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eekthecat
join:2009-10-15
Irvine, CA

eekthecat

Member

COX data meter accuracy and router type?

Has anyone else noticed a difference in the data usage meter's accuracy between different routers? I haven't had the time to put this observation to any testing, but it seems like the meter was wildly inaccurate (in a good way) when I was using my Motorola SBG6580 (e.g. 50GB days would register as 10GB), but ever since I put the SBG6580 into bridge mode and switched to a D-Link router, it's a lot closer to accurate (e.g. 50GB days as 40-50GB)... I'm not sure if something changed in their system or if there's just something different between the two routers?
namida12
join:2004-10-30
Las Vegas, NV

namida12

Member

I am in Vegas, and recently updated to an SB6180 and have had software pushed at me and speeds are getting better on »test.lvcm.com/.

Today (Saturday 27th) was getting 39.1 Mbps 11:10 AM.

Speeds are similar connected directly to the modem or via my Trendnet router. I was previously using a SB6120 and internet speeds were consistently in the 17-24 Mbps on speedtest when I was paying for 50 Mbps download speeds.

I have always used DSLrepots speed tests as a consistancy check and they are very consistent testing to LA...
But no one is registering fast speeds in the Vegas Valley with DSLreports speed test tool.

89100 - 89199 Las Vegas
»/archi ··· t=Search

Boulder City, Henderson, Logandale, North Las Vegas, & Pahrump
»/archi ··· t=Search

JR
TBBroadband
join:2012-10-26
Fremont, OH

TBBroadband

Member

The OP wasn't talking about speeds. He was talking about usage caps and if anyone else seen what he did.
signcarver
join:2005-03-20
Phoenix, AZ

signcarver to eekthecat

Member

to eekthecat
I was never going to mention the low values reported by the usage meter... I know mine reports less than half of what I use but there have been a lot of people mentioning it lately so the cat is out of the bag so there is no more point in remaining silent about it.

One thing that might be happening with the gateway in bridge mode is more traffic is indeed going through it... when I built my own passive device, I could see lots of unwanted traffic (such as ARP and other broadcast traffic from the isp's side) being passed through the modem. If you have anything that responds as being open to ssh, be prepared to see a perpetual bombardment of attempts to log in and brute force the password for root, admin, and administrator. When I had a linux box hooked straight to the modem, I measured over 2 GB of data in a few weeks just attempting to break in from sites in russia, china, japan and Mass. Changing the default port of most common services the attempts soon vanished.

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

Bill Neilson to eekthecat

Premium Member

to eekthecat
I started another thread here questioning the caps they have and whether they are accurate.

I just just one D3.0 & router
Rakeesh
join:2011-10-30
Phoenix, AZ

1 edit

Rakeesh to eekthecat

Member

to eekthecat
said by eekthecat:

Has anyone else noticed a difference in the data usage meter's accuracy between different routers? I haven't had the time to put this observation to any testing, but it seems like the meter was wildly inaccurate (in a good way) when I was using my Motorola SBG6580 (e.g. 50GB days would register as 10GB), but ever since I put the SBG6580 into bridge mode and switched to a D-Link router, it's a lot closer to accurate (e.g. 50GB days as 40-50GB)... I'm not sure if something changed in their system or if there's just something different between the two routers?

It's hard to say whether any metric will match what Cox's own accounting systems report.

The reason why is because there aren't any industry defined rules for determining how you count the data. Are they counting just layer 3 data, or layer 2 data as well? If layer 2, then in which network segment and what encapsulation type does that segment use? Do they include DOCSIS overhead? Are they counting packets that are dropped somewhere between your demarc and their first border router? (Your equipment and/or any remote equipment is completely unable to measure this, especially if interleaving is involved.)

These and a bunch of other variables come into play, and unless somebody inside of Cox answers how the data rates are measured, you'll never know; the best you can do is make an educated guess.

If I were to set a standard, I would say since you are offering "internet" service, then only internetwork traffic should be measured. In other words, all layer 3 (internet protocol) data that successfully traverses the space between your demarc and their border routers. Any data lost between there doesn't count, nor does any layer 2 traffic.