dTERM
join:2004-06-28
Lubbock, TX
|  Ugh...Suddenlink is still throttling P2P
So I thought I'd give them another try, I got the new 10m up/768k down (still want more up...but at least this one actually hits 800k) and fired uTORRENT into gear. Nothing run's over 5kB/s. Unplug the cable modem, plug in the DSL, uploading at 70kB/s. Swap back...stuck at 5kB/s again. Back on DSL, back at 70kB/s. (AT&T DSL @ 6m/768k ((actually ~5.5m/650k))) Looks like I'm gonna tell Suddlink to shove it, AGAIN, and stick with DSL. ::sigh:: |
|
dTERM
join:2004-06-28
Lubbock, TX
| Just for fun, here's the Cable speed test:
And the DSL:
 |
|
shelby10763
join:2005-03-12
Greenville, NC | reply to dTERM
Are you using encryption in the Utorrent client? |
|
dTERM
join:2004-06-28
Lubbock, TX | reply to dTERM
Yep, encryption makes no dif. |
|
shelby10763
join:2005-03-12
Greenville, NC | That stinks. I've been using a seedbox to do all of downloads. I let it do all of the work @10/10mb and just SFTP everything down to my server. SL can't ever throttle SFTP. |
|
tcharp
T C
Premium
join:2002-10-23
Lubbock, TX
 ·NTS Communications
 ·Suddenlink
 ·Vonage
| reply to dTERM
While I'm sure they are doing some kind of limiting, I don't find that I'm ever limited on upload by anything but my 512k package. I usually get 55k to 60k upload speeds. It sure looks like they limit the download, but it only happens on files larger than 1Gb. I get very high speeds, into the 600's on files smaller than 1Gb if there are enough seeders.
Yep, if they would raise the upload speeds I would buy a faster package, but the difference between 756 and 512 is negligible to me because I seldom got 756, plus I NEVER got 10M down when I was paying for it. Most of the time it was 8M down. Now that I'm paying for 8M I get 7.5M It's a much better bargain in my eyes.
-TC
--
"It's hard to leave when you can't find the door." - Joe Walsh |
|
Brent
@classicnet.net
| They ARE limiting.
A company called Broadband Support does their network management. Around May 1 of this year they started rolling out a throttling program. There's a certain, unknown threshold (I use about 30gig a month down, 18gig up) that, when exceeded, puts you into a "problem/excessive user" category. Your connection will then become subject to throttling as high as 75%. It will remain that way indefinitely, sometimes returning to full speed within a couple of minutes.
I'm assuming I hit that threshold about the 20th of every month, as my 1mb x 256k link drops to 256k x 256k 90% of the time. Just about anything trips this thing off, including streaming of 128k internet audio. YouTube is useless, and you shouldn't even consider downloading a *FREE, OTA BROADCAST TV SHOW* via BitTorrent. I started a torrent of my local news cast from yesterday morning, which should have been completed in less than 20mins, only to wake this morning and see it still downloading, with an estimated 2hrs remaining.
Unacceptable, to say the least.
SuddenLink also has the habit of overselling their service **45:1**. This means if you're in an area that offers "10Mb cable internet", the internet pipe you're running on is most likely a DS3 @ 45Mbit. It only takes 10 customers @ sustained rates, to max out that connection. However, SL will sell that service to a minimum of 450 customers before even considering an upgrade. In most cases 1000 customers on a 10Mb plan will be sharing a single DS3.
In practice this is great, as Broadband Support begins throttling "excessive users", dropping their 10Mb pipe to less than 2Mb. Unless you're sitting behind your computer, you most likely won't even notice it....until you return to an incomplete download with days left till completion. |
|
Brent
@classicnet.net
| UPDATE:
I've emailed Pete.Abel with a bit more information regarding my above post. He's assured me he will 'look into it', but I'm wondering just how much can be done. I've already got the personal cell #'s of both the regional manager as well as his top installer, have had an inside track to getting my problems fixed for the last 3 months, and yet *still* have problems.
Please understand that SuddenLink Customer/Tech support has been extremely friendly, as has everyone I've spoken with @ SuddenLink. However, the problem isn't the really nice people, but rather a lack of answers and a lack of correct information (last I checked, Cust/Tech Support knew nothing of any throttling, and no one does until you get to Tier 3 Support).
I think at this point our only actions are...
a) flood SL Cust Service with complaints of the nefarious network management nazis. Demanding to cancel doesn't usually work until you get a Billing/CustServ supervisor, and then you can generally hope for a month's credit at most.
b) file a complaint with the BBB for our respective areas
c) file a complaint with the FCC for SL's inability to provide a "reasonable quality of service".
Maybe Petey can fix everything. Maybe he'll get it done before the TelCo returns with the DSL install. |
|
DJBuzz24
join:2008-07-01
Fort Smith, AR | Thought I'd register (was Brent)....
Today's speeds. No P2P apps. That's plain vanilla from Safari, the only network app I had open at the time. |
|
tcharp
T C
Premium
join:2002-10-23
Lubbock, TX
·NTS Communications
·Suddenlink
·Vonage
| reply to dTERM
DJBuzz,
You are correct about limits after you have downloaded some undisclosed amount. I have hit that limit several times and still don't know what it is. Also, it is not published anywhere. SL statement says only that they will limit "excessive" users. It doesn't define what that means.
You are also spot-on about the overselling of markets. It's hard not to think that the only reason the service in Lubbock has improved is because so many have left Suddenlink for DSL.
