Do cable modems slow down over the years?

[eric j]

Hi,

Slowing to a crawl sometimes.

I read somewhere that a cable modem's speed can deteriorate with age. Is tis likely?

My modem has been in action for more than 8 years.

My ISP offers a test to determine download speed, upload speed and connection time to my ISP's server. By this test my upload speed (I suppose this means speed at which what I send reaches the server) is often significantly faster than download speed.

I have carried out several sets of 20 runs. Results are highly variable. I'm able to download a graphic of each run and an Excel table of the results.

Any help gratefully received.

eric j

[Paddy]

Eric, I started to experience a lot of slowness and other wierd behavior, including regular dropped connections with my old cable modem and found that it was indeed "out of date" - the standard now is DOCSIS 2.0 - mine, which was 7 years old, was 1.1. I found a number of postings online at various forums from people who had upgraded their modems to the new standard and been very happy with the results, so I decided to go that route too. A tech at Comcast confirmed that I would probably see a noticeable improvement in speed.

Bingo! End of dropped connections (haven't had a single one since I installed it) and generally more consistent speed. I'm happy - it was well worth the $50 or so. I got a Motorola Surfboard SB5120 - compatible with both Comcast which we have now, and Rogers which we will have in Toronto after our move next month.

I don't know what's available in Switzerland or what is compatible with your cable provider, but well worth checking into!

(BTW - we'll be in Lausanne in June!)

[Jack W]

I had considerable slowness earlier this AM with speed, and even lack of connection to all sites, including TS. And this is with a brand new Motorola wireless modem

I attributed the  problem to the Web. This does happen on occasion.

But all is well now!

[Gregg]

What we have is "low tech". We'll have "high tech" when you don't have to replace everything in rour years because it's "old".

[Xairbusdriver]

While it's certainly worth asking the company for a new modem, I suspect that they are doing little 'upgrading' to your LAN to keep up with the number of computers on it that is the real problem. "Your" connection is but one of many on the line serving your neighborhood. The more users there are using their internet service at the same time, the slower every ones access becomes. It's probably cheaper for the company to use different protocols that may not be as usable by an older modem than to break the LAN into smaller groupings, thus, an upgraded modem may help. See the previous thread on "Bandwidth vs Speed" for more info on why each user sees a slow down.

There is nothing physically in the modem that 'wears out' so the speed is not dependent on it's age, but its capabilities when it was built and the number of people 'on line' at the same time. Since you are probably paying for a certain, minimum speed, call them up and complain.

Your upload speed is usually a small fraction of your download speed, that's the way they build/plan it. Many fewer people upload large amounts of data/bytes than the other way around. At least back when your lines were built! With video uploads such a rage, I suspect the cable companies are faced with changes they haven't planned for.

[jcarter]

It sure can be a problem,,,,,,I had an antique cable modem that I had for years, and every time I bumped the desk, it would stop working.  I would have to re-start the thing.  So I called Comcast and the man said that this was a problem with that particular model. And it also was slow.  I went down to the office and they gave me a new one(you have to take the old one back with its paperwork), and this new one flies!
My grandcat even tipped it over one day and it kept right on working.
Jane

I almost forgot,,,,,Also if the technician ever comes to your house, like they did when they initially hooked us up, they will do a test on the cable line itself from the pole. If that cable is really old, it can slow things down a lot.

[eric j]

Thanls for your comments everyone.

