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WildOne1
join:2011-11-26
Sugar Land, TX

WildOne1

Member

ATT U-Verse: Actual Internet Speed vs Advertised

I recently switched from Comcast to ATT UVerse.

My kids are big online game players and are now complaining about the internet speed despite that I'm paying for an advertised speed from ATT equivalent to the advertised speed I was getting from Comcast (ie "Max" service, 12 MBS).

I've been doing speed tests over the last couple weeks and getting these average results:
ATT-
Down: 3475 Kb/s
Up: 1322 Kb/s

Earlier Comcast Results-
Down: 11257 Kb/s
Up: 4057 Kb/s

I've been pretty shocked. Is this experience typical? I'm paying for supposedly 12 Mb service and getting less than 4? Can anything be done?

Best,
Bill
Frodo
join:2006-05-05

Frodo

Member

I wouldn't say it's typical. I have the 12Mb also, at speakeasy, I'm showing from Dallas:
-Download Speed: 10868 kbps (1358.5 KB/sec transfer rate)
-Upload Speed: 1409 kbps (176.1 KB/sec transfer rate)
from New York:
-Download Speed: 11577 kbps (1447.1 KB/sec transfer rate)
-Upload Speed: 1410 kbps (176.3 KB/sec transfer rate)

Inside the modem, I see:
-------------- Download ---- Upload
User Rate --------13152 kbs 1536 kbs
Max User Rate --- 35436 kbs Not Available

Darknessfall
Premium Member
join:2012-08-17

Darknessfall

Premium Member

On my U-verse I would get roughly 5-10% more than the advertised speed.

Nuckfuts
Premium Member
join:2003-10-18
Joliet, IL

Nuckfuts to WildOne1

Premium Member

to WildOne1
What are they playing, PC or Xbox Live, PS3? Online shooters (COD BO2)? You might have line issues causing problems and also to note if you are on VDSL2 (This is the TV version of U-verse) it is interleaved so you will have higher latency (ping) than cable which usually will cause lag. Though that speed is good enough to play online they might be getting alot of lag/latency due to line issues/routing/high pings etc. so I would contact Tier 2 here or call them. I would not settle for those speeds. I have had U-Verse for 4+ years and my speeds are always fairly close to advertised speeds and I play on Xbox Live and it runs fairly smooth for me.

»AT&T Direct

I would also run a ping test


WildOne1
join:2011-11-26
Sugar Land, TX

WildOne1 to Frodo

Member

to Frodo
Frodo,

thanks for the reply.

I'll try the test at speakeasy also.

When you say "Inside the modem, I see", to what are you referring to? Do you need a special modem to "see" this? Is that another/different test? Please explain.

Best,
Bill
UverseTech2
join:2012-08-04

UverseTech2 to WildOne1

Member

to WildOne1
Are you running these tests over wired or wireless? Try wired if you were trying it over wifi.

In your area we always ran short on the 3801s, the black modem, the 3800's, silver modem, have degrading wifi issues.
WildOne1
join:2011-11-26
Sugar Land, TX

WildOne1 to Nuckfuts

Member

to Nuckfuts
Hey N,
they play mainly Battlefield and League of Legends on PCs.

How do I find out if I'm on VDSL? I notice that my tests since switching to UVerse do, in fact, show higher latency (~25ms with CC vs ~55 with UV).

Who/what is "Tier 2"? Sorry for all the questions; just trying to get this figured out.

Best,
Bill
WildOne1

WildOne1 to UverseTech2

Member

to UverseTech2
Hey UVTech,

thanks for the reply.

We have Cat5 and wireless through the house. I'm running the tests on a computer with a wired connection.

The kids play on computers w/ a wireless connection. I'll get them to try wired. But, to me, the bottom line is that they were playing on the wireless connections prior to the switch from Comcast...nothing's changed except the provider. Now, with UVerse, they are complaining about slow connections. Now, a complaining teen isn't something I take too seriously but the data backs it up; we're significantly slower than we were.

