At one point do you assume its your ISP causing slow speeds?

Been helping a lot of customers and I hear it all. They almost always say its their ISP. They refuse its is their computers or router. Agressively refuse to try a direct connection into their modem. Not even knowing the speed they are paying for exactly.

So at what point after you have tried everything to figure out what is causing speed/wireless issues do you assume it must be the ISP?

Then how do you convince the customer as well?

After I have usually tried all of this:
Running netstat -b 5>activity.log to get a list of connected programs.
Running sfc /scannow
Checking the signal strength
Broadcasting the SSID
Disabling the firewall
Clearing the browsers
Checking for virsuses and spyware
Attempting a direct connection to the modem
Checking physical connections
Error Check under my computer
Defrag
a few registry fixes...


Then my way of showing proof are with several speed test like on speakeasy.com and testmy.net.

How about you?

 

I ran a quick speedtest.net, then call up ISP if it is below what I usually get.

cheers ...

 

Well, from my little experience in networking thus far i'd say it's the ISP when there are actually obvious hiccups on the network. Such as downtime, modem constantly rebooting and giving errors etc. Once the connection is active and alive, most likely it's just your modem/router needs rebooting or the like, to regain a stable connection.

I hope that didn't sound like French?

 

^^^ Might wanna read my post again.

Ha Heres a hint. I'm not seeking help. Just reflections of others experience with dealing with customers like this as it states in my post.



What would sound like french?

 

Your OP sounds like French to me....

I thought my post was pretty self explanatory....Arrgghhh...I think I suck at this question. No hablar espanol?

 

Err ok then...

Anyone else?

 

my ISP has had major issues with reducing bandwidth to certain areas...

sometimes my internet goes extremely slow, to the point where it's barely working.

i call them up, ask if there are local issues, they generally say, "we have to send someone out to check your connection", then they ask if we have a ''supported router'' in which i have purchased my own router, so they can't guarantee proper service.

i kindly tell them that they can guarantee i will be adjusting my bill to a lower payment for not receiving what i pay for and look towards opening an account with Verizon, and then magically (every time) the internet returns to normal speed within 5-10 minutes.

i also do this when the internet 'goes out' without having a local outage. i just tell them i'm not paying for internet that i do not receive and it magically comes back on within minutes.

Comcast in my area cant support the amount of people in this area without fouling with people's bandwidth.

 

Reset the modem and router (if applicable) and then do a speedtest.net run. After that is finished, turn to customer and ask if that screen matches what they are paying for.

Really, I will go a few days with dragging speeds because I know crap can happen in the network, but if it goes on for more than a few days, I call ATT. Just last week, I found someone had "flipped a switch" on my Elite service and had me running as a regular DSL customer. I was getting about 1-1.5mbps down instead of 5 (supposed to be 6mbps, but I never get that) and I called. Sure enough, there was a problem. 2 minutes later, it was flowing correctly again.

 

What I find amazing is that soooo many customers will refuse to believe it is their ISP. So convincing them, even with speed tests, is a task. Usually from my experience it is their equipment, modem or router type, or crap hook up.

Ha.

 

I agree (I assist my neighbors and friends a lot with this). I have had DSL since it was available in my neighborhood, spring of 2001. So I immdeiately believe it is ATT when something goes wrong because 95% of the time it is. The only time I have had problems that a router reset did not take care of were modems dying.