My internet is shit.

Stigmata

Stigmata

The Freeman
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Since about six weeks ago, my internet connection has started to fail multiple times per day. At first it was about once a day, usually in the late afternoon or early evening. But the failure rate has been increasing pretty steadily since then. I called my ISP (Bell Sympatico, this is important later) to see what was up, and after some cable juggling I was told that the problem laid with my router and my modem having conflicting DNS server entries. No biggie, it's just a shitty router, right?

Nope. The problem doesn't lie on my end, it's at their end. The "solution" to fix my "DNS problem" is to disconnect the router, connect my computer directly to the modem, connect to the internet, disconnect and set up the router again, and powercycle the modem and router. So today, after having my connection fail three times in five minutes, I went down and did just that. And lo and behold, I got the same internet connection failure on my directly-connected PC.

Needless to say I am horribly pissed.

I've been keeping a log of my internet problems over the past six days. Take a look:

August 14th
14:28
DNS Failure, temporary. Fixed self in a minute, interrupted all internet communications.

14:39
Unexplained slowdown. Only one MSN conversation and Firefox window open.

14:46
DNS Failure.

14:49
DNS Failure continues. Manual DSL reconnect via router's homepage. Fixed.

14:56
Unexplained slowdown.

17:12
Unexplained slowdown.

19:47
DNS Failure.

20:57
DNS Failure. Two manual reconnects before internet worked properly.

August 15th
14:30
DNS Failure. Fixed itself.

15:27
DNS Failure. Fixed itself.

August 16th
15:43
Unexplained slowdown.

16:15
Unexplained slowdown.

18:05
Unexplained slowdown.

18:24
Unexplained slowdown.

August 17th
03:43
DNS Failure.

19:37
DNS Failure.

August 18th
03:28
DNS Failure.

18:15
DNS Failure.

19:24
DNS Failure.

20:40
Unexplained slowdown.

21:07
DNS Failure. Required 4 reconnects.

August 19th
00:51
DNS Failure.

00:52
Unexplained slowdown.

02:11
DNS Failure.

02:15 to 03:30
DNS Failure (6)

03:47
DNS Failure.

03:53
DNS Failure.

03:55
DNS Failure.

04:47
DNS Failure.

20:26
DNS Failure.

20:45
DNS Failure.

21:00
DNS Failure.

21:03
DNS Failure.

21:05
DNS Failure.



I'm lodging a complaint tomorrow. But I don't think it'll do anything, because Bell shapes their net traffic and they're not going to do shit about it. And the worst part is a) we're stuck in a three-year "bundle contract" with Bell, for internet, satellite TV, and a phone line; and b) Bell owns the DSL lines around here and leases them to smaller ISPs, which means going to any other ISP would result in the same bullshit traffic-shaping and general connection problems.
 
Occasionally my wireless internet slows down to ~30kb/s. It's been doing this for weeks and sometimes it feels like I get boosts of fast internet, compared to slowdowns. It's on my side though since all my other computers work fine, wireless or otherwise.

I know how you feel about your slow internet. But I wouldn't know how to fix it.
 
Dog-- said:
k.

char-izard
Click to expand...

I'm not trying to be antagonistic or anything here (I cannot stress that enough), but the point of this thread is to vent, and perhaps see if anyone has any solutions. Responding with nothing more than "k" shows that you have no interest in the subject, no meaningful comments to offer, and makes you look like a dismissive asshole. And I know you're not a dismissive asshole, so not making posts like that will help people see that. This goes for everyone, including myself, as I'm sure I've done the same thing multiple times in the past.

Just sayin', is all. :)
 
Ok, so I'll answer the one question you had in that wall of text.

No biggie, it's just a shitty router, right?
Click to expand...
Right.

I seriously don't see what you're hoping for out of this...

:)
 
My internet has been sluggish all week. (It's because I'm torrenting a DVD, but **** that.) Charter Digital Cable only offers enough access for 1 computer to get through at a time, so it's first come first serve with tasks. My torrent is getting continuous access while the rest of my family has to wait. i laugh and mock them, but I am the slowest to go anywhere on the net.

Maybe I just need a new router, but still *Flame flame flame vent vent flame vent flame flame*
 
Van_Halen said:
My internet has been sluggish all week. (It's because I'm torrenting a DVD, but **** that.) Charter Digital Cable only offers enough access for 1 computer to get through at a time, so it's first come first serve with tasks. My torrent is getting continuous access while the rest of my family has to wait. i laugh and mock them, but I am the slowest to go anywhere on the net.

Maybe I just need a new router, but still *Flame flame flame vent vent flame vent flame flame*
Click to expand...

What do you mean by "enough access"? Are you using a router that they leased to you?
 
If I had a dollar for every time my net went down or had unexpected slowdown, I might be able to pay my horrifically overdue net bill.
 
The best package I can get is 768kbs/128kbs. 70% of the time it doesn't work at those speeds.

I also experience down time and constant lag. Your not alone. At least they don't throttle torrents or put a bandwidth cap though.
 
Stigmata said:
What do you mean by "enough access"? Are you using a router that they leased to you?
Click to expand...

Yes. -.-

We'd get one ourselves but my mom finds it trivial to spend money on such pointless things... Words from her mouth. Don't ask, cause I can't tell.
 
Yeah, your net company is bullshitting you. And doing a pretty obvious job of it too.

