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Samophlange's avatar
Samophlange
New Contributor III
3 years ago

Gigablast - sudden inconsistent Download and Upload speeds

Hello, I've called quite a few times, and am told "everything looks fine signal wise on our end" and "there may have been outages in your area recently ".

A tech came out yesterday (Wednesday), said "everything from the wall to the pedestal looks good, but your inconsistent speeds could be caused by back feed and ingress in the neighborhood, but a truck would have to come to sort that out."

This truck was supposedly "scheduled" but I have no idea of when that is happening.

I am honestly less then hopeful that I will see resolution after this given how my experiences calling thus far have went.

using the cox provided speed test directly plugged into wall outlet with 1 device actively using, that is a wired connection, to a 2.5 Gb capable port I now see:

Download speeds of 200-1200 Mbps

Upload speeds of 4-40 Mbps

these speeds fluctuate back and forth throughout the day, changing within minutes.

I "Upgraded" to the PW7 06/06, which has made no difference

for years I saw 800+ down / 30+ up, at the time of this post I'm seeing:

but 10 minutes from now it could be 440 down, 7 up (random results from yesterday)

 

this amount of error codewords is after 7 hours of uptime, I bring it up when I call, but I don't think the agents are even trained on what it means, as each one has just changed the subject without making a comment, much like their fix has basically been restart the gateway and computer, then call us back later if its still acting up. Seeing no errors in the logs.

I understand that Covid has made a lot of people switch to work from home, but when I am paying $184 a month (gigablast+data) I expect more.

  • Morbert's avatar
    Morbert
    New Contributor
    3 years ago

    If the issues started after they did service in your area, it could be an issue with their network. Not your equipment. Google PING TEST and TRACERT to learn how to run a couple simple tests that will determine if the issue is outside your home. Save the screenshots for proof.

    Most technicians will avoid this since Cox doesn't want documented proof of their infrastructure issues. Don't let Cox blame you for their service issues. It took a complaint with FTC and FCC  after 6 technicians  came to my home in 6 months to show that the issue was with a the south west region  [ langbprj02-ae1.0.rd.la.cox.net .]   

    Run tests through out the day, and If your result show packet loss and drops on THEIR end, you can submit a complaint form to help get the changes made.

    • Samophlange's avatar
      Samophlange
      New Contributor III
      3 years ago

      sorry for the late response, have been busy working


      UPDATE:
      Cox does see see packet loss and slow speeds on their end, I don't feel a constant 1/3 of the upload I pay for is unreasonable, but they don't seem to care


      2 techs have came so far, Tech 1 shrugged it off as noise on the line and said a bucket truck needed to come out, Tech 2 saw 5mb upload and packet loss on his handheld, and scheduled a bucket truck to test tap and lines for noise/ingress, both tickets were automatically cancelled due to "ongoing network maintenance in my area", and still has not been looked into

      Field Supervisor came out, he ran the Ookla speed test on his phone and saw 940+ mbps down / 35+ mbps (with the biased Cox pathed New Orleans server, while it was storming outside), he looked at everything up to the pedestal, said it should be tested for noise/ingress like tech 2, and planned to do so when he had free time, but weeks later it still has not happened

      I ran OBS for the majority of a week set at 6 mbps with nothing else open and it was able to maintain that 99% of the time while reporting my daily results to him

      However the speeds still randomly drop back down horrible briefly and recover, and no one can explain why I see hundreds of thousands of uncorrectable codewords across all channels

      when running right:
      Streaming services on TV display in 4k, PC at 1080p/1440p if available for the content
      non Cox biased tests show within reason of the advertised speeds (900+ mbps down / 30+ mbps up)
      the Twitch bandwidth test tool shows 7-10 mbps to all servers, 75+ connection quality to all servers
      OBS, and Twitch Studio suggest 1080p/720p/60 fps at 6 mbps

      when running bad:
      the cox biased test will go as low as 300 mbps down 8 mbps up
      Any non Cox speed biased test goes as low as 200 mbps down 2 mbps up
      the Twitch bandwidth test tool drops to 1-3 mbps results, and 0-30 connection quality
      and both software will suggest 480p/30 fps at 1-3 mbps with no game open
      I have tested streaming with Youtube when the internet is running bad and also suggest low resolution / frame rate / bandwidth, so it isn't just Twitch
      Streaming/Airplay will start drop to a low resolution on TV and PC some times sending pictures and video are slow, regardless of what service and devices

