Speed degredation due to sustained use?

[rtzouves]

Hi guys,

Ok for starters this isn't an accusation, just something i have noticed and would like an opinion/input on.

When downloading content off the internet i have noticed that in the beginning the connection is fairly quick 1.2-1.5 mbps and even spiking to the 1.9mbps mark (this took me a great deal of sweat and tears to get right by the way as for the first 4-5 months my internet speeds were horrid; apparently due to base station issues).

Once my downloads have progressed for a couple to a few hours the connection slowly degrades to the 500-800kbps mark. If I disconnect reboot modem and machine and then reconnect immediately the connection is still at the degraded speed, but if i leave the connection idle or turn it off for an hour or two the speeds shoot back up.

My questions are as follows:

1.) Does anybody else have similar experiences?

2.) Do you think this is some form of threshholding on Neotels part or simply a hardware/software limitation/fault? (NEOTEL REP this one is mainly for you)

3.) Do you think that maybe this is a possible cause to the horrid speeds other users have been experiencing, but their "degraded" speeds are simply lower due to lower signal or higher noise? I have an RSSI of approximately 50 which is really very good.

NB!! Please guys, no Neotel bashing as there are other threads for that, this one is a discussion of the above only.

 

[Neotel]

Please note that these are POSSIBLE conditions - some of which are beyond the control of the network. However, there could also be a network fault that was not previously detected by the surveillance system.

Answer to question 2 - this is applicable to any ISP:

This could be due to congestion on a BTS in the sector that you are logged onto. Another possible reason is the contention ratio for bandwidth is high - in this case network / BTS optimisation would need to take place. On a new network this occurs regularly until the sweet spot for all sectors on a BTS (for users) in the area is achieved.

Other possible problems could include interference which was not present when the BTS was commissioned (like a new structure eg. a building loaded with steel) erected recently or simply poor weather conditions.

If your signal strength / quality is degraded, the customer is not guaranteed the best of services and may end up with the basic service - the system attempts to keep the user logged on to carry basic tasks however, sometimes the conditions result in no connection at all. Once the signal strength / quality is restored to a specifc threshold the best service is available - however the user still has to deal with contention ratios.

When one encounters a fault of that nature, in depth analysis of the fault is required - sometimes to the extent of bringing in the vendor / specialist engineer to detect / rectify the fault. In most cases this could take a week and sometimes if the fault is software related the appropriate patch needs to be developed, tested and then depoyed.
This could also add to the time to resolve the fault.

If the fault is hardware related, normally these defective parts are quickly identified by the network surveillance system and the defective part is replaced. However, if there are multiple hardware faults, this could result in rather complex and time consuming trouble shooting.