Flow Internet slowing down

[jpf]

the past few days my flow internet (a 2 mb/s package) has been quite slow- first noticed it with youtube- speed test to US servers getting only 512-700 kb/s- i know Flow says they dont have control over foreign servers but when i used to do tests on them i ALWAYS got at least 1.7-1.8 and sometimes the full 2 mb/s EVEN during peak time since Jan. '08. I moved to Mt. Dor and installed Flow in Jan. 09 and up until a couple weeks ago (August) i got the same speeds but now
im getting less than 512kp/s sometimes.. youtube is breaking up

test on flow's own server is normal- 2 mb/s

but i noticed something- if i download several files or segments of a file at the same time i get between 100-200 kbytes/s or 800kb/s-1.6mb/s !!

so like they throttling downloads per file now? but if so it screwing up youtube and probably other streaming video sites!

anyone else experiencing this lately on Flow? im in Mt. Dor (though i dont think the area matters,

[eMJayy]

the past few days my flow internet (a 2 mb/s package) has been quite slow- first noticed it with youtube- speed test to US servers getting only 512-700 kb/s- i know Flow says they dont have control over foreign servers but when i used to do tests on them i ALWAYS got at least 1.7-1.8 and sometimes the full 2 mb/s EVEN during peak time since Jan. '08. I moved to Mt. Dor and installed Flow in Jan. 09 and up until a couple weeks ago (August) i got the same speeds but now
im getting less than 512kp/s sometimes.. youtube is breaking up

test on flow's own server is normal- 2 mb/s

but i noticed something- if i download several files or segments of a file at the same time i get between 100-200 kbytes/s or 800kb/s-1.6mb/s !!

so like they throttling downloads per file now? but if so it screwing up youtube and probably other streaming video sites!

anyone else experiencing this lately on Flow? im in Mt. Dor (though i dont think the area matters,

Over here in Curepe, I just tested my Flow service (also 2Mbps) using http://www.speedtest.net and my speeds were normal. I got between 1.8 - 2.1 Mbps for the US server tests, 2.05 - 2.25 Mbps to Flow's servers and 1.8 Mbps to a server in Japan. The only thing I noticed was that the Flow server ping time was a little higher than it usually is - it was 58ms instead of the usual 35 - 40ms.

My average file download speeds haven't changed (as far as I know) and tend to be site dependent. I did notice that YouTube video loading tends to be a bit slower these days and I usually have to let each clip buffer a bit before watching. That usually happens when YouTube is in heavy demand; at other times I have no problems with the site. I haven't had any similar problems with other video sites, at least not recently. There was a time when I was having difficultly getting CNN Live video streams to playback without stuttering, but that seemed to be due to CNN being overloaded rather than Flow.

If you're behind a router, you should try connecting your PC directly to the modem and retest. Also, I'd suggest that you take note of the ping times for the US servers. I found them to average between 100 - 200ms on my connection. I had a similar problem to yours in the past, but it turned out to be a line problem that required a visit from a technician. The problem in my case turned out to be a weakness in the up-link signal that manifested during the tests as a very slow upload speed (<0.01Mbps!) and very long ping times to both Flow and US servers. But that was back in Jan '08 and happened about a week after I got my Flow account activated. Hasn't happened since. But I find that the ping values tend to correlate well with the quality of service. Whenever ping values go up for US servers, my download speeds slow down. It's rare that this happens, but it did tend to happen when Flow was doing upgrades.

[jpf]

when u had the problem did u try speed tests like after midnight or off peak? because i get my full 2 mb/s at lets say 2 AM but midday or 5 in the afternoon getting between .5 & 1.3 mb/s-but the strange thing is my total bandwidth increases as the no. of file downloads/segments increase- instead of each download sharing the bandwidth & getting slower as i put more files to dload at a time

[BW]

when u had the problem did u try speed tests like after midnight or off peak? because i get my full 2 mb/s at lets say 2 AM but midday or 5 in the afternoon getting between .5 & 1.3 mb/s-but the strange thing is my total bandwidth increases as the no. of file downloads/segments increase- instead of each download sharing the bandwidth & getting slower as i put more files to dload at a time


Not really strange. That sounds like what happens if you were sharing a connection w more than 1 computer and both are trying to get full speed. The connection won't be split 2 ways equally- it's split by the number of downloads per machine.

If comp a has 3 downloads in progress and comp b has 1,
A will get 75% of total speed, while b gets 25%. If b adds more downloads, his % of total increases.

Is ur connection wireless? Secure? Any background downloads?

[SSDD]

my download speed has never been affected. upload however, has been consistently low for quite a few months

[eMJayy]

when u had the problem did u try speed tests like after midnight or off peak? because i get my full 2 mb/s at lets say 2 AM but midday or 5 in the afternoon getting between .5 & 1.3 mb/s-but the strange thing is my total bandwidth increases as the no. of file downloads/segments increase- instead of each download sharing the bandwidth & getting slower as i put more files to dload at a time

Yeah, when I had the line problem I did run the speed tests the night before I called Flow's office and it was just as bad as during the day, if not worse. I don't think you have a line problem, but your area may be experiencing some congestion. With cable Internet, the more people simultaneously using the service, the greater the impact on the overall download speeds. That's because everyone in your area with Flow Internet is sharing a cable channel for the upstream link to the ISP - and the channel is managed by time division. So the more people actively using the service, the slower the connection speeds to overseas servers can get. But it usually takes as much as 1000 people sharing one upstream channel to slow things down.

