02-10-2011, 12:38 AM

Hi folks,

I'm looking for a very specific type of app to monitor, "record" or "log" the Internet speed of my connection.

Let me introduce me a bit what's the problem I'm having.

I hired a new ISP and, as usual, they provided me the best Internet speed but just for the first month. In the next months, the Internet speed have been lowered. It's a marketing thing, we all know about that, I guess. So, before phoning them in order to let them know that the Internet speed isn't the same than the first month of use, I want to track/monitor my Internet speed in order to have some stats about the speed in order to argue against the ISP with proofs.

I have MenuMeters, so I can monitor my Internet Speed, but it doesn't generate any log or graph of the Internet Speed. I tried other apps but they seems to just log/record the amount of transferred data, not the Internet Speed.

The first month, my Internet Speed was always working perfectly (I have a connection of 6Mb downstream/1Mb upstream), which means that anything I used to download, I did it at 100% of my speed but after the first month of use, it went quite slow, from 1,6% to around 66,6% and never more at 100%.

So, I need an app able to track/monitor and record/log my Internet Speed, so I would be able to have a proof of how much speed I'm getting when downloading stuff.

I was doing this manually, by downloading X thing from the Internet (or from an FTP), writing up the download speed to an Excel sheet, many times per day, in order to record my Internet Speed so for example:

Sunday Download Speed:

09:00 a.m. = 128 Kb/s.
10:00 a.m. = 164 Kb/s.
11:00 a.m. = 250 Kb/s.
12:00 a.m. = 25 Kb/s.
01:00 p.m. = 1024 Kb/s.
02:00 p.m. = 500 Kb/s.
03:00 p.m. = 6 Mb/s.

Etc...

Where 6 Mb/s was constant the first month, which is right.

I have been tracking my Internet Speed that way, manually, and doing the average, some graphs and such.

It's there any app able to do the same thing?

Thanks in advance!

Ø3

02-10-2011, 03:53 AM

I know just the thing!

Net Monitor $10
Net Monitor Software

___________________________________________

Randy B. Singer
Co-author of The Macintosh Bible (4th, 5th, and 6th editions)

Macintosh OS X Routine Maintenance
OS X Maintenance And Troubleshooting
___________________________________________





02-10-2011, 06:59 AM

And there is no way to tell what your individual speed happens to be by tracking the download speeds from multiple random sites. What you're tracking there is the upload speeds of the various sites, and really has nothing whatsoever to do with the speed you are capable of downloading unless you hit a site who's upload matches or exceeds your capability. Their upload speeds may also vary depending upon the load on their servers at any particular point in time.

02-10-2011, 07:35 AM

I know this is not an app that can monitor/log your internet speed, but head over to Speedtest.net - The Global Broadband Speed Test
It uses servers from around the world with high up and down speeds so it is quite an accurate indicator.

Hope this helps

- Simon

02-10-2011, 11:50 AM

I know just the thing!

Nice one Randy. Thanks for posting the link.

02-10-2011, 12:08 PM

Originally Posted by Randy B. Singer

I know just the thing!

Net Monitor $10
Net Monitor Software

___________________________________________

Randy B. Singer
Co-author of The Macintosh Bible (4th, 5th, and 6th editions)

Macintosh OS X Routine Maintenance
OS X Maintenance And Troubleshooting
___________________________________________



[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the link, Randy, Will check it out

Originally Posted by bobtomay

And there is no way to tell what your individual speed happens to be by tracking the download speeds from multiple random sites. What you're tracking there is the upload speeds of the various sites, and really has nothing whatsoever to do with the speed you are capable of downloading unless you hit a site who's upload matches or exceeds your capability. Their upload speeds may also vary depending upon the load on their servers at any particular point in time.

Hi Bob... Somehow, I find your reply like a Deja vu... Strange... Anyway... I just need to track all the Internet Speed into a log file or something like that in order to later, see the peaks (where I have downloaded something), and do the calculations of how much speed have been used to download the stuff.

I usually test the download from sites such nvidia.com. Downloading a video card driver from there always worked at 100% of my speed for a whole month (the first month where I hired the ISP). After that month, the speed decreased between a 16% to a 66%. After that first month, it works at 100% but only on the night, which wasn't that way it worked in the first month: all day long worked at 100%.

Also, I use to download pictures (I'm a freelance retoucher) from the FTP of my clients and the download speed always worked at 100% all along the day of the first month when I hired the ISP. After that month only happens to works 100% at night.

