Internet problem?

[Falcao]

Hello, it's been a while when i last visited this place. Again, i need your help. 

So around a week ago i bought this service from my ISP that allows me to watch more TV stations. It came with a new modem and a digibox (kinda like a satellite). So i installed them both with no problems. Then i started to notice that my Internet was super slow, i was getting like 5-20 megabytes when normally i get around 80-100. 

I called the customer support and asked why was this happening. They said that the new digibox (again, the satellite thingy) needed Internet to work. Basically customer support said, that i have to deal with a slower Internet. After trying to find a solution on my issue, i found that it uses most of my Internet, because everytime it records something it uploads it to my ISP's servers, so i can watch the shows anytime with any device. This doesn't explain why it still uses most of my wonderful Internet when i'm not recording. 

Now i'm wondering here can i like make it slower, so my computer gets a faster Internet? Some way to make the modem give a specific port less data?

Thanks in advance!

[Spud]

First thing I would try is unplugging the digibox and the modem, reverting to your previous configuration. Reboot your original modem/router and see if the speeds increase. This will narrow down whether it's the digibox modem or something else.

[Falcao]

First thing I would try is unplugging the digibox and the modem, reverting to your previous configuration. Reboot your original modem/router and see if the speeds increase. This will narrow down whether it's the digibox modem or something else.

First i unplugged the digibox and ran a speedtest. I got to my normal 75 megabytes. Then i unplugged the modem and got the old modem back and got around the same speed as before.

[Spud]

So, it's the digibox modem that is the problem. Have you tried plugging the digibox into your original modem/router and trying it from there?

 

Edit:

 

What's your ISP, The Original Modem/router make and model number, The digibox make/model number and the same for its modem? This will help in hopefully finding a solution.

[David H. Lipman]

Let's get the nomenclature correct.

 

If you say "75 megabytes" that is a size, not a rate. 

 

Rates are expressed in an amount per time frame such as;  50Mb/s or 100Mb/s.  (that's megabits per second)

 

For example my FiOS is rated at 50Mb/s download and 20Mb/s upload.

 

Now, please describe who is your ISP, what exactly is the hardware you have been provided, what technology is being used (FTTP, Cable, Satelite, Cellular Broadband, etc) and the rate that that un-named ISP has provisioned you for.

[Falcao]

So, it's the digibox modem that is the problem. Have you tried plugging the digibox into your original modem/router and trying it from there?

 

Edit:

 

What's your ISP, The Original Modem/router make and model number, The digibox make/model number and the same for its modem? This will help in hopefully finding a solution.

It won't work with the original modem, that's why they sent a new one. My ISP is a Finnish company called Sonera. The digibox is a Motorola 1853 and the router that i got is Inteno DG301. The old router/modem is a ZyXEL P870HN-51bv.

[Falcao]

Let's get the nomenclature correct.

 

If you say "75 megabytes" that is a size, not a rate. 

 

Rates are expressed in an amount per time frame such as;  50Mb/s or 100Mb/s.  (that's megabits per second)

 

For example my FiOS is rated at 50Mb/s download and 20Mb/s upload.

 

Now, please describe who is your ISP, wqhat exactly is the hardware you have been provided, what technology is being used (FTTP, Cable, Satelite, Cellular Broadband, etc) and the rate that that un-named ISP is providing.

Oh, sorry. When i said megabytes i mean megabits. I have an 100Mb/s download and a 10Mb/s upload. Usually i get around 75/Mb/s.

I don't know about the technology. There is no satellite dish on my roof or anything like that. Usually we put a cable to the wall and that provides the channels to our TV, but this one doesn't have a cable. It only has a power wire and a wire to the router. So i guess it gets the channels from the ISP's servers or something like that?

The digibox is a Motorola 1853 and the router that i got is Inteno DG301. The old router/modem is a ZyXEL P870HN-51bv.

[Spud]

Will have a poke about and come back to you soon.

[David H. Lipman]

That's an unusual rate.  Usually an ISP is 2:1 or 3:1 (download:upload) I haven't heard of 10:1 before.  In fact, I am scheduled to upgraded to 1:1 (50Mb/s down and 50Mb/s up) as that is where we are headed.

