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DC/Falls Church: SLOW Speedtest.net, downloading files, Verizon test is FAST, tech won't help me

cdubz

For the last 2 weeks I am experiencing a very strange slow down on downloading large files, podcasts and jerky youtube. When I download large files I can only hit 40-50kbps max no matter what site I hit, including download.microsoft.com I know for a FACT that these sites download at the MBs at work, so something is definitely slow at home.

When I run speedtest.net or any 3rd party speed test I get a speed of 0.8-2mbps down and 25 up.

When I run Verizon's speed test it always comes up correct at 25/25.

I have cut power to the ONT, reset the router, cleared the router, plugged my computer directly into the router via Ethernet and turned off all other devices with the same result.

I also talked to tech support and she stated that there is nothing wrong with my connection because Verizon speedtest says its fine. I explained to her that all my downloads are VERY slow and it takes hours for my podcasts to come in and downloading large files from download.microsoft.com are in the 50-60kbps she said that there is nothing wrong. I even offered screenshots and she said NO there is nothing wrong. She wouldn't even offer me any solutions like ONT reboots , or router swap outs and basically made me think I am crazy.

This issue has come up the last 2 weeks so something is very weird. Anyone have any experience dealing with this?

Comments

smith6612

I've heard of a few reports about slow speeds lately. I assume these are consistent throughout the day or is it only towards the night time hours? It might be a good idea to run WinMTR to the affected websites you download from to see if there is perhaps a bad hop that might show it's face with a simple ICMP/UDP Echo check. If not, you might need to work up the chain to get someone in the backbone or router team to take a look at this problem further. Verizon's speed test is showing full speed which means there's no problem at the edge. It doesn't truly account for backbone transit though.

If you do run WinMTR, if you could post up the results for us.

whysoserious1

Falls Church here, jumped onto this thread from mine, following the link from cdubz.

I upgraded to the MI424 Rev. I and am still having major issues with connectivity. I'm a gamer and playing SC2 is impossible with the latency currently, and functional download speeds are a disaster (although it tests well on Verizon's own speed test - probably because it's a short hop).

Here is the winMTR to SC2 servers:

As you can see, there is significant packet loss on the 5th, 6th, 10th, and 12th hop. I can only imagine this is NOT good.

Advice?

bitguru

My situation is similar. I live just outside Falls Church, Virginia, and my speeds (and also latencies) have been insufferably slow.

When I called tech support, they (after walking me through various steps) mailed me a new FiOS router. I was hoping that installing it would solve my troubles but it didn't. Download speeds are still about the same. Latencies may be slightly better (perhaps due to better DNS handling). Youtube videos still pause for long periods of rebuffering, when they really shouldn't.

I'm paying for 20/5 FiOS. When I run one of the Verizon speed tests I get ~25 Mbps down and ~5 up (which is good) but when I run a different Verizon speed test I get only ~3 Mbps down (which is sad).

The "fast" verizon speed test is at http://speedtest.verizon.net/ (result: ~25 Mbps down, ~5 Mbps up)

The "slow" verizon speed test is at http://www22.verizon.com/home/fios-fastest-internet/#plans [wait for page to load, then click on red "speed test" button below the comparison table] (result: ~3 Mbps down)

more speed tests I've tried:

http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/ (result: ~2 Mpbs down, ~5 Mbps up)

http://www.dslreports.com/speedtest?flash=1 (result: varies from 2-6 Mbps down, ~4 Mbps up)

http://speedtest.net/ (result: ~3 Mbps down, ~5 Mbps up)

I've run these tests several times and they do vary. I'm pretty much quoting the max figures over the last few days. Often they are slower, even under 1.0 Mbps down.

So what's going on here. Does Verizon have a big fat pipe into my house, but a skinnier pipe upstream that can't keep up with the neighborhood?? I have no idea, but I don't like it.

