Is it possible for ISP's to "boost" speed tests?

[ThatAngryGnome]

Okay so for the past few months, I've been messing around with my internet. I was promised 25 Mbs and usually get around 17 Mbs. But I've noticed every night, my internet plummets to crap. Ping spikes all over, connection timeouts, I can't even watch videos in 360p! Even trying to go to something like google.com takes a solid 30 seconds to load. But that's besides the point. I do eventually plan on calling AT&T and probably disconnecting from them (as mentioned before, this has been happening for a few months, and twice a technician has been sent to "fix" the problem. The problem has persisted.)

 

So naturally, I use speedtest.net (along with some other popular speed tests) to test my speed. Oddly enough, when testing it, my jumps to ~8-10 Mbs, and anything that was loading will instantly load. If I have a Youtube video at 1080p buffering, by the time the speedtest is done, most of the video will have buffered. For the next 10 or some minutes, I enjoy (relativity) fast speeds before they plummet back to the oblivion. 

 

Now sometimes, the speedtest will show up seemingly accurate results of around .2 Mps and some terrible ping (when trying to play BF4, my ping can go from 80 to 999+ ms. Its usually jumping around 500-700 ms during the night. Yes, its driving me insane). However, I've only seen this happen like 3 times, and every other time, the speed is weirdly 8-10 Mps, even though its clearly not that when trying to watch Youtube/play games.  

  

So idk, maybe its all a placebo/coincidence that my internet speed picks up when I go to speedtest.net. But is it a possibility ATT (and maybe other ISP's) are boosting their performance?   

  

ALSO READ THIS BEFORE RESPONDING: I'm not searching for a diagnostics here. If there was a simple, "internet forum" answer to my nightly issue, I would've found it by now. Its not congestion (these problems last all the way into deep night, around 4am at times), its not malware or any torrenting program (I've disconnected all devices from the network and the issue still exists using my ultra fresh laptop), its not a router placement problem (I'm standing right next to the router), its not a neighbor riding your Wifi problem (I've changed the password), it can't be someone DOSSing my router (as I've read online; the WiFi is now hidden). I've messed around with the different network channels, have tried switching between b/g/n/ac, and so on and so forth. I'll be calling ATT and trying to get a 5 GHZ router (as this maybe a problem with my neighbors congesting everything (?), and if the issue still exists then I guess its time to move to another ISP. Problem is, ATT basically has a monoply over our area . God how I hate ISPs. Google, please bring fiber to me ASAP!

[Valkyrie Lenneth]

ive had the same issue and it was a defective modem + a bad wall plug(signal loss that causes packet loss), internet seems fine and huge lagspikes and timeouts

 

isps can boost speedtests if u are doing a speedtest

 

changing a router wont fix that or changing the modem alone, u need to get a maintenance guy there with a signal checker on the wall plugs aswell as check the modem signal

 

it is perhaps ur only solution to do these

 

swap out modem + swap out for a proper wall plug

[Guest]

Yes, they can do that.

 

It is a very dirty practice.

Go ahead and try Bandwidth Place

 

Also, try switching to OpenDNS.

[Aniallation]

Is your PC the only device affected by it? Or does it happen with other laptops, phones, etc? Does it occur on a wired connection?

[TetraSky]

ISP is throttling you and to prevent you from finding out, they detect that you are accessing a speed test website and boost your connection for a bit.

Because yes, they certainly can do that and quite a few ISPs were caught with their pants down for this exact reason before.

[ThatAngryGnome]

ive had the same issue and it was a defective modem + a bad wall plug(signal loss that causes packet loss), internet seems fine and huge lagspikes and timeouts

 

isps can boost speedtests if u are doing a speedtest

 

changing a router wont fix that or changing the modem alone, u need to get a maintenance guy there with a signal checker on the wall plugs aswell as check the modem signal

 

it is perhaps ur only solution to do these

 

swap out modem + swap out for a proper wall plug

 

Last time he switched out the wall plug too. IDK what to say, but I hope they can fix it...

