poor

I just did a couple of searches for Suddenlink, all I have to say is ouch.

Not sure if a cable modem would help or not, the beauty of wally world is they let you return anything! I know my cable company makes me use their modems, dont think any others would work with it. In your situation, I would definately try.

I just called them back, and now I'm FURIOUS! They won't switch my modem out, they lie to my face, and now they say "All we can do is send out a work order for someone to go over"! But we all know how that went the last 2 damn times, "Oh wait, we're not going in, the problem is on our side but we'll NEVER Fix it! In your Face!"..........

Then the guy tells me "You're paying for a 1megaBIT connection not a megaBYTE". I say "So they lied to me?!", he replies "No, they're not lying to you.". I get mad and I ask "So I'm lying to you now?!"... Then, after he is rude as hell for a good 1 minutes, I just say "Bye, thanks for being rude, bleephole!".

A little late, but make sure they have your MAC address right in their computers. Otherwise, you'll get the standard lowest .cfg file sent to your modem, probably 100kb/s. Yeah, sounds like SuddenDeath is definitely jerking you around. Its probably a MAC address problem. It has to be correct in their computers. They messed me up by putting an O in the computer instead of a 0. Knocked my speed down to 1/2 of what it was supposed to be. After they corrected it, everything was fine, and that took about three or four calls, and demanding to speak to a supervisor.
And as far as I know, they don't sell a 10 Mbit connection, its 1,3,6, or 12. Someones screwing you.
If your on bittorrent, set encryption on so they can't tell what your downloading, and set your ports to high numbers in the upper 50 or 60 thousands.

If all else fails, http://www.tcniso.net/