DSL speed

[synthetic_crazy]

We use a DSL connection for internet access and recently the speed drops everyday from around 4pm to late into the night. By morning the connection speed returns. Any idea what causes this? I ran a speed test at about 10pm and it return a ping of ~350 ms, download speed of 0.14mbps, and an upload speed of 0.11mbps. It is almost the same speed we had under dial-up

. This morning (when the connection is faster), I ran a speed test and it resulted in a download of 0.45mbps and an upload of around 0.38mbps. I have contacted our ISP, but have not heard back.

I was going to try resetting the modem and moving it closer to the computer (we use a wired router) to see if these actions help. Any advice?

 

[OVERKILL]

If you can login to the modem, you'll be able to see what your actual sync speed is. That would be very helpful. It sounds like your ISP is over-saturated however, just based on your description. Who is your provider?

 

[cpayne5]

Yeah, I'm guessing the neighborhood kiddos get home around 4pm?

 

[PandaBear]

IMO it could either mean you have member in your household downloading / torrenting, or your neighbor is doing that and saturated the ISP internally (edge?).

This is better on DSL than cable, where my parents live it was so bad on Comcast that they "downgrade" to DSL after their contract is up. It was completely unusable.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Agreed. Your internet access pipe is shared to some extent with others in your neighborhood. Someone is maxing it out.

 

[Nick R]

As others have said, part of it has to do with the fact that you are sharing bandwith with others.

On a side note I'm actually going to be upgraded to 50mbps/5mbps now that employees can get it =D

 

[Obos]

The ISP reduces your max speed at that time to manage bandwidth for all users

There is a way to bypass that throttling

 

[rg200amp]

Originally Posted By: Nick R
As others have said, part of it has to do with the fact that you are sharing bandwith with others.

On a side note I'm actually going to be upgraded to 50mbps/5mbps now that employees can get it =D


50MBPS is really nice! Thats what I have had for like 6 months now.

Browsing the web is instant.

 

[bmwjohn]

I thought concession people could only get 768k, 1.5m, and 3 m, with 3 being a big price jump? We are 768k but found 1.5 is lesser price.

 

[bubbajoe_2112]

Wow, a lot of bad info here... Most generally speaking, DSL is NOT shared bandwidth. Yeah, all those on the same DSLAM "share", but your DL speed should not be affected by what others on the same DSLAM are doing. On the other hand, Cable is indeed shared bandwidth and other users' DL activity can affect your DL speed.

Something else is going on and it's highly unlikely that is throttling either.

Try resetting your modem and see if speeds improve. If not, reset your modem, then the router. If still not, try plugging in directly to your modem and see if the speed improves.

If none of that works, call your ISP and have them run a line/modem check.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: bubbajoe_2112
Wow, a lot of bad info here... Most generally speaking, DSL is NOT shared bandwidth.


No, but small ISP's have been known to over-subscribe to the point where bandwidth issues happen with DSL. If he has the same problem at the same time every day but other times it is fine, it likely isn't the modem or router, rather something to do with his provider or line. There have been cases where the POTS trunks experience cross-talk as well. ADSL is highly line condition dependant.

 

[bubbajoe_2112]

Really will be surprised if it turns out to be due to oversubscribed, but it is possible.

OP, forgot to add this possibility: I know you said it was a wired router, but are you sure it is not wireless also? If it is and you have done nothing to turn off the wireless or secure it, your neighborhood kiddies could be mooching off of your connection.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: bubbajoe_2112
Really will be surprised if it turns out to be due to oversubscribed, but it is possible.

OP, forgot to add this possibility: I know you said it was a wired router, but are you sure it is not wireless also? If it is and you have done nothing to turn off the wireless or secure it, your neighborhood kiddies could be mooching off of your connection.


Good possibility there as well!

I was hoping he'd get back to me regarding logging into his modem and checking his sync speed, as that would tell us a lot.

 

[synthetic_crazy]

Update: I contacted our ISP and they said there is a latency in our area which is causing the DSL speeds to be slower. Hopefully they will resolve this soon. However, the speeds seem to be a little faster than what they were. Thanks to all you who provided such great input into my DSL problem; I appreciate it!