O Canada! → Canadian → Canadian Broadband > Bell Fibe Congestion/Throttling?

Bell Fibe Congestion/Throttling?

Greetings.

I got the Bell Fibe 15 package, and the first few days of gaming were amazing, the connection was really solid and fast (I felt like I was playing offline! That's how amazing it was) and it was working the way it was suppose too, until now...

Basically starting two nights ago, I started to notice a difference... there weren't lag spikes, but rather "slowness/button delay". I switched from Rogers to Bell just so I wasn't playing on a connection that was over subscribed (congestion issues during the day, and sometimes even at night, so 24/7 issues with Rogers, and I was trying to get AWAY from that)

The only thing I could think of is: congestion, throttling or a bot on the Bell system changed settings on my connection profile.

I made it clear to the technician to put me on a fast path channel (and he did, he was a nice person, and was helpful)

Here's my speed test and ping test:
Ping:

What?

You're upset over 6ms.....
Really?

Do you have any concept of the internet at all?

Sorry sir. I fail to see what's wrong with your connection.

Really?

Where did I say I was upset about 6ms? What are you even talking about? All I said was that it was 5 ms before... that is all.

Your connection still seems solid, I would say it's an issue with the wherever the game you play hosts their servers or if it's P2P, there's something on your computer causing the slow downs.

Also, no congestion on DSL is bit of white lie, there's no congestion on the local loop (last mile) but that doesn't mean the IP feed for the DSLAM you're connected to can't be overloaded.

your typing speed has more to with your ping than anything else. based on your speedtest stats its a pc/router issue

Your speed looks as advertised. You need to post something to show otherwise. As suggested the problem is likely with the gaming servers.

@jtl999

Ping tests and speed tests are great... I'm just guessing it's a hidden issue. First few days were amazing, no complaints until two nights ago.

Might be a defective modem... idk, might as well try to get another one and see if that helps.

There is nothing wrong with your modem.

So here's an update:

I just called Bell Tech, they ran a 3 minute line test, and they detected a short. A technician is coming tomorrow to fix the problem.

The specialist also mentioned that it was most likely on their side. (can't be an issue on my side if it was working flawlessly until two nights ago)

---

> Claims to be gamer
> Doesn't use a proxy service for optimizing ping
> Dat logic

What the hell are you even talking about, nub?

I'm not a PC gamer, so why would I need a "proxy service" for?

Point is, is that there was a problem with my connection and luckily Bell knows/admitted that there's a problem.

If you're gonna post worthless comments, then why even post at all

> nub/scrub logic

I wasn't complaining about ping or jitter at all, I don't know why people are getting the assumption that I'm complaining about ping/jitter or about Bell. I was just guessing that it could have been congestion (because with Rogers, I was lagging until 10PM) throttling (I just started downloading a lot of files the last 2-3 days, assumed they may have started to throttle) or a modem problem (lagging 24/7, but stopped lagging until it was 9-10PM)

In fact, my ping is amazing... (or at least I think it is) when I installed a fresh copy of Windows 8, I got a ping of 0 ms (not sure if 4 ms is the actual stat or if it's because Firefox adds latency on the speed test or something, not sure)

My connection before this problem happened was perfect/flawless. I'm just hoping the technician fixes the problem properly (the way it was before).

Gaming also depends on a LOT of other conditions, including the connections to the server (it's load), people you are playing with, distance, routing, etc.

In terms of ping, and only ping, if it's less than 100 you're golden. Previously with Bhell I had average ping times of over 250ms - Bhell refused to fix it, I switched to TSI and it went down to 11ms on identical wiring.

It's since gotten even better, down to 5-6ms, though Bhell's modems have made it worse.

True, good point, but I'm aware that it depends on other conditions as well, but when you're lagging every single game (and not only just in one game, but in multiple games) then you know something's wrong, and you can't blame XBL/PSN/gaming servers for it... because you wouldn't be the only one lagging.

When I played the first few days, I would be getting host on COD almost [u]all the time[/u], and when I got host... oh gawd, it was insane. Even when I wasn't host, I would have an amazing connection, no matter what game I played. Connection is even more important than skill (the truth) because even if you're good and you have a terrible connection, you'll suffer for it.

You said your ping got worst... which modem did you have before your ping went up, and what modem did you get when it got worst?

Let me know.

I'm not quite sure why all these haters are trashing this topic by saying your complaining about your ping. Like grow up will ya, someone came here for some tips and help so if you have nothing better to say leave.

