Fluctuating DSL Speed

[mulacasto]

Hi guys!

I've been trying to figure out why my DSL speed is fluctuating the way it is...

I've got the Cybersmart 1mbps uncapped home account and I'm using Usenet to download a few NZBs using a usenet account that should definitely saturate my line (giving me at least a steady 100kb/s?)

When i start a download it will shoot up to 107kb/s or so for a while, say 5 mins, then it will decrease slowly to 50kb/s and then down to less than 5kb/s and then back up to 100kb/s for a couple seconds before dropping again! It fluctuates constantly, never giving me a solid constant speed.

Every minute my Usenet client (SABnzbd) will spit out a warning:

Cannot connect to server news.gibinews.eu:3128 [205 Timeout after 10 seconds, articles 0, bytes 0, groups 0, posts 0, postbytes 0]

and of the 10 connections I am entitled to, SABnzbd is only using 3 as i type this...

And SABnzbd is definitely the only thing using the internet according to my network monitor. Also i should state that it's the only computer connected to the network at the moment and I'm using a wired connection.

Now, is it just the contention ratio that comes with a home package? (cant remember the exact ratio the dsl account has)

Or is it my old router that can't keep up? Because every time i reboot the router/modem, my speed will be a steady 107kb/s before starting to fluctuate. Is there any setting that I should check on my router?

Thanks guys! Appreciate any help you could give.

 

[mulacasto]

haha am I just being stupid and this is the norm? its ok, you guys can tell me if i'm an idiot

 

[Chevron]

Hi guys!

I've been trying to figure out why my DSL speed is fluctuating the way it is...

I've got the Cybersmart 1mbps uncapped home account and I'm using Usenet to download a few NZBs using a usenet account that should definitely saturate my line (giving me at least a steady 100kb/s?)

When i start a download it will shoot up to 107kb/s or so for a while, say 5 mins, then it will decrease slowly to 50kb/s and then down to less than 5kb/s and then back up to 100kb/s for a couple seconds before dropping again! It fluctuates constantly, never giving me a solid constant speed.

Every minute my Usenet client (SABnzbd) will spit out a warning:

Cannot connect to server news.gibinews.eu:3128 [205 Timeout after 10 seconds, articles 0, bytes 0, groups 0, posts 0, postbytes 0]

and of the 10 connections I am entitled to, SABnzbd is only using 3 as i type this...

And SABnzbd is definitely the only thing using the internet according to my network monitor. Also i should state that it's the only computer connected to the network at the moment and I'm using a wired connection.

Now, is it just the contention ratio that comes with a home package? (cant remember the exact ratio the dsl account has)

Or is it my old router that can't keep up? Because every time i reboot the router/modem, my speed will be a steady 107kb/s before starting to fluctuate. Is there any setting that I should check on my router?

Thanks guys! Appreciate any help you could give.

Sounds like shaping.

 

[Lukcydog]

Yip, that sounds like the same Cybersmart problem I am having with my 1mb uncapped. I emailed them this weekend to complain about it because Afrihost's website states that 1mb uncapped can be used for gaming (ie their shaping is better) whereas CS don't recommend the uncapped package for gaming. Thus my mail has informed CS to sort it out, or I'm taking my money and giving it to Afrihost in September.

 

[Tim the Techxpert]

Sounds like a shaping issue. If you move to Afrihost they also shape their uncapped based on their FUP. I use them at home and have had international traffic restricted during office hours because of the activity that takes place in downloading and surfing.
To alleviate this I went with their unshaped business package and get consistant speeds all day and night. You might want to look at that and I am sure Afrihost is not the only provider that has unshaped as an option.
Remember read the FUP carefully.

 

[mulacasto]

Thanks for the feedback guys. Ja, I feel your pain Lukcydog - it was crazy shaping. Within 2 seconds it would go from 90kb/s to 5kb/s and then to 30. Totally unstable. And it was like this all day every day. So next time I'm home I'll report back as to whether it's at all improved or not holding thumbs. Also, unrelated, the whole Telkom 1 to 2mbps upgrade... Will that affect only their ISP clients or all of us?

 

[Lukcydog]

Yeah, CS asked me to send the traceroutes to them. I was playing on the same BF3 server. I got a turnaround time of 700+ms. The lag was caused between two servers/links... Can't attach a picture which is a shame...

With respect to the upgrades, I don't know, as far as I understand it will affect all ISPs because they will (if i understand it correctly) have to adjust on their side as well to now compensate for the increased bandwidth from users.