Cable Internet Problems?

Keropi · Post by **Keropi** » Thu Feb 26, 2009 12:40 am

Has anyone else been having cable internet problems since Feb 17th?

As soon as the Feb 17th date passed I started having problems. I'm under Time Warner and I seem to have the most problems around 7:30PM to 10:15PM PST. Internet pictures won't load and the websites that require the most workload to load won't work at all.

The Google main page loads (it's a simple page) and for some odd reason the Anime Suki Forum usually always works too (even all the pictures load). Often no other BBS will load for me. I wonder why Anime Suki Forum loads fine while no other BBS will? Simpler coding or what?

Just wondering of the Feb 18th onward dates have placed a higher workload on cable internet or not. ?^_^?

My cable internet service came back online again at 10:15PM tonight.

zerospace · Post by **zerospace** » Thu Feb 26, 2009 8:24 am

Have you run a tracert to some of the slow-loading sites during that time? It may help pinpoint where the problem is.

It sounds to me like it's possible that Time Warner has simply overloaded your node, and you are seeing the result of cable (shared) Internet access during peak usage times. What a lot of folks don't realize is that you share bandwidth with everyone else on your network node -- so when the others on your node are being bandwidth hogs, you'll get degraded service. Yay. This is why many ISPs are looking to cap bandwidth usage on a monthly basis. In this case, you should definitely call to complain, but you also may want to document the slowness so you have something to help you prove your case to them.

Keropi · Post by **Keropi** » Thu Feb 26, 2009 1:26 pm

I see. Well, I was hoping it wasn't something like that, but apparently it is. I haven't run on a tracert on it.

I'm sure I use more bandwidth than most, but I've been trying not to use much more than necessary to get what I needed.

My Bandwidth Monitor Pro program says I use up this:

June 4-30 2008 --- 33.14 Gb total bandwidth (download and upload)
July 2008 ---------- 44.96 Gb
Aug 2008 ---------- 47.08 Gb
Sept 2008 --------- 42.68 Gb
Oct 2008 ----------- 59.35 Gb
Nov 2008 ---------- 49.50 Gb
Dec 2008 ---------- 61.16 Gb
Jan 2009 ----------- 52.95 Gb
Feb 1-26 2008 ---- 52.68 Gb

So if they wanted to dump someone in this area, I would probably be up there on the list somewhere.

I'll see what happens. Thanks for your info and advice.

zerospace · Post by **zerospace** » Thu Feb 26, 2009 3:18 pm

Eeee...yeah. You probably fit into their bandwidth hog category (the ISP I used to work for would start monitoring/notifying people who were above approx 15GB per month). Believe it or not, that puts you in probably the top 1-2% of most cable Internet users.

Of course, given that information, it's also possible that they are limiting you on purpose during peak times given your bandwidth use history. You should probably call them to find out what the story is ... but if it's an overloaded node, they likely won't tell you unless you get a particularly honest TSR/CSR. In the case that you're using excess bandwidth, they might come out and tell you that if they have a written policy on it. Most ISPs these days seem to have it somewhere in their AUP (acceptable use policy), so you can check it out.

I'd definitely run a few tracerts during your degraded service times and furnish them to your ISP when you contact them about your service issues.

Keropi · Post by **Keropi** » Thu Feb 26, 2009 9:13 pm

I hate to think of how much bandwidth I used to use some years back when I left my computer on continuously. One time I left it on for about 17 days straight (mostly for uploading).

I'm not even leaving my torrents on very long after they are completed and the totals still add up fast. I'm trying to download files only once when possible and I'm trying to avoid the huge files.

Oh well. Let's see if I go offline tonight again.

tyromaniac · Post by **tyromaniac** » Thu Feb 26, 2009 9:31 pm

I found this computer on the side of a road back in 2001 ( a connection was loose and once fixed the rest was history). I leave it on 24/7, since I first got it. The hard drive has been virus contaminated twice which meant I had to re partition everything and lost everything. I understand how leaving a computer on can lead to a decrease in life span....but seriously, mine's fine and runs on only 768 mb of ram. Ok, I'm done hijacking this thread.

