- Dec 21, 2017
- 1,288
- 1,201
Hi folks,
I'm in the process of switching from Spectrum cable internet service (100Mbps down / 10 Mbps up) to Metronet's fiber internet service (1Gbps down/250 Mbps up). And even with an extra fee for a static IP it will be cheaper than Spectrum, at least for the 1 year price lock term. Sounds great, doesn't it?
Here's the problem: there's some sort of latency that makes it completely unusable for anything, and I could use some help with understanding the terminology for the symptoms, and the potential causes, so that I can have a decent conversation with the Metronet techs to get them to understand what's going on. I'm quite techie, but am out of my depth here. Note, my static IP isn't assigned yet, so I'm just playing around with it so far; my router-based VPN won't work since Metronet uses carrier level NAT (so, my IPv4 address isn't really mine, lots of people share it). Port forwarding (boo) wouldn't work either.
So here's what I see. First, there's good strong light through the fiber to the optical network terminal (ONT) (like a cable modem, for fiber). The VOIP phone service works fine, clear and doesn't cut out or anything.
My Asus AC86U router is hooked directly up to the ONT, and my main PC is hooked directly to the router. I have internet; if I open a browser it will eventually load my home page. It might load in milliseconds, much faster than the Spectrum service, or it might hang, thinking about it, for 30 seconds before it either fully loads or loads part way, pauses, then finishes. It's this stop-start crap that's causing the problem.
If I go to a speed test site, say speedtest.net, it will take a while, 5-60 seconds, to load the page. On Spectrum it would take 2-3 seconds. After pressing GO to run the test it will pause a bit, longer than I would see with Spectrum. Then BAM the test would run and it would jam at 850-950 Mbps down / 250ish up for the test.
So, when data flows, it's lightning fast. But starting the data connections takes so much longer than with Spectrum. Some services don't connect successfully. My Roku (hardwired, not wifi) won't let me into Hulu, somewhere along the way in it invariably fails.
It's so frustrating. I might go to a forum page and have it load instantly, then clicking on the next thread it might sit 25 seconds before loading the page in an instant once it starts.
I'm not sure what to call this sort of latency or how to test/document it so that the Metronet folks can look into it. Clearly it's unusual. If many people saw this, our local NextDoor would be busting up with complaints. Apparently it's just me (on every computer / device I own). And it's not the router, it's set to largely default settings other than a few reserved local IP/MAC pairings. QOS is off. I've tried auto DNS and setting Google DNS in the Router.
Any help would be appreciated. At the moment I'm back on my Spectrum cable modem, until I either figure out something to try to fix the problem, or until I've got my static IP which should remove one layer between me and the internet and possibly improve the situation.
Thanks folks.
I'm in the process of switching from Spectrum cable internet service (100Mbps down / 10 Mbps up) to Metronet's fiber internet service (1Gbps down/250 Mbps up). And even with an extra fee for a static IP it will be cheaper than Spectrum, at least for the 1 year price lock term. Sounds great, doesn't it?
Here's the problem: there's some sort of latency that makes it completely unusable for anything, and I could use some help with understanding the terminology for the symptoms, and the potential causes, so that I can have a decent conversation with the Metronet techs to get them to understand what's going on. I'm quite techie, but am out of my depth here. Note, my static IP isn't assigned yet, so I'm just playing around with it so far; my router-based VPN won't work since Metronet uses carrier level NAT (so, my IPv4 address isn't really mine, lots of people share it). Port forwarding (boo) wouldn't work either.
So here's what I see. First, there's good strong light through the fiber to the optical network terminal (ONT) (like a cable modem, for fiber). The VOIP phone service works fine, clear and doesn't cut out or anything.
My Asus AC86U router is hooked directly up to the ONT, and my main PC is hooked directly to the router. I have internet; if I open a browser it will eventually load my home page. It might load in milliseconds, much faster than the Spectrum service, or it might hang, thinking about it, for 30 seconds before it either fully loads or loads part way, pauses, then finishes. It's this stop-start crap that's causing the problem.
If I go to a speed test site, say speedtest.net, it will take a while, 5-60 seconds, to load the page. On Spectrum it would take 2-3 seconds. After pressing GO to run the test it will pause a bit, longer than I would see with Spectrum. Then BAM the test would run and it would jam at 850-950 Mbps down / 250ish up for the test.
So, when data flows, it's lightning fast. But starting the data connections takes so much longer than with Spectrum. Some services don't connect successfully. My Roku (hardwired, not wifi) won't let me into Hulu, somewhere along the way in it invariably fails.
It's so frustrating. I might go to a forum page and have it load instantly, then clicking on the next thread it might sit 25 seconds before loading the page in an instant once it starts.
I'm not sure what to call this sort of latency or how to test/document it so that the Metronet folks can look into it. Clearly it's unusual. If many people saw this, our local NextDoor would be busting up with complaints. Apparently it's just me (on every computer / device I own). And it's not the router, it's set to largely default settings other than a few reserved local IP/MAC pairings. QOS is off. I've tried auto DNS and setting Google DNS in the Router.
Any help would be appreciated. At the moment I'm back on my Spectrum cable modem, until I either figure out something to try to fix the problem, or until I've got my static IP which should remove one layer between me and the internet and possibly improve the situation.
Thanks folks.
