Slow cable?

Question

I should get about 8000 btps w/Earthlink cable, but I'm getting less than 4000. Only 500 upload. Any ideas? Bob Hickey

Answer 1

Cable is shared bandwidth. This is something the cable companies fail to tell you.
The high number they quoted you is the MAX download if no one else is on line with you, upload is even lower. Your numbers will drop as more people sign on, down to whatever your dedicated bandwith is. Each company has their own dedicated bandwith, that is bandwith that is all yours.

DSL on the other hand is all dedicated, not shared.
Still both types speeds are also determined by the distance you are from the switching station. the closer you are the faster speeds.

Ask your cable provider what your DEDICATED up and download bandwith is, and I think you will find it is much less than the 8000 bps you are quoting

Answer 2

That is probably stated as " Up to ". Cable claims fast, but think of a garden hose with many holes in it. It has to shared with several customers. I have Qwest DSL and it will run circles around cable. Read this from Earthlink -

Is the speed guaranteed?
EarthLink offers a "best effort" service. That means we don't offer any throughput guarantees, but we will always do our best to provide you with the fastest connection your specific conditions will allow.

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Is there anything that affects the speed of my connection?
Actual connection speeds will depend on many factors. For DSL, these include the length and condition of the telephone wires connecting your house to your central office. For cable, it is possible for performance to be affected by the number of customers actively using the system at any one time. General conditions on the Internet also affect all Internet access services.

EarthLink Wi-Fi connection speeds also depend on many factors. Indoor, the distance from the nearest broadcast node, or the number of walls and other obstacles between the node and your computer can affect the speed of your connection. Outdoors, your wireless Internet signal can be impeded by leafy trees, large signs, big buildings, or other tall obstacles between your computer and the broadcast node.

Answer 3

That sounds about right for a real speed with that advertised speed. Keep in mind that the advertised speed is just to your ISP, so if you go any further, it will be slower. As with most things, the advertised speed is also the best that it can possibly be, not the normal speed.

That said, you can try the following things to get your speed a little faster:

-Make sure your cable modem is attached to one of the two cables coming off of the first split of the cable line coming into your house. Every split of the cable means less speed.

- Secure your wireless network. If the neighbors use your network, your network will be slower.

- Try the following site for a reliable speed test. It also allows you to compare your speed with other people's speed from your ISP, and even see the speeds people are getting on other ISPs in your area.
http://www.dslreports.com/stest


EDIT: In response to the post above me:
http://www.speedguide.net/faq_in_q.php?category=88&qid=136

EDIT: See this for additional information on the subject:
http://corp.bayarea.net/bayarea/dsltypes.shtml
The majority of people are still on shared lines.

Answer 4

Cable broadband uses "nodes" where you share the bandwidth with everyone else on your node. Middle of the day when a lot of people are online you slow down. Some people have actually ditched their 3 Cable for 1.5 DSL as it actually ran faster. No way around it unless you want to wait until 3am to surf the net when everyone else is asleep.

Answer 5

Try also increasing the speed of your PC. First I'd would add as much memory as my wallet would allow me to. Then you should remove all programs you do not need or use frequently. To do this go to start >> control panel >> add/remove programs. This will free up disk space and much needed system resources. Once you have removed ALL unneeded programs, do the following:

Free Up Disk Space

By freeing disk space, you can improve the performance of your computer. The Disk Cleanup tool helps you free up space on your hard disk. The utility identifies files that you can safely delete, and then enables you to choose whether you want to delete some or all of the identified files.

Use Disk Cleanup to
Remove temporary Internet files.
Remove downloaded program files (such as Microsoft ActiveX controls and Java applets).
Empty the Recycle Bin.
Remove Windows temporary files.
Remove optional Windows components that you don't use.
Remove installed programs that you no longer use.

Tip: Typically, temporary Internet files take the most amount of space because the browser caches each page you visit for faster access later.

To use Disk Cleanup

1.Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click Disk Cleanup. If several drives are available, you might be prompted to specify which drive you want to clean.
Disk Cleanup dialog box

Disk Cleanup calculates the amount of space you will be able to free.

2.In the Disk Cleanup for dialog box, scroll through the content of the Files to delete list.
Disk Cleanup for dialog box

Choose the files that you want to delete.

3.Clear the check boxes for files that you don't want to delete, and then click OK.

4.When prompted to confirm that you want to delete the specified files, click Yes.

After a few minutes, the process completes and the Disk Cleanup dialog box closes, leaving your computer cleaner and performing better.
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Speed Up Access to Data

Disk fragmentation slows the overall performance of your system. When files are fragmented, the computer must search the hard disk when the file is opened to piece it back together. The response time can be significantly longer.

Disk Defragmenter is a Windows utility that consolidates fragmented files and folders on your computer's hard disk so that each occupies a single space on the disk. With your files stored neatly end-to-end, without fragmentation, reading and writing to the disk speeds up.

When to Run Disk Defragmenter

In addition to running Disk Defragmenter at regular intervals, optimally monthly, certain events warrant running the utility outside of the monthly rule of thumb.

You should run Disk Defragmenter under the following circumstances:
You add a large number of files.
Your free disk space nears 15 percent.
You install new programs or a new version of Windows.

To use Disk Defragmenter:

1.Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click Disk Defragmenter.
Disk Defragmenter dialog box

Click Analyze to start the Disk Defragmenter.

2.In the Disk Defragmenter dialog box, click the drives that you want to defragment, and then click the Analyze button.

After the disk is analyzed, a dialog box appears, letting you know whether you should defragment the analyzed drives.

Tip: You should analyze a volume before defragmenting it to get an estimate of how long the defragmentation process will take.

3.To defragment the selected drive or drives, click the Defragment button.

After the defragmentation is complete, Disk Defragmenter displays the results.

4.To display detailed information about the defragmented disk or partition, click View Report.

5.To close the View Report dialog box, click Close.

6.To close the Disk Defragmenter utility, click the Close button on the title bar of the window.
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Detect and Repair Disk Errors

In addition to running Disk Cleanup and Disk Defragmenter to optimize the performance of your computer, you can check the integrity of the files stored on your hard disk by running the Error Checking utility.

As you use your hard drive, it can develop bad sectors. Bad sectors slow down hard disk performance and sometimes make data writing (such as file saving) difficult, or even impossible. The Error Checking utility scans the hard drive for bad sectors, and scans for file system errors to see whether certain files or folders are misplaced.

If you use your computer daily, you should try to run this utility weekly to help prevent data loss.

To run the Error Checking utility:

Important: Be sure to close all files before running the Error-Checking utility.

1.Click Start, and then click My Computer.

2.In the My Computer window, right-click the hard disk you want to search for bad sectors, and then click Properties.

3.In the Properties dialog box, click the Tools tab.

4.Click the Check Now button.

5.In the Check Disk dialog box, select the Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors check box, and then click Start.
Check Disk dialog box

In most circumstances, select Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors.

6.If bad sectors are found, choose to fix them.

Tip: Only select the Automatically fix file system errors check box if you think that your disk contains bad sectors.
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Protect Your Computer Against Spyware

Spyware collects personal information without letting you know and without asking for permission. The information that spyware collects ranges from a list of Web sites that you visit to usernames and passwords. In addition to privacy concerns, spyware can hamper your computer's performance