My internet service has been out for a couple days. I didn't call about it at first because they said there would be interruptions because of sun activity or something like that thru 10/19. But I couldn't get on this morning so I called them.

The computer service had me doing several routine checks on my modem till I got irritated and asked for an agent. The agent tried to help me but I couldn't get the cable wire unscrewed from the wall so he setup a service call for tomorrow morning. He said I would see "A Big Difference"

In the meantime, I found my internet came back on without my realizing it.

My question is -- Should I cancel my service call? The reason I ask is that if he comes out he might improve my internet speed - I'm hoping. At it's best I can only get 11 and a lot of times a lot less.

So technically, my internet is fixed and I'm waffling over letting the guy come anyway for a potential improvement in service/speed.

What do you think?

Since you still have problems with the speed, it sounds like you still need some sort of service. What speed is your service supposed to be?


Is that 11 Kbps or 11 Mbps?
If you go to
http://www.speedtest.net/
what numbers does it give you?

Did that agent say anything about a service call charge? If there won't be a service call charge, then let them do what they have to do at your house. The outage could have been the result of them upgrading their service and they may have to make changes at your house.

With that in mind, before the service tech does anything at your house, ask if there will be a charge for doing any work. If that tech tells you there will be a charge, then you can decide if you want to pay the charge and let them do what they're going to do.

I wouldn't cancel that service call because something caused you to lose service. It could be they were working on their equipment, a bad service wire coming to your house, a connection somewhere in their main line, and only by testing the connections with a test set will you and they discover if the problem still exists.

Jenny, WOW! It's MB/s -- I tested using your link for speednet and my first reading was 17.40 and then tested again and got 20.75. Second read used a different server different host. Both reads were for 100mi distance.

I've never had anything close to these readings before!!

My history shows that my last readings on 7/26 were for 5.13 and 9.28 - 1000mi distance.

I think I'm supposed to get around 10 - 15 mb. It's hard to remember because they improved/changed the service levels here. 20MB/s is supposed to be their max speed for residential service. My bill says $29.95 for High Speed Residential.

Edit: Good point Homer6, I'll let them go ahead test the system. The modem is over 5-years old -- they may want to change it out for a newer/better modem.

Service guy came and checked everything. Checked the cable box too. Said that everything is working okay with internet and he made a few different connections on the outside box to give me a better signal. He did the speedtest for my system and it went up to 24 mbps. He attributes the buffering times etc to XP and slow/old processor.

I had been hearing a fan/hum in the cable box and getting some picture breakup as well. He offered to replace the box but says it's not running very hot and I have a good bit still recorded on it. He suggested I just unplug it for a couple minutes when it gets loud. If this happens more than once a week I should call again so they can replace the box. No service charge.

Also, my modem doesn't need to be changed and it is already wireless so I won't need to upgrade that when I get my new system. He said my router is also wireless so that's something else I don't need to upgrade. (I had deliberately purchased a wired router for the stability of connection as everything is pretty close together anyway.)

So I'm happy.

Great news, Sharon! I would sell my firstborn (sorry, Jason!) for those kinds of speeds! I'm grateful for my high speed broadband out here in the country, but I can only dream of speeds above 4 or 5 Mbps.

Good to hear Sharon, though if equipment has to start being unplugged for periods of time to stop something, it is only a matter of time before it dies.

Drac, we were in the same boat, bottom of the speed bracket for DSL. Then our phone co-op came around to all the cities/towns/communities and laid fiber optic cable, with fiber drops to the houses. Now our phone service and internet service runs over fiber. We opted for the 12 MB speed, which now seems like it did when we went from dial-up to DSL. Everyone could have better internet connections if the phone companies want to spend the money. But returns won't be soon enough to cover expenditures.

Just wondering if this is fast.
Ping-57MS
Download Speed-43.78 mbps
Upload Speed-5.32-mbps
Thanks
Richard

Good gosh a mighty, Richard!
Are you sure those readings are right?
My speeds are dismally slow compared to yours:
35
3.07
.71
(New home in a small town, middle of 3 internet choices.)
My previous home was twice that fast.
If you're not joking, you should be very happy!

LadyCav,I tried it 3 times and all about the same speed.
Richard

Those are really great readings, Richard!

I looked at my Mediacom Promotions page and there is one internet package better than mine.

