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DocDrew
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Re: [TWC] No more perboost?

said by Mele20:

Turbo is a joke as it is actually slower than Standard because it has no Powerboost.

You've long said Powerboost was a gimmick used to inflated speed test results and you'd rather not have it.

Since Powerboost only works for the first few seconds of a download, Turbo should have higher sustained speeds and have faster downloads of larger files.
Mele20
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join:2001-06-05
Hilo, HI

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Mele20

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I get LOWER speeds on grandfathered turbo. It is a gimmick to get $10 a month more out of me. I am on DOCSIS 2 since this is 15/1. Maybe if I could afford 20/2 for $20 a month more than standard RR I would think it was worth it because it would be DOCSIS 3. I don't know because I cannot afford that.

This Quality Test located in Los Angeles area gives me the same speed on Standard RR as on grandfathered Turbo. I get 7.2mbps down. That is on either 10mbps down connection or 15mbps down. It shows QOS of around 95% on Standard or grandfathered Turbo. When downloading from sites, I usually (without PowerBoost) get 350KB/sec or slower...many times no more than 85KB/sec. So, it is a rip off designed just to get more money from me.

»www.ispgeeks.com/wild/mo ··· lityTest

It is definitely a rip off because I can see that Oceanic has placed a VERY LOW ceiling on the route's capacity so that it is impossible to get a higher download speed.

This site is getting bad too. VERY SLOW here.

Konaguy
Live From Hawaii
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join:2000-10-21
Kailua Kona, HI
·Hawaiian Telcom

Konaguy

Premium Member

Mele's poor speed issues is a combination of using a DOCSIS 2.0 cable modem and her node having intermittent issues. Her upstream power level is around 50dBmV and the cable modem frequently disconnects.

I had Road Runner Turbo (15/1Mbps) for over a year with no speed issues. Then I upgraded to the 20/2Mbps tier.

I split my cable to the DOCSIS 2.0 Cable Modem/eMTA and the DOCSIS 3.0 cable modem (Oceanic doesn't have DOCSIS 3.0 eMTA/Cable modems). The speeds became much more consistent after I upgraded to DOCSIS 3.0.

DocDrew
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So Turbo isn't a joke and neither is PowerBoost, you have other issue hampering your download speeds.

What do your SamKnow's test reports show? Can you post a screenshot?

Elyria
join:2011-10-12
Elyria, OH

Elyria

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and this power boost you speak of, last for how many seconds ?

DocDrew
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DocDrew

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said by Elyria:

and this power boost you speak of, last for how many seconds ?

Just a few... mostly it's intended for faster loading of small files, like a web page is made of.
Mele20
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Hilo, HI

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Oceanic insists that I do NOT need a DOCSIS 3 modem unless I go to 20/2. I talked to Oceanic around midnight last night after been erroneously sent to NHD by their automated system that was evidently flummoxed by my reply to the question of "What is your problem?" (Or something like that) to which I answered "modem trips off line frequently". I guess I was supposed to say "my internet doesn't work" but why ask the question if the system gets confused if you actually answer the question in a specific manner?

Anyhow, NHD said I should not have been transferred to them and connected me to Oceanic where the CSR said my modem was fine. Well, yeah, after tripping off line 4 times in a two hour period it was ok AT THAT MOMENT. She kept saying it was OK the whole time we talked although I had told her it was INTERMITTENT and TENDS to occur only between 5PM and 1AM. She told me that 49dBmV is perfectly normal.

Then she blamed Sam Knows router for my problems. If my routers, or the modem itself, was the problem then I would be having the problem in the daytime and after 1AM also. Even then, that still would not mean the problem was the routers or the modem. It could just mean whatever is causing the modem to trip offline is getting worse and starting happen during non-prime usage time also. She wanted me to do a direct connection for three or four days and then call back if I still had problems.
When I paid my bill at Oceanic on Sept 5, I mentioned the problems and was told that the foreman, Bobby, would be notified. I haven't heard from him though but I am not reachable in the mornings. (I did remind Oceanic to have Bobby or whoever call in the afternoons and maybe he did and I was gone on that day). She told me that I should NOT have upgraded to 15/1 if I was having any problems. She said I should have had the problems corrected and then upgraded. I told her I had no choice because Chris had said Oceanic was removing 15/1 from their website and I had to upgrade right then (which was late Monday afternoon) or he could not upgrade me EVER. I told her this and she didn't know what I was talking about even though Chris is her superior.