Tell your mom that if you buy a new router, you'll be able to have as many computers as you want connected to the Internet at the same time. If that doesn't sway her, kill your dad, I mean, nothing will.
 
My internet has been unexpectedly slowing down and shutting off, too! However, I've been using free wi-fi throughout the country this entire summer, so I can't really complain.

My guess is the internet is floundering in terror of the relentless approach of 12/21/12.
 
Contrary to my previous statement, my net is actually quite stable. Hahahahaha.

It just isn't that fast.

And it costs as much as about 3 MMO subscriptions.





Suckers.
 
losttheskyagain said:
My internet has been unexpectedly slowing down and shutting off, too! However, I've been using free wi-fi throughout the country this entire summer, so I can't really complain.

My guess is the internet is floundering in terror of the relentless approach of 12/21/12.
Click to expand...

Man, why does the internet have to be such a pussy? That's not for like four years.
 
I guarantee you it's not as shitty as my connection. :bonce:
 
Yeah, but you live in America, you're legally not allowed to complain.
 
00:51
DNS Failure.

00:52
Unexplained slowdown.

02:11
DNS Failure.

02:15 to 03:30
DNS Failure (6)

03:47
DNS Failure.

03:53
DNS Failure.

03:55
DNS Failure.

04:47
DNS Failure.

20:26
DNS Failure.

20:45
DNS Failure.

21:00
DNS Failure.

21:03
DNS Failure.

21:05
DNS Failure.

21:50
DNS Failure.

21:55
DNS Failure.

22:13
DNS Failure.

22:24
Unexplained slowdown.

22:28
Unexplained slowdown.
 
Absurdist joke. If you don't get it, you don't get it. And if you do get it, there's no guarantee that it's actually funny.
 
Stigmata said:
Absurdist joke. If you don't get it, you don't get it. And if you do get it, there's no guarantee that it's actually funny.
Click to expand...
It was a joke? :|

I'm slow when it comes to sarcasm. My bad.

If you'd said, "your legally allowed to complain" then I'd understand, but that's not it either I assume?

legally....

not allowed....

does not compute.
 
Saturos said:
It was a joke? :|

I'm slow when it comes to sarcasm. My bad.

If you'd said, "your legally allowed to complain" then I'd understand, but that's not it either I assume?

legally....

not allowed....

does not compute.
Click to expand...

Exactly.

Like I said, either you get it or you don't :p
 
No.

You either get Willie, or he gets you.





Herpes, that's what.
 
My internet is pretty sweet.

Give it a little kick in the bottom, then it will behave itself. Works for me.

Kick me in the bottom.
 
Not to bust in and break up the fun, but.. a few things:

1) Your ISP is probably throttling bandwidth. Most do. They aren't technically supposed to, but.. there's a ton of legal wranglings right now as to how it will all be sorted.

2) Combine that craptastic policy of punishing those of us who use the Internet for things like.. a job.. (meaning we use far more bandwidth than the average person)... depending on your proximity to local hubs and the number of customers you share the lines with... you've got yourself a "Slowsky" connection.. (random reference, Comcast commercials..)

DNS issues can happen too, but.. usually it's on the ISP's end. They should have backup servers to auto-route their clients with minimal impact (which is why you may see them resolve within minutes).. but.. the number of events you've outlined... erm.. ouch. That's way too many for any reputable company. They need to build a new DNS server. Or 4.

It totally could be your router, or the cable modem, or sunspots*.. or.. many other things. (I'll give you the benefit of the doubt, and assume you've run thorough virus/malware scans, to rule out things like hijacked host files, etc.)

*Okay, so the sunspots, I can't verify.. but, no joke.. I was told that by a Comcast "Care" agent, when attempting to troubleshoot a cable issue. They told me that due to the solar flares occuring, and the tilt of the earth, my cable would be affected. I asked if I needed sunscreen. :|

So, here's a cool site to run bandwidth tests, and read all about the throttling, and generally immerse yourself in nerdiness: http://www.dslreports.com/
 
Ha, sounds like mine *SBC woo*. I get random router fails all the time, constant slow downs, blah blah blah...

but, so far the internet is 14 bucks a month. HELL YEAH.
 
I have that problem. Like the EXACT same problem. Basically there are periods every few weeks where the internet disconnects literally 10 times in 10 minutes. Then it goes back to normal for a few weeks. But every day there is at least 3 unexplained disconnections.

It usually screws up when I'm running MSN on my laptop and on my desktop computers. I don't know why or how using MSN ****s up the connection but that's the pattern I get. I've gotten used to the problem, and when I find the time, I'll buy a new router.
 
My internet seems to slow down/fail when I'm wanting to play a game/refreshing steam game lists... :O

I will always hate my Router...I need a new one.
 
So my internet stops working, and I can't fix it. So I call my ISP for tech support, and after I give them my phone number and account username, my internet starts working.

It's like magic!

:|

Staying on the line to talk to a "senior technician" who will help me, apparently.

[edit] WOW. Before she transferred me, she tried to get me to "upgrade" to a faster line with a 6GB bandwidth cap.

I know it's a cliched figure of speech, but I'm speechless.

[edit] And now the senior tech tells me that my line isn't even good enough to be upgraded to that faster line, when the previous woman said it was.
 
Do you have a contract that allows you to have free maintenance and free replacement?
 
Double post!

I'm on tech support right now, recording the call on Audacity. I'll have a record of their swindling and lies :D
 
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