I just want to clarify something. When you say that you're not getting your full 2Mbps in the daytime, do you mean that

(a) your individual downloads are not reaching 2Mbps each? or that

(b) when you test your connection with the Flow network (using the Speedtest site) you're not achieving 2Mbps download rates during a daytime test?

What you said above sounded like (a) to me, but I just wanted to clarify it because they suggest different things. With (b) you're supposed to reach 2Mbps during any Speed test that connects to Flow's test server, whether it's day or night - if you're getting significantly less than 2Mbps during the test, you could have a line problem. 2Mbps is your Internet bandwidth between your modem and Flow's servers and that never changes unless you upgrade your package. But file downloads are a different matter because the download speed depends mainly on how busy the overseas server is and doesn't have much to do with your Flow bandwidth. If the overseas server connects to you at a speed greater than your Flow bandwidth, Flow throttles the download down to your full bandwidth. If the connection is less, then you'll get the download at a speed less than your Flow bandwidth. During the daytime, I find many download servers throttle back their connection speeds, probably to allow more people to connect at the same time. Whenever I have a big download (one greater than 400MB) I usually do it at night so that the overseas server can guarantee me a full speed connection - and even then I might still get less than full speed. In the daytime, I typically get about 100 - 200KB/s per download for many sites. I tend to get 255KB/s on big sites like Windows Update or Adobe etc.

If your file downloads don't reach your 255KB/s bandwidth limit, adding new files to the list is supposed to increase your overall download speed. Once your accumulated download speeds hit the 255KB/s bandwidth limit, each additional download will then slow down the other downloads to keep you within your bandwidth.

[jpf]

i had only 1 computer on at that time & its wired- since Jan '08 up to just about a month ago i always got at least 150-230 kbytes/s (not bits) downloads- then yesterday when i tried downloading (from download.com, microsoft.com, softpedia.com) i was only getting between 10-40 kbyte/s !! i got that on each server so its not any one particular server and i did one dload at a time- i have a bandwidth meter so i know

each dload by itself not reaching 2mb/s i getting like 20-50 kbytes/s

but my total bandwidth in use seemed to go up (although not to the previously enjoyed speeds of 200+ as b4) as i add more dloads, or segments (i use Getright) though what it did b4 when i was getting 200+ is each would share the bandwidth and my total would hardly change

i wonder if Flow's network is starting to get overloaded- particularly the past few weeks- it could be a lot of people in Mt. Dor/Champs Fleurs signing up since the area got digital in Jan.

it is true that cable bandwidth is shared in the neighbourhood but I thought Flow got around this by increasing the number of nodes & thus decreasing the no. of users per node (i read this in some article or on Flow's site b4 they changed it)- & its possible that not only broadband users but also digital cable customers are contributing to the load since its all digital data & video takes up a lot of bandwidth

[Mouse]

jpf, I've been having the SAME problem with Flow, first noticed it with youtube then realised everything is taking longer than it should. Tests on speedtest.net show that my ping is only HALF of what it should be. But i think it is, sadly, that there are more users in my area now - sux for me.
I'm in St James, btw.

[eMJayy]

i wonder if Flow's network is starting to get overloaded- particularly the past few weeks- it could be a lot of people in Mt. Dor/Champs Fleurs signing up since the area got digital in Jan.

it is true that cable bandwidth is shared in the neighbourhood but I thought Flow got around this by increasing the number of nodes & thus decreasing the no. of users per node (i read this in some article or on Flow's site b4 they changed it)- & its possible that not only broadband users but also digital cable customers are contributing to the load since its all digital data & video takes up a lot of bandwidth

I'm not sure if digital cable would actually contribute to the load, since it's distributed on many separate channels and doesn't rely on Flow's Internet servers. But your comment reminded me that Flow has a Landline Voice service that uses the same Internet modem infrastructure and they've been seriously promoting it this year. This U-Talk service may be affecting the performance of the Internet service in some areas.

[jpf]

well voice shouldn't require nearly as much bandwidth as video- although it does pass through the same modem as internet- but i think flow should increase their nodes in my area- do Blink customers have this slow down? if not then it has nothing to do with the foreign servers since this would affect any type of internet connection-DSL or cable

[Sirius]

I have noticed that the slowdown appears to be on the international links. I get full speeds testing to local servers, but when testing overseas it's a bit slower and pretty much accurate with when I'm downloading etc.

It's not as fast as it was originally, but I have to say it's still pretty fast. I would not return to Blink at all. It was a very unstable connection starting from when they moved to the Blink branding and "upgraded" to ADSL2+.

