Slow Modem download

Joined
Dec 7, 2003
Messages
12,376
Location
Florida, Cape Coral
Motorola modem with phone and WIFI in on unit. After set up with Comcast the download speed was 25mb/s and upload was 9mb/s. A day later the download speed dropped to ~ 5mb/s and the upload speed stayed the same. What might cause this? Ed
 
Restart it, if the problem persists it's either an issue with the downstream channels or the device itself. In either instance, call the provider.
 
They should be able to see if the device is having issues with the downstream channels over the phone.

In that case there is a problem with signal from the provider, and remedied by a tech coming out.
 
Do you live in a densely populated area and is the slow down impacted by the time of day? If yes, it may just be that Comcast has exceeded their network capacity for your neighborhood and that's as good as you are going to get until improvements are made.
 
They should be able to see if the device is having issues with the downstream channels over the phone.

In that case there is a problem with signal from the provider, and remedied by a tech coming out.

Exactly. This sounds like an issue that has persisted across multiple devices, so the odds are it is either the line itself, causing it to drop downstream channels, or an issue with the equipment it is synching with. In either case, there is nothing he is going to be able to do to rectify, so contacting the ISP and having them investigate is the logical next step.
 
I did talk to a comcast repair rep awhile back with the first modem. He tried to do a complete check over the phone and found comcast was sending out a good signal. Based on that information he thought it was the modem and I ordered a warranty replacement. He did state the/ he is unable to connect and see what is going on with 2d party modems. He sounded sincere. I will try to go around with Comcast again.
 
Comment. A Comcast rep came out to diagnostic the first modem slowdown and he found nothing. I argued with the $70 Comcast bill and I think I won. Ed
 
customers are usually clustered together into nodes.. you get a ton of people watching netflix or whatever sucks up the bandwidth and slows you down..
only way to fix it is to split the node(less people) or upgrade it(more capacity)
tech support often doesnt know this and will never tell you.. only the engineering dept will know and they dont provide customer service.

my spectrum ultra 400 is usually 440Mbps overnight and 280Mpbs in the day.
sometimes as low as 40 or 50Mbps in the day.. usually have lag and packetloss then.

its been better since I finally got a docsis 3.1 modem vs the previous 4up/16channel down docsis 3.0 modem.

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Thank for all the information from everyone. Two different modems, Comcast reps comes to home, spend ~ one hour to no avail, two Comcast reps at different times say signal is good, Two discussions with MOTOROLA reps on phone find nothing. I am leaning toward too many people sucking up bandwidth may be the cause and don't know what else I can do but, live with it at this point in time. Naging thought is that the COmcast modem was 5X faster.
ed
 
Thank for all the information from everyone. Two different modems, Comcast reps comes to home, spend ~ one hour to no avail, two Comcast reps at different times say signal is good, Two discussions with MOTOROLA reps on phone find nothing. I am leaning toward too many people sucking up bandwidth may be the cause and don't know what else I can do but, live with it at this point in time. Naging thought is that the COmcast modem was 5X faster.
ed

Run a speed test at either the wee hours of the morning or the middle of the night and see if the results are dramatically better, if they aren't, then it likely isn't congestion.

On my earlier comment, depending on the age of the run to your house, there is possibility for water ingress and other sorts of degradation that can cause the line to become "noisy" (a defective splitter can also cause this, or any other hops along the cable's route to your house). When the line gets noisy, the modem can drop channels to try and keep the connection up, effectively reducing the available bandwidth. I've had line issues at my place due to defective equipment well downstream of me that caused my Thompson to drop downstream channels, rectified with a reboot of the device. I was still connected by speed was significantly slower than what was supposed to be provided.
 
Run a speed test at either the wee hours of the morning or the middle of the night and see if the results are dramatically better, if they aren't, then it likely isn't congestion.
Was going to suggest the same thing. If it reaches 'full' speed, that means everything within the customer's control, as well as the feed to their house, is fine. Switching modems, replacing the coaxial in the house, replacing the feed from the street to the house, etc won't "fix" this slowdown (during different times of the day).

