Disgustingly slow internet

[Guest]

well me and 2 of my friends all live within a block from each other and we all have the same 15mbps connection from comcast. i am the newest to adopt it and i have been getting mixed results, most of the time its dead slow, my friends on the other hand having blazing fast downloads [no i dont rank this with speedtest, i mean actual downloads where it really counts with speedtest as more of obligatory test], even plugged in through ethernet its frustratingly slow for me. i know that one of them has a different modem and i am not sure what the other has. i use an airport extreme base station for wireless and i have cut down the amount of coax cable to a minimum [previously i had about 100 feet worth because my modem was on the other side of the house], coax cable isnt that forgiving for length so i minimized it thinking that might help, it did by a small margin but its still unacceptable speeds. i think i might get a docsis 3.0 cable modem [motorola surfboard] and maybe replace my router too.

i want to hear your opinions. i should be getting 15mbps, my latest speedtest was 2.5 which is beyond unacceptable. i use all cat6 cables, vonage, and an airport extreme base station. almost everything in the house is wireless and 2 devices run on 5ghz, more in the future

 

[inzone]

You won't need a docsis 3 modem with 15 mbs speed from Comcast, if you were up past 25 mbs then I would say yes. The router may be a good investment as there are some really good routers to choose from.
Have you tried connecting directly to the modem to see what the difference would be ?
If you go into the routers internal settings you can set a QoS for your computer if it has that option and if not then all the more reason to get a new router.
Being within the same block of your friends does not mean you shaould get the same service since the lines on the poles are configured in a series pattern where the connection closest to the amp will get the better service and the one connected to the amp that is cosest to the node will get the best service. So basicly what that means is that you may be at the end of the line and getting the worst service. There isn't much that you can do about thast except move to a better location.
But you can start with a new router if yours is getting a little old.

 

[Guest]

thought i was paying for 15mbps, but i guess i am paying for 20mbps, i havent gotten a speedtest.net score of over 8mbps in a while now through my router, directly connected to the modem i average around 8-9mbps with a few peaks and dips but 8-9 average. these are all through ethernet, over wireless i am getting between 2.5-5mbps

thinking about getting this: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006QB1RPY/ref=gno_cart_title_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

and this for one of my desktops: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007GMPZ0A/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A2EUTVCJXLAJ4K

i am pretty sure airport extremes dont have QoS settings