Download up to 50 Mb/s
Upload up to 5 Mb/s

for $39.95 per month for a year.

They must have been doing major upgrades without my realizing it. I knew my internet was faster and my computer was faster but I attributed that to my reformat.

Anyway, I might go for the next level in internet speed when I get my new computer.

Then we'll talk "Whoosh"

My numbers are: Ping (whatever that is) 25 ms, Download 1.85 Mbps (I'm supposed to be getting 3 with my U-verse), and Upload .47 Mbps.

This is so sad, why such a difference? Now I understand why I keep saying I could go to the store instead of look it up online and get the information faster. My PC has slowed down in the last few months even more. Numbers are D/L 2.99 bps and U/L 0.54 bps.
Terri

What does your ISP have to say, Terri? Sometimes there are issues on their end and it takes some persistence to get them to address it.

Call your ISP up and ask about the price you're paying for what you're getting. You may find out that you can upgrade to a faster speed without paying any more than you already are.

It helps if you complain about the price you're paying now. Suddenly, they have a deal for you!


Gil.

I didn't give the test numbers any thought until I read the other posts. I ran the test three time, clicking on the New Server button before each test.

Ping stayed the same each time: 25 ms

First test: Download was 12.99 Mbps
Upload was .97 Mbps

Second test: Download was 16.01 Mbps
Upload was 1.06 Mbps

Third test: Download was 15.37 Mbps
Upload was .88 Mbps

Yes, do contact your ISP if the download speed is less than what you're paying for. And keep calling if it doesn't change.

It could very well be they are having equipment problems and are working to fix the problem. It's also possible there's something bad between the house and the main office. Or something wrong at the house. Everything between house and main office need to be tested in order to determine if everything is up to specs or if something is failing.

Also keep in mind that speeds will vary if you have internet service through a cable TV provider. Those I'm aware of run their internet service over their coaxial cable, the same cable used for cable TV.

(Unless the company has upgraded everyone to fiber optics. In which case, each person would be connected to an individual fiber within the cable. Or working through a splitter which breaks up the service between several users over the same fiber. Splitters don't degrade speeds near the same as everyone working over the same coaxial cable.)

This means that everyone who has cable TV or internet service work over the same wire and shield in that cable. Cable TV users won't notice a slow down because their service is one way, receive only. But internet users will notice a change because it's send and receive. And the speed of the internet service will decrease as more people get online.

Don't let them give you the garbage that they're only obligated to provide a connection, that the speed you pay for isn't guaranteed. Because if the speed isn't guaranteed then why are you being charged for something they can't provide. That's fraud.

Two last resorts if you can get satisfaction from your local provider. If you continue to have problems, and your provider keeps telling you there isn't a problem or refuse to try and fix the problem, file a complaint with your local Corporation Commission/State Corporation Commission. And if that fails, file a complaint with the FCC. Companies do not like dealing with either of these agencies.

Filing the complaints is a last ditch effort, but you are a consumer paying for a service. And the providers have an obligation to provide the best service they possibly can.


Edited to correct posting error.

Homer, the first number they give you is your download speed. The second is your upload speed. Upload speeds are usually pathetic compared to download speeds and you have to get a special ($) business type connection to get upload speeds equal to the download speeds.

Thanks Jenny. Guess I can't read my own writing. I corrected that post.

Just didn't want anyone to be confused by it, Homer.
Thanks for all the research you're doing.

No, there's enough confusion around without making more.

You're welcome.

On further testing I find that my download speeds vary drastically. My best speeds 16 - 24 MB/s download are in Baltimore, 100mi & Washington DC beta server. Anywhere else and my speeds drop down to 12, 9, 5. My service seems slower anyway and I'm not sure how that affects surfing from site to site as opposed to downloading a file.

Called my ISP yesterday, got no information. They wanted to know what the test results showed before they would tell me what I should be getting. Talked with the business office and I can get an upgrade for about $15.00 a month more. (won't be much faster) But I will have to sign another contract. That doesn't make me happy. But first I will be contacting someone in corporate that I have been in contact before.

Oh, my... I'd have been raising holy heck if they wouldn't tell me what I'm already paying for. That is the worst of the worst of the worst.

Modems (including DSL modems) will negotiate down when receive errors are detected. Unfortunately they never negotiate back up.

So if you're not getting the expected transfer rates, try powering the modem off a minute or so, and then test your connection speed.