Paddy,

Lausanne is a pretty town stretching up from the lakeside about 2 or 3 miles, so it's a steep climb to the town's upper edge. There is a special small (rack and pinion) train running from the railstation down to the shore of Lake Geneva.
The promenade is extensive. At weekends you can see families with children playing and women dressed very fashionably strolling and taking the air.
It's pleasurable to sit in the open facing the lake while enjoying a coffee or eating a meal.
One can take an excursion on a ship across the lake to a small French town on the other side. Takes about 25 minutes.
The headquarters of the Olympic Games organisation is located above the lakeside. There you can visit a retaurant with marvellous views across the lake to a portion of the Alps with snow-bedecked tops
Years ago I attended a Business Strategy course at the prestigious IMD business school in Ouchy, at the Western end of Lausanne near the lake.
Perhaps we can meet while you are there - on the supposition that you have a little spare time from your schedule? Do you come with a school group?
Lausanne is some 2 hours away by train so it is within easy reach from Basel. And Swiss trains are wonderful - comfortable, clean, frequent AND PUNCTUAL.

eric j

[Paddy]

Eric, the kids (boys 11 & 15) and I will be joining my husband as he finishes up with  seminars he gives each year in Lausanne. (MEAD is run by the former head of the Electrical Engineering Dept. at Oregon State - Richard was a professor there for 6 years). He's actually finished on Tuesday, but we won't get there until Friday morning as the kids don't get out of school until the June 26 and we fly to Zurich on the evening of the 27th. Luckily the last day of school in Toronto WAS the 26th - I booked these tickets before we knew we were moving! We then plan to spend several days exploring, including a trip up Jungfrau and to the Chateau de Chillon - both of which Richard has visited during previous trips and thought we'd enjoy. Apart from that, we're open to suggestions! The boys like all things medieval...(and I'm sure they're going to enjoy lots of Swiss chocolate too!) After that we're off to Germany - Richard has aunts, cousins etc. who are anxious to show us around. His dad is from Welzheim (35 miles east of Stuttgart) and there is a cousin who regularly visits Canada who lives in Aspach; I'm still a little unclear exactly where every one lives!

If there are things to do and see that shouldn't be missed in Basel please let us know that too! At this point, we're open to suggestions. And it would be fun to meet if we can - perhaps we can stop off in the Basel area - it's about half way to Stuttgart, judging by the map. From a very quick web search, it looks like there is plenty to see and do (including the Kunstmuseum - though I'm not sure how much patience the boys will have for art museums!)

We're hoping to do some actual planning for the trip soon, but we are facing a whirlwind for the next three weeks getting ready to move (movers should have everything in the truck by April 5 - house closings the following week and then a week's vacation in Eleuthera which we planned more than a year ago), so apart from some crucial hotel reservations in Paris and Lausanne, we're going to have to wait for a bit to get that done. We fly home from Paris on July 12 - hoping to spend 3 days or so there - not enough, but will give the boys a taste! I haven't been there since '79 and am looking forward to returning. Richard was there a few years ago and enjoyed it a lot.

[sandyman]

QUOTE(jcarter @ Mar 11 2007, 10:02 PM) [snapback]121662[/snapback]

I almost forgot,,,,,Also if the technician ever comes to your house, like they did when they initially hooked us up, they will do a test on the cable line itself from the pole. If that cable is really old, it can slow things down a lot.

I didn't know that companies were still using "catenary" style networks to supply cable TV and broadband. In Scotland it was only ever used in the very first network in Perth although a few towns in Englandshire   used it as well.  The Perth network was moved over to an underground system 10 years ago. The engineers and techs hated the overhead system.

The final length of cable which feeds the customers premises is still referred to as "the drop cable" a legacy from those days. I remember having to do the NCTI courses even although I was not a field operative.  It was really weird studying a system which we did not use.


Sandy

[jcarter]

I too, wish that we could get our cables and utilities underground, but where we live close to the ocean, it would be very difficult to dig and do this.
Some of the newer developments have done this before the road construction started, and its great.  And you dont have the 'squirrel factor' that go bang!  They try to make nests on top of the transformers, and chew, and then go up in smoke, and the power is out for a few hours till the utility company replaces the wire, or in our case on the side road, the whole transformer.
All the wiring in the marina up the street from us is under ground and along under the docks encased in very strong and waterproof(better be)conduits.
We dont have town supplied drinking water on the end of our street, we have a well, so I cant really hope for underground utilities in this century.
Jane