I can see it ¡s not about the net traffic, etc. I'm sure the ISP had shrank my Internet Speed after the first month, but I need proofs in order to start the law process. I'm certainly tired of that and I will start legal procedures against them because I'm paying for a service that I'm not receiving and I already know all their tricks. Not the first time I'm having this problem, that's why I hired another ISP. All of them works like a charm the first month, then they shrank the speed. Get what I mean?

Thanks for the reply!

----------------------------------

@Buzz,

I use Speedtest to check the speed as well. Doing it all the time in order to get the numbers I put here as an example.

Thanks for the help!

Salutations to all!!!

Ø3

02-10-2011, 04:07 PM

Originally Posted by Quantum3

Bob... Somehow, I find your reply like a Deja vu... Strange... Anyway... I just need to track all the Internet Speed into a log file or something like that in order to later, see the peaks (where I have downloaded something), and do the calculations of how much speed have been used to download the stuff.

I usually test the download from sites such nvidia.com. Downloading a video card driver from there always worked at 100% of my speed for a whole month (the first month where I hired the ISP). After that month, the speed decreased between a 16% to a 66%. After that first month, it works at 100% but only on the night, which wasn't that way it worked in the first month: all day long worked at 100%.

Also, I use to download pictures (I'm a freelance retoucher) from the FTP of my clients and the download speed always worked at 100% all along the day of the first month when I hired the ISP. After that month only happens to works 100% at night.

I can see it ¡s not about the net traffic, etc. I'm sure the ISP had shrank my Internet Speed after the first month, but I need proofs in order to start the law process. I'm certainly tired of that and I will start legal procedures against them because I'm paying for a service that I'm not receiving and I already know all their tricks. Not the first time I'm having this problem, that's why I hired another ISP. All of them works like a charm the first month, then they shrank the speed. Get what I mean?

Thanks for the reply!

No... Remind me never to do business with you.

If I found out you were downloading just random junk (for instance, just how many times have you downloaded a nVidia video card driver in the last month) and/or the same thing over and over again, think I'd be throttling your speed back also.

02-10-2011, 07:17 PM

Originally Posted by bobtomay

No... Remind me never to do business with you.

If I found out you were downloading just random junk (for instance, just how many times have you downloaded a nVidia video card driver in the last month) and/or the same thing over and over again, think I'd be throttling your speed back also.

The point is that I need a program able to do a tracking/recording of the Internet Speed, but thanks for the side note.

Ø3

02-10-2011, 10:10 PM

What ISP are you using? I haven't run into too many that intentionally downgrade your bandwidth. Sounds like you might need a new ISP--or a password on your wireless network.

Honestly, if your experience has been that "all of them" are reducing your speed, the logical assumption is that the problem lies with your network, not "all" the ISPs. That being said, if you give us some additional details, someone might have some suggestions to help.

Are you connected directly to the modem or through a router?
If through a router, how many machines are connected?
Wireless or ethernet?
Any other devices connected? (DVRs, satellite receivers, video game systems, etc.)

If via router, have you tried plugging a single machine directly into the modem to see if the speed improves?

Have "all" the ISPs you have had issues with used the same wires to bring the internet service into your home? i.e. telephone lines, cable TV lines, etc. It's not uncommon for older homes to still have the original phone wiring running through the walls, which could easily be 50+ years old. A corroded wire or loose connection could easily cause intermittent speed loss.

Is there a weather factor involved in the speed loss? i.e. It gets worse for a couple days after it rains or it gets worse when the telephone box / cable box heats up from exposure to direct sunlight?

02-10-2011, 10:43 PM

Hi Jay,

Originally Posted by Jaygray

What ISP are you using? I haven't run into too many that intentionally downgrade your bandwidth.

Yeap. That's the only true logical answer, that's why I need to find an app able to track my Internet Speed.

Originally Posted by Jaygray

Sounds like you might need a new ISP--or a password on your wireless network.

There are no more ISP here. Just 2 ISP available: Arnet from Telecom (which really sucks) and Fibertel from Telefónica. The remaining ones (Telmex and many others) just give up to 1 Mb/s or less.

Originally Posted by Jaygray

Honestly, if your experience has been that "all of them" are reducing your speed, the logical assumption is that the problem lies with your network, not "all" the ISPs. That being said, if you give us some additional details, someone might have some suggestions to help.

Yeah, I would agree with that if 1) more than 2 ISP's were available, 2) if the ISP's don't do the downgrade thing (pretty common around here).