Did that Inland. Now having problem testing speed at all. Does the ping (90s) then keeps flashing connecting. Internet is definitely slower. It was moving along pretty good before the internet went down and the service rep came. When I did the test after that I was shocked at the speed. Now having all kinds of difficulties. Part of the problem is that I added a big graphic mod for an RPG which insisted I have the latest DirectX, Framework 2, 4, etc, etc...

After trial and error managed to install the game, the mod and get everything working. Then used CCleaner and messed up the password connections to my bank for my financial program.
Did system restore, registry restore, program restore... Think it's fixed, but one bank is being stubborn. I'm going to wait a few days to see if it magically recovers.

Okay -- 1st test - Error -- Didn't connect
2nd test -- 3mb/s
3rd test -- 8mb/s
4th test -- 23mb/s all at default server
5th test -- 2.62 mb/s
6th test -- 20.72 mb/s (Washington Beta)

Despite the test scores I'm noticing slower performance since all this started.

I think I'll adopt a wait and see what happens for a few days. Unless you think I need to do something different.

You shouldn't be seeing large differences in your download speeds just after a reboot (of the modem). It sounds like your ISP may be having issues.

Try using the site below to test your bandwidth - they automatically select a nearby location. Wait a few seconds for the "Begin Test" button to display.

SpeedTest.net

Terri: When you talk with your corporate contact, make sure you tell that person their company refused to tell you what speed you're paying for when you called the first time. You have a contract with them and are paying for specific services, so that information should be open to you and other customers who request information about their services. Some companies have procedures in place to verify who is calling, so it may very well be that first person didn't follow procedures. But they can't withhold general information about the services they provide you. And if you don't get satisfying answers from your corporate contact, keep calling up the line. Ask to speak to the next supervisor in charge. And if all else fails, contact any local, or state commissioners and file a complaint. And it that doesn't get anything done, then contact the FCC. And Terri, if speed won't increase then don't do an upgrade. You'll just be paying more for the same you have now. Unless what you're upgrading to is a maintenance plan, in which case it may be worth it. Just make sure you read very carefully what's being offered.

Sharon: The speed of your internet connection isn't dependent on anything other than the connection between your modem and your ISP's equipment. The modem is merely the interface between your computer and the ISP.

It does what's called modulate/demodulate, which is fancy talk for an electronic translator. It turns information from your computer into a signal that can be transmitted to another location. At that location that signal is turned back into computer talk, allowing your computer and the computer at the other end to communicate.

So it doesn't matter what software you installed when this all started, it isn't going to affect that connection. Problems are the result of trouble between that modem and your ISP, or the ISP and the signal destination. Troubleshooting has to start at the ISP's end of the connection, to make sure their connection from your modem to their equipment isn't the problem. Only after that can other connections be considered. Stay on them until you are satisfied with your service.

Yes, what Homer6 said - especially to Terri... do not stand for such a dreadful breach of your contract with your ISP.

Oops, they did tell me what I should connect at but only after I told them what I was connecting at. Apparently it was within the speed that I was paying for. Did not write down what they said but will call again and see what they tell me. I have the basic:
•3 Mbps – Ideal for sharing photos with your family and friends
•6 Mbps – Ideal for watching media-rich content, movies and gaming
•10 Mbps – Ideal for multiple users in a household
•20 Mbps – Ideal for all the above plus more

Terri, if you meant 2.99 Mbps in your earlier post instead of 2.99 bps, your numbers are very close to the 3 Mbps that you're paying for.

1 Megabit (Mb) = 1,000,000 bits and
1 Mbps is 1,000,000 times as fast as 1 bps.

Most of us have faster than a 3 Mbps connection now.

Note that there are 8 bits in a byte and sometimes download programs report download speed in kilobytes/sec (KB/sec) instead of bits/second or Megabits/sec. (Big B = Bytes, little b = bits).

So if your download speed is 3 Mbps, it will be reported as 375 KB/sec.
3,000,000/8 = 375,000 bits/sec = 375 KB/sec.

Thanks for the information Jenny. This concerns me how everyone else can remember this stuff and I stay out in left field, lost!

Don't worry about it, Terri. There's no reason why anyone would know this stuff unless it had to do with their hobby or profession.

Terri, they didn't need any information from you in order to tell you what speed you're paying for. That's in their records, and isn't dependent on any speed test you run. The only information they needed would be that which validates you are who you say you are.