I did have some stability issues on Flow once; a reboot of my router (not Flow's cable modem - my Netgear router) solved the problem.

[eMJayy]

well voice shouldn't require nearly as much bandwidth as video- although it does pass through the same modem as internet- but i think flow should increase their nodes in my area- do Blink customers have this slow down? if not then it has nothing to do with the foreign servers since this would affect any type of internet connection-DSL or cable

I did some speed tests just now and found that the overseas servers are testing ok at my end. That suggests to me that the problem has to be local and not due to International servers. I would have seen some evidence of an International server issue at my end by now if it were actually the cause of the problem. As you stated, Flow should put more nodes in you area, because that's the only way this will get resolved. Do you know anyone in your area with a 6Mbps connection? I'm just wondering if people with that higher connection bandwidth might be on a separate node...

[jpf]

on a 2Mb/s connection just after 8 PM:-

Orlando, Florida 0.35Mb/s
http://www.speedtest.net/result/566263140.png (http://www.speedtest.net)

shameful-the upload seem to be very good though-0.24Mb/s

Kansas City, MO0.38Mb/s
http://www.speedtest.net/result/566268210.png (http://www.speedtest.net)

Washington, DC 0.58Mb/s
http://www.speedtest.net/result/566270013.png (http://www.speedtest.net)

Tucson, AZ ) 0.24Mb/s
http://www.speedtest.net/result/566279530.png (http://www.speedtest.net)

this one have the upload exactly the same as the dload LOL :)

[eMJayy]

on a 2Mb/s connection just after 8 PM:-

Orlando, Florida 0.35Mb/s
http://www.speedtest.net/result/566263140.png (http://www.speedtest.net)

shameful-the upload seem to be very good though-0.24Mb/s

Kansas City, MO0.38Mb/s
http://www.speedtest.net/result/566268210.png (http://www.speedtest.net)

Washington, DC 0.58Mb/s
http://www.speedtest.net/result/566270013.png (http://www.speedtest.net)

Tucson, AZ ) 0.24Mb/s
http://www.speedtest.net/result/566279530.png (http://www.speedtest.net)

this one have the upload exactly the same as the dload LOL :)


Those are really bad D/L numbers.
It's 6:30am right now, so I wouldn't expect any stress on the system in my area - but I'm intrigued by the pings that you've provided. I just did a test using the same Orlando server, and I got this:

http://www.speedtest.net/result/566574842.png (http://www.speedtest.net)

And Kansas City gave this result:
http://www.speedtest.net/result/566581101.png (http://www.speedtest.net)

Washington:
http://www.speedtest.net/result/566582919.png (http://www.speedtest.net)

and Tucson:
http://www.speedtest.net/result/566584114.png (http://www.speedtest.net)

Clearly, my ping times are the same as yours, so this should confirm that it's a Flow problem in your area that's affecting the D/L speeds. I think you need to give them a call in case there's a technical issue in your area that can be fixed by their repair crew. If it's an overload issue, they need to be made aware of it because you're paying for your bandwidth.

[Sirius]

Those are some interesting results. Let them check your lines - I suspect that even an overload issue wouldn't cause that big a slowdown. Did you try a speed test to the local Port of Spain server? If your lines are fine you should get your full speed to there.

Here's some of what I've been getting:
http://www.speedtest.net/result/566614630.png (http://www.speedtest.net)

http://www.speedtest.net/result/566612979.png (http://www.speedtest.net)

http://www.speedtest.net/result/566617574.png (http://www.speedtest.net)

http://www.speedtest.net/result/566616230.png (http://www.speedtest.net)

http://www.speedtest.net/result/566616622.png (http://www.speedtest.net)

[sylvestter]

http://www.speedtest.net/result/566658363.png (http://www.speedtest.net)

[letric]

The Internet is an elite organisation; most of
the population of the world has never even
made a phone call.

in Observer

[eMJayy]

The Internet is an elite organisation; most of
the population of the world has never even
made a phone call.

in Observer

Actually, about 60% of the world's population owns a cellphone. That's just over 4 billion phone users as of last year. And Internet cafes are everywhere. There are more people using Internet cafes in China than there are Internet users in the US.

[Randall]

Don't use the local server to test. Use an International route to the States. I usually use a node in FL to check.

Flow gives me around 2-5Mbs during prime time and 10 during off peak.

That is when it's working, apparently there's a problem in Marabella for 3 weeks now and they don't seem to be fixing it so it's off and on.

[guyguy]

http://www.speedtest.net/result/1572243750.png

My F (http://www.speedtest.net/result/1572243750.png)iOS Speed

[BW]

http://www.speedtest.net/result/1572257576.png (http://www.speedtest.net)

[guyguy]

FiOS - LA to Australia Speed Test in Megabytes.

[Falcon]

http://www.speedtest.net/result/1572243750.png

[Sirius]

http://www.speedtest.net/result/1574733998.png (http://www.speedtest.net)

Not too shabby. The speed used to slow down considerably once testing with a server outside T&T.