Cable Companies Throttling Us?

[MrTrolleyguy]

How can I find out if Comcast is throttling my connection? In fact it seems the worst when I have been using this forum a lot. Maybe it is my imagination. That is a possibility.

When a speed test is run I get huge bandwith numbers. Usually high 50's mbps, yet reloading is slow. Granted it could be a problem with my computer. However if other members are experiencing similar problems with Comcast Cable then there must be a problem somewhere.

Add to this recurring message "504 Bad Gateway" which some of us are getting. I wonder if we are getting a per-user throttling based on usage?

My experience and knowledge of computing is limited so I maybe barking up the wrong tree suspecting the cable companies. Maybe it is the long distance trunk providers.

Any ideas what is going on? Is there a way to test for throttling?

Trolley

 

[THE PILGRIM]

I already hate COMCAST because they took off one of my favorite channels, RFD TV.
I also have gotten errors messages lately while trying to access this forum. I got some of them while I was away from home using unknown providers? I took that to be a connectivity problem with this site.
No t being a big COMCAST supporter, I wouldn't take anything off the table. I would think slowdown before actual non connecting.

 

[pinduck]

This site has been acting slow in loading and hanging up at times for some time now, only site I am experiencing it on, don't know why.
Glen

 

[millisec]

Maybe but certainly not for something as trivial as web browsing which uses very little bandwidth. I'm sure everyone knows the courts ruled against the FCC and net neutrality so providers are again (at least for now) free to discriminate as they please and possibly exhort money from companies like Netflix, Hulu, google, Skype, utube etc for preferential treatment of their content delivery.

Bandwidth hogs are a different story... Netflix is the biggest bandwidth hog on the net and hated by most providers. It still works for the most part but there have been a lot more problems lately. Have not decided whether it's throttling yet or just Netflix has exceeded its capacity.

Unless you are constantly downloading HD movies, music etc I would not worry. Some like Comcast have monthly caps. If you exceed that they start throttling.

 

[MrTrolleyguy]

I would think slowdown before actual non connecting.

Yes, that is what throttling is. It squeezes your bandwidth but does not deny you access.

Thanks Pilgrim

 

[RonJ]

There are at least 3 threads open in the Office complaining about same.
I don't know if anyone has acknowledged the problem or not.

 

[kwselke]

There is a thread in the Forum Office about the site running slow. There was a note from the administration this morning stating they are aware of the issues and are working to resolve the situation.

 

[BobC357]

Search Google or your favorite search engine for "internet speed test" and try at least 3 different ones. Pick the ones far away from you. They test pretty accurately for real traffic.

Then, there is a windows utility, tracert.exe or traceroute.exe, that is on most PCs. It is interesting in that it shows the delay in miliseconds at each hop between you and the other internet address. Long delays can impact speed.

I was with Adelphia getting 6 Mbit/sec. When they went belly up, ComTrash took over. They dropped my Internet speed to 1 Mbit, charged me for 6 and repeatedly lied to me saying that is what it was. I finally got a tech to my home who told me they throttled everyone to make room for HDTV on the cable. I dropped them and never looked back.

 

[Salty RI]

I have Fios and this site seems to run slow, I'm not sure why, a fishing site that I go changed their server about two years ago and it has run slow ever since,maybe it might be the server that makes this site seem slow, sometimes on this site a screen comes up that says bad gateway, it doesn;'t happen too often, also this site always has a lot of people using it, that might be the problem also.

 

[timn8er]

Maybe if more people bought contributing memberships more money could be put towards better servers? Just an idea.

 

[MrTrolleyguy]

Maybe if more people bought contributing memberships more money could be put towards better servers? Just an idea.

Good idea. We (I) forget that there are over a hundred forty thousand registered members. There are over 3,600 viewing as I type, 2,800 are guest. The number of regularly participating members must be less than 500 I would think. I could be wrong there.

Is there a posting of how many members make cash contributions?

Trolley

 

[dcxplant]

Comcast in AZ user here. We do NOT subscribe to Comcast cable TV, only high speed internet.

I notice peak hours of TV, 7-10pm (that's 1900hrs to 2200hrs for all you green types…)

that our streaming on our Apple TV is S-L-O-W, so slow that a 1hr show says it will take 2hrs to load!!!

Comcast claims no throttling, but I firmly believe Comcast is punishing it's customers that pay for internet only and stream TV vs. their cable TV subscribers.

I'd bet my pinky toe on it!

 

[H Richard]

I also get the "Bag Gateway" from time to time. The slowness here is no different than I get on Gun Broker, or some other similar site. I will say that the Ruger Forum is a little faster, but more antiquated. Maybe that's part of the problem. As the sites upgrade to more complex software the slower they run because of more overhead? I'm no computer guy so I don't know.

 

[J. R. WEEMS]

Yeah, it is ALWAYS our equipment BULL-- Iuse a new MAC and can assure you it is not my equipment-- The big C is to blame, we also cancelled the cable tv from them. Been getting the problem a lot of lat, and now only this forum--

 

[rwsmith]

I get....

I get a lot of 'Bad Gateways' or 'This page cannot be found'. The site has been running slow as Christmas, also the CBS news site so I know it's not just this forum. Some of it may be the site's capability, very high internet traffic and I wouldn't put it past my provider for slowing things down.

PS I'm sitting here at 3-4 pm EST and everything is clicking along real fast.

 

[SDH]

Don't kid yourself,
THIS SITE IS VERY SLOW...

 

[Salty RI]

I just noticed there was 435 members in the lounge, not counting all the other forums, that's a lot of people.

 

[pharmer]

They're throttling us all right but in the traditional sense. I've been taking a regular beating from Brighthouse (Now there's an oxymoronic lie). $178/mo for the worst pulp wash possible. I had one of their tools call me the other day and try to upsell me. Within 5 minutes she was begging to get off the phone. I told her the home phone is worth $30/mo, the 9/3 MBS internet another $40. Funny she couldn't account for the other $108 except that I could buy more channels. For their price I should get a performing company to act out Hamlet in my living room. Curses on all cable providers, got us hooked 20 years ago for $40 a month and too much to watch to $178 and it all sucks or I've seen "Die Hard" 500 times. Don't get me started. Joe

 

[quneur]

Its probably on the server side. These types of forums are often run from service providers like HostGator. They will sell space on their servers for a monthly fee and depending upon what package you buy. If this site is on a dedicated server then it should run smoothly but if its on a shared server then its usually someone else's that's overburdening the server.

 

[Jinglebob]

I already hate COMCAST because they took off one of my favorite channels, RFD TV.
I also have gotten errors messages lately while trying to access this forum. I got some of them while I was away from home using unknown providers? I took that to be a connectivity problem with this site.
No t being a big COMCAST supporter, I wouldn't take anything off the table. I would think slowdown before actual non connecting.

RFD TV is one of my favorites too. I especially like ‘Larry’s Country Diner’.

Where I live there is no cable so I’m forced to use satellite internet service. I’m also experiencing slow load times and a lot of 503 Error messages on the S&W Forum that started a coupe of days ago. All other sites function normally.