various questions.... NTL 150k
 

Please don't shoot the n00b.:(

I live in Harlow, Essex (large town 25ish miles from London).
NTL 150 k connex...
External modem which is called "NTL Home 100"... it is light grey.
I use ethernet connection (instead of USB).
I am not connected to a proxy according to various links found here.

REMOTE_ADDR..............................**.***.** *.**
CLIENT_IP.....................................
HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR.............
. .
REQUEST_METHOD........................GET
SERVER_NAME..............................romulas.z mnt.co.uk

SERVER_PORT..............................80

https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/local/2004/03/1.php

Here is my result of Robin's speedtest. It is the same type of results I always get at these test sites.

Tue, 23 Mar 2004 09:43:02 GMT
1st 128K took 12500 ms = 10486 Bytes/sec = approx 87 kbits/sec
2nd 128K took 12265 ms = 10687 Bytes/sec = approx 89 kbits/sec
3rd 128K took 9766 ms = 13421 Bytes/sec = approx 112 kbits/sec
4th 128K took 14734 ms = 8896 Bytes/sec = approx 74 kbits/sec


Tue, 23 Mar 2004 09:56:05 GMT
1st 128K took 12625 ms = 10382 Bytes/sec = approx 86 kbits/sec
2nd 128K took 9859 ms = 13295 Bytes/sec = approx 111 kbits/sec
3rd 128K took 12078 ms = 10852 Bytes/sec = approx 90 kbits/sec
4th 128K took 12063 ms = 10866 Bytes/sec = approx 90 kbits/sec

After disabling Kerio Firewall and Trillan (the only things accessing the web besides the test page)

Tue, 23 Mar 2004 09:57:50 GMT
1st 128K took 12235 ms = 10713 Bytes/sec = approx 89 kbits/sec
2nd 128K took 12734 ms = 10293 Bytes/sec = approx 86 kbits/sec
3rd 128K took 12656 ms = 10357 Bytes/sec = approx 86 kbits/sec
4th 128K took 12735 ms = 10292 Bytes/sec = approx 86 kbits/sec

Ok time for some questions! ;)
I realize that this is an appalling speed now that I have benchmarked it with others on this site. For the past 1.5 years of service, I thought that was how the service worked for everyone.

1. Would finding a proxy help my speed?
2. Is my modem too outdated?
3. How do I get modem service through my STB? I have noticed that there is an ethernet jack at the back of my STB.
4. How do I find out if my area is too "clogged" with other cable users? (Maybe this is my problem?)


I am moving shortly, I want to get a 500-600k connex, and I am seriously thinking of turning to SKY and some kind of DSL connex. Has anyone done this?

Why I like NTL so far:
I am a music downloader. (Yeah, yeah, buy me a Parrot.) My point is that I have heard of BT customers (and others) getting a lot of flack for connecting to Kazaa, BT, DC, etc, but it appears Ntl has adopted the "don't ask - don't tell" policy. I like that a lot and would rather have a cap than Big Brother breathing down my neck.

Reasons I would think of switching to DSL:
I want a bigger down/up speed proportion. I'm a professional graphic artist and I upload TONS of very large images + image archives. I am also concerned about the cable service bottleneck possibity.


Thoughts?:o

[Edit] (Neil)-I've removed your I.P address. :)

Re: various questions.... NTL 150k
 

LOL Neil, my IP address is printed in that image... I don't really care anyway who knows.

Also I wanted to add that I just did a different kind of connection test and came up with:
My "actual" speeds:

Downstream 139 Kbps (17.4 KB/sec)
Upstream 60 Kbps (7.5 KB/sec)
'Actual Speed' is the amount of useful data that your connection can transmit/receive per second.
So maybe there is something else accessing the internet, like some svchost or other crap, which is makikng my internet slow.

Re: various questions.... NTL 150k
 

Actualy I think you have pasted the script and not an image - unless you have the same IP as me then thats not static !

Re: various questions.... NTL 150k
 

AH - it concerned me when I saw it displaying MY IP


That would explain it! I just reported the post as well, assuming it had served a stale cached page - not a prob if everyone sees their own IP.......

Panic over! Thanks Stu and Neil/Admin in advance.

Re: various questions.... NTL 150k
 

oh wow, that's funny!
Well anyway, the point of it was the image reads "no proxy detected" for me.

Anyone have any tips for my questions? :-)

P.s. I have decided against switching from NTL, so I now can say that I PLAN on upgrading to the 600k or whatever that middle one is. I still want to sort out how to make my connection optimized though.

