I used to have DSLExtreme 18 Mbps, using Speedtest.net on ethernet I would get a steady 15-16 Mbps down, wifi was steadily 14-16 as well. I recently switched to Charter Spectrum 200 Mbps, and now I get 40-80 on ethernet and 11-18 on wifi.
All my computers are pretty old, all run Windows XP, I have a Dell Dimension e510 with a Pentium 4 & 1 GB RAM, Dell Inspiron b130 laptop with a Celeron M & 1 GB, Dell Latitude x600 with a Pentium M & 632 MB RAM, And and IBM Thinkpad t40 with a Pentium M & 1 GB.
Now I know that's slow by today's standards, I've heard many people say you can't even run XP with 1 GB. But I can play many games on the highest settings smoothly with the Dimension e510. I do a lot of 3D graphics stuff on it as well. It's quite powerful for it's age. I have a bit of a hard time believing that it can't handle a 200 Mbps connection.
The laptops are all connected by wifi except for the b130. I tried the Thinkpad on ethernet as well, and I get similar speeds on all of them for ethernet and wifi. I run a speed test once and get 86 Mbps on ethernet, run it immediately again and get 30 Mbps. Upload ranges from .90 to 12 Mbps. Wifi gets 11 down once, 18 down the next, .90 up the next, 11 up the next.
It also seems to run better when I have all of my devices connected and in use at once than it does with nothing connected but a PC directly to the modem or router.
I also randomly get socket errors for both download and upload tests on speedtest.net, as well as it just getting stuck at 0 and not doing anything. I also use Ooma VOIP service, and people regularly tell me I'm cutting in and out and it frequently disconnects calls entirely.
I've had technicians out multiple times, the first one said that it was because old computers buffered the connection, the second one said that it was because it was forcing 200 Mbps down the line to the PC and overloading it and maxing out the CPU and it was too much for it to handle.
I called Charter after the two technicians came out the first time to complain about not getting the speeds I was paying for - As well as screwing things into 100+ years old wood on my house without even telling me, but that's a whole different story - they checked my connection and told me that they could see something wrong with the signal. The technician came out, managed to get 200 Mbps on his Windows 7 laptop, told us he couldn't find anything wrong when all he did was run speed tests, and said they'd have to charge me $45 bucks because they couldn't find anything wrong?! I called Charter to complain about that and they told me that they could still see something wrong with the signal!
I thought buffering was in the days of DOS & Dial-up, and I thought that if the computer was too slow for 200 Mbps that instead of overloading it, it simply would pull less out of the connection, like how a 1,000 W PSU can handle 400 watts just fine, because all the components connected to it simply pull less than 1,000 watts.
Or am I wrong? Even so, why is the speed varying so much? I get if it maxes out the CPU and the PC can't go over 80 Mbps, but why would I usually get 60-75 Mbps, sometimes 50, sometimes 40, sometimes 30, and then one time manage to almost get 90? Wouldn't it stay between 70 and 80 if that's all the PC could handle?
The modem also gets quite hot, the "technician" who didn't even know what the System Idle "Pro"cess was and thought that was what was slowing down my internet said that was normal, but I don't know if I should believe him. The metal on the cable where it screws into the modem gets almost too hot to touch, that seems a little too hot to me but I don't know.
How do internet speeds work? If my PCs are too slow, is it overloading them and that's why I can't get the speeds I'm paying for or even the speeds on wifi that I used to get when I was paying for a slower speed? I think it actually takes pages longer to load than it did before I switched, is that because it's giving it too much data at once? Should I look into getting software to throttle the bandwidth on my devices so that they can actually run faster because it won't max the CPU out anymore?
Does Windows XP buffer stuff? Is there a way I can mess with that setting?
I don't really expect to get exactly 200 Mbps with these older computers, but 80 seems a little lower than I was expecting. A technician is supposed to come out tomorrow to check out the problem the customer service rep saw again. They said it would be an experienced one. Hopefully this one will know how to work his iPhone and what a perfectly normal process that's even on Windows 7 is.
