Comcast XFINITY → [Speed] Slow & stalled UK & EU websites for the past week on Com

I am posting this thread to open a place for anyone to post their experiences of slow connections without intruding on another's persons thread.

Is there anyone else who has experienced slow or stalled UK or European websites in the past week while connected through comcast. I use these words because these are the words I used in a google search that first led me to this website.

My own problem is that I am a web designer hosting my websites on british servers in a company called Fasthosts. Over the past 7 days every afternoon and evening my sites have been slow, sluggish or just frozen on loading when viewed through comcast. I am looking for other people with similar experiences to post here - Thanks

2 possibly similar threads -

»[Speed] My French Car Forum is Being Throttled - But Why?

»[Speed] Bottleneck in European connection

"I'm a Gnu" (from a british children's song)

Be sure to include trace routes to the affected sites!

I started the thread about the slow European site. I am still wondering why some important high paying customer with an European presence hasn't demanded a fix especially when other providers don't have any issue.

I don't think many people have figured out what is wrong yet. The problem doesn't affect all european or uk websites - so far we have only had reports of the one in france and yours and mine. Aside from the one in France, it seems that yours and mine are both hosted on the same servers in a company called fasthosts.

So to notice the problem someone in the usa has to connect through comcast (and it may not be all comcast connections or from all areas - and there may also be other providers affected that I don't know about) in the afternoon or evening hours - and connect to a european or uk website that is being hosted on a platform that is at the other end of the problem. And as the connection problems are intermittent - when they connect all might be working ok for them. You were repeatedly trying to download something - so you were on long enough to notice. I am always working on my websites in the evenings and Checkerboard is a member of a forum that he went to every day. That is how we all noticed the change.

I am just hoping that other people begin to notice soon so we can get more examples and trace routes that might help identify the problems

The first day I noticed the problem I thought it was just congestion. And then the problem went away after about 2am. The second day when the slowness came back I called Fasthosts and spent a long time on the phone with them - but they could not replicate the problem on their end and couldn't help. Then it went away again. By the third day I was searching google for anyone else who had the same problem and found Checkerboard on this forum. I do believe that if anyone will be able to identify and fix the problems it will be people who can actually see them and for that it seems you have to be connected through comcast.

The problem is likely on an interface between specific providers, with low traffic from the U.S. to Europe. In the "European Bottleneck" thread you posted this trace route from a Comcast connection:

C:\>tracert www.phoenix-sim.com
 
Tracing route to www.phoenix-sim.com [88.208.252.129]
over a maximum of 30 hops:
 
 1 1 ms 1 ms 2 ms unknown [192.168.1.1]
 2 8 ms 12 ms 9 ms 96.120.41.33
 3 9 ms 22 ms 19 ms te-4-5-ur07.grandrapids.mi.michigan.comcast.net[68.85.218.81]
 4 26 ms 24 ms 23 ms te-0-2-0-12-ar01.taylor.mi.michigan.comcast.net[68.85.235.193]
 5 22 ms 19 ms 23 ms pos-0-6-0-0-ar01.pontiac.mi.michigan.comcast.net [68.85.222.38]
 6 30 ms 35 ms 24 ms he-4-5-0-0-cr01.350ecermak.il.ibone.comcast.net[68.86.90.221]
 7 * 29 ms 26 ms pos-1-5-0-0-pe01.350ecermak.il.ibone.comcast.net [68.86.87.126]
 8 24 ms 25 ms 25 ms xe-9-0-0.chi10.ip4.tinet.net [77.67.71.145]
 9 116 ms 119 ms 117 ms xe-7-1-0.ams20.ip4.tinet.net [89.149.182.165]
 10 135 ms 134 ms 131 ms schlund-gw.ip4.tinet.net [213.200.75.94]
 11 148 ms * * te-1-2.bb-c.the.lon.gb.oneandone.net [212.227.120.134]
 12 145 ms 146 ms 144 ms te2-1.prt0.fhcon.fasthosts.net.uk [88.208.255.57]
 13 147 ms * 145 ms po-96.prt0.fhdis.fasthosts.net.uk [88.208.255.97]
 14 145 ms 145 ms * 88.208.255.5
 15 * 144 ms 148 ms 88.208.252.129
 
Trace complete.
 

