Contributor
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19 Messages
Gigabit plan - Are we allowed to use the bandwidth?
I just upgraded from a 300 mbps plan where I got 350 mbps to a gigabit plan.
At first I got 524 gbps down, 41.7 gbps up. Fair enough, I'm in a Chicago suburb and there are probably a lot of people working from home.
Then I actually tried to use the bandwidth.
I opened up a NNTP client and rate limited myself to 350 mbps and initiated some downloads. At first everything was copasetic, then I noticed my speed dropping to 300 mbps ± 3 mbps. Lowered my bandwidth limiter to 300 mbps and did some more downloads, and noticed my bandwidth going down again, until now I'm hovering around 200 mbps ± 12 mbps (slower than on my 300 mbps plan).
Is it Xfinity policy to rate limit you if you actually try to use the bandwidth? If you're paying for a gigabit plan, shouldn't you actually have the ability to use it?
Right now I'm getting less bandwidth than when I had my 300 mbps plan.
The modem is gigabit capable, and the constraints all appear to be artificial. There's CAT6 to my very expensive router which is a Netgear Orbi RBK853 AX6000 Wifi 6 set - with a router and two satellites. I normally get around 100 MB/sec backing up my Drobo 8D Thunderbolt 3 array connected to my office iMac plugged in to a satellite gigabit LAN port to a Synology 1817+ plugged into a router gigabit LAN port in the family room using the Orbi's dedicated Wifi 6 backhaul radio.
Environment: Technicolor CGM4140COMWireless Gateway, Orbi RBK853 (modem and two satellites), 2020 iMac 5K, Intel 10910 core-i9 10 core 20 thread, AMD Radeon Pro 5700 XT 16 GB, 4 TB PCI SSD, 10 gb ethernet, 128 GB RAM.
va2124
Contributor
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19 Messages
5 years ago
First off, I owe a big apology to Xfinity - it's not their fault and my low speeds are result of my own ignorance.
First thing I tried was disconnecting all cables at the router and gateway, and blowing them out with compressed air. This seemed to increase the peak speed, but speeds fell back to about 200 mpbs again.
Then, I disabled my wifi adaptor.
Speeds jiumped up to over 800 mbps.
I found a service order directive to use with the network control panel which allows you to determine the service order of network adaptors to be used for traffic. I was reluctant to disable the wifi adaptor because it's used for AirDrop, but this allows the computer to default route traffic out via the ethernet adaptor.
I also manually configured the ethernet adaptor to manual, 1000BaseT, Full Duplex, No flow control, 1500 MTU. Turning off flow control also seems to have added a bit to the speed.
I'm not getting around 700-800 mbps with wifi still enabled, and the results seem to be holding over time.
Again, sincere apologies to Xfinity.
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va2124
Contributor
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19 Messages
5 years ago
Latest update: after several gateway reboots and cat-and-mousing, local network administrators and I have apparently reached an unspoken agreement - they're not throttling me and I'm not using more than 25000 kbps (through voluntary speed limiting).
Really it's unfortunate that we had this problem - I never tried to use over 30000 kbps to my NNTP provider specifically because I didn't want to soak up too much bandwidth - as an ex-sysadmin (before I retired), I can understand the trepidation of network admins as at gigabit speeds a few users can soak up a prodigious amount of bandwidth, but I've tried to limit myself to reasonable levels (while still considering that I do actually pay for the bandwidth I'm trying to consume, and Xfinity did actually sell me this plan).
I do have a gigabit plan, and pay for unlimited data so it's fairly ludicrous that all this came to pass, but I'm glad at least we've come to some kind of accomodation.
The irony is that my speed limiting has me consuming the same amount of data I was consuming when my limit was 300 mbps (where I was getting 350 mbps). Obviously, purchase of the gigabit plan somehow must've red-flagged me causing additional concern by and attention from local network admins.
All this is simple supposition because I never did receive a call from level 2, and have never actually spoken to a local admin.
Thankfully, they've never tried to limit my connections to the iTunes store where I regularly download 1080p TV series, and there I get about 75 MB/sec.
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