Category / Technology

by admin

Another Speed Trap

It has been more than three years since I last took a look at the internet speeds being delivered to me by our good friends at Comcast.  At the time, my download speeds had improved by nearly 22 Mbps over the previous test.  Can I expect a similar jump now, with the amount of people working remotely?

Google Chrome

No, I most certainly cannot. Compared to my last test using Google’s Chrome browser, I’ve gained a mere than 4.5 Mbps of download speed over the past 41 months. Upload speed has stayed pretty consistent.

Microsoft Edge

Things were a little better on the Microsoft side of the house. The Edge test finished just a smidge over Chrome, but added nearly 10 Mbps from the last test. Upload capabilities were again pretty much the same.

by jim

Speed Trap

It has been nearly three years since I last took a look at the internet speeds being delivered to me by our good friends at Comcast.  At the time, my download speeds had improved by nearly 4 Mbps over the previous year.  Can I expect a similar jump now?

Google Chrome

No, I most certainly cannot.  Compared to my last test using Google’s Chrome browser, I’ve gained a more than 22 Mbps of download speed over the past 31 months.  Upload speed has stayed pretty consistent.

Microsoft Edge

Thing are a little worse on the Microsoft side of the house.  The Edge test finished a good 6 Mbps behind Chrome, gaining a little more than 6 Mbps from the last test.  Upload capabilities were pretty much the same.

by jim

Xfinity Of Suck

nointernetFor the last few weeks, the internet here has been a bit spotty, going out for a few hours per night every couple of days before recovering just before you get fed up enough to call in and complain.  The modem I’ve had for the past couple of years has been very consistent up to this point, so I’m not sure if that means it is starting to die or if the problem is outside the house.  On the plus side, there is plenty to keep me occupied without the internet.  Or not.

by admin

Full Speed Ahead

It has been nearly two years since I last took a look at the internet speeds being delivered to me by our good friends at Comcast.  At the time, my download speeds had improved by nearly 40 Mbps over the previous year.  Can I expect a similar jump now?

2016speedtest-chrome

Google Chrome

No, I most certainly cannot.  Compared to my last test using Google’s Chrome browser, I’ve gained a measly 4 Mbps of download speed over the past 22 months.  Upload has also increased by a single Mbps.

Microsoft Edge

Microsoft Edge

Thing are a little better on the Microsoft side of the house, though this test used the new Edge browser as opposed to Internet Explorer.  The Edge test broke the 100 Mbps barrier, getting a good 10 Mbps more than Chrome and gaining more than 15 Mbps from the last IE test.  Upload capabilities were pretty much the same.

by admin

Full Speed Ahead

It has been exactly one year since I took a look at the internet speeds being delivered to me by our good friends at Comcast.  At the time, my download speeds had improved by nearly 20 Mbps since the previous February.  Can I expect a similar jump now?

Google Chrome

Google Chrome

Wow.  Last year, using Google Chrome, I had download speeds of 56.44 Mb/s.  That has jumped up all the way to 95.08 Mb/s, which is an increase of almost 40 Mb/s.  My upload speed has more than doubled, from 10.25 to 23.34.

Microsoft Internet Explorer

Microsoft Internet Explorer

Just like last year, the results with Internet Explorer are a little worse than Chrome, but still a tremendous upgrade over last year.  The way this is going, I will be able to download an HD movie in 5 seconds by this time next year.

by jim

You’d Think He Would Have Mentioned Something

hawkyazIn all seriousness, though, this site is an incredible time waster.  The biggest degree I’ve been able to come up with was 9, although I don’t remember the specifics after the dozens of different combinations I’ve run over the past few days.

Mike Ditka to Phil Jackson – 7 degrees

Ozzie Guillen to Scott Skiles – 4 degrees

Prepare to fall down the rabbit hole.

by admin

The Need For Speed

A recent conversation at work reminded me that I hadn’t checked in on my internet speeds since February’s fun with out good friends at Comcast.  At the time, my download speed had more than doubled, landing at 36.07 Mbps, while my upload speeds stayed about the same at 6.77 Mbps.  So how are things looking now, 5 months later?

I ran the test twice, first using Google Chrome and then again using Microsoft’s Internet Explorer.
chromespeediespeedThe download speeds for both are much improved since February, with a gain of nearly 20 Mbps.  The Chrome example boosted the upload speed much more than IE, but both were an improvement over February.

 

by jim

Xfinity Madness Part 2

Last May, we had some fun with the folks at Comcast that resulted in doubling my internet download speed from 6.41 Mbps to 14.87 Mbps.
newspeedtestAs part of the fix to this weekend’s troubles, which involved swapping out some splitters and an amplifier, the cable guy mentioned that it would have a positive effect on the internet speed as well.  So how much of an effect did it have?

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by admin

Xfinity Madness

So the good folks at Xfinity (you may remember them as Comcast) called last weekend with an offer too good to be true: bundle a voice service along with the existing cable and internet and not only would I save $30 a month, they’d send out a new modem that would double my internet speeds.  Sounds too good to be true, no?

Before installing the new modem, I ran a speed test on my existing setup.  I had just gotten this modem within the past year, so I was pretty happy with the speeds I was getting.

I pulled out the old modem and then replaced the old coax cable and splitter, replacing them with the newer versions sent with the new modem.  Who knows if they will make a difference, but I figured what the heck.  After I set everything up, I fired up the new modem and went to the Xfinity self activation website.  After a few steps, I get a confirmation message that says I am good to go.  So I boot up the old browser and get… nothing.

All of the lights on the modem were working, so I started fidgeting with the router, which I also just replaced last year.  I tried to access the router controls, which wanted to download an updated version, which it couldn’t because I had no connection to the internet.  Eventually, I removed the router from the equation all together by plugging the modem directly into my laptop.  Still nothing!  Time to call 1-800-COMCAST.

The first call gave me an automated option to send an automatic reboot signal to the modem, so I gave that a try.  They said it would take 15-20 minutes to take effect, so I gave it a half hour before coming back and trying again.  Can you guess what the result was?  Time to call again.  This time I talked to an operator, who informed me that, despite any message I had received from the self activation website, the activation was not complete, so she was going to transfer me to someone who could help finish the activation.  Of course, the transfer did not go through and she effectively hung up on my.  Call #3, this time direct to the activation line, connected me to a very jolly Russian gentleman who quickly helped me finish the activation that should have been completed 2 hours ago.  Finally, I was back on line.  So, was it worth it?

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