I go by a different route from Sonic.net, LLC:

C:\Dig>tracert www.phoenix-sim.com
 
Tracing route to www.phoenix-sim.com [88.208.252.129]
over a maximum of 30 hops:
 
  1    <1 ms     1 ms     1 ms  192.168.42.1
  2    25 ms    26 ms    25 ms  173-228-7-1.dsl.static.sonic.net [173.228.7.1]
  3    25 ms    24 ms    24 ms  gig1-4.cr1.lsatca11.sonic.net [70.36.243.13]
  4    25 ms    25 ms    25 ms  0.xe-7-1-0.gw.pao1.sonic.net [69.12.211.5]
  5    24 ms    24 ms    25 ms  0.xe-6-1-0.gw2.200p-sf.sonic.net [64.142.0.109]
  6    35 ms    26 ms    26 ms  as0.gw.200p-sf.sonic.net [208.106.96.249]
  7    26 ms    26 ms    25 ms  xe-10-1-0.bar2.SanFrancisco1.Level3.net [4.53.134.9]
  8    27 ms    25 ms    25 ms  ae-6-6.ebr2.SanJose1.Level3.net [4.69.140.154]
  9    35 ms    26 ms    25 ms  ae-82-82.csw3.SanJose1.Level3.net [4.69.153.26]
 10    26 ms    26 ms    26 ms  ae-81-81.ebr1.SanJose1.Level3.net [4.69.153.9]
 11    94 ms    94 ms    94 ms  ae-2-2.ebr2.NewYork1.Level3.net [4.69.135.186]
 12    94 ms    93 ms    93 ms  ae-6-6.ebr2.NewYork2.Level3.net [4.69.141.22]
 13    94 ms    94 ms    94 ms  ae-1-100.ebr1.NewYork2.Level3.net [4.69.135.253]
 14    99 ms    99 ms    99 ms  ae-3-3.ebr2.Washington1.Level3.net [4.69.132.89]
 15   179 ms   178 ms   179 ms  ae-44-44.ebr2.Paris1.Level3.net [4.69.137.61]
 16   177 ms   178 ms   177 ms  ae-59-224.csw2.Paris1.Level3.net [4.69.161.66]
 17   179 ms   177 ms   178 ms  ae-2-52.edge5.Paris1.Level3.net [4.69.139.235]
 18   183 ms   183 ms   183 ms  11-INTERNET.edge5.Paris1.Level3.net [212.73.200.54]
 19   182 ms   182 ms   182 ms  te-2-2.bb-d.ba.slo.gb.oneandone.net [212.227.120.26]
 20   188 ms   188 ms   188 ms  te2-8-11.prt0.fhdis.fasthosts.net.uk [88.208.255.189]
 21   189 ms   188 ms   188 ms  88.208.255.5
 22   187 ms   187 ms   187 ms  88.208.252.129
 
Trace complete.
 

You: Comcast - tinet.net - 1and1 - Fasthosts

Me: Sonic.net - Level 3 - 1and1

If "some important high paying customer with an European presence" is routed more like I am than you are, they probably see no more trouble than I do.

Factor in what percentage of Comcast users actually spend much time on offshore sites ...

The second day I had the problem I called Comcast support. I actually got someone who understood what I was talking about. While on the phone he went to the site and had the same issue (4-8k down). At the same time he used his phone and was able to get 300-400K. So he saw exactly what was going on and that another provider worked fine. He did a traceroute of the bad comcast link (which I posted here as well) and sent up a ticket to a manager who would then forward it to the proper engineer.

So they saw it, duplicated it, documented it, and ticketed it.

This is why network engineering so fun. I wish I was the engineer who had the authority and access to troubleshoot this issue.

It would be nice if someone working on this could share what they find and how they found it.

The issue has been identified and isolated. The problem is external to the Comcast network and we have asked to have it corrected. It was caused by a very large content owner moving international traffic suddenly and congesting another ISPs network path being used to reach Comcast.

We are working with all parties to have them correct the issue and sorry for the inconvenience.

Oh wow that is great news thank you so much for your help in figuring this out!!!!

See if things are better tonight. Looks like the traffic was shifted back.

at 4:45pm eastern it is all the way up to 15k/sec. I hope this is not what comcast considers an improvement.

