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JRW2
R.I.P. Mom, Brian, Gary, Ziggy, Max.
Premium Member
join:2004-12-20
La La Land

JRW2

Premium Member

And the slowdown continues...

This happens EVERY year at this time..


It's getting QUITE annoying..

Before you all chime in with telling me to post my complaints to the ooldirect forum, I have done this many times, and it always ends up with the same outcome, I have to wait until March for the speeds to return.

NYDude25
join:2007-08-23
Massapequa, NY

NYDude25

Member

I don't get it, what is the problem you're having?

JRW2
R.I.P. Mom, Brian, Gary, Ziggy, Max.
Premium Member
join:2004-12-20
La La Land

JRW2

Premium Member

said by NYDude25:

I don't get it, what is the problem you're having?
16/2 connection, usually runs 14+ on the download side. Come Thanksgiving it drops to half or less, until march.

Have run the gamut with OOL service several times, with no change in the past.

So, as expected it has died again...
dm145
join:2009-12-12
Clifton, NJ

dm145 to JRW2

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to JRW2
that is quite normal for any cable internet service
it is up to 15/2, many complain it goes down below 2/1

I average 12/2 daytime and in the evenings it drops below 5/2

anonpstr
@optonline.net

anonpstr to JRW2

Anon

to JRW2
The real problem is that you are still within acceptable "up to" speeds.

They offer UP TO 15/2. You are getting over 1/2 of the "up to" speeds. The reason they don't do anything is because in their eyes nothing is wrong.

Seems like you may actually have some problem that relates to temperature. However as said above, if they feel you are within their acceptable range they won't even come look at it.
ibex333
join:2006-06-22
Brooklyn, NY

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You are complaining with your speed? Look at mine! I'm going nuts here..

JRW2
R.I.P. Mom, Brian, Gary, Ziggy, Max.
Premium Member
join:2004-12-20
La La Land

1 recommendation

JRW2 to anonpstr

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to anonpstr
I was told by support MANY times that anything less than 11Mb/s is not acceptable...
Levitate Me
join:2006-01-31

Levitate Me to JRW2

Member

to JRW2
Ha, you think that's bad? I'm logging, in the last few days, speeds consistently under 1Mbps down in the afternoon and evenings. I get 100% full, 15/2 speeds in the early morning, or very near that. Even with these extreme slowdowns, results from pingtest.net are always B or A. This is pure node congestion and it has been going on for months. These guys need to get their act together.
majortom1029
join:2006-10-19
Medford, NY

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to JRW2
What is the outcomne when yo ucall cablevision? Are you getting packet loss?

POed
@optonline.net

POed to JRW2

Anon

to JRW2
I hope this is a sick joke on the part of the Dolan's:



I need to look into FIOS.
Levitate Me
join:2006-01-31

Levitate Me

Member

Man, I can beat that. Just did a test and I got:

277 kbps down
863 kbps up

Believe it or not, that's not even a record. Ran by Pingtest.net after that and got an A. Impressive service, OOL!

CVtek
@optonline.net

CVtek to JRW2

Anon

to JRW2
said by JRW2:

I was told by support MANY times that anything less than 11Mb/s is not acceptable...
We have MANY customers that have never seen 11 meg. If they agree there is a problem then what do they do to fix it? You say it always ends up with the same outcome but I'd like to know what they have actually done for you.

JRW2
R.I.P. Mom, Brian, Gary, Ziggy, Max.
Premium Member
join:2004-12-20
La La Land

1 recommendation

JRW2

Premium Member

said by CVtek :
said by JRW2:

I was told by support MANY times that anything less than 11Mb/s is not acceptable...
We have MANY customers that have never seen 11 meg. If they agree there is a problem then what do they do to fix it? You say it always ends up with the same outcome but I'd like to know what they have actually done for you.
Lets see...
They have done the following, several times...

