rblomeyer
join:2007-08-30
Lisle, IL
| reply to wings10
Re: Waiting with "baited breath" in Lisle for improved QOS
Here's mine from Argonne's ANL server. I trust them more.
----------------------------------
TCP/Web100 Network Diagnostic Tool v5.5.1
click START to begin
Connected to: miranda.ctd.anl.gov -- Using IPv4 address
Checking for Middleboxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Done
checking for firewalls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Done
running 10s outbound test (client-to-server [C2S]) . . . . . 416.0kb/s
running 10s inbound test (server-to-client [S2C]) . . . . . . 127.01kb/s
Your PC is connected to a Cable/DSL modem
[S2C]: Packet queuing detected
------------------
That's typical for mine.
BobBl |
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wings10
I Am Legend
Premium
join:2004-06-09
South Elgin, IL
clubs: 
 ·AT&T DSL Service
 ·Dish Network
 ·Comcast
| said by rblomeyer  :Here's mine from Argonne's ANL server. I trust them more. I take all online speed tests with a grain of salt. 
--
"The American Indians found out what happens when you don't control immigration." |
|
wings10
I Am Legend
Premium
join:2004-06-09
South Elgin, IL
clubs:
·AT&T DSL Service
·Dish Network
·Comcast
| reply to rblomeyer
said by rblomeyer :Here's mine from Argonne's ANL server. I trust them more. Well you should not trust just a speed site. And if anything should try more then on site to see where your speed is at.
--
"The American Indians found out what happens when you don't control immigration." |
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rblomeyer
join:2007-08-30
Lisle, IL
| This is for those of you who believe speed testers created, maintained and operated by the providers and telcos are "best" (if not efficacious) performance mesures, check THESE results from Argonne's ANL server:
---------------------------------------------
TCP/Web100 Network Diagnostic Tool v5.5.1
click START to begin
Connected to: miranda.ctd.anl.gov -- Using IPv4 address
Checking for Middleboxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Done
checking for firewalls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Done
running 10s outbound test (client-to-server [C2S]) . . . . . 417.0kb/s
running 10s inbound test (server-to-client [S2C]) . . . . . . 293.24kb/s
Your PC is connected to a Cable/DSL modem
[S2C]: Packet queuing detected
--------------------------------------------
That's THE best downstream speed test I've seen since my AT&T DSL was installed; period!
The last week was apparently without noticable performance inconsistencies. It was "nice."
BobBl
BobBl |
|
RadioDoc
Sortofadog
Premium,ExMod 2000-03
join:2000-05-11
Chicago, IL | Whoever said that? Not really sure what your point is.
--
Toolmaster of La Grange. |
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rblomeyer
join:2007-08-30
Lisle, IL
| Two points:
1. I don't trust performance data as reported by tools provided by either telcos or service providers. I do trust Argonne because they have nothing to gain or lose by biasing their metrics.
I'm not suggesting anything other than that our opinions about which broadband performance metrics are "trustworthy" differ substantially. You have your rationale for your beliefs, and I have mine.
2. When I signed up for AT&T DSL, things worked "right" for about 30 days. The line speed stabilized and "settled in" at a downstream speed of about 2.8 Gbps. Then my neighborhood experienced a 72 hour power outage and when the DSL came back up it's performance was at best "inconsistent."
I'd known about DSL reports for some time. But since I didn't at the time have a DSL, I didn't create an identity or post in the forums. But READING the forums I learned that AT&T "lurk" her and do "damage control" if any customer publicly says too many negative things about their QOS; in ways that can't be dismissed or demeaned.
Hence, I began posting detailed accounts documenting my poor QOS in this forum for all to read. Over time, my "strategy" has either made a difference or the appearance of an AT&T service crew in my back yard, and the recent "independently measured" improvement in my downstream speed was only a coincidence.
My advice to AT&T DSL subscribers is simply this:
High speed internet access is a VERY competitive marketplace. Comcast, AT&T and ALL the major telcos & providers are justifiably sensitive about well documented and articulate public criticism.
IF YOU THINK YOU HAVE A PROBLEM WITH YOUR AT&T DSL QUALITY OF SERVICE, YOU PROBABLY DO. In that case, you should start posting "DETAILED" and authoritative accounts describing those problems here and don't let yourself be intimidated, dismissed, or "laughed out of it" by forum readers who may be AT&T employees doing "damage control."