It is this kind of thing why I try to avoid calling Oceanic. If they would just put me through to tier 3 things would be much better. But these days getting through to tier 3 is like pulling teeth. She did agree to give me a truck roll but said the system was down (it is usually down when I call) for giving me a date and time. So, I was supposed to call back today to get it and I did but I got put on hold which was ok except I got this loud Hawaiian music playing. I hadn't been up that long, and only on my second cup of coffee, and I didn't want to listen to any music much less irritating music when I hadn't been awake very long. That same music at midnight would be fine, I'd enjoy it then. So, I hung up and I need to call back again. I wasn't even given the opportunity to leave my number for a call back which I would have done although that is not a good idea unless you have call waiting (which I don't) and it is Monday and you have a bunch of business calls to make.

I was also told I was not supposed to get Power Boost on 15/1. If that is true then I will likely file a complaint about false advertising with Hawaii Dept of Commerce and Consumer Affairs. But I think she is just poorly trained which has been a big problem always at Oceanic. However, Sam Knows tests show that since I moved to 15/1 that Power Boost is at a LOWER speed than the normal speed. I don't know if that is something wrong with Sam Knows tests or if my connection is just all screwed up. I've been meaning to contact Sam Knows and ask them.

I interrupted this to do a Google search. I couldn't because the modem has tripped off line again. Why don't the modem lights go off when this happens? PCActivity light is blinking madly but I have no connection. Network Connections says I am connected but I show no network activity. I have XP set to notify me when I have limited or no connectivity but it is not notifying me. But that notification is quite buggy on XP so I am not too concerned that I don't get notification in the systray but it is a bit odd.

It is also odd that I never to have to reboot after I reconnect everything. In the past, about 50%, or more, of the time, I would be forced to reboot to regain connectivity after the modem would trip off.

Name Game
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join:2002-07-07
Grand Rapids, MI

1 edit

Name Game

Premium Member

Have you been tweaking the pcs again.

»[TWC] Hawaii has 20000kbps now? Nah, speed tests are wacko

when you say tripping off that to me means a/c power is not available..but I guess you mean "although the lights on it are correct excepts the pc activity light blinking madly..that to me means your ISP's DHCP Server....Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) is a network protocol that enables a server to automatically assign an IP address to a computer...is not shaking hands with your modem and saying ok..I recognize you as a customer..so here is a dynamic IP for you to use.

What other lights do you have on this modem.

You can try unplugging the power to the modem for 1 min then plugging it back in as they always suggest. It could be their server is out or overloaded at times. Or you just might have a faulty modem. friend down the street had an intermittent problem like that which was weird..and turn out to be the a/c power adapter for the modem.. unplug the power on the router too the same way to have it reinitialize after you are sure you modem is working correctly and an IP is assigned.

The ladies suggestion about direct connect just to the modem is valid.. it is the only way you can really rule out your hardware...and I would not totally rule out the router either. Especially since they checked it at their end and it was 49dbmv. There should be away to talk to them and ask if their server has been dropping out in your area..the ISP in our area has a site one can check on line the customer bandwidth usage and up time of their server in a graph form.

Do you have any of your PC's set to auto update any programs prgrams during that time frame.

DocDrew
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1. Can you post a screenshot of the Sam Knows monthly report, especially the speed test and packet loss parts?

2. Can you post a screenshot of the modem logs?

3. If your router has logs can you a post a screenshot of them?

4. What's your current network config? Is it PC -> Sam Knows unit-> Linksys router -> modem?

Name Game
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I do see they have lots of planned outages the last few day and in the near future »www.aroundhawaii.com/sup ··· _status/

»help.rr.com/HMSLogic/net ··· tus.aspx
Mele20
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Hilo, HI

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I meant the modem is dropping off line. AC power is available. PC activity light blinks continously when modem is online ever since Code Red worm in 2001. (I was online at the precise moment when Code Red hit and the PC Activity light went from very little activity to constant, furious blinking that has never stopped). So, it is normal for it to blink furiously but when it goes off line it continues to blink constantly. Other four lights are green even when it is offline which is irritating because the only way you know it is offline is when you try to post in a forum or surf to some site, etc after 60 seconds or more of waiting you finally get a DNS error (or Google search gives a really strange address and no search) and that is how you know the modem is offline. XP is very buggy regarding TCP and showing in the systray when connectivity is limited or non-existent so I can't depend on XP to reliably alert me when the modem goes off line.