Tested on MY machine, via remote connection, while I have been connected to the modem, no router.
Changed out the modem.
Changed the wiring at my house. (I have a straight connection from the pole to the modem, no splitters)
Replaced the drop at my house.
Tested at the drop.
Tested "elsewhere"
Put it out to another group to investigate...

Generally they will do all of this, and then close the call telling me that my speeds are acceptable...

Come March, the speeds slowly return to "normal"...

CVtek
@optonline.net

CVtek

Anon

said by JRW2:

said by CVtek :
said by JRW2:

I was told by support MANY times that anything less than 11Mb/s is not acceptable...
We have MANY customers that have never seen 11 meg. If they agree there is a problem then what do they do to fix it? You say it always ends up with the same outcome but I'd like to know what they have actually done for you.
Lets see...
They have done the following, several times...

Tested on MY machine, via remote connection, while I have been connected to the modem, no router.
Changed out the modem.
Changed the wiring at my house. (I have a straight connection from the pole to the modem, no splitters)
Replaced the drop at my house.
Tested at the drop.
Tested "elsewhere"
Put it out to another group to investigate...

Generally they will do all of this, and then close the call telling me that my speeds are acceptable...

Come March, the speeds slowly return to "normal"...
SO... they do tell you the speeds are acceptable? What do they say to you when you tell them other support techs have told you anything below 11 is unacceptable? It's hard for us as technicians to get a definite cut and dry answer as to what the MIN is. I used to hear above 1.5 then above 3. Now I have been hearing as long as it is 1/2 the "upto" speed.

I just did a test on mine... I'm at 9.48/2.03, probably the best I have seen in weeks. I NEVER see over 10 download out my house and everything is well within specs.

JRW2
R.I.P. Mom, Brian, Gary, Ziggy, Max.
Premium Member
join:2004-12-20
La La Land

1 recommendation

JRW2

Premium Member

said by CVtek :

What do they say to you when you tell them other support techs have told you anything below 11 is unacceptable?
I tell them that I usually see much higher speeds, and show them the test results. That's when I usually hear what they consider "acceptable" speeds.
It's hard for us as technicians to get a definite cut and dry answer as to what the MIN is. I used to hear above 1.5 then above 3. Now I have been hearing as long as it is 1/2 the "upto" speed.

I just did a test on mine... I'm at 9.48/2.03, probably the best I have seen in weeks. I NEVER see over 10 download out my house and everything is well within specs.
I'm not trying to be argumentative but..

OOL advertises "upto" some number, depending on what you subscribe to. They do it so much, it is hammered into out psyche...

Yes we do NOT have an SLA or any kind of "guaranteed" speed in our pseudo "contract" with OOL.

BUT...

They imply a certain speed, and I think it is NOT beyond reasonable to expect to see 80 - 90 percent of what they advertise, MOST of the time.

If the VAST majority CAN'T see "advertised" then OOL should be precluded from even HINTING at the speeds they do, and should tell people what they CAN reasonably expect on a day to day basis.

Since they are NOT doing anything legally "wrong", I still find it deceptive to even advertise speeds they can never deliver.

Now back to what I originally posted about, I see this occur yearly at about the same time each year, which starts on or about Thanksgiving, which also is when the majority of "kids" are out of school/college too. I have asked the techs I have spoken to if they see a high volume of data usage on my node and EVERY time they say they see no high loading nor anything they consider abnormal. It is quite frustrating to feel lied to, or that the people you are speaking to are that clueless as to what is going on..

As I said, my speeds, as expected, have dropped to half of what is advertised, again...

CVtek
@optonline.net

CVtek

Anon

said by JRW2 See Profile

They imply a certain speed, and I think it is NOT beyond reasonable to expect to see 80 - 90 percent of what they advertise, MOST of the time.

If the VAST majority CAN'T see "advertised" then OOL should be precluded from even HINTING at the speeds they do, and should tell people what they CAN reasonably expect on a day to day basis.

Since they are NOT doing anything legally "wrong", I still find it deceptive to even advertise speeds they can never deliver.

