Wall-O-Text
Ensuing rant,
Since Sunday morning my internet has been terrible. I checked my speeds, was at around 5 down 3 up with crazy erratic Ping and was supposed to be getting 100 down and 5 up. So I called Charter, my ISP, usually easy to deal with, except this time. Had one guy tell me I needed a new Modem...fine, whatever, I'll run to BB and replace my not one year old SB6120 knowing it was not the issue. Picked up the SB6121 figuring I'll mail my parents who are still renting one the SB6120. Called up charter, gave them the MAC ID, and I ran a speedtest from Charters Speedtest site. Still slow, who would of thought, wish I remembered that guys name who told me to buy a now modem, would have seen to it he got fired. I felt as if I was inconveniencing him, which I find odd because I'm always nice over the phone even when I'm irate, like I am now.
Called up Charter Yesterday to see what was going on, still monitoring the lines.....okay, fine. Funny thing was, during my lunch break when I went back to the barracks I ran a speedtest and was getting 85 to 90 down and 5 up. That is within tolerance levels so I was happy, got home after work, back to 5 to 10 down and 3 up. The lady I spoke to knew her job well, and things went smoothly. I'm giving them till tomorrow end of my work day to fix things, then I'm calling again. No idea what to do, threaten them with the BBB? What does that do anymore...?
At least my ping has been solid, at around 55, won't be the rubberband man in BF3. That download speed should be reading 100 Mbps though. Connected directly to my Modem through my Intel NIC. Can't get any better than that.

I'm stuck with Charter as well, but I don't know if there is much you can really do about it, their service agreement even states that service slow downs are a possibility, they also throttle service intentionally based on heavy usage at peak times.

I would love to be able to switch to Fios.

Well to add insult to injury. Charter is not supporting customer owned modems as of the 26th. Might as well take it back since Charter now offers one for free and require it. http://www.dslreports.com...er-Owned-Modems-120059 I have Charter as well with their 100mb/5mb service. Been rock solid for me. Charter forums here. http://www.dslreports.com/forum/charter They also have a direct section. I never call Charter and go through the forums. Direct forum is excellent and they will fix you right up.
 
 

Not worried about the Modem thing, that is only for new customers, existing customers are not affected. Or until they purchase a new package, which I have zero intentions of doing. When the day does come where I move and I have to deal with Charter, at least the Modem is free, and if it is broken, they have to replace it. If I don't have to deal with Charter, I have a Modem. Well two now, looks like I have one for sale, since my parents are with Charter.
On the other hand, speeds are fine. See what happens after work.

 
Something from one of the Guys at Charter on there forums

If you are wanting to switch to our new pricing and packaging we would require you to get a modem from Charter. You have a variety of options available to you. We could ship it to you. You could pick it up from a Sales and Service Center, or you do have the option of having a Technician install it.

If you choose to remain with your current package and pricing, we would encourage you to switch to the new pricing, so you can get the modem replaced for free...I mean why not get a free D3 modem? BUT, if you are totally opposed to coming to the new pricing and packaging, at this time, you would be able to self-install a replacement D3 Modem.

I hope that helps. If you've got any other questions, please connect with us in »Charter Direct. When we start getting into specific scenarios, it is often better to address them on an individual basis.

Thanks, Eric

In my job, I help users nationwide with their VPN configurations. Every call that I take that leads to ISP issues, its Charter cable 9 out of 10 times. 

As far as the modem goes, Charter's website states:

"Effective June 26, 2012 for new Internet Customers and customers switching to our New Package Pricing, we will no longer allow customer-owned modems on our network."

So, the way that reads makes it seem that since I own my own modem and I am an existing customer I am ok with my service. Only effects new customers or those switching to a new package.

Been working just fine so far today.

EDIT: oops, a little redundant after post #4 above

Yeah if you make any changes upgrading or downgrading. They will force their modem on you. I am good for a few more months with my promo. Even with me owning my own modem. And it is the same one they are handing out at my local office. I will still have to get one from Charter. Makes zero sense and is only costing them more money.

Ha, something is wrong in my area.... don't call this throttling either. Ping is all stupid, it's fine in the morning, just when everybody is on the internet does my speeds tank and signal quality is crap.
 

 
Got a tech coming Sat, hopefully he can do something, or escalate the issue. Because I'm just going to keep calling, and they are going to get tired of me, and I don't care. Paying for 100 Mbps Down, I should at least be getting 70 Mbps Down.

loveha


Ha, something is wrong in my area.... don't call this throttling either. Ping is all stupid, it's fine in the morning, just when everybody is on the internet does my speeds tank and signal quality is crap.



Got a tech coming Sat, hopefully he can do something, or escalate the issue. Because I'm just going to keep calling, and they are going to get tired of me, and I don't care. Paying for 100 Mbps Down, I should at least be getting 70 Mbps Down.

I know this might be hard to believe, but slow speeds and erratic pings are not always the fault of your provider. Sometimes there are issues with the backbone they tie into or other service outages. You're lucky. There isn't a fiber back-haul within 20 miles of me. The best I can get for years to come is 1.5 DSL. Trade off for living out in the peace and quiet.

How much do you want for your sb6120? 
 
I fried my last one when I inadvertently soldered my fan power lines to 5 volt connection on the board rather than a 12volt.  For some reason I was thinking fans were 5 volts @ the time.  The 6120s ran hot.  I upgraded to a sb6121 and they run much cooler, no need for a fan, but it looks nice with it mounted on it.

I know the last two times I had cable I was living in apartments and experienced similiar situations as you.  DSL wasn't available at either so the only choice for high-speed internet was cable.  At night, when more people were home, everything went slower.  I know you said you were living in barracks so it's possible they've overprovisioned.

I've been thinking about switching to the cable company here but I'm afraid of this situation myself.  I don't want to be paying more for a faster line only for it to be slower at peak hours.  I don't have that problem on U-Verse FTTP right now , but damn AT&T for not offering anything higher than 18/1.5.

loveha

Ha, something is wrong in my area.... don't call this throttling either. Ping is all stupid, it's fine in the morning, just when everybody is on the internet does my speeds tank and signal quality is crap.



Got a tech coming Sat, hopefully he can do something, or escalate the issue. Because I'm just going to keep calling, and they are going to get tired of me, and I don't care. Paying for 100 Mbps Down, I should at least be getting 70 Mbps Down.

The problem is that you are in the barracks, and when the load is heavy (in the evening), your speeds will slow, and your ping will vary.  I was stationed at Camp Lejeune from 1985 - 1991 and again from 1995 - 2004.  I lived in the barracks for a few of those years.  Charter will split one line between 3-4 barracks buildings, so when a lot of Marines jump on line at the same time, speeds go down.  That is why in the morning and early afternoon speeds are great....most of you guys are either at work, or in the field.

They need  to split the node. Overloaded in the evenings. I had same issues until they split it.

DMIINC


They need  to split the node. Overloaded in the evenings. I had same issues until they split it.

sorry to bump a old thread but this is spot on. It's a node issue.