Comcast XFINITY → [Speed] Steam downloads, does it effect others on the node?

I was wondering when I'm DLIng games off of steam at the full speed of my connection does it effect others in the neighborhood? I mean do they notice their internet is slower?

Only if your area is already very congested.

Only if you're using 100% of the bandwidth available to you and in that case you should get a newer modem (IE if you have a 4x4 modem and were using 150Mbps then you should get a 8x4 modem)

and if your neighbors have more channels bonded than you they wouldn't even notice.

I have an SB6121 modem and a Netgear WNDR3700 wireless router, I'm on the Blast speed, (50/10)

No your neighbors will not notice. Unless your neighborhood has saturation issues no way one connection pulls the neighborhood down.

A sb6121 doesnt even bond to half your available channels and 50-10 isnt even enough to make a dent.

Good to know, I'm not hogging all of the bandwidth from the node.

Ya SB6121 is a 4x4
4 downstreams = 152mbps
being on a 50 down plan puts you at just under 1/3rd of the capacity you have access to

it would be wise to get a SB6141 because its a 8x4 but a 4x4 should be fine for now.

Making a few assumptions

Your modem is legal and 100% normally functioning, and the wiring in your house is clean and tight and not causing micro reflections into the system then yeah they should not notice.

If any of those are not the case, the modem could be pummeling the node with noise and taking other's service out, but you'd also probably experience the issues, so that's not likley the case.

Same with the node being congested, you would likely notice slower speeds as well, especially since the policy is the throttle your connection if you're the clogger of the bandwidth.

aha, so comcast does throttle!

Sort of... The network management FAQ explains exactly how and why it might be applied
»customer.comcast.com/Pag ··· nagement

They have sooooo many customers, and a lot of areas are over-subscribed hence throttling techniques to help alleviate the problem. They could spend the money and upgrade those circuits.? No, spending money on software to manage the identified bottlenecks might have been the decision.

They are upgrading the lines
but then you have some customers that are still on D2 modems and are stubbornly refusing to switch to a D3

as they congest the one channel they're on Comcast has to responds to avoid having those channels congested

Sure they can upgrade to D3.1 but if the users are still using D2 modems (or even D1.1 modems) it doesn't do any good.

Can you take a minute to explain further on channel bonding between the different Docsis tiers, and how staying on 2 or 1.1 is affecting 3.1.

thanks,

David

If you're on D1.1 and its still working then they're having to support an older modulation just for you.

If you're using a D2 modems then you're putting all your traffic on only one channel up and one down.

as for 3.1 as its not out yet its uncertain but you can be sure as its going to change what we currently see as channels will be blended that if there's some old D2 modem tossing all its data on one channel it'll cause issues.

So while Comcast is upgrading their CMTS's and looking for noise so they can go faster when there's older devices on the network its holding them back, maybe you're only on a 25mbps plan but if you used a 8x4 modem it'd be better for everyone.

yeah i get ya, twas being facetious. it's "throttling" not for any punitive reason, but for congestion maintenance. and if comcast didn't implement some form of bandwidth shaping for congested nodes, the service would perform far worse.

I think we can take it as a positive. Comcast is aware, and is working to help.

The #1 problem is being aware, so Comcast has done a good job in that area.

Hopefully, as Comcast gets more customers moved to Docsis 3, the problems will be relieved.

On the subject, I have Comcast coming out to a remote location to replace a Docsis 2 modem/router with a D3. This should equate to faster speeds for the site.

Com to Spokane Washington and you would see they can't handle 1/2 the congested nodes around here, I'm on a Business Class line, and I think I'm on a congested node. (Just look @ my recent posts) 3 Gateway replacements, blame cast on a supposed bad barrel connector, and the wiring, which they installed not even a year ago, and at certain time my speeds go to absolute hell, along with latency.