If I then unplug (off my UPS) the modem, unplug the two routers, wait three minutes (this is a Surfboard 5100 modem so it takes it longer than other brands of modems to clear its memory) then replug the modem only and watch the lights until it gets online and then plug in the Sam Knows router that is in bridged mode, then the Linksy router I am back online until the next time the modem trips off. Historically since I got RR in June 2001, the modem trips off line two-four times a month but since the first of Sept it has gotten much worse and has been tripping off frequently.

The modem is rather old but this problem I have historically has NEVER been due to my modem or my router(s). It is ALMOST ALWAYS a node problem and I am sick, sick, sick of it. Konaguy says if I upgrade to DOCSIS 3 and 20/2 probably this problem will go away but I doubt it besides I can't afford 20/2.

I get testy with the CSRs because Oceanic has severely restricted access to tier 3 techs. I used to be able call them directly bypassing tier one Oceanic support. Sure, tier 3 techs would understand what I am saying (tier 1 doesn't have a clue) and could do things like show the cable flap list for modems in my area to see if they are having problems on the upstream, etc. But getting to tier 3 is now like pulling teeth. In retrospect, I should have sent Chris an email last night and not bothered with tier 1 CSR. He used to be one of the best tier 3 techs (before he got promoted to management) and he knows the entire history of the node problem here going all the way back to shortly after I got RR in June 2001.

It's a real hassle for many reasons for me to do a direct connection. I have done it more times than I could possibly count. I am sick of doing it and never has the problem been the router although being a old Linksy it handles DHCP poorly but it gets the job done eventually after depositing a ton of warnings and errors in Event Viewer. I have the lease time set in the router for 7 days and that is to cut down on the amount of clutter in Event Viewer with warnings and error messages about DHCP problems. So, it got a 7 day lease today at 4:20PM after the modem had gone off line again and I reconnected it. Thanks goodness, as the messages won't start again until one-half way through the lease time...so 3.5 days from now.

I realize that there is always a "first" time so this time it could be the router but that is unlikely and if I do a direct connection for several days that means no virtual machine and I use the virtual machine mostly now as I wait for Intel to announce the fix for Ivy Bridge chip on certain Dell motherboards on two of Dell's computers (the two I would choose from) and I hope Intel's fix will also maybe make it so nVidia doesn't have to come up with some fix that will take forever for their newer cards on these same Dell Ivy Bridge computers because I really want an nVidia card. My disk is full on the host machine so I prefer to use the guest machine (plus, the browsers are up to date on it and not on the host).
Mele20

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said by DocDrew:

1. Can you post a screenshot of the Sam Knows monthly report, especially the speed test and packet loss parts?

2. Can you post a screenshot of the modem logs?

3. If your router has logs can you a post a screenshot of them?

4. What's your current network config? Is it PC -> Sam Knows unit-> Linksys router -> modem?

I don't get the SK monthly report. I have complained many times and SK fixes it for a month, maybe two, and then I don't get them again anymore. They are very nice folks (including the company CEO...really nice guy) but they have no idea why I don't get the reports after they fix it again. When I do get them, they contain only download and upload speeds. Again, SK has no understanding of why that is happening. They have done a number of things to try to get the full reports sent but nothing works.

I did get full monthly reports when I had the Netgear router but only for a few months then and then they went wacky with the Netgear and have stayed that way all this time except for when they try to fix it or just send me all the back months which don't contain a full report. I haven't even notified them again when I didn't get the August report because they only contain download and upload speed anyway and have an incorrect date of January 2001 (or maybe 1975 is the year--I'm tired and don't feel like checking right now to see the date). Each month says it is for January 20xx or 1975. They can't fix that either. They have re-written programs just because of this weird problem ...nothing fixes it.

Surfboards have puny modem logs for some time now. I rarely see anything significant there although years ago with this modem I did and even more so with the 4100 I had before this 5100.

I don't think there are any router logs and I'm not sure where to look. A search would likely take forever as the disk has only about 10% free space and can't be defragged because of that and needs it. I need a new computer but have to wait for fixes to the two I would consider buying.