The modem that came w/ UVerse is a silver modem; a 2Wire model 3800 HGV-B. How severe a problem is the "degrading WiFi? Is this something that needs to be replaced/upgraded?

Best,
Bill
UverseTech2
join:2012-08-04

UverseTech2

Member

The 3800s should have been removed 3 years ago when the 3801s came out. The signal goes out slowly and eventually just goes.

If possible see if the support folks would ship you a 3801 or make them roll a tech and get you another modem. You will be serviced out of the Presidio garage and make sure they bring the 3801. This garage was out of these sporadically. You have pretty good outside plant there in the Sugarland area, that was my fav place to go when i was there, never had line issues.
Frodo
join:2006-05-05

Frodo to WildOne1

Member

to WildOne1
said by WildOne1:

Frodo,
When you say "Inside the modem, I see", to what are you referring to?

I have the 3600 modem. You can view the modem using a web browser. I think both the 3600 and 3800 will come up using:
»192.168.1.254
From there, I click on the "setting" tab, and then the "broadband" tab. The stats for your DSL connection should show under "DSL Details", depending on how similar these modems are.

On the 3600, the relevant page is »192.168.1.254/xslt?PAGE=C_1_0
It may be located somewhere else on the 3800

Mangix
join:2012-02-16
united state

Mangix to UverseTech2

Member

to UverseTech2
said by UverseTech2:

The 3800s should have been removed 3 years ago when the 3801s came out. The signal goes out slowly and eventually just goes..

This is pure speculation on my part, but it may have something to do with the default transmit power. Most SOHO routers transmit at 100mW(20 dBi) by default whereas the 2Wire U-Verse Gateways tend to transmit at 400mW by default. I suspect this is causing the wifi radio to fail.

A small note: I have been running a 3600HG-V at the transmit set to 25mW(faster speeds for some reason) for almost a year and have 0 issues.

Nuckfuts
Premium Member
join:2003-10-18
Joliet, IL

Nuckfuts to WildOne1

Premium Member

to WildOne1
I put the AT&T Direct link in my post. They are very good at making sure your line all the way to the RG is good. They can run a line test to make sure. They are much better than Tier 1 support. Do you know which modem you are on (model #)? Like I said, you will get higher pings with U-Verse. If you have VDSL you can download this program and post your error table and bitloading graph so we can see if you are having issues.

»uvrealtime.com/

Rambo76098
join:2003-02-21
Columbus, OH

Rambo76098 to WildOne1

Member

to WildOne1
This was roughly my experience with them, getting 40-60% of what I paid for. When you called, they insisted everything was fine, and then would try to upsell you on the 24MB package.

I did upgrade at one point from 12 to 18 and the speeds did increase, which made me very suspicious why they couldn't manage better speeds on the lower package.

Bill Neilson
Premium Member
join:2009-07-08
Alexandria, VA

Bill Neilson to WildOne1

Premium Member

to WildOne1
I get the 18 and regularly get between 15-16

It isn't 18 but....frankly, I will take it since so many here complain of barely getting half of what they are promised....and yes, I know it is not technically promised but hell, we are paying for it.
WildOne1
join:2011-11-26
Sugar Land, TX

WildOne1

Member

Thanks for the post Van.

Are you using DSLREPORTS for measuring your speed?

I'm just astounded by the differences in speed measured by the various sites. I retested again today (after I moved to 24 mb service) DL/UL (Mbs):

DSLREPORTS: 2.7/2.15
ATT.com/speedtest: 22.6/2.7
speakeasy: 23.0/2.9

I've always thought of DSLREPORTS as being the most objective; they have the least to gain by doing any number "fudging". I'm always suspect of a site that has a vested interest in the outcome (ie att.com).

Dennis
Mod
join:2001-01-26
Algonquin, IL

Dennis to WildOne1

Mod

to WildOne1
You should see roughly 92% of your speed when doing speed tests due to ethernet overhead (not AT&T's fault). Of course it comes down the size of the packets really in the end and what your doing. There is no way AT&T would be giving your a quarter of your speed on purpose.

