pL86
@rr.com | reply to Dampier
Re: [TWC] TW Officially Announces Packet Shaping for All RR User
It's been about a week and my speeds remain high and stable. It looks like in my case, Road Runner fixed a problem with my building's tap and restored my speeds. |
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MacLeech
The one and only
Premium
join:2001-07-14
SoCal | reply to pL86
Re: Is there something wrong with the NYC server for speedtest.n
said by pL86 :
So is something up with the NY server on speedtest?
Yes, the speedtest.net NY server has had issues with slow speeds for months. |
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pL86
@rr.com
| reply to Dampier
So I decided to run some more speed tests just now since this was witching hour, when the speeds would typically drop dead. I remembered previously, I had run speed tests only using Road Runner's test at speedtest.nyc.rr.com so I decided to head over to speedtest.net (incidentally, there was other evidence that my speeds were fine like getting torrent downloads in the 700 kB/s range, which is fantastic). I used the New York server and pings were low but my downloads were only showing in the 3000-5000 range. Uh oh. Problem not fixed?
I went to speakeasy.net and it said I was getting 9000+, same as the Road Runner test. I returned to speedtest.net and ran a test using the Clifton, NJ server. It also reported 9000+ download. I even tried the San Francisco server and, although ping times were above 100ms, download transfers were in the 9000 kbps range. So is something up with the NY server on speedtest? |
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jig
join:2001-01-05
Hacienda Heights, CA | reply to wkpower
Re: [TWC] TW Officially Announces Packet Shaping for All RR User
well, consistently, solidly bad over a long period of time replaced with at least some good usually means something has been fixed. |
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wkpower
join:2001-11-08
New York, NY
| reply to pL86
you've only tested this for one night? try testing it for a week or more and see what happens. my problems seem to fix themselves on its own sometimes and that lasts for about a day or two. usually a day. last week my entire cable service went out, tv and internet, for over 24 hours. this affected my entire block. when service was restored, i found my speeds to be in tip-top shape, even during peak hours. then the next day, it went back to crap. seems like the node gets congested after heavy use and it needs a reset every once in a while. either that or its just broken. |
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pL86
@rr.com
| reply to Dampier
Knock on wood but my problems appear to have been fixed. Last time I posted over a week ago, the L3 techs who came to look at my apartment ended up booking a follow up to check my building's tap. They said the crew would probably be out by the end of last week. It appears the crew did come out and fix whatever problem has been killing my speeds. Last night I noticed that during the peak hours when my speed would degrade like clockwork, everything was fine. I ran some speedtests and they was maxing out. I hope I'm not jinxing this but Time Warner appears to have come through. My speculation that my connection was being throttled appears to have been wrong. |
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sovere1gnty
join:2006-04-05
Lancaster, NY
1 edit | reply to spissed off user
said by spissed off user :
I only demand what I was offered, and am paying for 4 mega bytes PER second down and 756 kilo bytes up. If they want to traffic shape my connection I feel I should be able to sue for fraud and false advertisement. That or I'll start money shaping my monthly payments. :P
Correct limits for upload and download are 4Mbps (Megabits) download and 384 Kbps upload (Kilobits). Never heard of a 756 Kbps plan so you may want to look into that to see if you have the correct numbers. |
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Pizz
Hi
join:2000-10-27
Astoria, NY | reply to pL86
very interesting events. please keep us posted. i have a feeling you got flagged, and the old cablevision throttling kicked in.
just my opinion  |
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spissed off user
@rr.com
| reply to Dampier
I only demand what I was offered, and am paying for 4 mega bytes PER second down and 756 kilo bytes up. If they want to traffic shape my connection I feel I should be able to sue for fraud and false advertisement. That or I'll start money shaping my monthly payments. :P |
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jig
join:2001-01-05
Hacienda Heights, CA | reply to pL86
keep us updated |
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pL86
@cogentco.com
| reply to pL86
Here's an update on my situation if you're interested:
Two Level 3 techs came to my apartment on Wednesday night. At first, they seemed stumped by my problem. They definitely saw the download speed problems I'm having - they ran speed tests from a number of sites, including the speedtest on DSL Reports - and I was getting 3000 kbits/sec downloads, a third of where it should be. But apparently, my signals tested fine. They ran a continuous ping test and saw some packet loss but not apparently at an excessive level. They speculated that maybe another user on my node was running a server during the evening hours. One tech said that happened with a case downtown, which took months to track down. The other tech was very frustrated and said they had many meetings about bandwidth usage but that management was sticking with its policy that Road Runner doesn't cap. He mentioned with approval that Cablevision did cap and seemed to wish Road Runner did as well. They seemed to be leaning to saying that while I had intermittent speed problems and some packet loss, it wasn't severe enough to trigger additional followup.
