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sochee
@verizon.net

sochee

Anon

[speed/latency] Verizon DSL speed capped to 200 kb/s

A couple of weeks ago I noticed that my Verizon DSL connection reached max download speed at around 180-200 KB/s. I have had the 3Mbps/768kbps package for about 3 years now, and my download speed for these 3 years was always 300 KB/s (did not reach the 370 KB/s max because of the line quality). Upload always maxed out around 85.

I thought nothing of it, since my service regularly drops, sometimes for days, sometimes for weeks, and Verizon tech support has never, ever helped (yet I get calls every week to switch to FIOS). They always tell me it's my problem, but I've been working in the IT field for about 10 years and I know that's it not my router. I decided to wait and see if the speed went back up, since usually the best way to resolve Verizon issues in my area is to wait until Verizon realizes something is wrong.

However, after a month of waiting my download speed is still capped around 180 KB/s to 200 KB/s. It's not a hard cap, and jumps around continuously. I'm tired of paying for 2/3 of what I'm supposed to be getting. I am still getting billed the same amount, upload speed is the same, yet download speed has suffered.

Does anyone have any suggestions on what happened, and what should I do? I just spent an hour on the line with Verizon and they told me to restart my router, my computer, reinstall my NIC, and after none of it helped, they told me (predictably) it's my problem. I've tested the wiring inside my house by connecting to the basement box downstairs, and the problem persists there as well.
pjclere4
join:2007-11-02
Perrysburg, OH

pjclere4

Member

I AM HAVING THE SAME EXACT PROBLEM!

I called tech support on Friday and was on the phone with them for about an hour and all they did was remote in my computer and ran repeated speed tests, which showed a max down speed of 100-400k, when it should be up to 3meg! I finally got angry that they were giving me the round around on the issue and they were claiming it was my computer. They also surfed some websites to do "testing" too. My line tests and speed reports clearly show there is a problem with the router I am on. They finally decided to send a tech out yesterday. He installed a new box outside and ran a ping test from my computer. STILL NO SPEED CHANGE!! I posted in the Verizon Director forum asking a tech to switch me to a diff router, so we'll see how that goes.

I also was transfered to billing and explained how I wasn't receiving full speed and requested a bill credit for the past month of service, which they gave me.

I def. know how you feel right now.
sochi5
join:2007-01-27
Rockville, MD

sochi5 to sochee

Member

to sochee
Line test:

»/lineq ··· /2551757

Speed test:

Last Result:
Download Speed: 1711 kbps (213.9 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 706 kbps (88.3 KB/sec transfer rate)

Latest Invoice (retrieved from Verizon's site):

High Speed Internet Services for
**********

- Internet 3/768 Jul 13 - Aug 12 $31.95

Should I just post in the Verizon Direct forum like the last poster did (good to know I'm not alone)?

tschmidt
MVM
join:2000-11-12
Milford, NH

tschmidt to sochee

MVM

to sochee
said by sochee :

I have had the 3Mbps/768kbps package for about 3 years now
First step is to access modem stats to see of sync rate is correct and line has reasonable margin.

/tom
tschmidt

tschmidt to pjclere4

MVM

to pjclere4
said by pjclere4:

I called tech support on Friday and was on the phone with them for about an hour and all they did was remote in my computer and ran repeated speed tests, which showed a max down speed of 100-400k, when it should be up to 3meg!
Are you sure you are not confusing bits and bytes? 1-byte is 8-bits.

Verizon sets 3000/768 DSL package sync speed at 3360/864 kbps. It is set deliberately higher to compensate for various overheads. Overhead is about 15% (TCP/IP/PPPoE/ATM). So maximum transfer rate is:
2,856 kbps (kilo bits per second) down and 734 up.

Expressed in bytes per second - which is what you see on your computer during download is:
357 kBps (kilo bytes per second) down and 92 kBps up.

Try running the speed test on the Tools page or use speedtest.net.

If test result is slow access modem stats to see of modem is able to sync at proper speed.

/tom
tschmidt

tschmidt to sochi5

MVM

to sochi5
said by sochi5:

Should I just post in the Verizon Direct forum like the last poster did (good to know I'm not alone)?
Not on the basis of single slow download.

Keep in mind price for 3000/768 and 1500/384 speed packages are the same. Which one you get is a function of distance and line quality.

Speed test result indicates you are configured for 3000/768 package. Next step is to access modem stats to see of modem is able to maintain correct sync speed and margin is adequate. Sync speed for your package should be 3360/864. Ideally margin should be 10 dB or higher. Between 6-10 dB connection is vulnerable to noise. At 6 dB or below modem will probably not be able to maintain sync, resulting in dropped connection.

/tom
sochi5
join:2007-01-27
Rockville, MD

sochi5 to sochee

Member

to sochee
Transceiver Revision: 7.1.254
Vendor ID Code: 4
Line Mode: G.DMT-Mode
Data Path: Fast
Transceiver Information Down Stream Path Up Stream Path
DSL Speed (Kbits/Sec) 3360 768
Margin (db) 7.0 12.0
Line Attenuation (db) 57.5 18.5
Transmit Power (db/Hz) 15.0 11.0
JohnA4
Premium Member
join:2003-09-16
Pittsburgh, PA

JohnA4 to sochee

Premium Member

to sochee

I realize that it's more expensive, but I have a hard time understanding why anyone would put up with all these problems on DSL, when they have FIOS available to them.

Smith6612
MVM
join:2008-02-01
North Tonawanda, NY
·Charter
Ubee EU2251
Ubiquiti UAP-IW-HD
Ubiquiti UniFi AP-AC-HD

1 edit

Smith6612 to sochi5

MVM

to sochi5
Well the downstream doesn't seem to be in very good shape. The attenuation given your upstream attenuation is correct, should be more around 36dB on the downstream. Margins should also be higher and the upstream is out of sync. If you get the stats while at your telephone demarcation point and post them up, we can see if it is an internal wiring issue or if it's a copper line issue.