Looks like the speakeasy and AT&T test speeds are the most reliable and line up with what i said above.

ymojica
Premium Member
join:2005-09-13
Houston, TX

ymojica to WildOne1

Premium Member

to WildOne1
I had U-verse in the past,and decided to switch to Comcast because I couldn't stand the fact that I was paying for a 24mbps service and was getting a fraction of that. The internet part on ATT is shared with the tv side and eats some of your bandwidth when you are watching HD programing on multiple devices. Since I switched to Comcast I been a happy camper and my speed is always steady with no powerboost.
I may consider switching back to ATT when they offer something like this.



Nuckfuts
Premium Member
join:2003-10-18
Joliet, IL

Nuckfuts

Premium Member

said by ymojica:

I had U-verse in the past,and decided to switch to Comcast because I couldn't stand the fact that I was paying for a 24mbps service and was getting a fraction of that. The internet part on ATT is shared with the tv side and eats some of your bandwidth when you are watching HD programing on multiple devices. Since I switched to Comcast I been a happy camper and my speed is always steady with no powerboost.
I may consider switching back to ATT when they offer something like this.

[att=1]

LOL, like never for AT&T, LOL. I don't know what you are paying for that per month but I would hate to see what AT&T would charge if they ever could offer that.
chgo_man99
join:2010-01-01
Sunnyvale, CA

chgo_man99 to WildOne1

Member

to WildOne1
you need to test when no one is playing or downloading.
chgo_man99

chgo_man99 to Nuckfuts

Member

to Nuckfuts
jitters matters the most in games. if latency is like 30ms but jitter only 1-3ms thats pretty good!
UverseTech2
join:2012-08-04

UverseTech2 to Nuckfuts

Member

to Nuckfuts
I know the ping rate is a bit high but I'm not a gamer just DL, $93.00 tax included. Who needs to pay for TV service with speeds like this

ymojica
Premium Member
join:2005-09-13
Houston, TX

ymojica to Nuckfuts

Premium Member

to Nuckfuts
I was paying $55 with U-verse, now I only pay $40 more but IMHO is well worth it for this package.

Bill Neilson
Premium Member
join:2009-07-08
Alexandria, VA

Bill Neilson to WildOne1

Premium Member

to WildOne1
I dropped down from 18 to 12 last night due to me finding that the 18 speed was just not worth the IMO absurd price and I wasn't getting the actual speed of 18.

At 12, I get around 11.....which is IMO great.

David
Premium Member
join:2002-05-30
Granite City, IL

David to Mangix

Premium Member

to Mangix
said by Mangix:

said by UverseTech2:

The 3800s should have been removed 3 years ago when the 3801s came out. The signal goes out slowly and eventually just goes..

This is pure speculation on my part, but it may have something to do with the default transmit power. Most SOHO routers transmit at 100mW(20 dBi) by default whereas the 2Wire U-Verse Gateways tend to transmit at 400mW by default. I suspect this is causing the wifi radio to fail.

A small note: I have been running a 3600HG-V at the transmit set to 25mW(faster speeds for some reason) for almost a year and have 0 issues.

linksys wrt54g routers had this problem in the beginning as well. They would burn out over time due to too much power and wi-fi really sucked. Then that DD-WRT came about and essentially cut the power in like 1/2, which fixed a wide range of problems.

I agree cut the power of the wi-fi (which you should be able to do within the 2wire's wireless page) and see if that helps.
Paralel
join:2011-03-24
Michigan, US

1 edit

Paralel to WildOne1

Member

to WildOne1
I get 95.8-96.5% of the advertised 12 mbps down and 97.6-98.7 of the advertised 1.5 mbps up. Given the overhead, that is technically more than I should be getting. Ping is 26-34 ms, jitter is 1ms. I'm perfectly happy.

If I'm running 4 HDTV streams, I think it should drop down to 8 mbps, but I do that very rarely, so I don't think I've ever actually tested it under those conditions.