Cable Modem/Internet Speed

[Dan R]

I recently upgaded my service to a 20 Mbps cable speed through my provider.
Realizing my old modem was only DOCSIS 1.0 compatible, I went out and got a
new Motorola SB5101 modem than can handle DOCSIS 2.0 and upstream speeds of
30 Mbps. I can only seem to get a maximum speed of 7.2 Mbps. The cable
company says an acceptable level should be around 12 Mbps, and after calls to
their tech support line they cannot seem to figure out why I can't connect at
a minimum 12 Mbps. They said the connection is excellent with no packet loss.
I do have a router, but when I hook the cable modem directly to the computer
it gives me the same max speed of 7.2 Mbps. I also turned off Zonealarm, my
Avast Antivirus, Winpatrol, Windows Defender, and two other things that were
running in my taskbar, with no changes. I was wondering if anyone had any
ideas what I can do or settings to change to get me to the higher speed?

I am running Windows XP SP3, Pentium 4 2.8 Ghz, 1 GB of RAM, and a 128MB
Nvidia 6600GT video card. Any help is appreciated. Thank you.

 

[Jack \(MVP-Networking\).]

Hi
Try to optimize the TCP/IP Stack.
Optimizing the TCP/IP Stack - http://www.ezlan.net/Internet_Speed.html
If it does not help ask the ISP to come to your Home and actually measure
the output of the modem.
The claims that many providers make counting on their computer at the their
control center is usually grossly inflated. Their capacity to assess you
local cable substructure from remote is rather limited..
Jack (MS, MVP-Networking)

 

[Barb Bowman]

In addition to the TCP optimizer, some questions for you
1. what NIC and driver?
2. what router (I know you have the issue taking the router out of
the picture)
3. what speed test server - and can you post a tracert to that speed
test server please?
4. can you also post a tracert to yahoo.com

I recently upgaded my service to a 20 Mbps cable speed through my provider.
Realizing my old modem was only DOCSIS 1.0 compatible, I went out and got a
new Motorola SB5101 modem than can handle DOCSIS 2.0 and upstream speeds of
30 Mbps. I can only seem to get a maximum speed of 7.2 Mbps. The cable
company says an acceptable level should be around 12 Mbps, and after calls to
their tech support line they cannot seem to figure out why I can't connect at
a minimum 12 Mbps. They said the connection is excellent with no packet loss.
I do have a router, but when I hook the cable modem directly to the computer
it gives me the same max speed of 7.2 Mbps. I also turned off Zonealarm, my
Avast Antivirus, Winpatrol, Windows Defender, and two other things that were
running in my taskbar, with no changes. I was wondering if anyone had any
ideas what I can do or settings to change to get me to the higher speed?

I am running Windows XP SP3, Pentium 4 2.8 Ghz, 1 GB of RAM, and a 128MB
Nvidia 6600GT video card. Any help is appreciated. Thank you.

--

Barb Bowman
MS-MVP
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/meetexperts/bowman.mspx
http://blogs.digitalmediaphile.com/barb/
http://digitalmediaphile.wordpress.com

 

[Dan R]

Sorry I'm not sure of some of the terminology here, by NIC do you mean
network card? If so, it is an intel pro 10/100 that came installed in my
Dell computer when I got it in late 2003. The driver I will have to check
when I get home. The router is a Linksys SBR version 2. I am using my cable
company's test server, (RCN cable, dont have the exact address with me) and
I've also used speedtest.net. How can I post a tracert to that site and
Yahoo? I apologize for not knowing how to do that.

 

[RobertVA]

...How can I post a tracert to that site and
Yahoo? I apologize for not knowing how to do that.

Have you tried?

Redirecting the tracert commands output to a text file. (enter

"%HOMEPATH%\My Documents\tracert.txt" (quotes required) after the the

command and parameters)

Open the resulting text file in an editor like Notepad.

Copy the file contents to the Windows clipboard.

Paste the clipboard contents into your post.


With results like this (IP address censored):

Tracing route to yahoo.com [206.190.60.37]

over a maximum of 30 hops:



1 <1 ms <1 ms <1 ms 192.168.1.1

2 8 ms 7 ms 10 ms 10.2.32.1

3 7 ms 7 ms 8 ms 68.10.###.###

4 9 ms 8 ms 7 ms 172.22.48.1

5 8 ms 8 ms 9 ms nrfkdsrj02-ge703.rd.hr.cox.net
[68.10.14.17]

6 15 ms 16 ms 14 ms ashbbbrj01-ae0.0.r2.as.cox.net
[68.1.0.220]

7 15 ms 15 ms 14 ms ae1-p141.msr1.re1.yahoo.com
[216.115.108.19]

8 18 ms 13 ms 19 ms ge-9-3.bas-a2.re4.yahoo.com [216.39.49.7]

9 13 ms 11 ms 13 ms w2.rc.vip.re4.yahoo.com [206.190.60.37]



Trace complete.

 

[Dan R]

1-Network card (Ithink thats what you mean by NIC?) came with the computer,
it says INTEL PRO/100 VE Network Connection. Driver says it is by Intel,
dated 6/13/05, version 8.0.21.0

2-Router is the Linksys BEFSR41, version 2

3-I am using pa.speedtest.rcn.net (RCN is my cable company)
dont know how to do the tracert thing but I am going to try now what the
next poster said to do. I tried using Dr TCP but it had no effect, most of
my settings were the same, except the TCP receive window number was alot
higher-I changed it and no difference, so I set it back to 1027840

 

[Barb Bowman]

what happens if you remove the BEFSR41, connect the computer
directly to the broadband modem, power cycle the modem, and then run
the speed tests?

