Problems with my internet

[003]

Hi, right now I have comcast cable internet, but I am seriously thinking of ditching it for DSL. It has so many problems it's not even funny. I did two traceroutes, one with the router and one with a direct connection. All software firewalls were disabled for the traceroutes. Here are the results:

[b]Direct connection:[/b]

Tracing route to 69.12.89.136 over a maximum of 30 hops

  1     *        *        *     Request timed out.
  2     8 ms    22 ms    21 ms  68.86.118.49
  3     7 ms     9 ms     7 ms  68.87.230.38
  4     8 ms    23 ms    23 ms  68.87.230.41
  5    25 ms    23 ms     9 ms  68.87.231.53
  6     8 ms     9 ms    24 ms  68.87.230.254
  7    11 ms    26 ms    11 ms  12.118.104.65
  8    13 ms    12 ms    26 ms  tbr1-p011801.cgcil.ip.att.net [12.123.6.58]
  9    11 ms    10 ms     9 ms  ggr2-p300.cgcil.ip.att.net [12.123.6.33]
 10    27 ms    10 ms    11 ms  att-gw.chi.qwest.net [192.205.32.98]
 11    31 ms    15 ms   18 ms  cer-core-01.inet.qwest.net [205.171.139.57]
 12    18 ms    17 ms    19 ms  chx-edge-01.inet.qwest.net [205.171.139.162]
 13    17 ms    16 ms    16 ms  63.150.27.98
 14    13 ms    28 ms    28 ms  69.12.89.136

Trace complete.

[b]Router:[/b]

Tracing route to 69.12.89.136 over a maximum of 30 hops

  1    <1 ms    <1 ms    <1 ms  192.168.1.1
  2     *        *        *     Request timed out.
  3     9 ms    25 ms     7 ms  68.86.118.49
  4    22 ms    40 ms     8 ms  68.87.230.38
  5    10 ms     9 ms     9 ms  68.87.230.41
  6    24 ms     9 ms     9 ms  68.87.231.53
  7     9 ms     9 ms   384 ms  68.87.230.254
  8    11 ms    12 ms    12 ms  12.118.239.97
  9    13 ms    27 ms    12 ms  tbr2-p012301.cgcil.ip.att.net [12.123.6.13]
 10    12 ms    11 ms    13 ms  ggr2-p3120.cgcil.ip.att.net [12.123.6.69]
 11    15 ms    13 ms    15 ms  att-gw.chi.qwest.net [192.205.32.98]
 12    13 ms    14 ms    16 ms  cer-core-01.inet.qwest.net [205.171.139.57]
 13    58 ms    14 ms    15 ms  chx-edge-01.inet.qwest.net [205.171.139.162]
 14    11 ms    28 ms    13 ms  63.150.27.98
 15    16 ms    14 ms    17 ms  69.12.89.136

Trace complete.

Without using the router, the first hop times out. When using the router, the second hop times out. Note, I have done these tests several times over a few days and had the same results. Another thing to note, is that when I am not using the router, the downstream speed is about 40% slower than when I am using it. I have been getting severe packet loss and lag on game servers lately, even on ones with really, really low pings. I suspect this has something to do with the hops timing out. I am seriously considering dumping comcast for DSL-Extreme. You can compare the two at dslreports.com:

Comcast:
http://www.dslreports.com/reviews/1579

DSL-Extreme:
http://www.dslreports.com/reviews/1434

Notice the significantly higher ratings for DSL-Extreme. I would be opting for the 6000/768 package, which I have verified is available to me. Unless anybody can help me solve my issues with comcast, I will be dumping them very soon.

 

[gurusan]

No idea but I haven't heard the best things about comcast.

I have cable connected to a fiber optic network and I see download speeds as high as 1.8mb/sec ...pings up to the adjacent states vary from 40-90.

My cable package is different than most standard cable packages though because of the fiber network.

10mbit down, 256 kbit up.

 

[mikesgroovin]

Well, a couple of things to keep in mind when running traceroutes. The first thing is to make sure that you aren't using your connection for anything else....no matter how insignificant the use may perhaps seem. Second thing to understand is that, typically, intermediate routers, such as every step in-between in the above information, give extremely low priority to RTTs. This can explain how one time you have

7 9 ms 9 ms 384 ms 68.87.230.254

and then the next time you might have

6 8 ms 9 ms 24 ms 68.87.230.254

There is a VERY high probability that it was simply given a low priority knowing that it was an intermediate router. I wouldn't pay any attention to this. The real thing to be concerned with is, in your case, the very last line....your destination.

As far as the request that was timed out...pay no attention to that either. A lot of companies that house multiple routers in the same physical location, such as comcast, team routers up. They will disallow RTT returns on one router because they know in most...if not all routing cases, the next hop will be 68.86.118.49. This is perfectly normal. Companies pair routers like this all the time.

Do you live in an apartment complex? Dense housing unit area, such as a gated community or rowhomes, etc? This can be a problem with the actual cable line itself or the service from the cable lines in your area. You can easily start by contacting Comcast and request a DIRECT line to your location. Chances are, they are willing to cut cost by spitting the connection to several houses in an effort to saves a few pennies here and there.....it adds up. Anyway, you have purchased their service which entitles you to even physically view the line all the way from it's initial split point (fancy word for a pole) to your area. You can make sure from there that you have a direct shot to your house.

Comcast loves to add additional splitters in large housing areas....9 times out of 10, no one even bothers to notice.

 

[Law]

Beaware of those splitters, even those in your home. Signal degradation is common if you split your line to many time.

I experience this problem when my connection was split 3 time, but until now I have it only split once and haven't had any problems.

 

[003]

Do you live in an apartment complex? Dense housing unit area, such as a gated community or rowhomes, etc?

No, I just live in a standard house on a standard street. Also, about that 384ms on the 7th hop, I don't know why that happened, but I did it again with the router and it was normal:

Tracing route to 69.12.89.136 over a maximum of 30 hops

  1    <1 ms    <1 ms    <1 ms  192.168.1.1
  2     *        *        *     Request timed out.
  3     9 ms    23 ms    24 ms  68.86.118.49
  4     9 ms    10 ms    25 ms  68.87.230.38
  5     9 ms    10 ms     9 ms  68.87.230.41
  6    11 ms    10 ms    10 ms  68.87.231.53
  7    11 ms    12 ms    10 ms  68.87.230.254
  8    12 ms    11 ms    15 ms  12.118.239.97
  9    12 ms    14 ms    13 ms  tbr2-p012301.cgcil.ip.att.net [12.123.6.13]
 10    25 ms    12 ms    25 ms  ggr2-p3120.cgcil.ip.att.net [12.123.6.69]
 11    11 ms    11 ms    11 ms  att-gw.chi.qwest.net [192.205.32.98]
 12    11 ms    11 ms    12 ms  cer-core-01.inet.qwest.net [205.171.139.57]
 13    11 ms    12 ms    13 ms  chx-edge-01.inet.qwest.net [205.171.139.162]
 14    12 ms    12 ms    11 ms  63.150.27.98
 15    14 ms    26 ms    11 ms  69.12.89.136

Trace complete.

I have had comcast techs come out here so many times I can't count them on two hands. Some of them are pretty knowledgeable, but most don't know jack ****. For example, one guy saw that I had a custom built PC, and he told me that if I was gaming on a PC, the only way to go is a Dell XPS. They have removed all the unused splitters, and yes, they have installed a direct line to my house. The problem presists.