Question Help! Weird connection issue with different computers hardwired directing into ONT

tallen234

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Mar 17, 2010
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Hi All,

I've noticed that I get really different speeds when speed testing through Cox's speedtest.net and through any other speed test (Fast.com, speedofme, etc.). Now, this would be just a weird anomaly, but I think it is affecting my wife's zoom webinars. For the past couple of months (after being rock solid for years), she get an unstable internet connection in her zoom (and other webinars). When they are recorded, you can really tell the slow speed. I have a gigablast ONT from Cox, through a brand new RAX45 router (it did the same thing with the old router) to a Dell Aurora R7. However, this problem happens when I plug the ethernet directly into the ONT (by passing the modem) AND when I try to use my wife's laptop (I connect it directly to the ONT or the Router and I get the same results). One weird thing is that immediately after COX reset the modem on their end, the speedtest.net speed showed blazing fast speeds, then 30 seconds later I get the throttled speed. This also happens occasionally when I plug in the ethernet into the new device (for example from the desktop to the laptop), the first speed test is normal, and then the second test is pool It almost like the modem is self throttling the connection - however, when I got to another speed test, is shows fast speed. I don't recognize a slow connection under normal use. Only with the webinars.

Right now, I just ran a speedtest on speedtest.net and got 46.5/0.37. The upload speed is crazy slow.

I had a cox tech here this morning who thought it was "weird" and suggested I called Cox and speak to a Tier 2 or 3 person. I spoke to a rep who worked with me for a little bit and then wanted to escalate it to a supervisor. She told me that he would be calling me. I didn't receive a call.

Any ideas? I'm at a loss.....
 
Verify the correct connection speed the modem gets from your ISP (log inside the modem)
Is the connection speed in Windows 1Gbit/s or 100Mbit/s?

Did you try different ethernet cables?

Driver of the chipset and LAN of the devices are up to date? Eventually the BIOS as well?

Disable wifi on the laptop and try by cable again, directly connected to the modem

all firmware updates done for the modem and router?

did you install any firewall or anti virus software on your devices?

is the firewall in windows set correctly to "private" and not "public"?


Don´t use speedtest or similar, these could be unreliable. Better download several large files from different sites and have a look at the task manager´s ether-net download speed within windows. Eventually try https://www.cox.com/residential/support/internet/speedtest.html

reset the modem and router

unplug the modem from the wall, wait for at least 2minutes and plug in again

https://www.cox.com/residential/support/troubleshooting-slow-internet-speeds.html

I´m assuming that your data traffic didn´t reach the 1.25 TB limit of your
Gigablast Package?
 
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Your post is kinda confusing.

Are you saying if you run speedtest to cox you get good numbers consistently. This would mean there is no issue with your router or anything related to the connection to your house or your pc.

If you get slower numbers to some other speedtest sites all that means is the is some bottleneck between cox and the other ISP. That you will never get fixed other than not using cox as your ISP. This is all related to agreements between ISP on how much traffic they allow to pass on certain portals. It is only fair that the ISP that spend the money for long distance fiber recover the costs from other ISP that do not. This is much more common with tiny ISP, where cox has eaten enough other ISP over the years that their network is pretty big. It could be a regional issue where they do not have enough bandwidth in a certain part of the country.

I am not sure if cox speedtest site will respond to ping commands. The only other thing I can think of is you are getting some packet loss. Speedtest is not affected much by that but other applications are. You could try a leaving a ping run to the site and see if you are getting loss when you see performance issues.
 

tallen234

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Sorry for the confusing post. The actual problem is slow webinar speeds ("unstable internet) across different platforms (Zoom, MS Teams, proprietary platforms, etc.), This really came to a head when she had a big webinar that was being recorded a few weeks ago, and the recording was horrible. I have Cox Gigablast. Typically, when I run their speedtest from the Cox website (speedtest.net), i get very low numbers (40/0.4). When I run any other speed test (speed of me, fast.com, etc.), it shows gigablast speeds. I thought this was merely some weird anomaly, until I thought about my wife's webinar problems. This is the only evidence of a "problem" that I could tie to the poor webinar performance. The very poor upload speed is affecting the zoom connection. Sometimes right after I reset the ont and my router, I can get the Cox speedtest.net to show gigabit speeds. In fact, during one of my phone calls with Cox, after she "refreshed" the modem, I got gigabit speeds with her on the phone. 30 seconds later, with her still on the phone, I ran another test and the result was 40/0.4. That is why I am saying that it is being "throttled". It went from 900/800 to 40/0.4 in 30 seconds. NOW, here is a weird update. Someone on another board suggested that I try a USB network connection on my desktop (not sure why), but it worked. I used a laptop Ethernet-to-USB converter and run it through my USB 3.0 port. I got steady gigabit performance. I was happy to get the performance. However, here is where it gets weird. I take the same connection with the converter and attach it to my laptop and I got the 40/0.4 ish results. HUH???? She did a webinar today using the Desktop/USB-ethernet converter connection and it performed well. So, that is a weird workaround. But she wants to be able to use her laptop as well.