Eventually, they left my apartment to test the node in my building that I'm hooked up to. They weren't the most talkative pair but when they got back, it seems that they found something because they said they would book a ticket and another crew would come out to check the building's tap. One of them said that there was definitely a problem. So maybe my conviction that Road Runner was throttling was premature. Hopefully, the next crew will figure out exactly what's going on and fix it. I won't get a personal followup from the next crew but I will report if my problem clears up. |
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pL86
@rr.com
| reply to Trinary
said by Trinary :
And of course it could just be that the modem couldn't handle the amount of connection.
My router originally couldn't deal with high number of connection due to it's setting. After I flashed it with a new firmware and changed some settings (like to not keep remembering old connections), it becomes much more stable.
I just don't think that's it. I've had Road Runner at my present location for 2 1/2 years now. I had Road Runner before at other locations for another 2 1/2 years meaning I've been a Road Runner user for five years now. I've been using torrents for around 3 years now, using the same settings with the same RCA modem brand and I've never had the systemic problems that I'm having now. Sure, there have been days when the connection was slow or it went out because of a service problem. But it's only been recently, maybe the last two months or so, that I've started having the kind of problem that I described.
Plus, as I said in my original post, the throttling seems to be triggered by bittorrent use but it is applied to ALL internet traffic, including traffic that doesn't use multiple connections like bittorrent does. For example, last night at 3 o'clock in the morning, after I got connection errors in bittorrent and I suspected the traffic management had kicked in, I killed my torrents and tried to load the Google home page. My browser timed out! On Google, one of the simplest web pages out there! And it timed out on other very simple web sites. If the problem was the modem being overloaded by multiple connections, then stopping the torrents, rebooting the modem and loading up a simple web page shouldn't be affected. Yet, it was.
And yes, I've just returned from swapping out my modem again and my connection is perfect again. I do have a Level 3 tech coming next week to check out my line but I really don't think he's going to find anything. I'll post after he comes. Maybe I'm wrong, I sure hope I am. I'd rather it be a line issue than a policy change but I'm not so optimistic.
peter |
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FiOS Fan
@verizon.net
| reply to NiceGuyNY21
by that idiotic logic, 90% of users should be offered a lower package based on their needs.
Meanwhile, those who want faster speeds should pay for premium.
Oops! They already had that in place and are now just trying to put the screws to everyone.
Get over it, RR sucks. I used to have them in socal and the moment fios was available I left. I suggest everyone to do the same, you'll never look back. |
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NiceGuyNY21
join:2000-10-15
Buffalo, NY
 ·RoadRunner Cable
1 edit | reply to derk
said by derk  :said by NiceGuyNY21 :At least with all the TWC-RR Neo support folks, I have complained to as long as my line is up and running, NO ONE has offered to help. They treat me like I just want to download P2P (which isn't the case). im sorry that you've been treated that way...its understandable why they would think that, most people that do just normal browsing/internet, downloads periodically will never really be effected by packetshaping...so 90% of the people that have the service will never likely even notice, the way it's designed is to only effect the top 5-10% of the users that cost 10x more than what they're paying for...i wish you luck with dsl... |
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Trinary
@rr.com
| reply to Dampier
And of course it could just be that the modem couldn't handle the amount of connection.
My router originally couldn't deal with high number of connection due to it's setting. After I flashed it with a new firmware and changed some settings (like to not keep remembering old connections), it becomes much more stable. |
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MacLeech
The one and only
Premium
join:2001-07-14
SoCal
| reply to pL86
Re: Packeting shaping has arrived in NYC
said by pL86 :
I've had some problems recently with simple websites stalling, internet connection cutting off completely. I thought it was a problem with DNS servers. I ran ping tests with Road Runner support and one second, it would be fine, no packet loss, then literally a second later, complete 100% packet loss. Maybe it was my line so I scheduled a Level 3 tech to come out and investigate. Before the appointment, I decided to swap out my modem. Voila, problems fixed! So I thought it was a bad modem.
Over the weekend, I did some heavy bit torrent downloading. And the problems that I experienced before returned. I just started downloading a regular update to a program and in the middle of the download, the transfer rate simple zeroed out. I've never seen that before until very, very recently. The first time I started experiencing this problem, it also coincided with heavy bit torrent use. I believe these internet disruptions and the torrent downloading are not coincidences but causal.
I know there are people here who say the traffic shaping shouldn't affect regular surfing but I believe they're simply wrong, clinging to theory (should work) and refusing to listen to real world user reports (does work). I'm sure the shaping isn't SUPPOSED to affect regular traffic but I bet the software isn't perfect and it is overzealous. I'm never completely cut off for long, 30-60 seconds, but I am definitely cut off and regular surfing to sites like CNN or Microsoft stall, even during off-peak times like 3 a.m.