I think the 1Gb files slowdown is in addition to the monthly caps. It's hard to be sure when we cannot count on how SL is going to behave from one day to the next.
I have to say my pings have been improving and the number of hops to various game servers around the net seem to be reducing.
This is why I no longer pay for 10/768 service in Lubbock. I get this service paying for 8/512 and it's only slightly slower than the service I got when paying for the 10/768.
-TC
--
"It's hard to leave when you can't find the door." - Joe Walsh |
|
DJBuzz24
join:2008-07-01
Fort Smith, AR
·Suddenlink
| I'm currently on a $29.99 per month plan. What speed that is, I have no idea. I was originally told 3Mb x 256k, which I received after a call to tech support, explaining to them what I'd been sold.
And then it's been downhill since then. Now they're telling me a 1mb x 256k plan is all that's available. I've since done my own snooping (I'm a former FE for Earthlink) and found that, at least in my area, the service is being oversold by around 45-50:1, give or take a few users.
They've been *really* helpful, but I think it's because it comes from years of cable TV service. It seems the internet is still fairly new to most of the installers (in my experience, only 1 of the 2 I've met actually owns a computer, admitting to have just recently let his wife teach him how to use it), and as such anything network related is being outsourced to 3rd parties. Such is the case with the traffic shaping (btw, it's not limited to p2p), which is being done by a company called Broadband Support (broadbandsupport.dawt.nyet). After a few very calm and understanding tech support calls, as well as around 3hrs of on/off hold answerless (though not clueless!) support, I finally snapped and was given a phone number for BBS. Upon calling them, I got some member of the "Internet Abuse Team" that refused to help me, and told me I needed to call my cable company, let them know to "stop giving this damned number to customers", and not to stop until I'd reached a Team Lead to yell at.
Seriously, that was the guy's suggestion. That I, as a customer, somehow do my part in changing this company's chain of command and escalation policies.
When all I really wanted was someone either in HQ or the NOC to answer my question, which was simply, "Why a 75% throttle?".
Seriously folks, around 1400 cell mins in a single month dealing with this company. Crediting my account the full balance for that month was the *least* they could have done (and did without issue), but now it's becoming some personal crusade of mine to get this company's act together.
They're a cool company, seem to have some really nice folks working for them, but these communications issues are ridiculous, and the fact that they're paying a company to be responsible for prolly 90% of their customer complaints is just outside of my scope of thinking. I can't imagine why a company would sub-contract another company just to screw up a good service.
Get it together guys, as there's still plenty of DSL companies out there for consumers, and you certainly don't want to make those recent acquisitions fail from launch. |
|
nnaarrnn
join:2004-09-30
Nitro, WV | The problem is that ALL traffic goes to Texas first! |
|
DJBuzz24
join:2008-07-01
Fort Smith, AR
·Suddenlink
| It should comfort everyone to know that it's certainly not limited to just p2p traffic. Apparently SL believes that no file should be downloaded at a sustained burst rate for longer than 2-8 minutes.
Here's a thread with my findings...
»Confirmed |
|
shelby10763
join:2005-03-12
Greenville, NC | reply to Brent
After you hit your monthly quota, how long (in theory) do they throttle the connection?
Is everything throttled from then on or just when there's p2p traffic? |
|
DJBuzz24
join:2008-07-01
Fort Smith, AR
·Suddenlink
| EVERYTHING....
The link above tells a nice little story of an hour of my day spent documenting a simple 300MB set of updates over the web.
From my experience, you get burst rates for less than 10mins, then 1/4 your provisioned speed for around an hour, then burst for 10mins, etc...
I guess I keep hoping that enough outcry will get something done. I see a lot of potential in this company, as they seem to have a pretty good crew behind them. Maybe they'll get the hang of this internet thing soon  |
|
DJBuzz24
join:2008-07-01
Fort Smith, AR
·Suddenlink
| ahhh, gotta love the morning....fresh dew, fresh coffee, kittens at play in the yard, and a single hour of 1Mb x 256k service!
This morning is no different. I woke up, did my morning activities, fired up my Sirius Internet Radio stream (128k stream), and started listening to 90's Rock Alternative.
Less than 45mins later, my audio stream starts cutting out while I'm browsing the web and grabbing my docs to start my work day. A quick look at my bandwidth monitor shows I'm BACK @ 256k.
So now I shall call SuddenLink Billing and agree to pay $7.50 (that's $29.99/4 = 7.4975) for my monthly service until this is fixed.
If I've not heard anything from anyone by the end of the day, I'll contact my local BBB and prepare my complaint to the FCC.
As for dealing with SuddenLink support, I'm done. Complaining to Customer Support keeps my complaints and problems contained within the company. Complaining, documenting, and updating my posts here about their service problems at least gets the word out publicly, and takes FAR less effort than posting flyers all over town
It's not like it really matters anymore anyway. SinTel offers 3-6MB DSL, promises that there's no throttling of any kind, and a new WiFi ISP is kicking around the area as well. Rumor has it that our little town may have 3Mb/s citywide wifi by the end of the year (small down, not a huge rollout).
So if SuddenLink wants to continue being a *cable* company, it may not have much of a choice, as it appears the competition is heating up, and I highly doubt they'll survive to the end. |
|
DJBuzz24
join:2008-07-01
Fort Smith, AR
·Suddenlink
| 
Yay! We're moving along! | 
And then we're not... |
|
|