I wonder what they would have told you had you not known the results of the speed test?

That's what I would like to know....

Drac, I get the feeling they're just agreeing with what Terri told them. As though they're covering up something. In short, I smell a year old fish.

You and I are thinking on the same wave-length.

Inland, I just retested twice and got approx 11 mb/s download and 1.5 mb/s upload each time. There are noticable pauses in changing sites/pages on the web which I didn't notice prior to the original loss of connection.

My computer has been shutting down on it's own. At first I thought I had set something to cause it, but it's happening more frequently now. I think it's dying. Could this have an affect on my internet speed?

I agree, I didn't like that at all. It did make me feel that they were just going by what I was saying. Then again, remember I only have basic.
Terri
PS.... Can someone tell me why I can't preview my post? This happens about 75% of the time. It just says Loading Preview...

It just did the same thing to me, Terri.

Have you tried Control-R (hold down the Control key and press the R key) to reload the webpage and then see if the Preview button works? That seems to straighten it out for me.

Terri, even though you just have the basic, they still should have told you what you're paying for without you giving them any speed results information.

There have to be orders written showing what speed you requested, or are available to you. This order goes to whomever programs the equipment, runs any office wiring, and to their records bureau. Once they validated who you are, they could pull up this information on their computers.

It could have an impact on page resolution (the time it takes to display the page), but the download speed should remain a constant. If you're paying for 24 Mbps, you should be seeing better numbers.

Is this by any chance a Cable network?

Yes, it's cable.

Cable can have issues if the number of users sharing the bandwith goes too high. I'd ask the ISP to look into it.

Sharon, the speed of your internet is determined by the cable path from your provider to your house, what's been programmed into the equipment, and by the modem communicating with the providers' end. And as Inland said, it will change if the number of users increase.

The users' computer doesn't do anything to adjust the connection speed, it's just a means for users to access the internet by using the appropriate software.

The only way speed can be adjust by a computer is through the one your provider uses to program their equipment.

But I'd say you do have something going wrong with your computer if its shutting itself down. Possibly something is overheating or the power supply is failing, or something else entirely. This type of computer trouble would be difficult for a owner to trouble shoot because it's what's know as coming and going trouble. And starting a switching out of hardware in the hopes that's the problems will take time and money for spare parts. This type trouble is best diagnosed by a computer repair shop.

Thanks Homer6. The system seems to shut itself off unexpectedly when it sits idle for a few hours. It doesn't do it all the time yet. I'm just going to start turning it off unless I'm actually using it or expecting a call (internet phone).

I was going to get a new system anyway, hopefully this will provide greater incentive to leave my money in the bank.

Mine was doing that off and on for awhile along with some other strange things. Finally pinned it down to a bad stick of RAM. Replaced the RAM and have had not problems since. Thank heavens for a relatively cheap fix!

Draclvr, how did you determine it was bad ram and how did you figure out which stick?

If you haven't done this already, check that the power settings aren't set to turn off the hard drive after a few hours.


I don't know how Draclvr did it, but you can check your RAM using memtest86 or memtest86+, which is a free download.
http://www.memtest86.com/
http://www.memtest.org/

Another strategy is to remove one stick of RAM at a time and see if the problem goes away. If you find what you think is a bad stick, try it in a different slot to make sure it's not the slot that's gone bad.

Jenny, I ordered the cd from them. I probably should have at least tried to download it myself but I got nervous looking at "iso files" "extract to bootable cd", etc. Anyway, once it comes I'll test-out the memory and see what happens. It probably won't hurt to have that on hand as a utility anyway.

Edit: I just checked the power settings in my control panel. On the first screen the setting for hybernate was never as were all the other settings. On another tab there was a check block for allowing hybernation. It had been checked to allow. I unchecked it and hit apply. Don't know if that will make any difference.

Edit: So far, so good. Machine has not turned itself off yet. I'll watch it for a few days (only turning it off at night) and see what happens.

Windows 7 comes with a built-in ability to test the memory. When I ran it, it found problems with the hardware. So, I then ran memtest and it verified what the Windows 7 test found.

Does the computer have to be powered up for the internet phone to work? Unless you power down the modem I would think the internet phone would work with or without the computer on.