You could set upload limits for files in bittorrent, or maybe there's another setting to set number of total uploads until it stops uploading.

Wasn't Time Warner Cable the company that suggested that internet users should pay more if they download/upload more? Makes sense for people who don't use the internet as much, but there is still probably a base fee. All I can say is that I've heard bad things about them.

Keropi · Post by **Keropi** » Fri Feb 27, 2009 12:32 am

tyromaniac wrote:I found this computer on the side of a road back in 2001 ( a connection was loose and once fixed the rest was history). I leave it on 24/7, since I first got it. The hard drive has been virus contaminated twice which meant I had to re partition everything and lost everything. I understand how leaving a computer on can lead to a decrease in life span....but seriously, mine's fine and runs on only 768 mb of ram. Ok, I'm done hijacking this thread.

The first hard drive on my previous computer died after two and a half years of uploading. I didn't have an easy time replacing it and now I'm a bit gun shy about uploading. But the hard drive on the computer I have now has lasted four years and four months.

You could set upload limits for files in bittorrent, or maybe there's another setting to set number of total uploads until it stops uploading.

My upload/download ratio is:

393.73 Gb downloaded and 49.88 Gb uploaded. The ratio is pretty far off. Mainly I'm just downloading too much.

Wasn't Time Warner Cable the company that suggested that internet users should pay more if they download/upload more? Makes sense for people who don't use the internet as much, but there is still probably a base fee. All I can say is that I've heard bad things about them.

Yeah that was them. The story can be found here:

http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/06/02/go ... h-testing/

That story was what prompted me to start monitoring my bandwidth. Watching YouTube is killing bandwidth too. But listening to YouTube while wearing headphones is an easy way to avoid hearing my dad's political talk shows late at night. I don't like hearing poitical discussions early in the morning or late at night because it makes me feel tense and annoyed. It also makes it harder for me to fall asleep.

zerospace · Post by **zerospace** » Fri Feb 27, 2009 10:07 am

For fun, I looked up Time Warner's policy:

The ISP Service may not be used to engage in any conduct that interferes with Operator's ability to provide service to others, including the use of excessive bandwidth.

How vague!

For the gamers out there -- your consoles that use Internet access may also contribute to bandwidth use! I've found that sometimes when my other half is downloading updates for his PS3, that my Internet speed goes downhill... fast--of course, I might just need a new router =P.

Good luck... it's possible that they are just purposefully reducing your speeds during peak times because you're considered an excessive user. You could always also pay to upgrade to a commercial-type account that has much higher limits, especially for uploading.

Shampoo · Post by **Shampoo** » Fri Feb 27, 2009 11:03 am

Keropi, I'm having the *exact* same problems on my end too
but I dont download a thing.

I browse to same 4 sites, and check e-mail. But past 2 weeks
I've had sporadic internet connectivity as well as
only able to access google's main site.

Apparently Time Warner dns has been hacked and the
folks doing it attempt it between the hours of 10pm-1a.m.
It could be a netwrok of hackers from various regions to
set their attacks at those specific hrs (maybe even to make
a statement on the digital rollover date)... it is really
eerie your in Cali and experiencing the same time-frame
when trouble starts as I am all the way here in Misery-...er. Missouri.

Here is the only piece of info I could find on it
in the web.
http://www.hackinthebox.org/modules.php ... =0&thold=0

If you call up TW , they will tell you they are "working on it"
and to "hang tiight"

*disgusted*

Keropi · Post by **Keropi** » Fri Feb 27, 2009 7:31 pm

Thanks for the news link Shampoo.

Yes, it is weird that they are affecting spaced out areas of the country like that. I hope they'll get it fixed pretty soon because 7:20PM PST to 10:15 PM PST has become the no internet time for me.

It's a pain because after I watch an anime episode I like to write a a couple sentences on what I thought of it. If I do that now I have to wait a couple hours before posting and by then I've lost my train of thought.

In a way though it's nice to know it's not just me.