Remember, it's much cheaper for AT&T to discourage complainers than it is do the work needed on their infrastructure to fix most of their inherited network problems.
People DSL subscribers probably don't know the difference between good and bad service, don't know how to document or describe it (one way or the other), or who to report it to if they did.
Most subscribers with poor QOS probably might use the "trouble shooting" tools on the CD AT&T sends with the "self installation" package. Those diagnostic reasings are (in my opinion) probably "biased" (spun) to convince consumers that everything is JUST FINE... when it probably isn't.
That's all about AT&T keeping their customers "pacified," but without investing the big $$'s required to REALLY solve the infrastructure problems they're encountering during the transition between an analog POTS network; with lots of "dirty," spliced, and unterminated copper pairs underground.
I honestly tried calling those "support numbers" before I began posting the detailed public accounts here describing my variable and unreliable QOS. I talked to lots of nice young people in India (outsourced support) who knew considerably less about infrastructure design and troubleshooting network problems than I do myself.
Accounts of some of those useless and even "laughable" interactions were posted here when I first started. My interactions with "outsourced" DSL "technical support" personnel from Bangalore and New Delhi were the precipitating events that caused me to begin posting detailed accounts here.
A quote comes to mind that perfectly fitted my attitude at the time, from the classic cartoon Popeye:
"I'd had all I can stands. And I can't stands no more!"
When I first posting documented complaints here, a few "forum regulars" tried suggesting I didn't know what I was talking about, used humor to blunt my criticisms, and generally used all the rhetorical tricks available in a synchronous forum to intimidate a newby and shut 'em up.
It didn't and won't work with me. I'm still here and STILL POSTIN'! And I'll continue to "be here" until I have the fully reliable and "robust" broadband performance I was implicitly promised when I signed up for DSL with AT&T.
I'm a critic, but I'm also honest and I try to be "fair." It's important to me that I could publicly report (last posting) there was an "apparent" improvement in my QOS since AT&T technicians appeared at my door, and subsequently repaired the "distribution box" "on the back of my property (easement), and probably "cleaned up" the copper pairs inside.
That's done. Thanks AT&T for fixing something that needed to be fixed. I'm even hopeful now that someday in the foreseeable future (before I move or die...) a tan VRAD might appear next to the new, shiny green distribution box.
If and when that ever happens, I'll explore switching over to AT&T's mythical U-Verse. That "6 down/1 up (elite)" service joe_washu described sounds tempting.
Here's a suggestion for AT&T's "marketing people." I currently get all the hi-def TV signals I need off air. The quality of that service is so astoundingly good that I can only think of ONE THING that could possibly swing me to purchase television programming from AT&T, Comcast, or anyone else who is currently in our market.
That would be for AT&T to purchase the syndicated rights to current BBC programming; specifically to Doctor Who (Season 4) and to Torchwood (just finished Season 2).
Yes... I'm a geek who LOVES GOOD SCIFI! (You suspected it anyway, right?)
Both the current (David Tenant) Dr. Who and the Torchwood series is probably the best TV sci-fi television series that's ever been produced in the English language. It is too expensive for PBS to purchase broadcast right till YEARS after episodes are premiered in the UK.
No one in the Chicago market carries either series till years later. But Warner cable in Ohio and some other cable companies in the US DO syndicate this first rate BBC programming after not much more than a weeks delay.
I'm presently going to a "lot of trouble" to obtain copies of Who and Torchwood after they're broadcast in the UK.
If AT&T were to syndicate BBC's current programming and distribute Dr. Who, Torchwood, and other examples of their clearly superior TV programming, I'd happily disconnect my off-air antennas & signal boosters and become an AT&T television programming subscriber.
Don't say ever say rblomeyer hasn't done any favors for AT&T. If you lurkers pass on my suggestion to someone in Marketing, they'll probably end up with a big promotion.
If you do, send me their e-mail address so I can submit an invoice.
I feel better. This was fun! We should do this again sometime!! (unpack & play attachment)
BobBl
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psx_defector
join:2001-06-09
Allen, TX
| said by rblomeyer :Blah, Blah, Blah There is an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation called "The Tapestry" that I quote whenever I see this amount of junk.
