Evening DSL slowdown: where to start diagnosing?
May 20, 2010 11:39 AM Subscribe
Evening DSL slowdown: best way to measure & compare speeds, and advice on whether to start with my ISP or my DSL provider?
My DSL internet connection seems fine during the day, but in the evening, everything becomes glacially slow -- including loading (any) webpages, downloading (any) files, and streaming (any) video. I know there are many variables here, so I'd like to be prepared before I complain to my provider(s). The questions that occur to me are:
1) Can you recommend the best way to measure my daytime and evening speeds, so I can cite the difference?
2) Is the problem more likely to be my ISP or my DSL provider (which is also my local phone company)?
3) Anything else I should do/check in advance to prevent getting the runaround from my providers?
My setup: Several Mac laptops in the house, all running OS X. Actiontec DSL modem. Normally we use an Apple Airport Express wireless router, though I've also tried turning off the wifi & using a straight ethernet connection to make sure that wasn't the problem. (No difference.) Things have run fine for years; this evening-slowdown problem just appeared in the last month or two. We haven't made any changes to our phone lines or ISP account.
Thanks for any pointers!
My DSL internet connection seems fine during the day, but in the evening, everything becomes glacially slow -- including loading (any) webpages, downloading (any) files, and streaming (any) video. I know there are many variables here, so I'd like to be prepared before I complain to my provider(s). The questions that occur to me are:
1) Can you recommend the best way to measure my daytime and evening speeds, so I can cite the difference?
2) Is the problem more likely to be my ISP or my DSL provider (which is also my local phone company)?
3) Anything else I should do/check in advance to prevent getting the runaround from my providers?
My setup: Several Mac laptops in the house, all running OS X. Actiontec DSL modem. Normally we use an Apple Airport Express wireless router, though I've also tried turning off the wifi & using a straight ethernet connection to make sure that wasn't the problem. (No difference.) Things have run fine for years; this evening-slowdown problem just appeared in the last month or two. We haven't made any changes to our phone lines or ISP account.
Thanks for any pointers!
Run a traceroute in the evenings to see where the delays are occurring. Can't help you on how to do that in a Mac though.
posted by COD at 12:49 PM on May 20, 2010
posted by COD at 12:49 PM on May 20, 2010
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posted by Hiker at 11:48 AM on May 20, 2010 [1 favorite]