 

The Motorola 1853 appears to be a Set Top Box (STB) which is basically a TV decoder box and not part of what provides the Internet.

 

Looking at the other devices (Inteno DG301 and a ZyXEL P870HN-51bv), it looks like you are actually getting Asynchronous DSL (ADSL) in the European market.

 

If you you are rated at 100Mb/s then it looks more like VDSL (Very-high-bit-rate digital subscriber line).

 

Are you in an apartment complex ?

[Spud]

I thought the same David but he said he gets VDSL (Fibre). Browsing shows the DG301 is capable of this but only gets ADSL speeds. I am wondering if the settings have been altered or set wrongly!

[Falcao]

That's an unusual rate.  Usually an ISP is 2:1 or 3:1 (download:upload) I haven't heard of 10:1 before.  In fact, I am scheduled to upgraded to 1:1 (50Mb/s down and 50Mb/s up) as that is where we are headed.

 

The Motorola 1853 appears to be a Set Top Box (STB) which is basically a TV decoder box and not part of what provides the Internet.

 

Looking at the other devices (Inteno DG301 and a ZyXEL P870HN-51bv), it looks like you are actually getting Asynchronous DSL (ADSL) in the European market.

 

If you you are rated at 100Mb/s then it looks more like VDSL (Very-high-bit-rate digital subscriber line).

 

Are you in an apartment complex ?

Eh, i have no idea what an apartment complex is and Google Translate doesn't help. I live in a apartment house. If you're trying to find i'm a using a Internet that the whole building uses, that would be, no. In Finland it's normal to have low upload and high download speed. I don't know is it worth of mentioning, but the connection i have is fiber. So it's 100/10Mb/s fiber connection. 

[David H. Lipman]

It may be possible that it is a provisioning problem.
 
Most Television/ISP providers who use Cable (or MoCA) separate the TV subscription from the Internet.  What it looks like here is that Television is predicated on TCP/IP.  The Motorola unit has a RJ45.  Thus it is streaming content over TCP/IP and could be sucking up all the bandwidth leaving little for accessing the Internet.
 
As I was writing this, the reply indicated "I live in a apartment house. If you're trying to find i'm a using a Internet that the whole building use" which makes a lot of sense.  DSL rates decrease as a function of distance.  Often one will find that an apartment complex (a large building broken down to numerous rental units (apartments)) will get High Speed Internet and then use VDSL technology to provide services in each apartment.  Often this is done to take advantage of Plain Old Telephone System (POTS) already in place as the distance from the DSL Modem to the DSLAM is short.  Thus one can provide high data bit rates or VDSL. 
 

Falcao:

 

Does your residence have a Fiber Optic port in the wall or do you connect the Inteno DG301 to a telephone line ?

 

The Inteno DG301 and ZyXel P870HN don't have Fiber Optic ports.

 

Fiber to the apartment would require a device with a Fiber Optic port, or a Fiber Optic Multi Access Unit (FOMAU) to bridge Fiber Optic to normal twisted pair or other wiring.  Also if it was FTTP they wouldn't provide  a 10:1 ratio as Fiber can handle synchronous gigabit service.

 

It does make sense that FTTP is provided to the building and in the basement they have their own VDSL DSLAM array going to each apartment via Plain Old Telephone System (POTS) wiring which would also explain the 10:1 asynchronous rate.

 

I am thinking the Motorola is sucking up bandwidth streaming TV data.

[Falcao]

It may be possible that it is a provisioning problem.

 

Most Television/ISP providers who use Cable (or MoCA) separate the TV subscription from the Internet.  What it looks like here is that Television is predicated on TCP/IP.  The Motorola unit has a RJ45.  Thus it is streaming content over TCP/IP and could be sucking up all the bandwidth leaving little for accessing the Internet.

 

As I was writing this, the reply indicated "I live in a apartment house. If you're trying to find i'm a using a Internet that the whole building use" which makes a lot of sense.  DSL rates decrease as a function of distance.  Often one will find that an apartment complex (a large building broken down to numerous rental units (apartments)) will get High Speed Internet and then use VDSL technology to provide services in each apartment.  Often this is done to take advantage of Plain Old Telephone System (POTS) already in place as the distance from the DSL Modem to the DSLAM is short.  Thus one can provide high data bit rates or VDSL. 