Is there anything else I can do? Demand a discount because they didn't tell me they couldn't give me full service for Windows XP when I signed up? Anything?
All my computers are pretty old, all run Windows XP, I have a Dell Dimension e510 with a Pentium 4 & 1 GB RAM, Dell Inspiron b130 laptop with a Celeron M & 1 GB, Dell Latitude x600 with a Pentium M & 632 MB RAM, And and IBM Thinkpad t40 with a Pentium M & 1 GB.
Now I know that's slow by today's standards, I've heard many people say you can't even run XP with 1 GB. But I can play many games on the highest settings smoothly with the Dimension e510. I do a lot of 3D graphics stuff on it as well. It's quite powerful for it's age. I have a bit of a hard time believing that it can't handle a 200 Mbps connection.
The laptops are all connected by wifi except for the b130. I tried the Thinkpad on ethernet as well, and I get similar speeds on all of them for ethernet and wifi. I run a speed test once and get 86 Mbps on ethernet, run it immediately again and get 30 Mbps. Upload ranges from .90 to 12 Mbps. Wifi gets 11 down once, 18 down the next, .90 up the next, 11 up the next.
It also seems to run better when I have all of my devices connected and in use at once than it does with nothing connected but a PC directly to the modem or router.
I also randomly get socket errors for both download and upload tests on speedtest.net, as well as it just getting stuck at 0 and not doing anything. I also use Ooma VOIP service, and people regularly tell me I'm cutting in and out and it frequently disconnects calls entirely.
I've had technicians out multiple times, the first one said that it was because old computers buffered the connection, the second one said that it was because it was forcing 200 Mbps down the line to the PC and overloading it and maxing out the CPU and it was too much for it to handle.
I called Charter after the two technicians came out the first time to complain about not getting the speeds I was paying for - As well as screwing things into 100+ years old wood on my house without even telling me, but that's a whole different story - they checked my connection and told me that they could see something wrong with the signal. The technician came out, managed to get 200 Mbps on his Windows 7 laptop, told us he couldn't find anything wrong when all he did was run speed tests, and said they'd have to charge me $45 bucks because they couldn't find anything wrong?! I called Charter to complain about that and they told me that they could still see something wrong with the signal!
I thought buffering was in the days of DOS & Dial-up, and I thought that if the computer was too slow for 200 Mbps that instead of overloading it, it simply would pull less out of the connection, like how a 1,000 W PSU can handle 400 watts just fine, because all the components connected to it simply pull less than 1,000 watts.
Or am I wrong? Even so, why is the speed varying so much? I get if it maxes out the CPU and the PC can't go over 80 Mbps, but why would I usually get 60-75 Mbps, sometimes 50, sometimes 40, sometimes 30, and then one time manage to almost get 90? Wouldn't it stay between 70 and 80 if that's all the PC could handle?
The modem also gets quite hot, the "technician" who didn't even know what the System Idle "Pro"cess was and thought that was what was slowing down my internet said that was normal, but I don't know if I should believe him. The metal on the cable where it screws into the modem gets almost too hot to touch, that seems a little too hot to me but I don't know.
How do internet speeds work? If my PCs are too slow, is it overloading them and that's why I can't get the speeds I'm paying for or even the speeds on wifi that I used to get when I was paying for a slower speed? I think it actually takes pages longer to load than it did before I switched, is that because it's giving it too much data at once? Should I look into getting software to throttle the bandwidth on my devices so that they can actually run faster because it won't max the CPU out anymore?
Does Windows XP buffer stuff? Is there a way I can mess with that setting?
I don't really expect to get exactly 200 Mbps with these older computers, but 80 seems a little lower than I was expecting. A technician is supposed to come out tomorrow to check out the problem the customer service rep saw again. They said it would be an experienced one. Hopefully this one will know how to work his iPhone and what a perfectly normal process that's even on Windows 7 is.
Is there anything else I can do? Demand a discount because they didn't tell me they couldn't give me full service for Windows XP when I signed up? Anything?