      I have upgraded:
      motherboard from b550 to x570 with a different Ethernet Controller capable of 2.5 GB speeds
      processor from 5800x to 5950x
      and have tried different model of ram
      this is a fresh windows install with all drivers up to date,

      there is usually only 2 devices max are using the connection at a time

  • Samophlange's avatar
    Samophlange
    New Contributor III
    3 years ago

    Over the past 4 months I have done 3 or 4 FCC Informal Complaint rebuttals.

    I've spoke to Tech Support and Executive Escalations over a dozen times each.

    12+ techs, and 3+ bucket trucks have came out.

    The PW7 has been replaced twice.

    I post my results here, and on social media more then once, I email speed test and ping plotter results showing the problem to Support, and the Field Supervisor, multiple times, and tell the actual Cox techs, but my service is still poop.

    I've finally gave in to ordering slower ATT internet.

  • Samophlange's avatar
    Samophlange
    New Contributor III
    3 years ago

    FINAL UPDATE: issue still unresolved. 

    Escalations has been supposed to call me back since 10/10. Email support and another Escalations employee have both reached out to the person in charge of my case. I’ve called multiple times, and left messages myself.

    The latest information notated on my account is that Techs are driving around in my town randomly replacing old lines/connections.

    Am switching to T-Mobile 5g home internet. I get a stable 400+ down / 20+ up (over the past 15 days of testing it out) with unlimited data for $50 month.

    • Darkatt's avatar
      Darkatt
      Honored Contributor
      3 years ago

      Speeds are going to fluctuate. The reason for testing on the "Biased" web site, is because they provide the bandwidth on the Cox System, they cannot guarantee those speeds once you are on the internet back bone, or other servers, because those servers and the path are outside of their control. If the speeds they provide are correct on their system, and your speeds go haywire to servers/test sites/etc off the cox network, it's not a cox issue. Servers could be busy fulfilling other requests, and the path once off the Cox system, could have congested routers, and/or high amounts of usage, again, not a Cox issue, and not under their control. 

      Now, to address YOUR issues, are you testing over WiFi, or on Ethernet. Ethernet would be a more accurate test. 

      • Samophlange's avatar
        Samophlange
        New Contributor III
        3 years ago

        I understand speeds fluctuate and nothing beyond the 25/3 FCC "broadband definition" is promised.

        The problems happen over ethernet and wireless, any website or service. down is 90-1200, and up is 0-40, have packet loss on all hops beyond the gateway every few minutes, ping is 0-2000, jitter goes up to 100. 

        They have been upgrading the node/network in my area and every few days there is a "We are working in your area to provide you with a more consistent internet experience" notice on Cox.com.

        I think that 5 months without resolution is a bit much, and beyond expecting someone to be patient and wait it out.

        Everything has been notated by techs (directly at the tap) on the account to the point Cox employees are surprised when they pull up my account and see all the notes, but because its intermittent they are unable to pinpoint the source of the ingress.

        I can connect to the houses ATT Uverse or the T-Mobile Home internet and the above issues disappear, but both services only offer slower speeds then Gigablast when its working correctly.

        The Gateway was replaced last month, as was the ethernet cord with the one in the same box. Drivers are up to date, Windows install is fresh, have tried another motherboard, and another PC. Usually there isn’t more then 2 devices using the connection at once.

        The tap plate was replaced, and a new drop was ran, outside of the piece that’s thru side of house, there are no splitters inside, outside, or a wall plate. Noise has been cleared from the line twice so far to my knowledge.