[ThatAngryGnome]

ISP is throttling you and to prevent you from finding out, they detect that you are accessing a speed test website and boost your connection for a bit.

Because yes, they certainly can do that and quite a few ISPs were caught with their pants down for this exact reason before.

Okay so I don't sound like a tin foil hat theorist here? I pondered if it was possible, and if ATT would go out of their way to do that...it really seems like they do

[TetraSky]

Okay so I don't sound like a tin foil hat theorist here? I pondered if it was possible, and if ATT would go out of their way to do that...it really seems like they do

Well, from what I'm reading, it doesn't seems like you've tried the obvious?

Connect directly to the modem via an Ethernet cable.

Usually when I have issues with the internet, it really turns out that it was the router that was being a piece of junk and not the actual modem, especially if you're connected via Wi Fi.

 

Or is it a modem/router combo kind of thing? Still try plugging in via ethernet.. you SHOULD be able to. I haven't heard or seen of a combo unit that didn't have a few Ethernet ports behind it. If the device you're using doesn't have an ethernet port... find a device that does and test it.

 

Sometimes, big issues like these can be resolved just by pressing the reset button on the modem for 30~ seconds too.

[ThatAngryGnome]

Well, from what I'm reading, it doesn't seems like you've tried the obvious?

Connect directly to the modem via an Ethernet cable.

Usually when I have issues with the internet, it really turns out that it was the router that was being a piece of junk and not the actual modem, especially if you're connected via Wi Fi.

 

Or is it a modem/router combo kind of thing? Still try plugging in via ethernet.. you SHOULD be able to. I haven't heard or seen of a combo unit that didn't have a few Ethernet ports behind it. If the device you're using doesn't have an ethernet port... find a device that does and test it.

 

Sometimes, big issues like these can be resolved just by pressing the reset button on the modem for 30~ seconds too.

 

Okay again, I don't know how much help I can get online. I've tested my Ethernet connection (its a combo BTW), and it works flawlessly, meaning its something wrong with specifically wrong with my WiFi. Since I have my work station setup upstairs, I can't use Ethernet though. I did get a little booster box for my router. That doesn't matter though since I have exactly the same problems when sitting right next to my router as I do upstairs.   

 

Thing is, I know the unit I was given is the unit all ATT UVerse customers get, and it has worked fine for me until a few months ago when weird issues started happening. After that its just been replacing the unit over and over again. After the most recent replacement (and a little tinkering with the wall jack), the issue persisted on into this fall. I'm at the point of calling ATT when I finally have time and explain that simply replacing the damn modem/router won't do the trick and they actually need to diagnose the issue, or else I'll switch to another ISP (Cox is a favorite right now).  

[TetraSky]

Okay again, I don't know how much help I can get online. I've tested my Ethernet connection (its a combo BTW), and it works flawlessly, meaning its something wrong with specifically wrong with my WiFi. Since I have my work station setup upstairs, I can't use Ethernet though. I did get a little booster box for my router. That doesn't matter though since I have exactly the same problems when sitting right next to my router as I do upstairs.   

 

Thing is, I know the unit I was given is the unit all ATT UVerse customers get, and it has worked fine for me until a few months ago when weird issues started happening. After that its just been replacing the unit over and over again. After the most recent replacement (and a little tinkering with the wall jack), the issue persisted on into this fall. I'm at the point of calling ATT when I finally have time and explain that simply replacing the damn modem/router won't do the trick and they actually need to diagnose the issue, or else I'll switch to another ISP (Cox is a favorite right now).  

Well then, it's not ATT. If ethernet works, but Wifi doesn't, it's either your wifi device or the router itself. Even if your laptop is "fresh", it doesn't stop it from having a bad wifi card, or drivers.

 

 

Have you considered PowerLine to get the ethernet upstairs? You could then hook up your own Wireless Access Point(Really, any router will do, it will get its IP from the main router, just make sure you change the 192.168.1.1 address of it to 192.168.2.1 or something, so it's not interfering with the ISP's combo unit on the same network) there, which wouldn't be affected by the bad wifi of the router downstairs.

I've personally done this where I live, as the wifi from the main router is terrible where it is and I can't move it.

