Quaoar
join:2004-08-11
Fort Collins, CO
| PowerBoost on 8M/768K service is Borked?
I would have posted to the powerboost topic, but that is so disintegrated as to be unreadable at this time.
Some (many?) with 8M/768k service are reporting that PowerBoost is inoperative, and in many cases, the premium service is more like 6M/768k.
Does anyone have a solution? Customer Service has no clue. I swapped out my modem just to eliminate it from the mix. Prior to PowerBoost, I reliably had speed tests in the 9M-10M range for download. After PB, I have 5.5-6.5 download. Upload remains in the 7xyK range.
BTW, my modem signal stats are well within the acceptable ranges and identical both with old modem (westar) and new modem (moto 5101).
Q |
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gar187er
Premium Alcoholic
join:2006-06-24
Dover, DE | thats seems like a regional issue...im 8 megs here in delaware and i get my powerboost....as im sure many others do too....does it seem like they are throttling you? |
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egood71
You Gotta Love It
Premium
join:2000-08-28
Marietta, GA
 ·Comcast
| reply to Quaoar
I have to agree with Quaoar, I haven't see the 'PowerBoost' on my 8 meg connection. I have been watching for it but a no show here in Acworth, GA.
(Thought I was the only one not experiencing the 'PowerBoost')
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PROUD VETERAN! U.S. ARMY 11B 01JAN90 - 01OCT97 |
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CableTool
Poorly Representing MYSELF.
Premium
join:2004-11-12
| I havent looked into it to much and we havent had any service calls regarding power boost yet either.
I have noticed that when I download something using the Firefox DL manager I NEVER see PB. But when I click on a link and my Windows prompt pops up and I choose dl or open I can see Powerboost in all its glory. Sometimes I can tell because that 4-5m file just DL's or opens so fast the status window never even pops up so I cant even see teh speeds. Other times it will and Ive seen the PB.
Meh.
As most have stated it doesnt really help with large downloads which is what most are doing. For smaller dl's such asfiles, movie clips, music etc its a handy thing.
Also my PB has never shown on a speed test either as others have stated and posted.
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*´*)
¸.•´¸.•*') ¸.•*.
(¸.•´ (¸.•'
Technicians -Unplugged |
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tivoking
join:2005-02-03
48077 | reply to Quaoar
Yep. On the 8M/768K. Comcast stated my signal is great, so that is not the issue. It is reporting to Comcast as a DOCSIS 2.0 modem, so that is not the issue either. Someone near me is on the 6Mbps and gets Powerboost, but I do not on the 8. |
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priller
join:2000-10-20
Gainesville, VA
 ·voip.ms
·Callcentric
·Vonage
·callwithus
2 edits | reply to Quaoar
Download Speed: 10483 kbps
Upload Speed: 697 kbps
... And that's what I see 9-out-of-10 times on my 8M tier, which is nowhere near the advertised "boost". Most people on the 6M tier report better than that.
I'm starting to feel like I'm being ripped off.
One Sunday morning I got:
Download Speed: 19954 kbps
Upload Speed: 698 kbps
... but that's the rare exception. |
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NetFixer
Freedom is NOT Free
Premium
join:2004-06-24
Murfreesboro, TN
·Vonage
 ·Cingular Wireless
·AT&T CallVantage
 ·AT&T Southeast
| reply to Quaoar
In order to understand PowerBoost, you have to understand ISP-speak. Take for example, this quote from the Comcast FAQ What is PowerBoost and how does it work?
PowerBoost can provide customers with extra bursts of download speed that is
- Up to 12 Mbps on Comcast's 6 Mbps service
and
- Up to 16 Mbps on Comcast's 8 Mbps service
The key words are "can" and "Up to" as oppposed to the common misinterpretation of those words as meaning "will" and "At least".
--
We can never have enough of nature.
We need to witness our own limits transgressed, and some life pasturing freely where we never wander.
Test your firewall. |
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markofmayhem
join:2004-04-08
Pittsburgh, PA
| I think it would be nice for this well educated community to get together and find a nice, routine, standardized way to test "powerboost". A lot of posters write "my Powerboost isn't working", but leave out any details as to why they feel this way. It would be nice to have a little guide by those who understand exactly what is going on with Powerboost so that we can all "test" our connections to see if
a. Powerboost is even present in our area
b. What the average Powerboost level is for each of our connections
c. If there is a sudden decrease in Powerboost but not provisioned speed
Just a nice 5-10 step process, as speed tests don't work and I keep hearing about large files not being a good test either (FTP a 25 MB file). |
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NetFixer
Freedom is NOT Free
Premium
join:2004-06-24
Murfreesboro, TN
·Vonage
·Cingular Wireless
·AT&T CallVantage
·AT&T Southeast
| said by markofmayhem  :I think it would be nice for this well educated community to get together and find a nice, routine, standardized way to test "powerboost". First you would need to get Comcast to bypass the marketing ISP-speak and actually publish the specs. Don't hold your breath. 