Now back to what I originally posted about, I see this occur yearly at about the same time each year, which starts on or about Thanksgiving, which also is when the majority of "kids" are out of school/college too. I have asked the techs I have spoken to if they see a high volume of data usage on my node and EVERY time they say they see no high loading nor anything they consider abnormal. It is quite frustrating to feel lied to, or that the people you are speaking to are that clueless as to what is going on..

As I said, my speeds, as expected, have dropped to half of what is advertised, again...
[/BQUOTE :


I'm not being argumentative either... but... they do not advertise 15 meg downloads... they advertise "up to 15" so in reality 2 meg could be acceptable legally. I agree that it does seem shady to "pound" into your head "up to" 15 meg when they are only giving half that in some cases. As you could see in this thread there are quite a few people that don't even see the speeds normally that you are complaining about getting sometimes.

It is the nature of the internet and shard bandwidth that speeds will fluctuate, sometimes drastically. As said by fios users their speeds are more stable because of the removal of some "bottlenecks" caused by the infrastructure cable companies use. In this case the price of that is a contract with Verizon to guarantee they will get some of their money back. I also hear alot of customers that come back to CV say the price of fios is too high, I never used it so I only could go by what others have told me.

If you where located in the system I work I would have someone I know check to see if there is a utilization issue. There really is no reason for anyone to lie to you if there was, however if it was an issue of over saturation the speeds would fall below 11 meg.

Unfortunately I don't have an answer as to why your speeds dip a few meg from Nov till March but your speed is not half of what is advertised, it is within the range of what is advertised. I agree with you that is a play on words but by wording it properly CV gets away with it.
cseeman
join:2005-12-25
Brooklyn, NY

1 recommendation

cseeman

Member



I'm on Boost. Up until Nov. I was consistently 27Mbps-31Mbps down. I've heard the same excuses from various techs about the speed not being guaranteed.

They tested the node and removed the other legs and tested mine jointly with me. They tested at the node while I tested at the same time while on the phone with them. They verified it's a problem and it's not related to saturation.

This means whole areas are being impacted probably much like the original poster.

A restaurant can't guarantee "good food" either but when they can't meet the expectations of large numbers of patrons, their "bottom line" suffers.
RocketNJ
join:2001-04-28
Pequannock, NJ

1 edit

1 recommendation

RocketNJ

Member

Well unfortunately this so-so restaurant is the only game in town.

I wish we had competition from FIOS.

kdshapiro
join:2000-03-29
Eatontown, NJ
ARRIS TM1602
Netgear R8000

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to JRW2
said by JRW2:
said by CVtek :

What do they say to you when you tell them other support
I'm not trying to be argumentative but..

If the VAST majority CAN'T see "advertised" then OOL should be precluded from even HINTING at the speeds they do, and should tell people what they CAN reasonably expect on a day to day basis.

Since they are NOT doing anything legally "wrong", I still find it deceptive to even advertise speeds they can never deliver.

Now back to what I originally posted about, I see this occur yearly at about the same time each year, which starts on or about Thanksgiving, which also is when the majority of "kids" are out of school/college too. I have asked the techs I have spoken to if they see a high volume of data usage on my node and EVERY time they say they see no high loading nor anything they consider abnormal. It is quite frustrating to feel lied to, or that the people you are speaking to are that clueless as to what is going on..

As I said, my speeds, as expected, have dropped to half of what is advertised, again...
Are you trying to extrapolate the "vast majority" of millions from a few posts on this site?

JRW2
R.I.P. Mom, Brian, Gary, Ziggy, Max.
Premium Member
join:2004-12-20
La La Land

JRW2

Premium Member

said by kdshapiro:

Are you trying to extrapolate the "vast majority" of millions from a few posts on this site?
I talk to HUNDREDS of people in my line of work who have OOL at their houses, and extrapolating from them AND the ones who post here, I think I can get a pretty good idea what other people probably get at their homes.

