Are they ripping me off?!?

hey guys! And in-advanced thank yous for anyone who can help (or at least understand what i'll try to ask help for here...)

Ok, I've got a cable modem connection, paying (supposedly) for 1Mb transfer.

Thing is, internet's going really slow lately and I'm more than sure that it's not my pc's problem.

I tried doing some of those "speed tests" I find on inter, and the numbers variate during the day, but in are average, they're low (100kbps for download; 16kbps for upload)--->(average). I called my server more than once, and they claim everything is in order (of course they do!)

My big Q: is that right? Should those numbers be around 100-400 for download and 12-30 for upload? Basically: are they ripping me off??!

thanx again!!

x,
mary.-

 

Are you sure it's not 100kBps as this would fit right in with a %20 loss for internet houskeeping? BTW, unless something is really wrong, those speedup programs don't do much IMO.

 

I had had the same problem, and blamed my DSL provider, until I was repairing my folks computer and saw a 10X increase in network speed. It is possible it is your computer, but not a given.

You could try what I did accidently and put a new(er) computer on your network.

Turns out my problem was I had had more than one network card installed over the years, and the older drivers were conflicting. It also seems that Win98 is basically slower than XP using identical hardware, at least it has worked this way for me.

 

Hi Mary,

I get this problem a lot to resolve.

Sometimes it's just a temporary blip and sorts itself out within a few days, so don't rush into any fix.
Sometimes the system capacity gets overloaded at a particular time of day but is OK at other times.
Sometimes the modem is substandard and replacement with a known good one cures the problem.
If a known good system (pc and modem) doesn't improve matters then there is inadequate feed from your supplier or a mouse has partly chewed through the cable. Does the TV have variable reception?

The moral - It will either get better or worse. If it gets worse get it fixed.


Studio T

 

hey guys...thanks for the replies.

well, everything's installed on a new pc, got a new modem 2 weeks ago, the tv signal is great and i'm really hoping not to see any mice around...

i guess the good connection comes and goes... but i'm still gonna have a [telephone] fight with my inter supplier...:mad

thanks again, have a great weekend!!

m.-

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cable_internet