1-Network card (Ithink thats what you mean by NIC?) came with the computer,
it says INTEL PRO/100 VE Network Connection. Driver says it is by Intel,
dated 6/13/05, version 8.0.21.0

2-Router is the Linksys BEFSR41, version 2

3-I am using pa.speedtest.rcn.net (RCN is my cable company)
dont know how to do the tracert thing but I am going to try now what the
next poster said to do. I tried using Dr TCP but it had no effect, most of
my settings were the same, except the TCP receive window number was alot
higher-I changed it and no difference, so I set it back to 1027840

--

Barb Bowman
MS-MVP
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/meetexperts/bowman.mspx
http://blogs.digitalmediaphile.com/barb/
http://digitalmediaphile.wordpress.com

 

[Dan R]

I get EXACTLY the same speed. There is no difference which is a bit weird.
I wanted to ask another question also about the router: it is about 7-9 years
old and in reading through the manual it does say the WAN port is limited to
10 Mbps, but the LAN ports can run at speeds of 100 Mbps. Ultimately, should
that limit my connection (if I could ever get that high) to 10 Mbps becaues
of the router? Or does the WAN port speed not matter? I can't seem to get a
definitive answer on this. I tried doing that tracert thing last night but
couldnt get it to a word/notepad file to get it to you. How can I do that?
Lastly, I updated the chipset software for my Intel motherboard last night,
to see if maybe that was the problem. It installed with no problem, yet same
speed...7.2 Mbps.

 

[Barb Bowman]

that is why i asked you to remove the router. it is definitely a
throttle. the next step is to look for newer drivers for the Intel
NIC and also check if it is set to 10, 100 or autosense the speed.

if the WAN is 10 megs on the BEFSR41, it needs to be replaced. (and
the computer needs to be diagnosed as well.)

I get EXACTLY the same speed. There is no difference which is a bit weird.
I wanted to ask another question also about the router: it is about 7-9 years
old and in reading through the manual it does say the WAN port is limited to
10 Mbps, but the LAN ports can run at speeds of 100 Mbps. Ultimately, should
that limit my connection (if I could ever get that high) to 10 Mbps becaues
of the router? Or does the WAN port speed not matter? I can't seem to get a
definitive answer on this. I tried doing that tracert thing last night but
couldnt get it to a word/notepad file to get it to you. How can I do that?
Lastly, I updated the chipset software for my Intel motherboard last night,
to see if maybe that was the problem. It installed with no problem, yet same
speed...7.2 Mbps.

--

Barb Bowman
MS-MVP
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/meetexperts/bowman.mspx
http://blogs.digitalmediaphile.com/barb/
http://digitalmediaphile.wordpress.com

 

[Dan R]

I hear you on the router, but I guess its not the problem because I do get
the same speeds. I did see last night it is checked for autosense for speed.
I thought the download I did would update all drivers of the motherboard but
maybe I was wrong. In my control panel, I do have a special "INTEL Pro Set"
icon where it gives additional details about the network card/speed, which is
where I found it set to "autosense" the speed of the connection. If the WAN
port is limited to 10 Mbps, will that impact the connection speed and should
I look to get a new router that has a full 10/100 WAN speed?

 

[Barb Bowman]

yeah. no matter what happens, the router you have is a throttle in
and by itself.

I'd try setting the speed of the Intel NIC to 100 full duplex, then
100 half duplex and see if your speeds change. again, connect it
directly to the broadband modem.

I hear you on the router, but I guess its not the problem because I do get
the same speeds. I did see last night it is checked for autosense for speed.
I thought the download I did would update all drivers of the motherboard but
maybe I was wrong. In my control panel, I do have a special "INTEL Pro Set"
icon where it gives additional details about the network card/speed, which is
where I found it set to "autosense" the speed of the connection. If the WAN
port is limited to 10 Mbps, will that impact the connection speed and should
I look to get a new router that has a full 10/100 WAN speed?

--

Barb Bowman
MS-MVP
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/meetexperts/bowman.mspx
http://blogs.digitalmediaphile.com/barb/
http://digitalmediaphile.wordpress.com

 

[Dan R]

Ignore some of my previous post, I missed the last portion of your response
about the router, I apologize. I am going to get a new router tonight that
has a 10/100 WAN port. Any other ideas for my computer? I checked with
intel, who directed me to dell for the particular network card drivers. It
appears I have the most recent one.

 

[Barb Bowman]

go into the properties for the Intel NIC and try setting the speed
of the Intel NIC to 100 full duplex, then 100 half duplex and see if
your speeds change. again, connect it directly to the broadband
modem.

Ignore some of my previous post, I missed the last portion of your response
about the router, I apologize. I am going to get a new router tonight that
has a 10/100 WAN port. Any other ideas for my computer? I checked with
intel, who directed me to dell for the particular network card drivers. It
appears I have the most recent one.

--

Barb Bowman
MS-MVP
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/meetexperts/bowman.mspx
http://blogs.digitalmediaphile.com/barb/
http://digitalmediaphile.wordpress.com