Jerky Broadband

I have very mixed experiences with my broadband connection. Sometimes
it seems to work as advertised but quite frequently browsing is a series
of interruptions. When I watch the little computers in the task bar
they show a few seconds communicating then go dark for a while, then re-
light, then go dark again, and so on. So even modestly-sized pages can
take ages to load, but there is no definite pattern to the behaviour.
What I can say is that when stuff is coming down the pipe, it is going
at the expected speed.

I guess there may be several explanations but what are they and how do I
test for them?

I run Windows XP Home.

Thanks
--
Kevin Vivian

On Fri, 1 Apr 2005 17:36:49 +0100, Kevin Vivian <subs@[127.0.0.1]> wrote:

>When I watch the little computers in the task bar they show a few
>seconds communicating then go dark for a while, then re-light, then
>go dark again, and so on. What I can say is that when stuff is
>coming down the pipe, it is going at the expected speed.

Have you tried any 'speed tests' ? (eg at www.adslguide.org )

From the sound of it, you are unlikely to get the 'expected speed' if
everything stops for a while... What happens if you listen to some
radio station ? Do you get continuous audio or not ? CTRL+ESC+shift
will give you the task manager, and the network tab gives a graph of
traffic... some firewalls might show the speed of any particular
connection (for example, I can see individual speeds for the 'open'
connections).

Is it USB you use ? Perhaps mentioning the ISP as well might help
people formulate further queries to help you get to the source of the
problems.

--
Try a commercial news service - from 50 MB/day (once-only fee of < $5 )
up to 1500 MB/day for 6 months $99.95, 600 GB over 6 months $149.75
with many options in between... <http://tinyurl.com/3rjw4>

It's probably contention or a useless ISP, but BT are in the middle of
upgrading exchanges as well so that's causing some problems. You can check
the state of your exchange at http://usertools.plus.net/exchanges/

You can rule out your ISP by using BT's own speedtest. Some info at
http://www.adslguide.org.uk/qanda.as...roubleshooting

I've also known the MTU and RWIN registry settings to cause patchy
downloads, there's loads of info around on them, you can use a program like
DrTCP to adjust.


"Kevin Vivian" <subs@[127.0.0.1]> wrote in message
news:Fv16P+(E-Mail Removed)...
>I have very mixed experiences with my broadband connection. Sometimes
> it seems to work as advertised but quite frequently browsing is a series
> of interruptions. When I watch the little computers in the task bar
> they show a few seconds communicating then go dark for a while, then re-
> light, then go dark again, and so on. So even modestly-sized pages can
> take ages to load, but there is no definite pattern to the behaviour.
> What I can say is that when stuff is coming down the pipe, it is going
> at the expected speed.
>
> I guess there may be several explanations but what are they and how do I
> test for them?
>
> I run Windows XP Home.
>
> Thanks
> --
> Kevin Vivian

Thanks to Peter M and SteveB for their suggestions.

Up to now I have determined that the exchange record shows the "virtual
path" at amber, with repairs due to be completed by end of April.

Two speed tests run a few hours apart using the ADSLGuide facility, show
widely different results for the downstream speed, viz -

First / Second
Downstream 91Kbps / 427Kbps
Upstream 252Kbps / 245Kbps

I haven't had chance to test speed direct from BT or use DrTCP, but the
"broadband interruptus" behaviour has been noticed on at least two of
the three machines on my network of three computers, one running Windows
XP Home and the other running Windows 98. My ISP is Demon and I connect
to their 0.5MB service via a Draytek Vigor router.

Cheers
Kevin

In article <NtqdnVSr1qYdrNPfRVn-(E-Mail Removed)>, SteveB
<sbrads@nildramDOTcoDOTuk.?> writes
>It's probably contention or a useless ISP, but BT are in the middle of
>upgrading exchanges as well so that's causing some problems. You can check
>the state of your exchange at http://usertools.plus.net/exchanges/
>
>You can rule out your ISP by using BT's own speedtest. Some info at
>http://www.adslguide.org.uk/qanda.as...roubleshooting
>
>I've also known the MTU and RWIN registry settings to cause patchy
>downloads, there's loads of info around on them, you can use a program like
>DrTCP to adjust.
>
>
>"Kevin Vivian" <subs@[127.0.0.1]> wrote in message
>news:Fv16P+(E-Mail Removed)...
>>I have very mixed experiences with my broadband connection. Sometimes
>> it seems to work as advertised but quite frequently browsing is a series
>> of interruptions. When I watch the little computers in the task bar
>> they show a few seconds communicating then go dark for a while, then re-
>> light, then go dark again, and so on. So even modestly-sized pages can
>> take ages to load, but there is no definite pattern to the behaviour.
>> What I can say is that when stuff is coming down the pipe, it is going
>> at the expected speed.
>>
>> I guess there may be several explanations but what are they and how do I
>> test for them?
>>
>> I run Windows XP Home.
>>
>> Thanks
>> --
>> Kevin Vivian
>
>

--
Kevin

On Fri, 1 Apr 2005 17:36:49 +0100, Kevin Vivian <subs@[127.0.0.1]>
wrote:

>I have very mixed experiences with my broadband connection.
>
>I guess there may be several explanations but what are they and how do I
>test for them?

What you seem to be describing is traffic to / from a web server. HTTP
is stateless, that is, for each file or page downloaded your computer
needs to open a new connection to the server. If the server is busy,
you may see small gaps in the data transferred while new connections
are established. This is much more noticeable on web sites that have
poor network connections.