UPDATE: This other forum thread gives evidence of dropped packets. One more thread complaining of slow Northern VA speeds.

cdubz

Thank you !!! I thought I was alone, I have even purchased a high end wireless router w/ gigabit switch and thought maybe that would help but it didn't Well at least I have a nice wireless bridge and switch 🙂 I will post my packet my test results in a bit.

cdubz

WOW, I can't believe the packet loss occuring down the line at some of the verizon hops.

Here is my WinRT test to youtube this is nuts, look at G0-8-3-5.WASHDC-LCR-22.verizon-gni.net

Host	%	Sent	Recv	Best	Avrg	Wrst	Last
Wireless_Broadband_Router.home	0	594	594	0	0	1	0
L100.WASHDC-VFTTP-126.verizon-gni.net	0	594	594	5	12	847	6
G0-8-3-5.WASHDC-LCR-22.verizon-gni.net	12	407	360	6	12	43	10
so-7-1-0-0.RES-BB-RTR2.verizon-gni.net	7	477	448	6	16	175	8
0.so-6-0-3.XL4.IAD8.ALTER.NET	10	432	392	6	14	163	8
TenGigE0-7-1-0.GW7.IAD8.ALTER.NET	6	495	470	7	10	42	11
google-gw.customer.alter.net	11	421	378	7	32	122	10
216.239.46.248	0	594	594	7	18	160	92
72.14.238.173	8	453	418	8	12	26	11
iad23s05-in-f8.1e100.net	0	594	594	8	12	46	12

tns

@cdubz wrote:
WOW, I can't believe the packet loss occuring down the line at some of the verizon hops.
Here is my WinRT test to youtube this is nuts, look at G0-8-3-5.WASHDC-LCR-22.verizon-gni.net
Host % Sent Recv Best Avrg Wrst Last
Wireless_Broadband_Router.home 0 594 594 0 0 1 0
L100.WASHDC-VFTTP-126.verizon-gni.net 0 594 594 5 12 847 6
G0-8-3-5.WASHDC-LCR-22.verizon-gni.net 12 407 360 6 12 43 10
so-7-1-0-0.RES-BB-RTR2.verizon-gni.net 7 477 448 6 16 175 8
0.so-6-0-3.XL4.IAD8.ALTER.NET 10 432 392 6 14 163 8
TenGigE0-7-1-0.GW7.IAD8.ALTER.NET 6 495 470 7 10 42 11
google-gw.customer.alter.net 11 421 378 7 32 122 10
216.239.46.248 0 594 594 7 18 160 92
72.14.238.173 8 453 418 8 12 26 11
iad23s05-in-f8.1e100.net 0 594 594 8 12 46 12

Packet lost on ping can be meaningless. Some of these intermediate servers never respond to pings, and many servers will not bother responding when their load is heavy.

cdubz

It appears the problem has gone away, for me at least.

I am back to consistant 30/25 speeds.

http://www.speedtest.net/result/2122157252.png

bitguru

Things are better this evening, back where they are supposed to be. Let's hope it lasts.

I spent about an hour chatting with tech support this afternoon, trying to make them aware of the packet loss between two of their routers. I let them take control of my computer and run some tests. I don't know if what I did had an effect or not. They started with rinky-dink stuff, but eventually I got them to say:

Gema (15:08:57): yes the issue will be escalated

I thought that sounded promising, but then:

Gema (15:35:56): after the pc and the mac are optimize i assure you it will work much better http://verizon.net/optimizesettings

Gema (15:37:12): and the reason why there was no increase or change even do you have the new router is because the devices need to be optimize

Gema (15:38:06): ... once the pc macs are optimized and if issues still persist please do reach us back , will leave the notes , so we can reach our network department

Sigh. By "optimize" they mean adjusting the sizes of the TCP send and receive buffers, stuff like that. It can make a difference, but not the kind of difference we're talking about here.

So I don't know if I had an affect or if the timing of the fix was coincidental, but I'm glad things seem to be fixed.