 

Falcao:

 

Does your residence have a Fiber Optic port in the wall or do you connect the Inteno DG301 to a telephone line ?

 

The Inteno DG301 and ZyXel P870HN don't have Fiber Optic ports.

 

Fiber to the apartment would require a device with a Fiber Optic port, or a Fiber Optic Multi Access Unit (FOMAU) to bridge Fiber Optic to normal twisted pair or other wiring.  Also if it was FTTP they wouldn't provide  a 10:1 ratio as Fiber can handle synchronous gigabit service.

 

It does make sense that FTTP is provided to the building and in the basement they have their own VDSL DSLAM array going to each apartment via Plain Old Telephone System (POTS) wiring which would also explain the 10:1 asynchronous rate.

 

I am thinking the Motorola is sucking up bandwidth streaming TV data.

Sorry for taking so long to answer to your question. I connect my modem to the telephone line. So is there way to make the Motorola not suck my bandwidth so much? I couldn't find any settings from it that could make it to suck less bandwidth? 

[David H. Lipman]

Try this...

 

Disconnect the Motorola. (remove the Ethernet cable from the back of the unit)

 

Access the Internet via computer

 

See how things are and go to a speed test web site.  Try three readings and record the Download and Upload speeds for each time.

 

Reconnect the Motorola and play a broadcast movie.

 

Now access the Internet via computer again and see how things are and go to a speed test web site.  Again obtain three readings and record the Download and Upload speeds for each time.

 

In your reply...

 

Post the 3 sets of data (download and upload) when the Motorola was not connected.

 

Post the 3 sets of data (download and upload) when the Motorola was connected and you were viewing a broadcast movie.

[Falcao]

Sorry for taking so long to answer. I had some things to do and then had to go to sleep and get to work.


Those are when the Motorola was not connected.




Those were when Motorola was connected and playing a broadcast movie.

First time i tested i had different speeds, but changed the speedtest location and got these.

Those are the ones i got from the other server, but i don't trust them. They are way too different than the Turku server results.

These numbers ain't that bad. 33-50 download when Motorola is on, but it becomes pretty bad when i have other devices connected. Usually my kids have their tablets and wife has her Motorola digibox. Then i'm trying to watch some HD 1080p hockey match, then that 30mb/s is way too low.


 

[David H. Lipman]

It is, what I suspected that the Motorola TV Set Top Box (STB) is sucking up bandwidth.  It is the price to pay for their type of a delivery system.  It is not unlike a water distribution system.  Where water is drawn off in quantity and other areas note a drop in water flow.

 

However if Sonera is truly supposed to be providing 100Mb/s and you are only getting ~75Mb/s then I would contact them and see if that can be bumped up as it will provide the needed bandwidth for other devices when streaming TV content.

 

Hopefully you have a greater understanding of the technology providing you TV content and Internet access.  Now that you have a greater understanding you may also have a greater ability to manage it.

[Falcao]

It is, what I suspected that the Motorola TV Set Top Box (STB) is sucking up bandwidth.  It is the price to pay for their type of a delivery system.  It is not unlike a water distribution system.  Where water is drawn off in quantity and other areas note a drop in water flow.

 

However if Sonera is truly supposed to be providing 100Mb/s and you are only getting ~75Mb/s then I would contact them and see if that can be bumped up as it will provide the needed bandwidth for other devices when streaming TV content.

 

Hopefully you have a greater understanding of the technology providing you TV content and Internet access.  Now that you have a greater understanding you may also have a greater ability to manage it.

I would happily pay more to get a faster Internet, but the one i have is the fastest that Sonera can provide at the moment. I would change my operator, but i'm tied for 2 more years with an contract. 

It seems there is nothing to do? No way to make a port have limitations on how much they can use data? Any sort of program or something?

[David H. Lipman]

If your contract is for 100Mb/s and you get 75Mb/s, you approach Sonera with that fact that you are only getting 75% of what you're paying for.

 

As for managing, disconnect the STB when you need Internet bandwidth

.