--
We can never have enough of nature.
We need to witness our own limits transgressed, and some life pasturing freely where we never wander.
Test your firewall. |
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Wayne99021
Premium
join:2004-12-28
Mead, WA
| reply to Quaoar
I think most are aware of the "can" and "up to" of the power boost. I just don't think it should degrade the 8 meg tier.
My example is before power boost I was getting bursting speeds up to 13000 down. I could download SP2 from Microsoft and would normally get 1 mg or a little above and never below 750kb. Now my bursting rarely hits 10000 and I have been as low as 100.7 kb on the SP2 download from Microsoft.
On the power boost thread, TD NICKELL of Washington state couldn't get power boost on the 8mg tier so he cancelled the 8 mg and went back to 6mg and is now getting the power boost speeds.
The people I know who are on the 6mg tier speeds have almost doubled since power boost for the first part of the download. The ones on the 8mg tier as not gained anything and in some cases like mine have lost speed.
This is just too much of a coincidence for there not to be something wrong. |
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tivoking
join:2005-02-03
48077 | reply to markofmayhem
I have been getting 8.2Mbps speed test results on multiple speed test sites for the past year. This has never changed since Powerboost is supposedly available in my area. |
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AthlGrond
Premium,MVM
join:2002-04-25
Aurora, CO
·Comcast
2 edits | reply to Quaoar
I'm on the 8Mbps tier, and my speed test from last night was 12158/701 kbps. I appear to be boosting.
I don't know if my regular speeds have been impacted since I didn't usually get 1MB/s downloads before power boost went in, and that hasn't changed.
I'm using the SB5100.
[Edit]
Quaoar, are you a former AT&T customer or has your cable connection always been with comcast?
[/Edit]
--
"When you're an Anvil, hold you still;
When you're a Hammer, strike your Fill." -- Benjamin Franklin |
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tivoking
join:2005-02-03
48077
2 edits | reply to AthlGrond
I have always had Comcast. Comcast has been the only provider in my county for 24 years, until they had to share with Americast\WOW. Since Powerboost has been available in my area, I have not seen any increase or decrease in downloads, or speed tests. Exactly the same. My modem has excellent signal strength, and is reporting as DOCSIS 2.0. |
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aggiejy
Premium
join:2002-07-10
Wimberley, TX | reply to Quaoar
I had 8m plan in Dallas here since they offered it. When I first signed up, it worked. For the past few months, it only tests at 6m. So I just downgraded to the 6m plan. Now I get 5 megs. Oh well. |
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AthlGrond
Premium,MVM
join:2002-04-25
Aurora, CO
·Comcast
| reply to tivoking
When I was converted from AT&T to Comcast my account was messed up and I didn't know it until just a few months ago, I was thinking that perhaps that might be a contributing factor to people not getting the 8Mbps + powerboost now, their accounts are in a similar state to what mine was. (Previously I got the full speeds but not in tests, and I could not get my free IGN account to work.)
--
"When you're an Anvil, hold you still;When you're a Hammer, strike your Fill." -- Benjamin Franklin |
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markofmayhem
join:2004-04-08
Pittsburgh, PA
| If anyone is using java-based speed tests to see if powerboost is working, please stop. It has been proven again and again that java-based speed tests are very unreliable. Find a nice FTP server that can push data to you as fast as your connection can handle and test it that way. I downloaded SP2 from MS's site last week and received horrible speeds as well, but a few days ago it was blazing through as normal again. I can't say if it was Microsoft's push that was slow or my connection that was slow and still consider myself sane and reasonable. The same night as that slow SP2 download, I hit my max speed downloading from Nero's FTP site, which is very unusual. |
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NuAlphaMan
join:2006-08-07
Bowie, MD
| reply to Quaoar
Well, I've just upgraded to the 8M tier and have been bursting out the seams! I used to run speed test all the time when I had the 6M tier and never exceeded the 6M.
For those who say it's not working, you need to be sure it's in your area. They say the plan is for it to be released everywhere by the end of the year. |
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minkink1
join:2006-01-05
Milton, MA | reply to Quaoar
 oh yeah whos the man |
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priller
join:2000-10-20
Gainesville, VA
·voip.ms
·Callcentric
·Vonage
·callwithus
1 edit | Grrrrrrr!!!! 
yes ... I'm in a PB area and have the 8/768 tier. This is actually good. |
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digitalboy26
join:2003-10-17
Milford, MI | Geez... all you folks whining about ~10mb... I'm happy when I actually hit 8mb.
Though, I've noticed that my upstream has been spiking to 900k. |
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