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General discussion

SBC DSL - Unstable Connection Speed

Apr 24, 2005 7:03AM PDT

I have been using SBC Yahoo/DSL since moving from one suburb of Chicago to another (why I ever left my blazingly fast, ALWAYS on, Comast cable is something I have been questioning for a year now... guess I just thought I'd try something different).

My config - SBC Yahoo/DSL with an Effecient Networks SpeedStream 5100 DSL Modem, connected to a Linksys WRG54G router. 2 XP PC's, 1 Linux server and 1 Win2K3 server are directly connected to the Linksys router and there are two laptops wireless connecting and two work laptops connecting, wired, in the evenings and weekends.

Everything was solid at SBC's base rate of 384Kpbs (or whatever it is). About 6 months ago I upgraded to ther 1400Kbps service and things seemed to go okay (failry solid connection speeds of over 1,400Kbps). Recently, the 2WIRE DSL modem took a dirt nap and I replaced it with the SpeedStream modem.

Here's the problem.... About every three days, the connections speed (teseted via 2wire.com) slows down to 100Kbps or less and sometimes drops the connection completely. Restarting the modem corrects this for a few days till I have to restart again.

Is there a way to test this modem to see if it's also going bad? Or, maybe something else in the overall setup is not optimal?

Any hints/tips are appreciated, just DON'T say "Go back to Comcast..." as the little lady (an IT Executive)won't allow it because:

1. "What's wrong the 1,400K, it's much faster than it was at 384?"
2. "It's plenty fast enough for me."
3. "It costs too much."
4. "You spend too much time on the internet already" and,
5. "You have enough computer toys."

Thanks folks,

Discussion is locked

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Try here
Apr 25, 2005 1:53AM PDT
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Tried that
Apr 27, 2005 10:54PM PDT

I tweaked the OS per the Dr. TCP tweak. Everything looked solid (until this morning). I noticed things seemed slow again. Tested the speed and *wham* down to 214k again. I reset the modem and I am back to 1300k +. I guess I'll keep looking.

Thanks