04-14-2005, 04:58 PM
I don't believe this is an isolated problem ShadowHM. My cable provider, Comcast, slows way down around 6pm PST (9pm EST). Most of the time it will take between 3 and 10 tries to load Comcast's home page, or even the Google home page, one of the fastest loading websites I've ever seen.
This all started 2 or 3 weeks ago. Before that I had extremely fast connections around the clock. As an example, this Sunday I downloaded a file of 768MB in less than 20 minutes in the early afternoon. I can barely connect to websites during the week between 6pm and 9pm PST.
I have friends across the country and they are all complaining about speeds between 6pm and 8pm PST. Most of them use Comcast.
The strange part is I can still connect to my online game, Black Hawk Down, and my Ventrilio voice program almost without trouble, even during the period of slowdown.
I have thought about going DSL over the last week or so because of the problems. My phone company, Qwest, offers 2 DSL plans in my area:
$44.99 a month:
Qwest Choice⢠DSL Deluxe with MSN® Premium
Up to 1.5 Mbps download/
Up to 896 Kbps upload
$31.99 a month
Qwest Choice⢠DSL with MSN® Premium
Up to 256 Kbps download/
Up to 256 Kbps upload
My current cable plan, through Comcast is $45.95 a month, including the $3.00 modem fee. Here's the fine print:
Maximum download speed of 4Mbps (or 6 Mbps) and upload speeds of 384Kbps (or 768Kbps) depending on the product that is selected. Increased speeds not yet available in all areas. Actual speeds may vary and are not guaranteed. Many factors affect download speed.
Last time I rated my connection I had about 2.7Mbps at about 10:30pm on a weekday -- before this evening slowdown thing started.
BTW Comcast really started pushing their OnDemand service about the time this connection issue started.
This all started 2 or 3 weeks ago. Before that I had extremely fast connections around the clock. As an example, this Sunday I downloaded a file of 768MB in less than 20 minutes in the early afternoon. I can barely connect to websites during the week between 6pm and 9pm PST.
I have friends across the country and they are all complaining about speeds between 6pm and 8pm PST. Most of them use Comcast.
The strange part is I can still connect to my online game, Black Hawk Down, and my Ventrilio voice program almost without trouble, even during the period of slowdown.
I have thought about going DSL over the last week or so because of the problems. My phone company, Qwest, offers 2 DSL plans in my area:
$44.99 a month:
Qwest Choice⢠DSL Deluxe with MSN® Premium
Up to 1.5 Mbps download/
Up to 896 Kbps upload
$31.99 a month
Qwest Choice⢠DSL with MSN® Premium
Up to 256 Kbps download/
Up to 256 Kbps upload
My current cable plan, through Comcast is $45.95 a month, including the $3.00 modem fee. Here's the fine print:
Maximum download speed of 4Mbps (or 6 Mbps) and upload speeds of 384Kbps (or 768Kbps) depending on the product that is selected. Increased speeds not yet available in all areas. Actual speeds may vary and are not guaranteed. Many factors affect download speed.
Last time I rated my connection I had about 2.7Mbps at about 10:30pm on a weekday -- before this evening slowdown thing started.
BTW Comcast really started pushing their OnDemand service about the time this connection issue started.
The Bill of No Rights
The United States has become a place where entertainers and professional athletes are mistaken for people of importance. Robert A. Heinlein
The United States has become a place where entertainers and professional athletes are mistaken for people of importance. Robert A. Heinlein