Is my internet too slow?

[RUDY03]

Hello people!
I have two internet systems at home. The first is a Vodafone mobile router, which is limited to 8GB per month, and gives a fine speed of around 7 Mbps according to speedtest.net and I have a second broadband connection at home which can be used as Wi-Fi as well as be plugged-in to my PC for the internet.

Now, every time I test the Broadband on Speedtest.net and such similar internet speed testing websites, I get speeds around 30Mbps and ping is under 0 (yes <0). If such is the case, then can someone please explain as to why I can NOT play any multiplayer games due to extreme lag on the broadband, but I can easily play with the other Wi-Fi at only 6Mbps, but not at 30 Mbps? Remember, I am using the other router only for comparison.

Also, when I'm downloading something, on Firefox, the browser I use to download, speeds are always stuck up between 50-75 kbps but using the Vodafone router, speeds vary according to which site I'm downloading from, but are very high in comparison to the broadband connection. So, can someone explain exactly why Speedtest results are very satisfying but actual field tests are more than depressing?

P.S. 1 GB download takes about 6 hours and at night, they take about 2 hours but on Vodafone, they take less than 30 minutes. Any valid reason as to why this happens? Or is Speedtest programmed to give fake results or something?

 

[Neemobeer]

It could be QoS or a latency issue ping results can be blocked or altered.

 

[RUDY03]

I'm a noob here. Maybe explain? Ping was below <0 (lesser than 0)

 

[BIGBEARJEDI]

Ping time <0ms is theoretically impossible, so there are a couple of possible explanations. One is that the Broadband Cable Modem or DSL Modem is faulty. Try performing a factory reset on it and retest. Make sure to first capture all settings in the Admin utility for the Modem, especially if it's a combo Modem/Wi-Fi router unit. That might not be possible if it's a Stand-Alone Broadband modem, as some ISP's such as Spectrum-Charter do not allow home users to access their Modem. It's easier if you have separate Wi-Fi router or standard wired router that you connect to your PC, such as a Cisco/Linksys or Netgear.

You should run the speedtest.net benchmark on the Modem/router combo unit or stand-alone Modem after you perform the factory reset. Make sure not to make a bunch of changes to either of those units AFTER THE FACTORY RESET BUT BEFORE running the speedtest benchmark. This is because if you had some bad settings in the original setup they could have caused some benchmarking anomalies. After the factory reset, your Ping time should be something above 0ms; otherwise that device (Cable or DSL Modem, Modem/Router combo unit) could be faulty and should be replaced.

The other possibility is that one or more of your browsers is infected with a virus. There are Firefox-specific viruses that can scramble your benchmark testing. That's a symptom. Once you've tested your Modem/Router and the <0ms ping time problem persists, run whatever your AV is on your PC, and scan/remove all found viruses.

Next, download and install the free MALWAREBYTES antispyware program from malwarebytes.org and scan/remove all spyware viruses found. Reboot and retest with Speedtest. If you get a positive >1ms ping time, your problem is fixed and you simply had a browser virus.

Let us know how it goes. And BTW, I've never seen bogus results with speedtest.net and I've been running it for 6+ years.

<<<<BIGBEARJEDI>>>>

 

[Neemobeer]

QoS is quality of service. Basically it allows you to assign certain types of traffic priority or the inverse throttle them down. ISP can and do throttle traffic. Latency is the round trip it packets to travel to the target and back. Depending on where you are and the games servers are will affect the latency (aka lag)

 

[RUDY03]

Now people, I'll be honest, I have barely any idea about internet set up and stuff like that. I know the basic theories, essential for a teenager, and how to browse the internet. So, my question is, am I losing out on what we deserve from the ISP, or is it that we're getting what we're paying for?

The local Company's brochure had a 500 Kbps option, and that's what we chose. I know a close friend with about 2Mbps internet for extreme gaming, and they pay 4 times the amount we do. Now, he does get an actual 2Mbps download speeds from the same site and mirror that I get speeds of about 60 Kbps. Does it not mean we're getting scammed? Now, I explained this to the servicing guy (he does EVERY-INTERNET-THING for us) and he replied, "That's how its made, you'll actually get 1/8th of the advertised speed. Don't worry because this is how its supposed to be".

Now, after he said that, I had basically nothing to say, because it somehow seemed legit to me, given with the fact, I barely know anything, but the question is, then how come my friend gets 100% of his advertised speed? Also, if we ARE indeed supposed to have 1/8th the speed, why is it advertised then? I'm going to the consumer's forum with this if you men say we're being scammed by this local ISP.

TLDR- Company guy said clearly you are SUPPOSED to get 1/8th the advertised speed. Friend gets full advertised speed at 2Mbps paying 4 times as us, at 500Kbps. Are we getting scammed then?

 

[Neemobeer]

Depends on the technology limitations as well as you need to read the fine print. When you pay for an internet connection it will be advertised at speed X. The fine print will say "speeds up to X bits per second", generally you will never hit that speed unless you are on a business class plan then you will get very close to the advertised speed.