CVtek
@cablevision.com

CVtek

Anon

said by JRW2:

said by kdshapiro:

Are you trying to extrapolate the "vast majority" of millions from a few posts on this site?
I talk to HUNDREDS of people in my line of work who have OOL at their houses, and extrapolating from them AND the ones who post here, I think I can get a pretty good idea what other people probably get at their homes.
I would agree with you that the vast majority of users are seeing speeds between 8 and 12 megs, within the range of what OOL considers acceptable. They do advertise UP TO 15 meg and 8-12 is within the "UP TO" AS ADVERTISED. CV advertises UP TO 15 and feels the 11 you see is within a reasonable range of what they offer. If a customer feels the 11 meg is not worth the cost then that customer needs to cancel their service and find another service that suits their needs.

To use the restaurant analogy. I have eaten at a restaurant that I did not like, friends of mine I was with loved the place. They will continue to patronize the restaurant and I will not. The food was prepared properly, just not in a manner I liked.

Cablevision offers an internet service that will provide you with 7-15 meg download speeds, they do not offer a guaranteed advertised 15 meg service.

On a side note: My Lamborghini was advertised to do 200 MPH but I don't call the dealer when I am doing 45 MPH stuck in traffic.
CVtek

CVtek to JRW2

Anon

to JRW2
I want to add that I am not arguing whether it is right or wrong for CV to advertise speeds the way they do. Some people feel that when CV says UP TO 15 meg they want it to be 15 meg all the time. Anyone thinking of getting Cablevision's "base" online service has to realize the speeds can go as high as 15 meg but will usually be less than that, and that is how they are advertising it.
cseeman
join:2005-12-25
Brooklyn, NY

cseeman to CVtek

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And if the restaurant has many unhappy customers and/or some customers get half empty plates while others get full plates, then a lot of those customers will leave and the restaurant may close.

As FIOS spreads, CV's business will suffer if they can't compete with good service.
cseeman

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Boost so I guess the qualifies as "UP TO" 30Mbps. Guess what happens to the restaurant that tells its customers to take it or leave it . . .

jaa
Premium Member
join:2000-06-13

jaa to cseeman

Premium Member

to cseeman
said by cseeman:

As FIOS spreads, CV's business will suffer if they can't compete with good service.
I don't agree with your statement - I think it is much more complicated than that.

But if I were to follow your logic, I would conclude they are competing with good service based upon the facts.

From their 2008 annual report:

2006 OOL Penetration: 44.7%
2007 OOL Penetration: 48.8%
2008 OOL Penetration: 51.9%

The net increase in OOL subscribers in 2008 (during active FiOS rollout) was about 175,000.

OV penetration has gone from 26.5% to 39.7%.
TV has dropped from 68.5% to 65.7%.

Like I said, I don't think that proves anything about the OOL service. My personal view is 99% of their customers don't run speed or line quality tests, and are blissful in their ignorance regardless of what their speeds are. As long as they can get their email, talk to granny on Skype, and download from iTunes - and save $1.89 per month - they are happy.

And to the OP - thank goodness you only have the problem annually, and not nightly!!

DAOWAce
join:2006-10-25
Flanders, NJ

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»/lineq ··· /2600557

Oh look, it's Winter again! *sigh*
cseeman
join:2005-12-25
Brooklyn, NY

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Let's see how 2009 looks like.

Personally I don't think many people are aware of FIOS as an option. As their marketing increases there will be a shift.

Penetration doesn't tell the whole story of economics either. Premium services like Boost and Ultra will suffer because those ARE the discerning customers who pay more because they have the speed demands.

So OOL will retain the lower tier customers and the discerning customers will pay a premium for FIOS reliability.

When I have to download a client's 2GB file and it takes me three times longer that it did previously, it costs ME money. That makes my decision to move when the time comes, very easy.

Probably for most people anything above 5Mbps is not going to be noticed but the people who do notice, those who need the speed, are going to spread the bad news and that will impact market perception.

Witness AT&T and the iPhone. Watch what happens to AT&T when Apple offers the iPhone on another provider.