Yes, it is PC > TP_link > Linksys > modem. My TV is connected to the Linksys.

DocDrew
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DocDrew

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You can download the SK report data from their website : »reporting.samknows.com/

My Sam Knows report on the website

The modem log you posted is fine. It shows the MODEM actually lost sync between the 18th and 16th, the 16th, between the 16th and 14th, between the 7th and 6th, and a few other times. A few entries are related to signal issues, but majority are not. Router logs should help refine when and how often the modem went offline.

You do realize you are not changing Oceanic's configured DHCP lease time right? Your router still has to renew it's public IP based on the full DHCP lease time set by Oceanic, so 12 hours. The only thing you've done is set the private IP lease time to one week so your PC doesn't have to renew so often. Router logs should show if the modem is having issues renewing DHCP leases and connection losses on the WAN port. This screenshot should help you find where the log menu is of your Linksys router:

Log menu location a LinksysBEFSR41v3

Next time you lose connection, just try power cycling your Linksys router, don't touch the modem or SK TP-link.

You may also want to try using PingPlotter, to plot against your modem's diagnostic address 192.168.100.1, your router's management address, and your public IP gateway. It'll show you if your PC is losing connection to your router, modem, or public gateway and exactly when. It's better than noticing that the PC isn't surfing anymore and the modem link light is blinking different.

[edit] I just remembered... being that you have a DOCSIS 2 modem on a DOCSIS 3 system, the modem may be channel switching between the available 4 downstream channels and 2 upstream channels for load balancing purposes. The channel switching isn't seamless on older modems, especially the downstream channel switch, but the modem wouldn't count it as a loss of sync. It could also be that the 6.4Mhz wide 64QAM upstream centered on 29.1 Mhz available in your area, which your D2 modem can use, is problematic at times, although the modem logs usually reflect more errors in those cases...

Name Game
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Grand Rapids, MI

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do you have xp doing your dns ?
»www.mediacollege.com/com ··· dns.html
and you know about this..
»support.microsoft.com/kb/320760

or do you have your router do it link this..
»forums.techguy.org/tech- ··· ter.html
Mele20
Premium Member
join:2001-06-05
Hilo, HI

Mele20

Premium Member

XP handles DNS and I set up the order of DNS servers in XP. DNS Client Service has been disabled in Services since I got XP in 2003. I set up XP then using Black Viper and Eldergeek. Set it up the same way on the XPS 600 that was my second XP computer. I never needed to do that Microsoft fix because I have that service disabled.

I change DNS servers periodically in XP, not the router, according to GRC's DNSBenchmark (the long ...about 45 minutes...test) to find the best DNS servers at the current time. I was a beta tester during the entire time Steve was developing DNSBenchmark. I had a lot of fun.

I also use Google's DNS benchmark to find the best current DNS servers. While Oceanic's or Hawaii RR's (they are different) are always tops, because they are in Honolulu, and all others are on the Mainland with much higher ping times 68ms as opposed to local DNS servers at 16ms, sometimes I need to change the 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th DNS server as I choose the fastest and most accurate (especially during prime usage hours) of the available Mainland servers that are not a no-no because they redirect, force ads, etc.

This has nothing to do with my problems. The DNS servers are not affecting the download/upload speeds on quality speed tests or the false advertising from Oceanic regarding PowerBoost on 15/1. Also, what DNS servers I choose to use has nothing to do with the periodic problem I have had all these years I have had Oceanic RR and the modem tripping off line. Oceanic CSR told me the other night, and also the last time they were out to fix the same problem (node problem every time), that SB 5100 should have zero problems on any speed level below 20/2 and that there is no reason to move to a DOCSIS 3 modem (they are moving NO ONE) unless I upgrade to 20/2. Oceanic wanted to force users to have only DOCSIS 2 modems on even that speed, and allow DOCSIS 3 ones only on 30/5, and 50/5, but TWC corporate intervened and told them to issue Surfboard DOCSIS 3 modem for all on 20/2 and keep 15/1 , 10/1 and below on DOCSIS 2 modems most of which are not Surfboards.
Mele20

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10/1 with Powerboost
Click for full size
15/1 same day
said by DocDrew:

said by Mele20:

Turbo is a joke as it is actually slower than Standard because it has no Powerboost.