 

[BIGBEARJEDI]

Pretty much true, neem. When I originally bought Verizon DSL where I live now in 2011, advertised speed was 1Mbps as confirmed by all computers connected to my DSL Modem and wireless router.

Then about 2013, I needed to upgrade my network speed to something faster. Verizon advertised an ENHANCED INTERNET package available so I went from my snail-like 1Mbps for $19.95/month to the Enhanced package rated at 10-15 Mbps. When I first had it installed, it was all over the place from like 5-13 Mbps, but it was never stable. I called Verizon out, and they had 3 different Techs check my wiring both in house, and going out to the street where the DSL junction box is located. According to them the house in live in had what they called "deteriorated wiring", which meant that I could never get more than the 6-7 Mpbs I was actually able to get coming out of their DSL Modem. This never changed in 4 years, even though I upgraded to newer DSL modems to try to address the problem. They told me that due to the age of the homes in my neighborhood which were all wired about 1972 or so that the wiring being 40+ years old couldn't handle the advertised speeds of 10-15 Mbps. I simply had to accept it. By the way, my bill for the Enhanced Internet went up to $85.00/month or so. So, for about 4.5 times the cost, I was getting 7 times the actual Internet speed to all my computers; not too bad, but definitely not what was advertised. I decided not to fight City Hall, as that was the best I could afford at that time.

Continuing with story since the upgrade to the Enhanced Verizon DSL in 2013, I have serviced probably about a dozen customers in my immediate neighborhood all whom had either the Standard (1 Mbps) or the Enhanced (10-15 Mbps) DSL Internet. As part of my regular service I benchmarked all of the modems and tested their speeds with speedtest. What I found was most interesting. About 10/12 customers had the old dino Standard 1 Mbps which they indeed were getting that speed on. Their pricing varied somewhat from the $19/95/mo. to $40/mo. due to the fact that some of them had locked in contracts from 10 years ago. Since many of these folks are Seniors on fixed incomes, they never bothered to upgrade to the Enhanced Internet, mostly due to cost, and none of them did any kind of serious online gaming or had a computer repair business as I do and didn't do this upgrade. A few however, most recently as Jan. 2017, remarkably, were getting 11-12 Mbps with brand new DLS modem boxes!! Not sure why this is, but clearly it has to do with the variation of the quality of the physical wiring in the ground and their homes in our neighborhood. With over 200 customers on Verizon, I've yet to see any with the Enhanced Internet getting the high-end 15 Mbps which was original advertised in their literature. Scam or no Scam? Hmmm....

In January of 2016, my Verizon Internet went out for 3 weeks and they couldn't fix it, so I was thinking of changing to something faster anyway, I switched to Charter which is now Spectrum. Spectrum is the new company name after the merge with Time-Warner Cable and Bright House networks; they are like the 3rd largest ISP in the USA now. They are our premium provider here where I live. Get ready for this now: they advertise 65 Mbps on their website, advertising they sent me in the Postal Mail (US Mail), and on TV. Guess what, since the day I had them come out and install it, speedtest showed 63-67 Mbps about 99% of the time at the Cable Modem Ethernet output port to the router, and 63-67 Mpbs on about 8 PCs I run here through my wireless router!!! And I began benchmarking all other Spectrum-Charter customers I encountered over the last year including my business customers. I found that probably 35 of them who had Spectrum-Charter were getting the EXACT SAME SPEED AS ME! 63-67 Mpbs about 99% of the time.

In fact, a small number of those customers; about 5 or so, were getting a fraction of the advertised 65 Mpbs, some as low as 16 Mbps!!
When I told them that they were paying for premium service but only getting 1/4 of the advertised speed, they got hot and called up Spectrum-Charter and asked them to fix it. In every single case, it was an out of date or faulty Cable Modem which the company replaced for free as Cable Modems are generally CPE equipment, which means the Customer doesn't own the Modems, Spectrum-Charter does, and when one breaks or misbehaves, the replace it at their cost.

So, my dear OP, what can you extract from this little diatribe I wrote for you. My explanation for your poor speed is most likely you are being scammed by that ISP! In my professional opinion anyway. The real question is what can you do about it?
1.) Call that ISP and demand to talk to a supervisor, or have one of your parents do this for you if they are the owner on the account. In the USA you cannot own an ISP account if you are under the age of 18 yrs. which you appear to be by your own admission. Demand that they replace your Cable or DSL modem box and tell them about your friend who has the exact same service you do.
2.) Switch to a more reliable ISP. If you have Mobile or DSL service, realize that those are not premium Internet services, and switch to one that is Cable Modem based, which is the best. Cox, Comcast, Spectrum-Charter, Century-Link, Bell-South Atlantic, are all examples.

Now it's up to you. You've got the information from the experts, the next step is up to you.

Best of luck,
<<<<BIGBEARJEDI>>>>

 

[RUDY03]

Thank you people. I am grateful for your help, gentlemen. And, wow, we've just got a new internet from a trustworthy ISP here, and it seems to be functioning fine at almost the same amount of money spent for the previous internet pack. Anyways, again, thank y'all so much.

 

[BIGBEARJEDI]

Good deal! Glad you got it resolved.

Best,
<<<<<BBJ>>>>>