Internet Connection Speed

I noticed yesterday that I'm seeing at least a dozen neighbors' wi-fi servers showing up on my options on the big computer.  I tried to 'turn off' or ignore all but my own, but that doesn't seem to be an option.

Then I thought today, wait a sec.  My iMac is hard-attached to a dedicated RJ45 cable coming straight from the router.  Why do I have wi-fi on at all?

Ran a speed test with it off:

• 12 ms ping
  
• 587.10 kbps download
  
• 17.86 kbps upload
  

Turned it back on again, made sure it was connected to my own server, and ran the test again:

• 11 ms ping
  
• 590.96 kbps download
  
• 17.80 kbps upload
  

Ran a second test with wi-fi off:

• 13 ms ping
  
• 588.24 kbps download
  
• 17.86 kbps upload
  

The Ookla speed test gives you the option to choose the host you're connecting to.  The above were something called Ziply Fiber(?).  I switched to Comcast:

• 16 ms ping
  
• 589.42 kbps download
  
• 17.89 kbps upload
  

Switched to CenturyLink:

• 13 ms ping
  
• 586.05 kbps download
  
• 17.85 kbps upload
  

Switched to something called Speedtest:

• 11 ms ping
  
• 592.75 kbps download
  
• 17.62 kbps upload
  

Since this was the fastest (marginally) I tried it again with the wi-fi on:

• 10 ms ping
  
• 593.03 kbps download
  
• 17.60 kbps upload
  

Conclusion: Nothin' makes any difference.

For the past 3 or 4 weeks, my internet has been decidedly unstable. Ookla says
14 ms ping
115.69 Mbps download
25.34 Mbps upload
(quite acceptable) right now, but trying to play bridge online this afternoon, I was constantly being disconnected for no apparent reason, and even doing simpler things (like checking email) my machine would periodically tell me there was no internet. Always it would reappear after a few seconds or a few minutes, without me doing anything except wait. Not exactly the service I'm paying for.

On Wednesday we got our Comcast (Xfinity) bill and it had creeped up another $15/mo (as it does).  I took it into the Xfinity store and, as usual, they had "a special deal going" so I was able to knock $50/mo off my bill with a 2-year guarantee (they say...)

I lost TCM (without being told) but I can live w/o old Cary Crant movies for $50.

Also, new deal, all secondary cable boxes are the same price now ($7.50) so now the bedroom has a voice remote and gets all the premium services.  Neat.

On a whim today I decided to run an Ookla and see what my internet connection speed is:

• 9 ms ping
  
  
• 935.16 mbps download
  
  
• 23.79 mbps upload
  

Offhand it looks like they gave me "gigabit internet" which previously was, what, $100/mo(?) extra.  Extra neat.

Whidbey Telecom:

• 922.09 mbps download
  
• 23.63 mbps upload
  
• 15 ms ping

Ziply Fiber:

• 929.33 mbps download
  
• 23.59 mbps upload
  
• 14 ms ping

Just for shits & grins I ran a speed test on the new computer.

• 1,168.60 Mbps download
  
• 86.49 Mbps upload
  
• 12 ms ping

That's TRUE gigabit internet! Ya-hoo!

Comcast contacted me last week, said I was eligible for faster speeds at no additional cost.  Since I was already getting gigabit downloads I was uncertain what they could do, but I set up an appointment anyway.

The technician pulled an amplifier out of my interface cabinet, said it was limiting my upload speeds.  The download speed was about as good as I could get, but he thought I should be able to get 200Mbps upload.

We didn't quite get there.

• 1,185.81 Mbps download
  
• 117.41 Mbps upload
  
• 9 ms ping
  

Every now and then I like to re-check, especially when a website is running particularly slow.

It's them not me:

• 1,174.86 Mbps download
  
• 85.81 Mbps upload
  
• 12 ms ping
  

Still holding.

• 1,185.07 Mbps download
  
• 81.65 Mbps upload
  
• 12 ms ping