You've long said Powerboost was a gimmick used to inflated speed test results and you'd rather not have it.

Since Powerboost only works for the first few seconds of a download, Turbo should have higher sustained speeds and have faster downloads of larger files.

See, this is the problem. I get the SAME or lower speed for downloads on Turbo as I did on Standard. The route speed to Visualware's Quality test at San Jose, ISPGeek's Visualware Quality test in Los Angeles, another Visualware Quality test in Los Angeles, These are all speciality servers and then there areother Visualware speed tests in Los Angeles area that I also use (Poway, Woodlawn) usually show the Route Speed to be at about 7000kbps sometimes much lower (5300kbps), sometimes a bit higher (8300kbps) to each of these test servers. The route speed doesn't show up much of the time on the ISPGeek's server). The route speed shows the maximum throughput speed that is attainable between me and the tester server because of the route used.

I do a Visualware Route Test first to the server I will use for the speed test. I also use Ping Plotter Pro to that server and leave it running for several days. If there are problems shown on those tests then I find a server where there are no route problems. Then I do the speed test periodically. I also can set MySpeed software program I own to test every x number mnutes to 4 different Quality servers in the USA and one in London. I have test results going back many years.

Most speed tests are garbage. They test Capacity not Quality and Quality determines the download speed of a big file not the available capacity. The ISPs perfer the capacity test as that impresses the average computer ignorant (especially about speed tests) user who sees 14300kbps on a 15/1 plan and is happy. That means nothing. The Quality test shows the actual download speed. It shows the speed that is "real world" and the maximum speed that applications like Netflix and Youtube will see and use.

My Quality tests, when I had 10/1, and now 15/1, show very little difference in the download speed (assuming about the same QOS of 95% or above). My download speed on these Quality tests is consistently (assuming an excellent QOS...as download speed will drop drastically as the QOS goes down) at around 7300kbps. IT DOESN'T MATTER IF I HAVE 10/1 or 15/1 PLAN AS THE REAL WORLD DOWLOAD SPEED IS THE SAME. So, for me, 15/1 is a ripoff. 10/1 is also but not as bad as 15/1.

Oceanic was a NO SHOW Wednesday. I called a little awhile ago (after staying home all afternoon until 6PM and not using my phone because they call before they come even with an appointment because of all the deadbeats who make an appointment and then are not at home for it). The CSR could not tell me why they were a no show but did confirm that they were supposed to come out but didn't.

DocDrew
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DocDrew

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Can you post a screenshot your SamKnows monthly graphs? I gave you a link to where you can get them.

Can you post a screenshot of your router logs? I gave you a screenshot showing where you can get them from your router.

Maybe if you can please take the time to run them like I asked earlier, some PingPlotter graphs to your router, modem, and public gateway showing before/during/after a time when you have connection issues would also be helpful.

I'm not interested in your opinions on TWC's tiers or different speedtests or DNS or cancer... a 5 paragraph response over a "pasty white" comment? Really? They don't help troubleshooting at all.

I want to see what your equipment is logging. Unbiased, unopinionated, and unadulterated.
Expand your moderator at work
Mele20
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Hilo, HI

Mele20 to DocDrew

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Re: [TWC] No more perboost?

If you would stop with your accusatory attitude it would help.

I am not an idiot. You refuse to believe me about my problems. You ridicule my speed tests and refuse to address the issue. You claim it is all my fault and you make an INSULTING assumption that I am so irresponsible about my DUTIES as an FCC broadband panelist that I would be totally clueless regarding Sam Knows website (after almost TWO YEARS of being a tester) so you felt that you had to inform me about it.

I cannot post the router logs. If you are puzzled as to why then do a search here as there are a lot posts since 2007 about it. You also search Linksy forum here and at Linksy fourm at Linksy for why. I cannot post SK flash charts and I have no way to post the regular scrolling charts at SK because I do not own software that allows me to do that. I have said this already. I had Flash on a virtual machine on IE but I have removed it. I have NO Flash currently. Besides, SK tests are INFERIOR to Visualware's many types of tests. This is particularly true of Sam Knows download and upload speed tests which are CAPACITY tests only and worthless unless you have a capacity problem but any speed test out there can show you that. SK capacity tests were valuable ONLY because they finally (not for over a year though) wrote the tests to be able to strip out Powerboost and show the real capacity speed the user has. Most other speed tests can't do that. But I have no Powerboost now so no need for using capacity tests instead of far more sophisticated and accurate Visualware Quality tests.

