Increasing Broadband Speeds Safely

[steimy]

I'll start out with the specs i suppose:
Motherboard - MSI 975X Platinum Power Up Edition
PC running Windows XP Pro
Processor - Core2Duo 2.13 (overclocked to 2.4)
3GB of name brand memory
Modem/wireless router Ubee 3611 (provided by ISP)

Anything else you may need just ask.
The problem is this, in my area Time Warner is the only cable company (roadrunner service). They just came out with a new package called Roadrunner Broadband Extreme ($10 extra). The claimed speeds are 30GB down and 5GB up. I have a friend in another area of town who is getting these speeds consistently, although i will admit he lives in a much more "technologically advanced" area where there are several big technology businesses like IBM. I just had the service installed last week, and have even had the cable techs to the house, but i am not even close to getting what i paid for.

On average a normal day i would test at between 14-17GB down and maybe 2.2 up (using Time Warner's speed test, on tests from places like Speakeasy the speeds show much lower).

So the question after the long winded description is this. Is there any program i can use that may be able to safely tweak my system and get closer to the speeds i should be getting? I know i may never reach 30 down and 5 up, but if i could at least be in the 20's down and maybe 3.5-4 up i would be quite happy.

 

[Guest]

You either are going get that speed or you're not. There's no "safe tweak" that will make you system any faster.

 

[steimy]

I was afraid of that. I know you usually don't get the advertised speeds without some sort of dedicated line. But i figured i would at least get into the 20-25MB range. Paying for 30 down and 5 up, it just angers me to not even be getting half of that. So i was really hoping for some sort of fix. And calling out the cable guys usually doesn't help much as they will just tell you that being around 17 down is an acceptable speed.

I say expectable for who? I'm paying for 30 and 17 is not even in the same ballpark. If it was not for the fact that i need the extra upload speed i get (currently at 2.2MB, next package down only offers 512KB ) I would just go back to what i had as i was getting 14MB down with that one anyway.

Well any other idea's anyone may have i am open to. One of these days i can afford a system upgrade but the one i have now, although outdated, is surely not bad either.

 

[blackhawk1928]

30GB down and 5GB up?...perhaps you mean 30MB?...not to mention, you may be confusing bit and byte measurements. When you download a file, the speed will typically be shown as bytes while companies advertise speeds using bits. Since there are 8 bits in one byte...when you download using bytes, the speed will appear be 8 times less than the bit speed.

 

[steimy]

No, the GB was just a typo. The speeds were tested on 3 independent speed test sites along with Roadrunners own speed test (which of course is always the highest number). Depending on time of day i could get an 18MB down or i could get an 8MB down. I know it varies during high volume times but my speeds are all over the board, but none of them are anywhere close to 30mb.

 

[pyraetos]

I just upgraded to the same service. Terrible

Im running 4 different kinds of servers from my home, and with road runner EXTREME (5 MbPS) Speed tests show at lowest 0.97!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and at highest 1.20.

I'm extremely frustrated.

 

[steimy]

Yeah pyraetos, I just posted in your thread too, LOL. Well in truth it isn't that funny.
First thing is are you doing your speed tests on the "official" Roadrunner speed test for your area? Like mine is:
http://www.timewarnercable.com/East/learn/hso/speedtest.html
Otherwise Time Warner will just not believe the numbers, and the other independent sites i tried were in fact giving way lower numbers.

One problem i did have at first according to the Time Warner tech was that they didn't have my account set up properly on their end. Because for the first week i was only getting DL speeds of about 6-8MB. Then when they came out and tested it on a service call it averaged 17MB down and 2.2MB up.

But i have been testing it myself on their official site and i have seen speeds all over the place. It is not even remotely as consistent as the service i "upgraded" from.

But if the most you are getting on their speedtest is 1.2MB down then something is REALLY wrong.

I also had one of their own techs tell me on the phone that in some area's (such as mine) they do not think that the Extreme package is even fully functional yet, but their people keep selling it anyway. He said he was waiting for it to come to town so he could get it himself. And that was a bit disturbing.

 

[blackhawk1928]

^When you do a speed test, your download rate will depend on the servers upload rate...some servers aren't fast enough for it. So try different servers.

Also, if your line is shared by many people, somebody can be hogging your network if they are doing lots of downloads.

 

[steimy]

The speed tests i am doing are provided by my ISP's website (Roadrunner), and are usually more reliable than the type where you pick a city.

Here would be my next question. Since the motherboard is old, is there ANY possibility that replacing the on-board Intel 82573L Ethernet card and getting a newer add on version (for example a Intel PWLA8391GT) may get me increased or more stable speeds? Even though they all say they handle 10/100/1000 the fact still remains that the motherboard is from like 2006. But if that would not help i guess there would be no reason to shell out the $30 for a new card.

 

[Guest]

Nothing you can do will increase your speed. Is your computer connected directly to the cable modem? Is it a DOCIS 3.0 modem? Is the connection between the cable modem and computer 100 Mbps?

 

[steimy]

Yes, PC connected directly to cable modem as this new modem is both a modem and router in one (Ubee 3611)
Modem is DOCSIS 3.0 certified
Not sure what you mean by the connection between the modem and PC being 100MBPS. The internal ethernet is the standard 10/100/1000 and the CAT5 cable is a good quality cable from Linksys.

 

[Guest]

Just check that your LAN connection is 100 Mbps (Not MBps).

 

[steimy]

OK, this one may be solved. It wasn't anything i could fix. I tried everything for the past two weeks when i signed up for the service and just couldn't get speeds above what the plan i used to have. Well last night i did speed tests at two different times of day, more of a peak time 6PM, and later at 9:30PM. Both now have my speed right where it should be.

I am thinking that Time Warner was holding back on me until a new billing cycle began and they were actually going to start charging me for it. I guess they don't pro rate things anymore. If i test tonight and still get those speeds i know it was them holding back my service until the new billing cycle began.