It is likely your problem is something different. If you get a login on this site you can PM me with specific details.

The problem continues for me.

Same as the original OP I work from California on a number of clients sites on Fasthosts. It's been impossible to get any work done on these site for a week... pages simply never finish loading.

I haven't noticed any problems tonight at all thank you very much. I really mean that! I understand this was not a comcast problem and out of the whole world there were only 3 of us complaining about the connections - and comcast took the time to figure out the problem and talk to the company that could solve the issue. Very great service - thank you comcast and all forum members who helped to get this solved.

First time in 9 days I don't have to connect through my at&t hotspot to work or even just to check my emails which were also on the uk server!

Oops I spoke too soon - seems to have slowed again - but my gratitude is there all the same - I know this is not a comcast problem and I do appreciate all your help.

anthonysf - could you please post your trace route to a website so they can maybe see if your route goes through the same problem connections? Thanks

traceroute to 109.228.20.19 (109.228.20.19), 64 hops max, 52 byte packets
1 192.168.1.1 (192.168.1.1) 0.638 ms 0.255 ms 0.236 ms
2 c-76-21-56-1.hsd1.ca.comcast.net (76.21.56.1) 29.003 ms 28.911 ms 20.422 ms
3 te-7-2-ur01.sfgeary.ca.sfba.comcast.net (68.87.197.17) 82.211 ms 8.694 ms 10.231 ms
4 te-1-3-0-5-ar01.sfsutro.ca.sfba.comcast.net (68.85.154.38) 11.232 ms 11.681 ms 12.211 ms
5 he-1-8-0-0-cr01.sanjose.ca.ibone.comcast.net (68.86.91.229) 13.970 ms 23.588 ms 11.938 ms
6 pos-0-9-0-0-pe01.11greatoaks.ca.ibone.comcast.net (68.86.88.110) 16.228 ms 15.057 ms 16.206 ms
7 xe-9-3-0.sjc10.ip4.tinet.net (213.200.80.165) 14.715 ms 15.284 ms 12.951 ms
8 xe-7-1-0.ams20.ip4.tinet.net (89.149.182.165) 175.672 ms 177.366 ms
xe-10-1-0.ams20.ip4.tinet.net (89.149.182.161) 169.671 ms
9 schlund-gw.ip4.tinet.net (213.200.75.94) 192.431 ms 194.014 ms *
10 * * te-1-2.bb-c.the.lon.gb.oneandone.net (212.227.120.134) 193.859 ms
11 te2-1.prt0.fhcon.fasthosts.net.uk (88.208.255.57) 194.285 ms 193.873 ms *
12 * * te2-1.nx01.fhcon.fasthosts.net.uk (88.208.255.237) 204.420 ms
13 server109-228-20-19.live-servers.net (109.228.20.19) 198.031 ms 195.133 ms 198.336 ms

Here is a trace route to another website I just started to do - it was working fine earlier and is now completely stalled -

»www.furniturerehoboth.com/

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.0.6001]
Copyright (c) 2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Users\Oengo>tracert furniturerehoboth.com

Tracing route to furniturerehoboth.com [88.208.252.205]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 1 ms

For me it is the whole 212.227. and the 87.106. range which is super slow (http, ftp) between about 3pm and 2am
When I use my att phone browser the websites are showing up immediately.

The problem is definitely not solved. Those two ip ranges are 1and1 ip addresses and the 1and1.de website is very slow also. Not just their customer websites.

************

7 he-3-9-0-0-cr01.denver.co.ibone.comcast.net (68.86.92.21) 32.391 ms 47.075 ms 36.005 ms
8 xe-0-1-0-0-pe01.910fifteenth.co.ibone.comcast.net (68.86.84.30) 30.176 ms 27.713 ms 41.038 ms
9 64.208.27.237 (64.208.27.237) 38.760 ms 28.302 ms 28.243 ms
10 xe1-3-0-10g.scr2.den2.gblx.net (67.16.147.218) 41.318 ms 49.729 ms 29.551 ms
11 po3.ar4.fra3.gblx.net (67.16.145.253) 157.374 ms 155.110 ms 157.623 ms
12 204.245.39.158 (204.245.39.158) 180.367 ms 182.463 ms 183.333 ms
13 * * te-2-3.bb-d.bs.kae.de.oneandone.net (212.227.120.29) 191.268 ms
14 ae-11.gw-distp-a.bad.oneandone.net (212.227.122.5) 267.717 ms 352.820 ms 276.049 ms
15 * * ae-1.gw-prtr-r161-1a.bad.oneandone.net (195.20.247.56) 191.835 ms