[dzonidev]

Okay so for the past few months, I've been messing around with my internet. I was promised 25 Mbs and usually get around 17 Mbs. But I've noticed every night, my internet plummets to crap. Ping spikes all over, connection timeouts, I can't even watch videos in 360p! Even trying to go to something like google.com takes a solid 30 seconds to load. But that's besides the point. I do eventually plan on calling AT&T and probably disconnecting from them (as mentioned before, this has been happening for a few months, and twice a technician has been sent to "fix" the problem. The problem has persisted.)

 

So naturally, I use speedtest.net (along with some other popular speed tests) to test my speed. Oddly enough, when testing it, my jumps to ~8-10 Mbs, and anything that was loading will instantly load. If I have a Youtube video at 1080p buffering, by the time the speedtest is done, most of the video will have buffered. For the next 10 or some minutes, I enjoy (relativity) fast speeds before they plummet back to the oblivion. 

 

Now sometimes, the speedtest will show up seemingly accurate results of around .2 Mps and some terrible ping (when trying to play BF4, my ping can go from 80 to 999+ ms. Its usually jumping around 500-700 ms during the night. Yes, its driving me insane). However, I've only seen this happen like 3 times, and every other time, the speed is weirdly 8-10 Mps, even though its clearly not that when trying to watch Youtube/play games.  

  

So idk, maybe its all a placebo/coincidence that my internet speed picks up when I go to speedtest.net. But is it a possibility ATT (and maybe other ISP's) are boosting their performance?   

  

ALSO READ THIS BEFORE RESPONDING: I'm not searching for a diagnostics here. If there was a simple, "internet forum" answer to my nightly issue, I would've found it by now. Its not congestion (these problems last all the way into deep night, around 4am at times), its not malware or any torrenting program (I've disconnected all devices from the network and the issue still exists using my ultra fresh laptop), its not a router placement problem (I'm standing right next to the router), its not a neighbor riding your Wifi problem (I've changed the password), it can't be someone DOSSing my router (as I've read online; the WiFi is now hidden). I've messed around with the different network channels, have tried switching between b/g/n/ac, and so on and so forth. I'll be calling ATT and trying to get a 5 GHZ router (as this maybe a problem with my neighbors congesting everything (?), and if the issue still exists then I guess its time to move to another ISP. Problem is, ATT basically has a monoply over our area . God how I hate ISPs. Google, please bring fiber to me ASAP!

 

Yes they can rig the speedtest very easily. ISPs usually host speedtest.net servers and they are practically in their own network placing them on a very fast and wide path to you. As an example, I pay for 40/40 and I indeed do get 40/40mbps. But if I were to measure the speed on a server hosted by my ISP, the download speed would average at 60 mbps and the upload speed would almost double. As you can see by measuring my speed on a server that is practically in my ISP network it's the same as I were to host a speedtest server in my local network. Not to mention that I get fiber.

 

However not all bad is in all of this, large ISPs also do caching of popular websites like YouTube, Google, Facebook, etc.. Doing this they save on bandwidth by getting something only once, saving it and then redistributing it on their own network which doesn't cost them anything. There is also a benefit for the end user, they get the content faster.

 

And to give you an answer you did not consider for your network issue it seems that you have a decent amount of packet loss which is a direct result of a bad line somewhere between you and the multiplexer. To fix this you would likely need a line replacement. Call AT&T and get them to send someone to test the line.

[gamerking]

the one isp

optimum

near me for years has pulled the same thing ok connection then its 999 ping and not even a kilobyte speed . i haven't had to go back to them for years now i have fiber which is great . hopefully you can have them unthrottle  you sometimes it stupid thing not having paperless  or something really stupid  . if not you can always force there hand . i just would have speed test on a loop on a second pc with 4-5 of them just running infinitely. till they figured it out and drop'd me and expected me to pay the fees that they set if you leave the contract  . send back there stuff with a surprise on the router . try looping speed test if that works calling them may only make them more dicks at&t for internet i have heard can be a pain . i have them for mobile and there useless for anything but a simple question