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General discussion

help with new 12mb cable connection

Sep 16, 2009 6:30AM PDT

I've got sort of a dilemma.

We just ordered a 12mb cable connection for our apartment from mediacom. I'm living in Iowa, so this is really our only viable option. I've been testing it out over the past 2 days to find that the speed is nowhere near where it should be.

On an average bandwidth test with just me using the cable over a wired line rather than wireless from my netgear router, i'm only hitting about 2 to 3mb/s with a ping of 11. This doesn't seem too awful, but i can barely get my download speeds up above 100kb/s, rather than the 6 or 700kb/s I'm expecting

as far as online gaming goes, my ping is reguarly around 200-300, which also seems very high. Also cant even stream high def (3mb and up) video feeds.

checked the modem as far as settings and this is what i'm getting

Downstream Lock : Locked
Downstream Frequency : 111000000 Hz
Downstream Modulation: QAM256
Downstream Interleave Depth: 32
Downstream Receive Power Level: -4.9 dBmV
Downstream SNR: 30.3 dB

Upstream Channel ID: 2
Upstream Transmit Power Level: 52.0 dBmV
Upstream Symbol Rate: 2560 Ksym/sec
Upstream Frequency: 25000000 Hz
Upstream Mini-Slot Size : 2

the signal to noise ratio seems to be pretty high. I'm wondering if it's because of all the splits of my cable (we have one line coming into the 6 apartment complex, which gives free basic cable tv to everyone. I'm on the bottom floor, and at the end of the "splits") So, my basic question is should I be complaining to mediacom about the connection, or work on running a direct line from the cable box on the outside of the building where i can get a "1st" split?

also wondering about what the proper db i need to split my modem to. 7db, or 3.5db, or if it matters. Any help in resolving this matter would be greatly appreciated.

Discussion is locked

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yep
Sep 16, 2009 6:31AM PDT

also, im using a netgear wireless wgt624 v3 router, with a Ambit Cable Modem

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12m is a lie
Sep 16, 2009 7:18AM PDT

The number you want to watch is the receive db as long as it does not jump around a lot or get larger that -10 then you most likely do not have a physical cable problem.

Speeds are such a joke. They can say anything since they do not actually promise a minimum speed or throughput.

It does seem a little slow but cable is very dependent on who else you share with. I would try your test again in the middle of the night when few of your neighbors may be on.

You also have to be careful tring to compare numbers from a test site with actual download speeds. Unless the location you are downloading from just happens to be at the same location as the test site you have all kinds of things that can impact your performance.

The 200-300ms you must see where the delay is. Run a traceroute and you can see where the increase occurs. If it is in the first hop then it is the local segment and your cable company can do something if it is further away maybe they can if they control it. You never know 200ms maybe fine if its a international location.

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reply
Sep 16, 2009 7:36AM PDT

what do i tell my cable company if i find that it's from a local connection? and this internet is a secure network that only 4 ppl share, when ive ran my tests im the only one one

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re
Sep 16, 2009 7:39AM PDT

and im just upset that i cant even stream a hd video. do you think connecting from the box would help at all?

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4 people shared?
Sep 16, 2009 8:13AM PDT

The company charge 1 price for the 4 or 1 price for each 1? Yes I would complain loudly; otherwise they won't know.

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no..
Sep 16, 2009 11:02AM PDT

no.. its one connection that's hooked up to a wireless router for 3 computers, and one wired computer. airgo, 4 computers/people in MY apartment.

any answers on connecting closer to the box to get rid of allt he splits?

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As bill091 indicated;
Sep 16, 2009 12:19PM PDT

It's the signal strength that's important and not whether you first or last on the cable line. My guess is that you are connected directly to the box anyway.

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help
Sep 20, 2009 1:44PM PDT

still looking for a resolution. should i be calling the cable company and complaining? any help would be great. also, what DB from my splitter should be running to my modem?

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Yes I would definitely let the cable co. know...
Sep 20, 2009 4:23PM PDT

if not directly then through the landlord. Of course in this case, you are not the customer directly, the company may only deal with the landlord only; especially when we don't know what kind of agreements exist between the landlord and the cable co., but I would give it a try anyway.

It would be nice if you could deal with the cable co. directly. This way you would know the score up front and quick.

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help
Sep 21, 2009 9:29AM PDT

it's my connection that I pay for, it's not through the landlord

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If the local office is nearby then...
Sep 21, 2009 10:20AM PDT

I would definitely go there and complain; and very likely they would set you up with a tech. and determine what the problem could be. That's how it was with me and Time Warner. Good luck.