*********************

sorry last trace route didn't post

______________________

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.0.6001]
Copyright (c) 2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
C:\Users\Oengo>tracert furniturerehoboth.com
Tracing route to furniturerehoboth.com [88.208.252.205] over a maximum of 30 hops:
1 1 ms 1 ms 1 ms 192.168.1.1
2 33 ms 32 ms 19 ms 71.200.166.1
3 10 ms 11 ms 15 ms te-7-1-ur01.oceancity.md.bad.comcast.net [68.85.134.137]
4 12 ms 15 ms 10 ms te-4-3-ur01.salisbury.md.bad.comcast.net [69.139.174.202]
5 12 ms 20 ms 12 ms te-7-2-ur01.cambridge.md.bad.comcast.net [69.139.174.206]
6 15 ms 16 ms 14 ms xe-13-0-0-0-ar04.capitolhghts.md.bad.comcast.net [69.139.174.190]
7 18 ms 19 ms 19 ms pos-5-6-0-0-cr01.ashburn.va.ibone.comcast.net [68.86.91.13]
8 16 ms 16 ms 16 ms be-10-pe04.ashburn.va.ibone.comcast.net [68.86.84.202]
9 17 ms 18 ms 16 ms xe-11-2-0.was10.ip4.tinet.net [173.241.131.61]
10 102 ms 114 ms 118 ms xe-0-0-0.ams20.ip4.tinet.net [89.149.186.125]
11 113 ms * * schlund-gw.ip4.tinet.net [213.200.75.94]
12 * * * Request timed out.
13 * 231 ms * te2-1.prt0.fhcon.fasthosts.net.uk [88.208.255.57]
14 * 126 ms 127 ms po-96.prt0.fhdis.fasthosts.net.uk [88.208.255.97]
15 129 ms * 127 ms 88.208.255.5
16 127 ms 126 ms * 88.208.252.205
17 * * 132 ms 88.208.252.205
Trace complete.
C:\Users\Oengo>

______________________

Things are still bad on 9/27 2AM eastern. It is up to 50K/sec now but downloads keep failing. You guys with business accounts who spend the big bucks need to start complaining so this gets fixed. If Comcast is having problems with a peer then they need to switch peers. It is their job to figure out how to deliver their service to their clients not ours.

A little slower than it used to be but I am seeing my sites this evening - I hope this means things are finally getting back to normal

on 9/27 10pm eastern still not right. Download at 10k/sec and keeps failing.
Is this just a lost cause?
Has comcast given up on this?
Its time for them to buy some bandwidth on a competitor and get this service up.

I keep jinxing it - saying it seems better then a site freezes on loading.. oh well maybe tomorrow

It would be nice if someone at Comcast who works on these types of problems could tell us what the general problem is and what the timeline is to have it resolved. When I call the support number all they can tell me is that a ticket has been submitted. For all I know not enough important people are complaining and they are just throwing up their hands with the "its not our fault excuse". Is the only solution to switch to Verizon or ATT?

Probably true. I can count the number of friends and family I know who just surf (not host with) offshore sites on the finger of one hand; and he crosses the Pacific, not the Atlantic.

My guess is that you are probably the most important Comcast user complaining about their peering problem.

7:43 pm - connection is speedy (checked with 4 of my slowest loading sites) back to normal speed at least for the moment - yeah and thanks

at 8:50pm 9/28 my DL speed is still stuck at 20k/sec for that site with a 13meg/sec speed on a US test site. No awards for customer service yet.

The general problem was identified in a previous post but the corrective action was external to our network and we needed to have other Internet entities (not all Internet parties have relationships and SLAs) to correct some routing.

Please be assured that engineers were working this, making calls, emails, showing proof of issue, etc. It is unfortunate that the problem took several days to correct and sorry for the inconvenience in reaching your web site.

I hope the changes have fixed your specific issue, but please post additional if it has not.