"To be blunt, you're not that important."
But please, keep on thinking this way. Maybe my Alcoa stock will increase with all the tin foil you must be buying. |
|
Waterbug
join:2008-03-30
| reply to rblomeyer
said by rblomeyer :I feel better. This was fun! We should do this again sometime!! (unpack & play attachment) I'd love to, but common sense tells me not to download anything from a stranger who is on a rant.  |
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wings10
I Am Legend
Premium
join:2004-06-09
South Elgin, IL
clubs:
·AT&T DSL Service
·Dish Network
·Comcast
| Funny think is he won't even go to any other online speed test. He keeps running the same test on the same site but then types the results instead.
--
"The American Indians found out what happens when you don't control immigration." |
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NormanS
Premium,MVM
join:2001-02-14
San Jose, CA
·Pacific Bell - SBC
| reply to rblomeyer
.jpg "38949 bytes")
Fastest download I have seen on Pro. |
said by rblomeyer :Two points: 1. I don't trust performance data as reported by tools provided by either telcos or service providers. I do trust Argonne because they have nothing to gain or lose by biasing their metrics. Do you have a link to that test? The site is very large, and a brief attempt at navigation drew a blank on speed test.
I'm not suggesting anything other than that our opinions about which broadband performance metrics are "trustworthy" differ substantially. You have your rationale for your beliefs, and I have mine.
I have, on occasion, seen my download run at 309kB/s, which is right about the maximum (in Bytes) for the Pro package (see the screen shot).
I have never had a need to contact AT&T (or, before the name change, SBC) tech support about DSL line issues. The only problems ever had were with the voice line (spilled over to the DSL side).
I did contact SBC Direct once about a speed issue; relied on the SBC speed test to show that my throughput was half, or less than my synch speed. They changed me to a different aggregation router, which did fix the issue.
--
Norman
~Oh Lord, why have you come
~To Konnyu, with the Lion and the Drum |
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StillLearn
Premium
join:2002-03-21
Streamwood, IL
·AT&T Midwest
| said by NormanS :Do you have a link to that test? The site is very large, and a brief attempt at navigation drew a blank on speed test. »miranda.ctd.anl.gov:7123/ |
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NormanS
Premium,MVM
join:2001-02-14
San Jose, CA
·Pacific Bell - SBC
| reply to rblomeyer
AT&T Speed Test results. |
said by rblomeyer :Here's mine from Argonne's ANL server. My results from Argonne Laboratry:
quote:
TCP/Web100 Network Diagnostic Tool v5.5.1
click START to begin
Connected to: miranda.ctd.anl.gov -- Using IPv4 address
Checking for Middleboxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Done
checking for firewalls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Done
running 10s outbound test (client-to-server [C2S]) . . . . . 373.0kb/s
running 10s inbound test (server-to-client [S2C]) . . . . . . 1.84Mb/s
Your PC is connected to a Cable/DSL modem
My results from the Stanford NDT:
quote:
TCP/Web100 Network Diagnostic Tool v5.4.12
click START to begin
Connected to: netspeed.stanford.edu -- Using IPv4 address
Checking for Middleboxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Done
checking for firewalls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Done
running 10s outbound test (client-to-server [C2S]) . . . . . 426.0kb/s
running 10s inbound test (server-to-client [S2C]) . . . . . . 2.59Mb/s
Your PC is connected to a Cable/DSL modem
Information [S2C]: Packet queuing detected
A couple of trace routes:
And...
I don't know if being closer to Stanford than the Argonne National Laboratory is the difference, or network congestion between my location and Argonne. FWIW, I have also included a screen shot of my latest AT&T Speed Test result; I test to Pleasanton, California.
There is a significant difference between the AT&T results and the Argonne results. There is only a very minor difference between the AT&T results and the Stanford results.
--
Norman
~Oh Lord, why have you come
~To Konnyu, with the Lion and the Drum |
|
rblomeyer
join:2007-08-30
Lisle, IL
| Based on some of the reactions my last posting drew from a "faction" within the forum's regulars, I think I struck a nerve...
One of the easiest ways to identify forum participants who have "covert agendas" is first publicly define (out) the agenda (whatever it may be) and then watch while the discussion participants having or representing whateveer the related ideological viewpoint or "interest" may be distinguish/identify themselves by the volume and negativity of the individual's reactions.
