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Internet Speed Question

6 years ago

The past few days I’ve noticed a reduction in the speed I’m getting from my ISP. It’s about half the Mbps that I’m billed for. I’ll power off the modem and when it powers up my speed has doubled. Why do I have to do this to get up to speed?

I live in a semi rural area, have cable Internet, pay for 25Mbps, using “speedtest.net” as my test site. My cable modem is less than 1 year old, Netgear.

Featured Answer

azinoh

6 years ago

Is your modem on this list?

https://www.classactionlawyers.com/puma6/

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Comments (7)

Elmer J Fudd
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
Internet capacity isn't like weights and measures. If you pay for a pound of strawberries because that's what a recipe requires and get home with 8 ounces, you've not gotten what you needed. If you're getting 15 Mbps instead of 25, it may not matter. It doesn't mean something shouldn't be done about it, it just may not an immediate problem.

Unless you have a several (like 3 or more) users who are downloading files or streaming video at the same time, the capacity drop shouldn't affect use.

One quick question - are you checking this from a wired PC or a wireless one? Many home routers are limited to Wifi signals of about 15 Mbps and if that's how you're measuring the test, that's why. If so, try using an ethernet connected PC and see what you get. Or, maybe your modem gets clogged and needs a periodic reboot (if the higher speed remains for several days).

Call the provider, explain the problem, let them diagnose the fix. It could be their their hardware as yours but they can sort it out.
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jrb451
Original Author
6 years ago
I’m testing from a wired pc. I need 25 Mbps to stream 4k. I’m primarily curious about the drop in speed and why. Thanks.
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Elmer J Fudd
6 years ago
Is your TV wired too?
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Steve J
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
Jrb, it you need sustained 25mb, then you need to buy a package larger than that or switch to a business plan. With consumer grade plans, there’s no guarantee for minimum speeds withi reason unlike a business plan. Its not uncommon for speeds to drop during the day, especially during heavy usage hours (5-10pm). If possible, you want to have a bandwith buffer and I would suggest 35-40mb for your needs if not higher. If you have other devices using bandwith at the same time as the tv, you need extra for them too.
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jrb451
Original Author
6 years ago
I understand about heavy usage dropping available Mbps. I just didn’t understand why the significant increase in Mbps by rebooting my modem. That would seem to me to imply that something in the modem was somehow “throttling” the speed. That’s what my question was about.
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jrb451
Original Author
6 years ago
I have a Netgear CM600 and it’s not on the list but the Netgear CM700 is. “Latency issues”!? That might just be it. Thanks for the information.
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