Naging thought is that the COmcast modem was 5X faster.
Have them check your "provisioned" values. They'll know what this means. And can you clarify, are you using your own modem now and it's slower ? Speeds were always okay with the Comcast-provided modem ?
 
If the upload speed is 2.5X the download speed, then the feed to the modem should be OK if the following
upload speed of the Comcast modem is the same at ~ 12.mb/s.
The download speed of the new approved modem is 1/5 the old modem
I am using my own "APPROVED MODEM" according to Comcast (MOTROLA MT7711 with router and phone). Comcast modem speed was ~ 5x faster.
"Provisional" values. What doe you mean?
 
"Provisional" values. What doe you mean?
Have them check your "provisioned" values. They'll know what this means.
Providers download a configuration file to our modems in order to operate on their network. To put this in simple terms (this might not be technically correct but you'll get the idea), this configuration file tells the modem the max speeds it can operate at based on your service plan. It will have something like this:

Upstream max 9000000
Downstream max 25000000

Those example numbers are based on your OP indicating 25 Mbps and 9 Mbps (they use "bits" in these files). It's possible their system downloaded the wrong config file to your modem later.
 
If the upload speed is 2.5X the download speed, then the feed to the modem should be OK if the following
upload speed of the Comcast modem is the same at ~ 12.mb/s.
The download speed of the new approved modem is 1/5 the old modem
I am using my own "APPROVED MODEM" according to Comcast (MOTROLA MT7711 with router and phone). Comcast modem speed was ~ 5x faster.
"Provisional" values. What doe you mean?

OK, but this modem was originally 25Mbit when you first connected it, correct? And then it dropped down to 5Mbit? And the Comcast modem was also giving you 25Mbit, correct?
 
Yes OVERKILL you are correct with your statement. . This modem operated at 25mb/s fo two different speed test about 2 hours apart. The next day it was back to 5mb/s. I've done a hard modem reboot buy pulling the plug for 5 minutes, I've switch the modem to computer cable and replaced the wall to modem cable. I'm almost ready to give up. Tonight I will run a speed test ~ 11:30 PM and tomorrow about 6:30 AM and see if it changes. Ed
 
Yes OVERKILL you are correct with your statement. . This modem operated at 25mb/s fo two different speed test about 2 hours apart. The next day it was back to 5mb/s. I've done a hard modem reboot buy pulling the plug for 5 minutes, I've switch the modem to computer cable and replaced the wall to modem cable. I'm almost ready to give up. Tonight I will run a speed test ~ 11:30 PM and tomorrow about 6:30 AM and see if it changes. Ed

OK, so they pull their provisioning file when they are first synching up, so I would think that if it was pulling an improperly configured one you'd have never gotten the 25Mbit in the first place with it. The fact that you did and it wasn't until later that the speed dropped off to me points to something else. Does the device have a status page that you can login to in order to view its statistics and perhaps the synch speed?
 
so they pull their provisioning file when they are first synching up, so I would think that if it was pulling an improperly configured one you'd have never gotten the 25Mbit in the first place with it. The fact that you did and it wasn't until later that the speed dropped off
May not be the case, but this isn't unlikely... When they first provisioned his modem, presumably after he got it installed, they pushed the "right" configuration file. Overnight, their system may have checked his modem and for some reason, pushed the wrong configuration file. I've had something similar happen and others have indicated it's happened to them. What happened was I upgraded my speed and the rep provisioned the modem while I was on the phone. Do a speed test and all looks well. Overnight, the system pushes back the old configuration (as if it's not aware that I upgraded speed 🤷‍♂️ ). In fact, at that time, if you owned your own modem, you could access the modem's internal webserver and see the config data and that's how I caught that they re-provisioned it incorrectly.
 
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