Originally Posted by Jaygray

Are you connected directly to the modem or through a router?
If through a router, how many machines are connected?
Wireless or ethernet?
Any other devices connected? (DVRs, satellite receivers, video game systems, etc.)

We've not such things around here, lol!

Originally Posted by Jaygray

If via router, have you tried plugging a single machine directly into the modem to see if the speed improves?

Yeah, I just have the mac plugged by the LAN cable to the Modem and the Model is connected to the internet via fiber optics. It's that they downgrade the connection, that's a fact, that's why I need the app, in order to avoid tracking the speed manually.

Originally Posted by Jaygray

Have "all" the ISPs you have had issues with used the same wires to bring the internet service into your home? i.e. telephone lines, cable TV lines, etc. It's not uncommon for older homes to still have the original phone wiring running through the walls, which could easily be 50+ years old. A corroded wire or loose connection could easily cause intermittent speed loss.

So far away is the world... haha... I just have the mac and the Internet (with fiber optics, or that's what the ISP says, lol... I'm starting to think they push the bytes by blowing through a tube).

Originally Posted by Jaygray

Is there a weather factor involved in the speed loss? i.e. It gets worse for a couple days after it rains or it gets worse when the telephone box / cable box heats up from exposure to direct sunlight?

No... it ¡s totally random. However and as usual, the ISP's here use to work better on the night, but as I said before, the first month worked all the day long at a constant 100% speed.

Those d*mn ISP's are downgrading my connection and they think I don't get realized of that...

I will phone them tomorrow and guess what, they will ask me a lot of useless questions (emphasizing that I have adware, spyware and viruses... on mac lol), and they will give me an ip from their ISP where all will work like a charm, besides that, they will try to bother me with the call waiting melody and finally, they will create a claim number as they have done every single time I phoned them since the year 2000, when I got my first ISP, which was Arnet (and it was the only one till about a couple of years ago) but I will imperatively ask for my internet speed in order to avoid wasting my time.

After the phone catharsis, I will write here to tell how it went

Thanks a lot for the replies, Jay. Very kind from you.

Ø3

02-11-2011, 03:57 AM

Two suggestions:

1. Move!

2. If you know any business owners, you might consult with them about business packages that are offered by either company and compare their performance ... I would wager they're more consistent. Might be worth it to "upgrade" out of the consumer space.

02-11-2011, 09:50 AM

Originally Posted by chas_m

Two suggestions:

1. Move!

2. If you know any business owners, you might consult with them about business packages that are offered by either company and compare their performance ... I would wager they're more consistent. Might be worth it to "upgrade" out of the consumer space.

1. Yeah! I'm working on that

2. There are all the consumer plans, even for enterprises. There is a third ISP named iPlan, which only gives service to enterprises and symmetric bandwidth, but I'm out of their coverage. I've talked with them, but they have no plans to expand their internet coverage, which is the center area (buildings and stuff like that) and I live in the neighborhood area.

For the other hand, there is no awareness about Internet around here. People just use it to check the facebook and for chatting silly stuff. From the 2 main ISP's, just one gives an upstream of 1,2 Mb/s (the one I'm using now), the second one is up to 25 Kb/s of upstream. Instead, iPlan is serious. They give you a symmetrical connection, but they have no plans to expand their coverage. I tried to convince them to do it, even offered more money in order to get a connection through antenna, no satellite, but they refused to that as well.

Okay... Going to phone these Fibertel guys...

Ø3

02-26-2011, 12:08 PM

Phoned the guys and the problem seems to be solved... But it will happen again... I know these guys... I found a great app called atMonitor. It's great for monitoring the system and it's free. It also allows creating logs, but not from the network activity, so I'm seeing if it¡s possible to monitor the Internet Speed by using Terminal. I'm sure it's possible, but don't know where to start. Any idea?

Thanks,

Ø3

EDIT: Oh... Cheezzoos!!! I found the way to log this up! It's in the Preferences Panel inside the Monitoring sub-app from atMonitor *w00t*!

02-26-2011, 01:02 PM

Originally Posted by Quantum3

Phoned the guys and the problem seems to be solved... But it will happen again... I know these guys... I found a great app called atMonitor. It's great for monitoring the system and it's free.

Hey...looks & sounds like a pretty neat app...but how about including a link to help other folks out??

I got it...

atMonitor

- Nick

02-26-2011, 01:03 PM

Too lazy to type? Here it's: atMonitor