The good "news" is that the shaping appears to be applied to a specific modem, not your entire account, so exchanging your blocked modem for a new one removes the shaping, at least until you start downloading heavily again. I plan to exchange my modem and now that I've figured out what's going on, will be more careful about spacing out my downloads.
Shaping isn't applied to modems directly and swapping modems would have no effect on the shaping itself.
You really sound like you have a signal (likely) or local bandwidth issue (a little less likely)... |
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pL86
@rr.com
| reply to Dampier
I've had some problems recently with simple websites stalling, internet connection cutting off completely. I thought it was a problem with DNS servers. I ran ping tests with Road Runner support and one second, it would be fine, no packet loss, then literally a second later, complete 100% packet loss. Maybe it was my line so I scheduled a Level 3 tech to come out and investigate. Before the appointment, I decided to swap out my modem. Voila, problems fixed! So I thought it was a bad modem.
Over the weekend, I did some heavy bit torrent downloading. And the problems that I experienced before returned. I just started downloading a regular update to a program and in the middle of the download, the transfer rate simple zeroed out. I've never seen that before until very, very recently. The first time I started experiencing this problem, it also coincided with heavy bit torrent use. I believe these internet disruptions and the torrent downloading are not coincidences but causal.
I know there are people here who say the traffic shaping shouldn't affect regular surfing but I believe they're simply wrong, clinging to theory (should work) and refusing to listen to real world user reports (does work). I'm sure the shaping isn't SUPPOSED to affect regular traffic but I bet the software isn't perfect and it is overzealous. I'm never completely cut off for long, 30-60 seconds, but I am definitely cut off and regular surfing to sites like CNN or Microsoft stall, even during off-peak times like 3 a.m.
The good "news" is that the shaping appears to be applied to a specific modem, not your entire account, so exchanging your blocked modem for a new one removes the shaping, at least until you start downloading heavily again. I plan to exchange my modem and now that I've figured out what's going on, will be more careful about spacing out my downloads. |
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derk
join:2000-08-31
Cleveland, OH
| reply to NiceGuyNY21
Re: [TWC] TW Officially Announces Packet Shaping for All RR User
said by NiceGuyNY21 :its kind of funny i was only aware of one area officially using packetshaping, and its not in ohio period... anyhow neo is a sucky market to sub to cable internet as well as pretty much anywhere in ohio...i feel your pain...good luck with dsl. You are probably right that it's a NEO overall problem and not packetshaping. When I moved to Cleveland in 2000, the cable service was Cablevision. Soon it was Adelphia and just last year, it became TWC-RR. The infrastructure I am betting in this area is a mess.
I guess there has been an equally crazy transition for Ohio bell to Ameritech to SBC to ATT. But really I have only witnessed the Ohio bell to Ameritech/SBC/ATT transition.
In July 2006, after a great year flawless ATT Yahoo DSL service, I had major problems. It took a lot of calls to fix an inside wiring problem, a problem with the line from NID to outside pole and ultimately getting a brand new circuit. They solved it.
At least with all the TWC-RR Neo support folks, I have complained to as long as my line is up and running, NO ONE has offered to help. They treat me like I just want to download P2P (which isn't the case). |
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NiceGuyNY21
join:2000-10-15
Buffalo, NY
·RoadRunner Cable
| reply to derk
its kind of funny i was only aware of one area officially using packetshaping, and its not in ohio period... anyhow neo is a sucky market to sub to cable internet as well as pretty much anywhere in ohio...i feel your pain...good luck with dsl. |
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derk
join:2000-08-31
Cleveland, OH
| reply to sovere1gnty
said by sovere1gnty :said by derk :I am cancelling TWC-RR NEO after having it for 18 months. This packet shaping is disturbing. I can run a speedtest and get great speeds and latency. BUT when I try and download a big file (non p2p) from msdn.microsoft.com or from ftp.redhat.com it's dialup speeds. I could be wrong maybe it's that my area (NEO) is oversold via cable modem service, but the download speeds are atrocious during the day. I definitely think the culprit is packet shaping. You probably have some underlying problem. Start a thread, ask for help and post the requested info. Packetshaping is transparent and will not affect normal downloads such as updates from Microsoft. Well, it's probably a widespread issue in my area (NEO). I have read other folks complaining of the same thing. Good web surfing speeds but downloading during off peak or peak hours is down to dial up speeds.
Anyhow, I am back to ATT DSL with a cheaper price than TWC-RR and at the advertised speeds. The only way TWC-RR would lower my price is if I chose another cable tv package (which I didn't want to do). |
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