No. I use MagicJack and the computer needs to be on for it to work. Or at least my version. There is a newer version that plugs into the wall that does not require the computer to be on but I don't have it yet.

However, I unchecked the block in Power Management in XP Control Panel that allows hibernation. Since then it hasn't turned itself off. I'm going to give it a few days, but so far so good.

Yeah, turning on hibernation will put the computer into sleep/standby mode. Usually all that's needed to bring the computer back to life is to press the power button again. We have our computer setup that way, so I can leave it and go do something else knowing the computer will go to sleep after a certain amount of time. Then pressing the power button wakes it up.

The thing is that it wasn't supposed to be on. The first tab has hibernation listed as never. Then another tab had it listed as enabled. Maybe my computer was confused??

A computer cornfused? Never! But they do have a tendency to cornfuse.

Well, I spoke too soon. My computer turned itself off again yesterday while I watched. It did the Windows turn-off music and a moment later it was off.

I'm just going to turn the machine off earlier than I normally do and keep my fingers crossed regarding it's long and productive life.

Sharon

Did you receive the CD you ordered Sharon? If so, have you checked the memory in your computer?

If it did the Windows turn-off music before turning off, that's different from just suddenly being off as if you pulled the plug on it. Somehow it's getting the signal to turn off.

Correct - when mine was randomly turning off, it would just be off and didn't go through the shut-down procedure.

Well I don't know what's going on. I went thru the control panel and could not find any settings that would turn the computer off. I think my motherboard is running hot at 59/60c but I don't know if that would cause the system to power down.

I have to check the mail to see if my memtest cd has arrived. Will let you know the result.

Have you run any virus scans? Or Malware scans? It could be your computer has a bug that's telling the computer to shut down.

I'm with Drac and Jenny, something is giving the computer the shut down command.

There's a setting in the BIOS that tells the computer how hot it can get before shutting down.

Go through the application logs in Event Manager, you should see what’s triggering it there.

Some UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) comes with software that will automatically shut down the computer if the power goes out. If something is going wrong with the UPS, it might do something like turn off the computer when there is no power outage. Do you have a UPS and did you install software for it?

Another possibility -- the power button itself might have a bad connection -- acting as if it's been pressed when it hasn't.

If you want to check your Event Viewer in XP, here are instructions
https://support.gateway.com/s/SOFTWARE/MICROSOF/7509594/750959425.shtml

Does it "shut down" or just power off?

Where do I find the Event Manager?

Memory okay. 0 errors. Norton Antivirus 2012 complete system scan only came up with a few cookies.

Will check out Bios for overheating next and Event manager log when I can find it.

Edit: Sorry Jenny. Did not see your posting when I replied. Will check it out.

Usually I don't know when the system turns off. It either does it when I'm out and have left the system running or I've fallen asleep and wake to find the computer off. The last time occurred while I was watching TV and the shutdown music happened and then it was off.

It doesn't occur at regular intervals or times which makes me think it may have something to do with overheating. But then I've played games for hours without anything happening. This only happens when the system is sitting idle.

Will check Bios and your site Jenny and let you know my findings. (I don't have a UPS.)

Because the computer is shutting down as though its been told to shut down, is it possible there's a setting that's been set to shut down the computer after so much idle time?

I ask because some have said if this or that is going bad the computer just shuts off, not shuts down.

If there is a setting that has been changed I can't find it. I'm going to check out Norton Antivirus to see if any settings were changed when it updated. I know there is a setting there that will cause the system to turn off after a complete scan, but I'm pretty sure I told it to stay on.

I glanced at the Event Log and didn't really understand it. I think it said that Adobe tried to do something and something didn't complete and there might be file corruption.

I ran chkdsk from within Windows but it didn't tell me anything. There was no report about corrupted files or any problems. I did have it set to try to recover any damaged sectors or whatever. I didn't tell it to automatically repair as I wanted to see what the damage was first. Either there wasn't any or Windows is trying to keep it a secret.

I'm beginning to think I'm going to have to do a reformat to recover from these behavior problems with my PC. I don't want to do it because it can be a nightmare trying to get it updated to proper working order.

I think it's probable that I caused these problems by making changes in the system. Deleting files that may have been necessary, etc.

If I do decide to reformat at least I have my external hdd to backup any data I don't want to lose.

As long as you've got good backups, that's the best route. When I backed off Windows 8, that's the route I took, the PC hasn't worked this well in years.