OP: I kinda understand what your going through, I been having this issue for about 3 weeks now, ongoing techs visited my house and various phone calls to the test center etc etc. The problem for me I think is fixed now but I'm giving it till monday to really see if I lag during peaked hours. TBH mornings and afternoons are great, but in the evenings (6pm - 2-3am), if I run multiple speed tests after another on bell's website, my speed will drop around after every 4th-6th one and in game ping will say go from 70 - 300 randomly for the whole night.

The Tech whos been working with me for the last 2 months and knows my house, has once again replaced all the stuff at the CO. But otherwise he also said, it could be a congestion problem even after all he's done. Keep an eye on the tech and see what he does and take notes so no one else screws up ur line later.

@ what07:

Yeah, I honestly don't even understand what their problem is. :\

Are you experiencing the same issue as I am? (button delay/lag?) You say it might have been fixed, is your connection better now... do you notice a difference? Do you know what the technician did at the CO (that's the Bell box around a neighbourhood, right?) and at your house? (assuming they did something)

Did they mention anything about a short circuit?

If it's a congestion issue, is there anything that can be done about it?

Just one more, did Bell charge you any $$$ for tech's coming over for trying to resolve the issue?

@ JMJimmy:

I'm not really sure what UPnP really is all about, but what would happen if you disable it? Sucks that you're on the Stinger remote... hopefully TekSavvy can get those SmartRG modems out asap.

Re: Bell Fibe Congestion/Throttling?

Well so far, I can't really say its fixed, I did about 5 speed tests so far this evening. And about 2 of them give me a lower speed then what I normally get. In game, so far so good no delays. Not sure what you mean by button delay? But if u meant like if u click to move some place and it takes 1 sec to move there or you see urself warping around I have that problem every evening. So far so good but I cant play all night so ya lol.

When I said CO, it means central office, I don't have fiber in my area so everything goes from my house to the box to the CO. I guess he changed the slam I think and network card or something, I forgot, but this is the 3rd change in 2 months.

In august, I had another problem different from this and they mention something about a circuit there, or the wire pair inside is broken or something. In the end it was a network card being overloaded from what I expected which they never admitted too but got it fixed.

And bell shouldn't charge for this, as its a problem with them, not really your fault. All 10 of my visits were no charge. Congestion issue, the tech said, there's probably nothing he can do. But I have a senior level person looking into this for me, as I had so many problems so it got ref upward to someone checking up on me almost everyday.

Yeah, that's what I meant by button delay. It's horrible and it's literally unplayable...

How did you know they fixed it if they never admitted it? How did you find out that was the problem?

Did you run any ping tests tonight? Any better than the days that you were experiencing button delay/lag?

I'm about to PM you, check your inbox.

You gamers here realize that icmp on most networks is deprioritized, it's normal at times for timeouts, or higher pings, that's simply the nature of the Internet.

As for iUnReaL, the server you tested is 16 hops away, see my comment above, over a distance like that you have a ton of factors at play, and frankly, those pings are great, even for gaming.

It really looks like it's some other issue, not related to the connection.
If at 75ms you're having button press issues, there's likely a server issue, or Nagle is at play somewhere along the way.

Another question, are any of you running a router with dd-wrt, or have an Asus router that could be reloaded with Asus-wrt?

To be very clear, you guys cannot rely on ICMP Pings, due to the nature of the internet, ICMP is deprioritized on a great number of networks around the internet, seeing ping spikes may have nothing to do with your issue at heart.

Nope, I don't use another router, just the Sagemcom modem. Whatever the issue is, I hope it's fixed.

If you have UPNP enabled on the router, disable it and see how things are.

Also, if you really are hardcore into gaming, you should not be using a router like the Cellpipe or Sagemcom. Get a gaming grade router, put the modem into bridge mode, a lot of your issues will go away.

Just tried playing a few games with UPNP off and it doesn't help. Probably an issue on Bell's side.

See above, the Cellpipe/Sagemcom are not good routers at the best of times.
There are gaming oriented routers out there, or a good higher end router like the AC66U.

It may be worth giving one a try, you also can't discount that there may be a problem not related to your or Bells equipment.

iUnReaL, are you playing on a console as well? or a PC?

Console. (Xbox 360/PS3)

I never understood what the difference was between a gaming router and a regular router, always thought that it was a gimmick.

I might give it a try, but if it worked perfectly before, then I don't understand why I should buy another router... I also heard Sagemcom modem's have problems when you bridge it to another router.

At this point, the only problems that I could think of would be: short circuit that the specialist mentioned on the phone, congestion in Bell's network, or an overloaded network card/remote (OPI).

Bell tech coming over today, hopefully *crosses fingers* he fixes the issue.

I had a perfect connection, only for few days... *sad face*