Cablemodem info

I typically get (the only one on the block) around 300kB/s download, upload of course restricted to 128k, or about 14kB/s. However, after January 22, @home was converted to comcast, and now we're well below 100 kB/s, and during the "hot" hours probably more like 25 often.... :-(

My own speed tests (aug/sep 2001)

This should be in comcast's FAQ

comcast sometimes goes for a bit", and this happened to me on a monday i think, and some more intermittent slowness that week. A few nights later I could not get (comcast) email, and this evening it was totally frazzled, very very slow...

eventually I broke down and called them. spent well over an hour with them. We could not solve it. Even switched computers, rebooted them (and they were not dismissive of linux!!!). But only one fatal mistake the tech guy didn't catch. So here's the thing to know:

if you leave your modem on all the time, you keep the same IP (dhcp). However, if you do have longer dropouts (and they do occur), it's quite possible that you have - from the modem point of view - lost the IP. but linux doesn't know that.... so i must have been using an IP that somebody else was also using.

Solution: take true power off the cable for about 30 or so secs. I did that, but was using the green 'power' button (even saying to the tech as i was doing it). As i turned it on a little later i commented that the lights came back the same way as they were before, instead of the usual orange/green flickers that you get during a power cycle.... That was the thing he missed: he should have let me take the power cable off, the button isn't really power..... Lesson learned! Cost me about 3 hours this evening. what a waste.