Rather than engaging in a boring exchange of views about which site has a more accurate "speed tester," let's revisit a more important issue for this forum's readers.
This posting isn't a rant. It's about truth and honesty in public discourse. Readers who care about these subjects are invited to read on. But be warned I'm about to shift the focus from "technology" to social philosophy.
David Collingridge is a British analytic philosopher who's written much about the impacts of technologies on culture and society. One of his best books is entitled "The Social Control of Technology." (1980) I won't get into the details, but a readable summary of his premise can be read here: .
The Collingridge book explores his premise, illustrates it with case-studies based on historical events triggered by the release and diffusion of many different technologies, and ends by proposing some "decision rules" that are potentially useful for avoiding some "unintended consequences that often follow decision made to adopt or "buy into" particular technologies.
My favorite from the Collingridge recommendations about limiting or reducing collateral damage from adopting wrong or technologies by de-empahsizing influence from "expert opinion."
"An expert is traditionally seen as neutral, disinterested, unbiased and likely to agree with his peers. On the view proposed here, none of these qualities can be attributed. Instead, an expert is best seen as a committed advocate, matching his opinion with other experts who take a different view of data available to them in a critical battle." (Collingridge, op cit, P.12)
I believe it's in everyone's' best interest (particularly readers' choosing not to post) for participants to honestly identify the nature of their expertise and whether or not they're employees of telco's or service providers.
I'll start! I'm an educational policy analyst and my specialty is educational technology policy and practice. That quote is from my published Doctoral dissertation (1985) from the University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign entitled:
"The Use of Computer-based Foreign Language Instruction in Foreign Language Teaching: An Ethnographically Oriented Study" by R.L. Blomeyer. (It's in the UIUC card catalogue.)
I'm not now and have never been employed by any technology vendor or service provider and have no "interest" except promoting an honest and open exchange of ideas in this (and other) public forums and enabling better instructional applications of technologies supporting teaching and learning in our nation's schools.
I challenge other participants in this exchange to identify both their expertise and employers.
Further, speaking as a "policy analyst," I challenge the forum managers of dslreports.com to require forum participants employed by TELCOS and service providers to publicly identify their affiliations as a prerequisite for continuing to participate in discussions.
Not doing so risks encouraging misrepresentation, dishonesty and occasional "intimidation" of forum participants by persons who may not be altogether honest about their reasons or motives.
I commend Waterbug who said this about the attachment (sound file) to my previous posting: "I'd love to, but common sense tells me not to download anything from a stranger who is on a rant." Wise choice!
It's a great sound clip; downloaded from here:
»www.palantir.net/2001/tma1/wav/better.wav
Under present circumstances, maybe an even better one is:
»www.palantir.net/2001/tma1/wav/stresspi.wav
rblomeyer (BobBl) |
|
NormanS
Premium,MVM
join:2001-02-14
San Jose, CA
·Pacific Bell - SBC
| I am not employed in the communications industry (Telco), or the entertainment industry (Cableco); never was. Nothing more technical than component level repair for Hewlett Packard.
I am just reporting my own experiences, and test results.
--
Norman
~Oh Lord, why have you come
~To Konnyu, with the Lion and the Drum |
|
Dennis
Premium,Mod
join:2001-01-26
Algonquin, IL
·AT&T Yahoo
Host:
Chicago
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| reply to rblomeyer
Dude you gonna post in the Direct forum and get somebody to take an official look at your line or not? Cause I got a shit ton of other things to do in life more important than beg you to let us help you.
--
My Blog. Because I desperately need the acknowledgement of others.
Meet my son, Connor. |
|
psx_defector
join:2001-06-09
Allen, TX
| reply to rblomeyer
said by rblomeyer :I'm not now and have never been employed by any technology vendor or service provider and have no "interest" except promoting an honest and open exchange of ideas in this (and other) public forums and enabling better instructional applications of technologies supporting teaching and learning in our nation's schools. You are not looking for honest and open exchange of ideas. You think AT&T is out to get ya, and all discourse from your theory is just agents of AT&T trying to pacify you.
Face it, you just are not that important. I call 'em like I see 'em, I've seen enough crazy to know it. |
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