SK has tried to emulate a user's experience with youtube, etc. and their tests are ok but Visualware's are far more useful and truthful because Visualware's are real world tests which SK has tried to do through simulation but that is not the same thing. Visualware should have been chosen by the FCC to conduct the testing (but they may not have applied, I never asked them). I will see about having Visualware set up testing for my connection for two weeks. They have done it for me several times in the past and been appalled at what the results showed (as was Oceanic when I gave them the reports).

I have posted Ping Plotter umpteen zillion times over the years here. I am not doing it again because I know from bitter experience that you, or the other nasty people, and TWC apologists who post here will find some way to put the blame on me rather than on Oceanic where it has always been in the past and is now also. I will show Oceanic Ping Plotter results. They will take one look and hand the problem to Thane to fix at the node. (But it won't stay fixed). This has been ongoing since 2001. I can call the technical head of plant for Oceanic Hilo, as I know him well for over thirty years, but I don't like bothering him.

For your information, I think you have forgotten the first post I made in this thread. Go read it again. I posted that 15/1 is a sham, in my experience, and there is no Powerboost on it even though Oceanic claims Powerboost is on 15/1 and uses that as a selling point (or did until they grandfathered 15/1 first of August of this year). Konaguy See Profile saw no Powerboost for the year he had 15/1 and I know of at least one other east Hawaii Big Island RR user with 15/1 who has no Powerboost.

I didn't ask for help. I made a comment and immediately got jumped on because I didn't say that TWC is the best thing since chocolate and that I worship them. As for my reply to Elyria See Profile why should it matter to you how long the post was? I didn't address it to you so why didn't you just ignore it? I also replied to Name Game See Profile who was asking about DNS. Should I have ignored his posts entirely and only responded to yours? I easily pulled up many threads from this forum since 2001 where I was reporting the same problem with similar nasty attacks on me. The only thing that changes in this forum is the names of the apologists for TWC. It is why I seldom post here now and why I have almost completely stopped even visiting this forum for quite awhile now. I regret that I did come here and saw this thread and made that first post.

DocDrew
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DocDrew

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Obviously you have some issues with your connection and you aren't getting the Standard 10/1 or Turbo 15/1 speeds you're paying for. PowerBoost isn't even the issue here as you're not seeing it either way. Like you originally theorized, it might be a capacity issue, so why not look at a speedtest that logs link capacity every day like SamKnows? You don't because they measure capacity??

Instead, you spread misinformation to users about the connection calling it a sham, gimmick, and rip off rather then admit upfront to them you've had ongoing issues with no real clue of what is wrong. I HATE misinformation and can't just let it sit unchallenged.

Peoples' home networks have lots of problems. Cables' networks have lots of problems. I've worked for more than a dozen years on both and helped thousands of people in the journey. In that time I've found the hardest ones to help, on either side, are the ones who think their shit doesn't stink and there isn't a problem with their setup. To them, it's always a problem some where else or with someone else. Getting them to accept their stuff might be the issue takes forever. Hard data helps speed that process up immensely.

I was trying to get data on your problems independent to what you may have done to your PC, since you freely admit you have many issues with your PC too. With the data from your hardware logs, I could've made some very educated guesses on what the problem is, what can be done to fix it, and given you guidance on what to tell local techs to look for if it was something they can fix.

I see you can't and won't do that. You'd rather write multi-paragraph diatribes on everything else under the sun.

Good luck with your service calls. My condolences go out to the techs helping you.

PS. You can get the SamKnows "report card" copies that don't need Flash to display since they use PNG images, here: »reporting.samknows.com/i ··· portcard

As far as you router problems, I'll guess you didn't mean the DHCP issue that router has, but the password problem. I didn't know you haven't reset your router since 2007 and have been locked out of it for the last 5 years. I thought you fixed that years ago. Of course nothing's wrong with it, it's running the last beta firmware Linksys ever released for it

So, if you're willing to cooperate and post the information needed to troubleshoot your issue, maybe we as a community can get to the bottom of your issues. We'll leave it up to you...