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inconsistent download speed

I have FIOS 15 / 5 plan. It all seemed fine when I first have it installed, but this week the internet speed has been terribly inconsistent. Using "speedtest.net", upload speed is close to 5Mbps, but download ranges from 2-10Mbps during evening hours, and latency reached 100ms+. Last night was the worst - I was getting 1.1 Mbps download. Not just "speedtest.net" shows it is slow. Opening various web pages became painfully slow too. All tests were done using wired network.What is happening with Verizon?

Some records speedtest kept on the browser. 3 numbers are download, upload and latency.

"X.X.X.X","10/8/2010 8:52 PM","GMT","15.22","5.24","11","Washington, DC","0"
"X.X.X.X","10/9/2010 4:26 AM","GMT","15.28","5.19","13","Washington, DC","0"
"X.X.X.X","10/10/2010 2:13 AM","GMT","13.75","5.18","19","Washington, DC","0"
"X.X.X.X","10/15/2010 6:55 PM","GMT","15.47","4.74","5","Washington, DC","0"
"X.X.X.X","10/20/2010 12:10 AM","GMT","3.00","2.09","101","Washington, DC","0"
"X.X.X.X","10/20/2010 12:23 AM","GMT","4.08","4.91","59","Washington, DC","0"
"X.X.X.X","10/20/2010 12:26 AM","GMT","4.14","3.75","122","Washington, DC","0"
"X.X.X.X","10/20/2010 12:51 AM","GMT","3.88","5.01","82","Washington, DC","0"
"X.X.X.X","10/20/2010 12:52 AM","GMT","9.06","4.92","90","Washington, DC","0"
"X.X.X.X","10/20/2010 12:52 AM","GMT","3.13","4.89","75","Washington, DC","0"
"X.X.X.X","10/20/2010 12:55 AM","GMT","3.94","4.62","79","Washington, DC","0"
"X.X.X.X","10/20/2010 1:58 AM","GMT","1.40","3.53","91","Washington, DC","0"
"X.X.X.X","10/20/2010 2:07 AM","GMT","1.10","2.52","107","Washington, DC","0"
"X.X.X.X","10/20/2010 2:10 AM","GMT","1.99","3.06","119","Washington, DC","0"
"X.X.X.X","10/20/2010 2:11 AM","GMT","2.95","3.55","130","Washington, DC","0"
"X.X.X.X","10/21/2010 1:28 AM","GMT","10.08","5.20","20","Washington, DC","0"
"X.X.X.X"10/21/2010 1:36 AM","GMT","14.06","5.18","18","Washington, DC","0"
"X.X.X.X","10/21/2010 1:36 AM","GMT","6.70","5.20","16","Washington, DC","0"
"X.X.X.X","10/21/2010 1:43 AM","GMT","9.04","4.94","20","Washington, DC","0"

Comments

dslr595148

#1 Does this router have wireless enabled?

#2 What level of wireless security is it set to?

For example: WEP, WPA, WPA2.

#3 What is the brand, model, and version of your router?

For example: Actiontec, MI-424-WI, Rev C.

#4 Where abouts are you?

For example: I am in Bethlehem, PA.

#5 What software firewall is on your computer?

BlueRibbon

Wireless not a factor - these numbers came from a desktop PC plugged directly into the router.

Router MI424WR Rev F

Rockville, Maryland

Computer hardware/software not a factor - PC/Mac/iPhone/iPad all get the same results

Rebooted router, no difference

jmw1950

Several points. All Verizon provides is a connection to the internet, they have no control over traffic or bandwidth that is outside the Verizon network. The result is depending upon which server you pick, and traffic, I have seen results literally all over the map with speedtest.net, ranging from a fraction of what is supposed to be a 20/5 connection, to speeds well above what I am supposed to have.

A more accurate speed test for your purposes is to stay inside the Verizon Network, and run the test at an off peak time to minimize 'congestion' from other traffic on the network.

There is a Verizon speed test on the Verizon Network.

speedtest.Verizon.net

Select your location and run the test.

The other thing you can do is to run the NDT test, http://ndt.anl.gov which does a pretty good job of both measuring your speed and telling you where the bottlenecks are.

The other comment is that I would caution you about running the speed test on a Windows Vista or Windows 7 machine.

The network buffer configuration responds to the demands being placed upon it, and the default is much to small for even a 15/5 connection. You usually have to run the test several times to get large enough buffers to support your connection speed.

If you aren't running Vista or Windows 7, you should probably run the High Speed Internet optimizer to configure Windows for buffers sufficient for your high speed connection.

Good luck.

BlueRibbon

Thanks for the info. I think you are quite right. Tonight again fios slowed down to a crawl. I ran a couple of tests as you suggested:

speedtest.Verizon.net gave me this result:

down:2.52 Mbps

up: 5.02 Mbps

and ndt.anl.gov gave this result:

down: 1.78 Mbps

up: 5.19 Mbps

and slowest link in the end-to-end path is a 622 Mbps OC-12 subnet

All tests done on a macbook pro/chrome. During the day, easy to get 15 Mbps down, so I don't think it is related to my home network. Upload is always very consistent at 5 Mbps, which is strange.

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