Cablevision has a limited opportunity to improve their service or, inevitably it will hurt.

jaa
Premium Member
join:2000-06-13

2 edits

jaa

Premium Member

In 2007 they said let's see what 2008 looks like.

Verizon is marketing the hell out of FiOS, including going door-to-door. Hard to miss it.

OOL doesn't give a rats ass about "discerning" customers. Let all of them go to FiOS - cheaper and easier to support the lower tier masses, and acquire two new customers for every "discerning" customer that leaves.

You seem to be a discerning, intelligent OOL customer - therefore I assume you are using the absolute best possible internet service - and you chose Optimum Online. Even though it costs YOU money when you download a client's 2GB file.

Yes, yes - the bad news will spread like wildfire for the thousands on DSLR to read. Ooooh - scaaaarrrry.

Eulogies for OOL have been posted here for years. First it was capping that was going to be the end of them. Then overcrowded nodes. Then FiOS. Then FiOS when they start really rolling it out. Then FiOS when people find out about it. Then FiOS when - well, whenever.

I just don't think "normal" people are paying enough attention to care.

I guess Steve Jobs and Apple are a bunch of ignorant fools - just "gave" at&t the exclusive and never even took a look at their network. You should have called Stevie and said wassup wit dat and slapped him around a bit until he came to his senses. As you can see, it really killed the iPhone. And at&t will collapse once the iPhone is offered on another network - right after CV collapses.

Corporate decisions - and consumer decisions - are a just a little more complicated than you are implying. Most people have a lot of confidence in the Apple brand, the company, and the management as evidenced by their stock multiple. Market Researchers make a lot of money studying and trying to predict consumer behavior.

I'm sure you know a lot more about these things than I - I know enough to know I don't know. I just don't see anything that looks like iminent doom for CV, despite the many predictions over the years. Certainly Verizon cherry-picking the neighborhoods to install FiOS, skipping the less desirable locations for who knows how long (5 years? forever??), reduces the threat, while CV provides service to 99% of their service area.

Just my opinion.

JRW2
R.I.P. Mom, Brian, Gary, Ziggy, Max.
Premium Member
join:2004-12-20
La La Land

JRW2

Premium Member

said by jaa:

In 2007 they said let's see what 2008 looks like.

Verizon is marketing the hell out of FiOS, including going door-to-door. Hard to miss it.

OOL doesn't give a rats ass about "discerning" customers.

SNIP!!

Just my opinion.
I don't see any of this door to door advertising for FIOS, it is NOT available in my area yet, though, as I understand it, the CO has been ready since sometime in 2007. Latest estimate is sometime this year. I guess they bribed the right people, or CV was late with their "donation" to the local officials.

As for OOL/CV giving a rats ass....

I beg to differ, they seem to be QUITE agitated by the dish I have on my roof, not a week goes by, on average, that I either get something in the mail, a phone call, or my favorite, the guy walking the neighborhood who wants me to sign up for MORE service at a "great" price...

The ones I have a chance to talk to face to face or on the phone, are SHOCKED that I am NOT ecstatic about my OOL service, and want to know why...

I gladly regal them with the sordid details of my "experiences" with OOL and their service.

In fact, I had a call today, from a polite gentleman with what I assume was an Indian accent, who wanted to sell me MORE CV product at that AMAZING price. I politely told him that I am just waiting to DISCONNECT OOL as soon as I have an alternate provider.

My wife on the other-hand, hangs up on them or tells them to get lost if they show up at the door. You see, she hates them too, and she doesn't know how to run a speed test, she just knows that things are slower now than when we had it installed, many years ago....

When OOL was only 10/1....
JRW2

JRW2 to jaa

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to jaa
said by jaa:

And to the OP - thank goodness you only have the problem annually, and not nightly!!
Yeah, annually, from the end of November until March, NIGHTLY, DAILY, WEEKENDLY, MORNINGLY, etc...

24/7 for five MONTHS straight.....

No big deal...