How does ISP work

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loolme

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May 30, 2011
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Hello when a ISP says up to 50 mbps what does that mean?
I pay for 50 mbps down and 6 mbps up
However when i do a speed test i get 4.47 mbps down and 0.68 mbps up
And when i download games off steam i get 1.2 mbps.

So I would just like to know is my ISP ripping me off? or is this normal

BTW my ISP is bell Canada and pay 85 a month and in a few months it will be 90 a month
 
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neon neophyte

neon neophyte

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well it could be one of two things. the connection from the lines to your modem might not be clean. if this is the case, call your isp and have them send a tech out to fix the issue.

or it could be that they simply are not giving you what you pay for. which is entirely possible. nothing you can do about that except get a service with someone else. problem is, isps tend to have monopolies in regions.
 
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Bryan Henderson

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Apr 19, 2014
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It also depends on the network on the other side of the ISP - between the ISP and the speed test site or download server.

And it depends on the wiring between you and the ISP. The "up to" speed really is just that - they'll stop you if you try to transfer faster than that. But lots of other things can stop you even sooner. So I wouldn't call it a ripoff as much as your ISP sold you something you can't use, which means you should switch to a lower, cheaper, limit if you can.

The ISP probably has tools to isolate the source of the restricted speed. For example, they can probably measure the raw speed you can achieve between the modem in your house and the modem in their office. I'm sure they get the "why is it so slow" question a lot.
 
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loolme

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May 30, 2011
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no its 50 mb/s and getting 4.47 mb/s
Bell does not have the best customer service, every time I call for help they always try to sell me stuff and not actually help me
I thinking of switch over to tech savvy
Still confuse about the up to 50 mbps, does that mean I can get any where from 0.00 mbps - 50 mbps ?
 
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Spectre694

Spectre694

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That's exactly what it means. You should however, at least be somewhat close to your max speed if not I would call and complain.

I've got ATT (they suck the only have DSL here) I pay for 5.9 Mb/s and i get 4.7 - 6.1 normally.
 
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loolme

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May 30, 2011
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being cheap has nothing to do with it
If 85 dollars = 50 mbps and I only get 5% of that, than I'm not getting what I paying for
And if I where to pay 20 dollars a month and it = 20 mbps and I only get 5% of it than guess what I'm not getting what I pay for
 
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bill001g

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Aug 9, 2012
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You need to basically call them up and say if they can't deliver the expensive 50mbs over then you will just change your order to be the one that gets 5m and pay the cheaper rate. This should get their attention....but some customer reps are lazy and will just take the order change not worrying about the extra lost revenue.

Make sure you are testing to their speed test site and you have multiple device that test the same rate to preempt some of their stupid excuses. It would be nice if you had more than one router to test. It is even better if you are paying a rental fee for the router then they are on the hook it they try to blame the router.

It is highly likely it is either configured for the wrong plan or you are getting some kind of error on the line. I am going to assume this is a vdsl connection to get those speeds. You should be able to get into the router and it should give you a idea if it is taking errors on the line.

The method that always works if you are willing to gamble is to agree to pay them to come to the house. If they find it is your equipment then you have to pay ..normally less than $100 but if it is their issue then they fix it for free. When you are really sure it can't be your stuff it is always fun to do this.
 
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Ellicott

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Apr 19, 2014
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loolme,

besides potential ISP's speed problem, can you tell what modem you are using, docsis 2.0 or docsis 3.0? Also what router you are using if there is one. for example, Linksys BEFSR41 router does not support your 50 Mbps WAN speed.
 
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