But seriously, if FiOS is available to you, for $10 extra a month you can get 15Mbps/5Mbps (really 15Mbps/15Mbps). I'd take that over a 3Mbps DSL line, or a 7.1Mbps line that is running over old/problematic wiring any day. I was just on FiOS not too long ago at a relative's home. Their 6 year old PC which has a 1.6Ghz P4 CPU (crappy! :|) maxed out on CPU when downloading, but it managed a 2.4MB/s sustained download speed.
sochi5
join:2007-01-27
Rockville, MD

sochi5 to JohnA4

Member

to JohnA4
said by JohnA4:

I realize that it's more expensive, but I have a hard time understanding why anyone would put up with all these problems on DSL, when they have FIOS available to them.
I am not going to pay $20 a month more (almost double what I'm paying now, and yes, I checked my plan and the offered plan, it would be $20 a month more) to a terrible company that has been virtually ignoring all my support requests for the last 3 years. Every time I call them, I speak with a guy in India for at least 2 hours who reads off a script before he agrees to transfer me to someone who knows anything. I realize FIOS might be a better option, but in the current economic climate I can't justify the premium, nor am I going to give the company holding a monopoly over my area more money.

Smith6612, I tested both the attenuation and the margin from the demarcation point about 3 years ago when I asked for a switch to Fastpath. For the 4-5 years I have had this line, the attenuation has always been high and the margin has always been low, and unrelated to the inside wiring (unfortunately the forums don't archive posts, or I could pull up my tranceiver stats from 3 years ago when I posted them here). I realize that my line quality isn't the best, but it has always worked fine for 300 kb/s down, and I'm wondering why it suddenly throttled down to almost 30% lower.

I understand all the benefits of FiOS (including the fact that Verizon is probably pumping all their tech support into that area) and how much better it is than my current DSL line, but unfortunately "just pay more for FIOS" is not a solution for me at the moment. I was just wondering what could have caused the drop in download speed.
JohnA4
Premium Member
join:2003-09-16
Pittsburgh, PA

JohnA4

Premium Member

said by sochi5:

I am not going to pay $20 a month more (almost double what I'm paying now, and yes, I checked my plan and the offered plan, it would be $20 a month more) to a terrible company that has been virtually ignoring all my support requests for the last 3 years.
How is building a state of the art broadband (FTTP) network in your city ignoring you. The billions in capital plant expenditures are designed to remedy your bad copper problems, not make you want to hang onto them.
said by sochi5:

Every time I call them, I speak with a guy in India for at least 2 hours who reads off a script before he agrees to transfer me to someone who knows anything.

FIOS support is all in the US, though not all of it's CSRs are well enough versed in that system to always know who to forward you to.
said by sochi5:

I realize FIOS might be a better option, but in the current economic climate I can't justify the premium
That I can comprehend, but I also suspect that you could have had it when the difference was $10, and not $20. Hell, your city fathers stood around for 2 years with their hand out, delaying the Verizon over-build.
said by sochi5:

nor am I going to give the company holding a monopoly over my area more money.
Verizon doesn't have the only broadband in your area. There's no need to overstate your argument.

No one's completely happy with Verizon, lately. They could well lose my POTS line and TV service in Sept, when my contract expires. But, I honestly can't see me ever switching off of FIOS internet, unless that service completely imploded.

Hope things pick up for you, as the economy comes around, because I've never had internet service to compare with FIOS.

Jodokast96
Stupid people piss me off.
Premium Member
join:2005-11-23
NJ

1 recommendation

Jodokast96 to sochi5

Premium Member

to sochi5
said by sochi5:

...unfortunately the forums don't archive posts, or I could pull up my tranceiver stats from 3 years ago when I posted them here)...
They're right here:

Transceiver Revision: 7.1.254
Vendor ID Code: 4
Line Mode: G.DMT-Mode
Data Path: Interleaved
Transceiver Information Down Stream Path Up Stream Path
DSL Speed (Kbits/Sec) 3360 864
Margin (db) 10.0 12.0
Line Attenuation (db) 55.0 18.5
Transmit Power (db/Hz) 15.0 11.0
JohnA4
Premium Member
join:2003-09-16
Pittsburgh, PA

JohnA4

Premium Member


Difference seems to be that one is Interleave, and the other is Fast Path

Smith6612
MVM
join:2008-02-01
North Tonawanda, NY
·Charter
Ubee EU2251
Ubiquiti UAP-IW-HD
Ubiquiti UniFi AP-AC-HD

Smith6612 to sochi5

MVM

to sochi5
I'd honestly have no idea as to why the download dropped suddenly, unless any changes were made in the PC or modem. There was some slight ping spiking in the fast ping graphs of the line quality test, so whether or not that might have something to do with it, it is possible.
sochi5
join:2007-01-27
Rockville, MD

sochi5 to JohnA4

Member

to JohnA4
Yep, those stats were when I was wondering about a switch to Fastpath. My max download suddenly increased to 280 KB/s this morning, but upload dropped to 70 KB/s..don't know how or why, but something funky is going on with my line .

tschmidt
MVM
join:2000-11-12
Milford, NH
·Consolidated Com..
·Republic Wireless
·Hollis Hosting

tschmidt

MVM

said by sochi5:

but something funky is going on with my line
It may have nothing to do with DSL circuit itself. May be congestion elsewhere in the network.

May want to run line quality test from the tools page.

You can also do traceroute (tracert in Windows) to stable site like Broadband Report. Latency should gradually increase with distance and hop count. A sudden unexplained jump may indicate congestion at that or previous hop.

/tom