Roommate and I have drastically different download speeds

iMagUdspEllr · Feb 4, 2015

Both of our computers are new. He gets ~80Mbps download speeds on speed test and I get ~10Mbps. We both chose the same server on speedtest.net

My ISP is Cox Communications. Both of us are plugged directly into the router with ethernet cables from our motherboards. I have already swapped out the ethernet cables and nothing changes. My computer doesn't have wireless so I'm certain I am not connected to my router by Wi-Fi.

My router is an ASUS RT-AC68R.

Here is the speccy link to my computer specifications:
http://speccy.piriform.com/results/rLSmd1CKO6yduRTTS0nZD6b

I really don't understand why this is happening. Thank you all for your time and assistance in advance.

rchris · Feb 4, 2015

This is just a guess, but try turning of the QoS feature in your router. It prioritizes traffic, and maybe is causing the difference.

Solandri · Feb 4, 2015

1. What is your Internet connection speed supposed to be? Cox doubled their speeds recently, so their current tiers are 25, 50, 100, 150, 300 Mbps. There should no longer be a 75 Mbps tier which would correspond with the speed your roommate is getting (80 Mbps).

2. What are you using to test the speed? Speedtest.net? What browser? Try the Speakeasy and xfinity speedtests using a different browser. In particular, try it in a Chrome incognito window. Chrome uses its own built-in version of flash and always updates itself, and incognito mode deactivates any extensions which may be interfering.

3. If you have any antivirus or firewall/internet security apps, make sure they're disabled for the test. The more aggressive ones insist on inspecting all your network packets, and can have a huge impact on speeds.

[strike]4. Try using a different network cable. 10 Mbps corresponds to the original ancient Ethernet speed (predates fast ethernet). A bad cable may be causing your network card to fall back to this slower speed.[/strike]

If none of these work, I would try booting off a Linux LiveCD and doing a speedtest. That should help narrow down if it's a hardware problem or a software problem. If the LiveCD also gets 10 Mbps, it's a hardware problem. If it gets 80 Mbps, then it's a software problem.

riopelnet112 · Feb 5, 2015

For the past week, though, our download speeds have been drastically different. My roommate has a Dell laptop that has a pentium cpu and is getting over 5mbps download speeds while my Acer with an i3 is lucky to get 1mbps.

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Roommate and I have drastically different download speeds

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