Your post is kinda confusing.

Are you saying if you run speedtest to cox you get good numbers consistently. This would mean there is no issue with your router or anything related to the connection to your house or your pc.

If you get slower numbers to some other speedtest sites all that means is the is some bottleneck between cox and the other ISP. That you will never get fixed other than not using cox as your ISP. This is all related to agreements between ISP on how much traffic they allow to pass on certain portals. It is only fair that the ISP that spend the money for long distance fiber recover the costs from other ISP that do not. This is much more common with tiny ISP, where cox has eaten enough other ISP over the years that their network is pretty big. It could be a regional issue where they do not have enough bandwidth in a certain part of the country.

I am not sure if cox speedtest site will respond to ping commands. The only other thing I can think of is you are getting some packet loss. Speedtest is not affected much by that but other applications are. You could try a leaving a ping run to the site and see if you are getting loss when you see performance issues.
 
Way too many strange things.

The problem is if ANY of the speedtesting sites give you good numbers consistently it can not be the router/modem/connection and maybe not even the PC. All the data must pass over the same equipment. The ISP is not going to limit different traffic and I assume you did not configure anything in your router to limit certain web sites.

What is even more strange is it affects multiple machines which means it is not software on the machine.

Maybe factory reset your router and only configure that admin passwords and wifi passwords. Mostly it is that so called "gaming" garbage on routers that cause issues like this but it should be disabled by default even if your router has that feature.

Instead of using completely different speedtest programs maybe try other locations on the speedtest site other than cox. You should be able to pick from a list of servers in a city near you. It is common to get very different results from servers in the same city from different providers.

What you really need to find is a way to get consistent slow response. The ISP is going to say they are not responsible for any server outside their network and refuse to even look at anything.
 

tallen234

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Mar 17, 2010
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I agree. Frustratingly weird. Probably the most i've every been frustrated with a computer (and that is saying a lot!)

As of today:

Desktop: Use ethernet connection, with Speedtest.net (either thru Cox website or the app), I get 40/0.6ish. With a USB/Ethernet converter to a 3.0 port, I get gigabit speeds. (When I plug in ethernet immediately after a modem refresh, I get gigabit speeds for the first speedtest I take, then it throttles back to the slow results.

Laptop (with only USB ports) - Get the 40/0.6 ish with Speedtest.net. Sometimes, when I first connect the cable, I get fast speeds, but it quickly slows down. Today, I actually got the 444.28up/0.37 down (I took a photo in case I have to show Cox). So, whatever is happening, it seems to be related to time.


I've plugged the directly from the modem (bypassing the router) with the same issue.

With the speedtest.net site, I've tried different severs all with the same results.


EDIT: Another data point - on my laptop, even if I connect wirelessly to my router, it will be throttled. However, on my iphone or ipad, even with speedtest.net, I still get fast speeds.





Way too many strange things.

The problem is if ANY of the speedtesting sites give you good numbers consistently it can not be the router/modem/connection and maybe not even the PC. All the data must pass over the same equipment. The ISP is not going to limit different traffic and I assume you did not configure anything in your router to limit certain web sites.

What is even more strange is it affects multiple machines which means it is not software on the machine.

Maybe factory reset your router and only configure that admin passwords and wifi passwords. Mostly it is that so called "gaming" garbage on routers that cause issues like this but it should be disabled by default even if your router has that feature.

Instead of using completely different speedtest programs maybe try other locations on the speedtest site other than cox. You should be able to pick from a list of servers in a city near you. It is common to get very different results from servers in the same city from different providers.

What you really need to find is a way to get consistent slow response. The ISP is going to say they are not responsible for any server outside their network and refuse to even look at anything.
 
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