Re: various questions.... NTL 150k
 

Dony worry we we are nice here :)

Looks bad to me.

Theres definately something wrong there.

Have you tried using a bandwidth monitor program as an example this one found here called netmeter.

As i said above agreed speed looks bad.

Have you tried opening your browser and typing in http://192.168.100.1/ then when prompted enter user name root and password root.

That shoud take you to the internal diagnostics page of the modem and maybe you can post back the signal levels back here.

Quote:

Originally Posted by notmuffy 1. Would finding a proxy help my speed?

Yes in most cases.

To specify a proxy manually -

Open Control Panel Internet Options
Click on the tab Connections.
Click on button LAN Settings.
UNcheck Automatically detect settings.
UNcheck Use automatic configuration script.
Check Use a proxy server but ensure that the boxes are left blank.
Click on button Advanced:
In the row HTTP fill in the name and port number of your chosen web proxy.
UNcheck Use the same proxy server for all protocols.
In the Exceptions box enter: 192.168.*
Click OK.
Click OK to exit LAN settings.
Click OK to apply the changes and exit Internet Options.

Full list of proxies can be found here

Quote:

Originally Posted by notmuffy 2. Is my modem too outdated?

No.

Quote:

Originally Posted by notmuffy 3. How do I get modem service through my STB? I have noticed that there is an ethernet jack at the back of my STB.

I dont think STB is available in Harlow.

Quote:

Originally Posted by notmuffy 4. How do I find out if my area is too "clogged" with other cable users? (Maybe this is my problem?)

Download and run docsdiag from here

That should tell you if your UBR is oversubscribed.

Quote:

Originally Posted by notmuffy I am moving shortly, I want to get a 500-600k connex, and I am seriously thinking of turning to SKY and some kind of DSL connex. Has anyone done this?

Well i have not moved from NTL but do have Pipex ADSL connection on the 512 tier and it is ace.

Pipex is cool as there are no restrictions at present.



Well if you switch to ADSL package they have some competitive deals around and about.

Take a looksie here


See above.

:)

Re: various questions.... NTL 150k
 

with respect "notmuffy" the ip addy you have displayed does not belong to you and it is very regrettable you have displayed this on a public forum!!

It bears no relation to somebody living in Harlow...so what the hell is going on here?

Re: various questions.... NTL 150k
 

Sorry I eat humble pie and stand corrected....just read further up the thread and now understand that the script shows everyone's own IP when they read it.

Please accept my apologies.

regards

Re: various questions.... NTL 150k
 

Personally I would think you are lucky not being proxied - and should "take advantage" of it whilst you still can, as in my personal opinion, they are more of a money saving exercise for ntl rather than of benefit to the customer.

I also have privacy concerns about these as well, with the prossibility that data that is not sent over SSL is being cached regardless of whether it is private or not. I do not like the idea of my emails that I read using webmail being written to the hard disk of the cache.

Having said that, they most likely will return. I was proxyless for a few weeks when I got my first connection but sure enough, the proxies returned.

Re: various questions.... NTL 150k
 

Thank you so much, carlingman! I will definitely be checking out that bandwidth meter for when I upgrade my connection speed, and I will keep Pipex in mind when my contract with NTL is up in 6 months.

Re: various questions.... NTL 150k
 

I did that traffic test,
the largest upstream number of people is 127, and the other 5 are in double digits... so I guess I am not clogged.

Ok here is my info on the cable modem:

Type : Ambit ETH/USB Combo Cable Modem

Cable modem : Ambit Cable Modem

MAC address : **************

IP address : xxx.xx.4.7

Downstream Receive Power Level : -3.75 dBmv

Downstream SNR : 30.52 dB

Upstream Transmit Power Level : 54.25 dBmv


Downstream Lock : Locked

Downstream Frequency : 402750000 Hz

Downstream Modulation : 64 QAM

Downstream Receive Power Level : -3.83 dBmv Downstream SNR : 30.52 dB


Upstream Frequency : 37584000 Hz
Upstream Transmit Power Level : 54.25 dBmv

Network Access : Enabled

Maximum Downstream Data Rate : 150000 bps

Maximum Upstream Data Rate : 64000 bps

Maximum Number of CPEs : 1

Software Upgrade File Name : C2223215.cpr

Software Upgrade AdminStatus : allowProvisioningUpgrade

Software Upgrade OperStatus : completeFromProvisioning


I think I will just deal with my speed for another month (it has been 18 mos like this, why worry now :-D) but next month when I upgrade things will work right or heads will roll. :-)

[ Edit (Stuartbe) I have removed your mac address for you ]