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Want to get to the root of my up and down speeds

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Last response: in Networking
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Okay, our ISP is Charter and we seem to have a lot of problems with the internet. We should have 20 Mbps internet. Occasionally, we do. Most of the time however the speeds are closer the 3 Mbps. Every few days, it seems to switch up; and when the speeds are slow, unplugging our Netgear WGR614 router and plugging it back in seems to do the trick. I feel like the problem isn't the router, or my computer (speeds are just as slow on other computers on the network). We are renting our modem from Charter and the one we have right now only supports DOCSIS 2.0, so I know I need to go in and exchange it for a 3.0 version. But that wouldn't be what is causing such bottlenecked speeds right? Also, we are using the Google public DNS for our DNS servers and my computer uses a static IP address (all this for a Minecraft server). So, I guess I want some input as to what you think the problem might be. ISP, Router, Modem, or my settings? I'm decent with this stuff, and I've set up various networks, so any information you need I can provide. Thanks in advance!

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Probably just live in a crowded area where the cable is saturated. Not that it would make any difference, but why aren't you using a DNS server from Charter? What have they said about the slow speeds? How are you testing the speeds?

The area around me isn't all that crowded, but I guess maybe they don't put a lot out here because of it. I originally started using the Google DNS because it made it a lot easier for the Minecraft server. I just set the DNS server back to be automatically given by ISP, and the problem persisted. I haven't contacted Charter yet, but I will when I go in to exchange my modem. Also, I am using Speedtest.net. Is there a better testing method?
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The DNS wouldn't have anything to do with transfer speeds I was just curious. Speedtest should be fine so I would document the results at various times of the day and also do some real world tests by downloading some large files and timing how long it takes to download. I usually download a 100mb file from http://download.cnet.com/windows/, they seem to have pretty fast connection speeds. Obviously if that takes too long download a smaller file and time that.

If you have Windows 7 there is a handy Network Meter gadget for your desktop that'll tell you how fast you're downloading something. Otherwise you'll have to crack out a calculator and figure the speeds old school ;) 

I'd definitely call them up because if you have a static IP address I'm assuming you are on a higher tier pay plan so your speeds should be more consistent than the normal residential plans.

Ahhh well, we are 1 tier up from normal, and I set up the static IP myself. Do you think that could be the problem? That wouldn't really make too much sense to me, but it doesn't hurt to ask.

Probably, you might have entered in something incorrectly causing intermittent connectivity, which could give the illusion of slow speeds with short bursts. That is just a guess of course based on what little I know. I'd call em up.
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