Cable Modem Drama

[Intro]

So I'm at my folks house and I'm using their not-so-nice computer. I've been cleaning it up a bit and trying to get things running a little more smoothly. Things are going great so far, but there's this one issue of Internet speed.

Although they have a cable modem (not sure what level - I'm thinking it could be the lower tier, like a 100MB cap), they get download speeds slower than many dial-up connects. Just looking at the modem everything seems fine - it's an RCA and all the right lights are lighting and such. I've updated the drivers, reset the modem, yadda yadda.. I haven't tried completely reinstalling the modem - maybe that should be my next move.

Anyway, just curious - I'm sure there a a few tech heads/IT/isp folks around here that might be able to steer me clear of pointlessness. Any help is much appreciated!

 

[psychonaut13]

have you checked your firmware for the modem? if its not using the current firmware, that might help.

 

[imported_SuXoR]

I would go to http://www.dslreports.com/tools and do a speed test. Then determine what their theoretical speed should be, ie call the cable company. If the measured speed is dramatically lower than the theoretical speed, you should investigate further (firmware I think is unlikely, I would bet spyware, or some other software problem).

 

[Intro]

I've looked and looked for a firmware upgrade online but to no avail. My modem is an RCA/Thomson DCM235 - they don't even have modem support on RCA's homepage and I couldn't even find a site for Thomson. I have the latest driver installed (I think), but how do I go about seeing what version the firmware of my modem is?

I did a couple of speedtests on two different test sites - I didn't use dslreports because it's java based and for whatever reason java freezes this thing. Guess that'll be my next undertaking. But yeah, on those two tests, done at toast.com and bandwithplace.com, I had an estimated speed on 56K and 57.8K respectively. Fuck that. Might as well fire the dial-up back up.

I really don't know what the deal is - I've managed to keep it pretty clear of spyware, so I doubt that's it. The firmware thing could be an issue, as could some sort of compatibility issue - it is running Win98SE after all..

Anyway, this is just something to occupy my time while I'm hangin' out down here. I just hate it that my folks are paying monthly cable rates for dial-up performance. Thanks again for any help/suggestions!

 

[Puppet]

Try some basic stuff. If it's XP then check the system event log for any issues. Go to a command prompt and do a route trace to punx:

tracert 66.36.236.37

If you are getting over 100ms all the way through to the punx server on every hop then I would think the problem is with your worstation. If the first few are pretty low then they get high it's probably something outside of your machine. If it's in your machine then check processes and get them in order by cpu time. If you see system idle process dip below 90-95 then see who is stealing it underneath system idle. Obviously a cable modem shouldn't be going that slow. I hace Bellsouth DSL and get around 2.9MB but my cable modem counterparts almost always are faster. You should be pretty much screaming right now.

 

[Intoxicated]

hes running windows 98SE

 

[DigitalSword]

..

more fun tries....

http://java.sun.com/j2se/

go there and d/l the newest version of java to fix your java app issue, also go to windows update, 98se has a slew of patches.

also got o www.speedguide.net to tes/finetune the settings, be sure to check there win98 reg tweaks as they r quite useful. be sure to make a backup of yrou reg though, and also run the tcp/ip optimizer

|DS|

 

[Intro]

Thanks for all the help guys..

I have to admit it is running much better now than when I first got here a few days ago. I just wish I knew a little more about all this shit so I didn't hafta ask for help on it. Then again, whatever - this turkey sandwich is all that matters.

Now who's got my cracked WinXP so I can format this fucker and bring my folks into the 21st century?

 

[imported_SuXoR]

Watch it- Puppet works for Bill Gates :twisted:

 

[Intro]

Watch it- Puppet works for Bill Gates

Still?

 

[imported_SuXoR]

I don't know, I just remember reading in a post somewhere that he was working with/for Microsucks.

 

[Puppet]

No I worked for Microsoft under contract for 7 months in 2002. They asked me out to Dallas under an internship for busting memory dumps. You guys are safe with me. Don't get paranoid ok?

 

[Intro]

No I worked for Microsoft under contract for 7 months in 2002. They asked me out to Dallas under an internship for busting memory dumps. You guys are safe with me. Don't get paranoid ok?

I was joking about the cracked XP anyway..

BUT, if such a thing were to appear in my Inbox, I'd surely be appreciative.

:wink:

 

[imported_SuXoR]

Are you a low level programmer Puppet?

 

[Puppet]

I'm a dickhead. You can call me carrot though.