Electrical storms
Since early August, my Internet connection speed via my cable modem seemed very poor. It seemed to start about the same time as some severe, highly electrical thunderstorms rolled through the area. They did knock-out cable modem connectivity several times.
Using Broadband Reports speed test , I could see that my qualitative assessment of "poor" was quantitatively true! My upload speeds, slow as they were, were even faster than my download speeds. A very clear indication that something was very wrong. I got a cable tech out this morning and much was fixed.
Here's how I started the morning. It was actually a pretty fast connection compared to some I've had lately:
I've had some readings in the the "Ugh" area in the past month. Download speeds slower than a telephone modem.
The cable tech measured some sort of reflectivity measure at 55%, which was too high. We couldn't find the internal wall plate with the splitter for the three connections inside my apartment, but he was able to make adjustments at a box outside and bring it down to a good 50%. 53% is as high as is acceptable.
A new speed test showed mixed results, download was now faster than upload, but both were still tellingly low:
A "page of pings" ping test to Yahoo, showed 2% packet loss. Not horrible, but not good. Any packet-loss at all can cause significant slowdowns as protocols ratchet back into conservative modes of operation.
He had a new modem with him. The one I had was that I got originally a few years ago. He said it was "first generation." The one he had with him was "third generation." It was small and very light-weight, but otherwise similar. So we swapped them out. That was it:
Now I'm back in business! The upload looks "slow," but that's only because the download is so fast. Another ping test reveals no packet loss at all.