Internet constantly lagging out, how to deal with tech support...

[MandicReally]

Looking to see if anyone has advice on how to handle Tech Support at Charter/Spectrum for a bad internet connection.  I went from a 60MBps Cable connection that streamed 4k content just fine, to the 100MBps connection they offer.  New connection, new modem.  Now I lag constantly.  I will be watching 4K content off YouTube (45MBps bitrate) and buffer a few times in a 10 minute video.  Or often the quality will simply automatically reduce to something lower (even as low as 480 at times).  I really hate when suddenly my 4k displays look like potatoes.  

Here is the rub, if I stop, close everything down and run a speed test, I get 100MBps or more.  However if I could say run an hour long speed test I'm certain I would see drops to FAR less than that.  I've caught it once in a while where I get like 20-30MBps speeds on a speed test but on a rerun it goes up.  Now this isn't 5-6PM primetime watching issues.  I'm talking like 11am on a Friday or 2-3am on a weekday night.  Also I'm on all wired ethernet connections on a Netgear 1Gig router.  I transfer data to my NAS through the router with zero issue every couple of days.  

This isn't isolated to just one device. My TV, Laptop, Phone (wifi obviously) and Desktop all experience this issue.  As does my Roommate's Xbox.  However if I call Charter Tech support, all they have me do is connect my laptop direct to the modem Cat 6 cable and if that runs a speed test at 100MBps, they wash their hands of the issue and blame my router.  I told them it isn't an issue of running one speed test, but they just blame the router and call it done.  

Anyone have a way to load test the whole system or my internet connection for an extended time?  Something preferably with a chart that I can show the ISP to show them what is happening.

[Wh0_Am_1]

Who is your ISP and what is their business model? Some ISPs sell you access different parts of their servers, and a limited amount of their bandwidth, others will sell everyone access to all of their server and bandwidth, which leads to faster speed in low times, but slower speeds in high time, the first strategy gives everyone a stable internet connection with consistent speeds regardless of what your neighbors are doing.

[Donut417]

3 hours ago, MandicReally said:

Looking to see if anyone has advice on how to handle Tech Support at Charter/Spectrum for a bad internet connection.  I went from a 60MBps Cable connection that streamed 4k content just fine, to the 100MBps connection they offer.  New connection, new modem.  Now I lag constantly.  I will be watching 4K content off YouTube (45MBps bitrate) and buffer a few times in a 10 minute video.  Or often the quality will simply automatically reduce to something lower (even as low as 480 at times).  I really hate when suddenly my 4k displays look like potatoes.  

Here is the rub, if I stop, close everything down and run a speed test, I get 100MBps or more.  However if I could say run an hour long speed test I'm certain I would see drops to FAR less than that.  I've caught it once in a while where I get like 20-30MBps speeds on a speed test but on a rerun it goes up.  Now this isn't 5-6PM primetime watching issues.  I'm talking like 11am on a Friday or 2-3am on a weekday night.  Also I'm on all wired ethernet connections on a Netgear 1Gig router.  I transfer data to my NAS through the router with zero issue every couple of days.  

This isn't isolated to just one device. My TV, Laptop, Phone (wifi obviously) and Desktop all experience this issue.  As does my Roommate's Xbox.  However if I call Charter Tech support, all they have me do is connect my laptop direct to the modem Cat 6 cable and if that runs a speed test at 100MBps, they wash their hands of the issue and blame my router.  I told them it isn't an issue of running one speed test, but they just blame the router and call it done.  

Anyone have a way to load test the whole system or my internet connection for an extended time?  Something preferably with a chart that I can show the ISP to show them what is happening.

They dont care. Simple. If I had to guess the issue, they might be throttling usage. Which is 100% LEGAL, depending on the state. 

[PatrickCie]

I don’t see anywhere if you mention trying a direct connection to the modem yourself. And from what I’m reading, your rougher worked fine with the slower connection, but your faster connection is less stable. If you connect directly to the modem, do you still have those ping and buffer issues? Have you tried going into your router and scaling your download bandwidth to certain devices back a bit, to see if it makes you connection more stable?  This wouldn’t necessarily implicate a bad roughter. Some connections do just work less reliable at peak bandwidth. 

[idiocracy]

From my experience, the isp wants your connection to be rock solid 24/7, or close to it. So if you just call them and tell them you have this issue. After the basic troubleshooting, they should be able to put a 24 hour monitor on the connection. The next day they can review it and see if the connection is stable. If it's not, then there's an issue that needs to be fixed. Could be many things like cable, dslam, router. They could also try and divert your traffic remotely. But after verifying there is an issue, they will usually schedule a technician who will locate and fix the issue.

[Donut417]

1 minute ago, idiocracy said:

From my experience, the isp wants your connection to be rock solid 24/7, or close to it. So if you just call them and tell them you have this issue. They should be able to put a 24 hour monitor on the connection. The next day they can review it and see if the connection is stable. If it's not, then there's and issue that needs to be fixed. Could be a cable, dslam, router issue, they could also try and divert your traffic remotely. But after verifying there is an issue, they will usually schedule a technician who will locate and fix the issue.

American ISP's dont give a shit. As long as you give them money. In many cases you have 1 choice for ISP. So they dont care if your connection is in the perfect working state. Because they know your going to keep paying because they are your only choice. 

 

@MandicReally what modem did they give you? Need a model number. 

[idiocracy]

Well, in that case there isn't much you can do if the issue is outside of your reach. Other than attempt to sweet talk the supporter.

How it normally works here is that if the problem can't be solved by resetting router, or replacing it. They'll schedule a technician when they've verified there is a problem that is outside the customers reach. If you call a Monday, you'll have the router replacement Wednesday. If the issue persists and line monitor shows nothing, a technician will locate and fix the problem Friday or Monday. I think that would be considered fairly normal.

I also noted that he mentioned something about the time of day. If your connection isn't running full speed during all hours would mean that their backbone to dslam is too slow. That would be something the isp would need to fix. But i've never heard of that being a problem tho.

[MandicReally]

49 minutes ago, idiocracy said:

Well, in that case there isn't much you can do if the issue is outside of your reach. Other than attempt to sweet talk the supporter.

How it normally works here is that if the problem can't be solved by resetting router, or replacing it. They'll schedule a technician when they've verified there is a problem that is outside the customers reach. If you call a Monday, you'll have the router replacement Wednesday. If the issue persists and line monitor shows nothing, a technician will locate and fix the problem Friday or Monday. I think that would be considered fairly normal.

I also noted that he mentioned something about the time of day. If your connection isn't running full speed during all hours would mean that their backbone to dslam is too slow. That would be something the isp would need to fix. But i've never heard of that being a problem tho.

That is a really common problem in the states.  As others have noted, they oversell the grid in areas expecting that folks won't all be using it at once. 

I did try connecting direct to the modem however I didn't do it for a long term run.  My cable only reaches to the router so I have to put my laptop in an odd place to test it that way.  I was up editing a video until about 3am and kept getting random drop outs all through the night.  It absolutely was not normal behavior.  

I most need a test method that can provide even a minor load for extended time.  Basically a stress test for the internet connection.  I found one that constantly pings a server.  Also I ran Speed Tests every time the internet kept getting slow, so I have a record of the awful speeds I was getting through that.