my MBA cannot obtain high speed internet?

[pcdebb]

one thing is for certain, this hold music sucks. i'm in the cycle of rebooting this and that. done three speed tests, they insist i'm on the 60 plan. I"m on hold while they "run some tests". I'm just gonna make them change it back to 30 in the system and be done with it. Dude trying to make commission the other day just missed out. I bet if i went to someone elses high speed connection I would see it no problem.

 

[pcdebb]

the one question I kept asking is are they absolutely sure my modem is compatible with the higher speed, and they insisted it is. This rep now wonders if it is, and now i'm escalated to level 3. Probably 30 more minutes of hold time.

 

[RadDave]

the one question I kept asking is are they absolutely sure my modem is compatible with the higher speed, and they insisted it is. This rep now wonders if it is, and now i'm escalated to level 3. Probably 30 more minutes of hold time.

Good luck! My Apple Airport Extreme router is sending data to my Wi-Fi devices in my home at 200+ to 450 Mbps depending on which band is being used, however, my DL speeds are averaging about 20 Mbps - the 'bottleneck' is my Time Warner ISP input into my cable modem - irritating! I've had no problems streaming music off Pandora but films and/or TV series will occasionally have to re-buffer - you probably should be OK w/ 30 Mbps unless you're streaming HD video - Dave

 

[dtravis7]

Please keep us posted. No matter what if they truly gave you 2x speed even if your WiFi were limiting it a bit you should have seen some change. You are getting the same numbers before and after so I think there is something wrong with their so called upgrade.

What router are you using?

 

[dtravis7]

Talked to a friend on Time Warner. They gave him a 30 Day upgrade from around say 40 to 100Mbps! To get it to work they had to send him a new Modem/Router. The old one they had supplied would not do the 100. Did they send a new Modem to you or is it the one you have had for a while? The tech flat out told him the old Modem would not work with the faster speed.

 

[pcdebb]

There is finally success!

I got a knowledgeable person on the line and told me something nobody ever told me about my modem: it has wireless in it. And the problem was with my linksys/cisco router. I took it out of the equation, turned on the wireless on my modem (Surfboard SBG6580), and we're cooking with gas now!

This is when I download a *nix torrent and time it

 

[dtravis7]

GREAT news! thanks for reporting back! Enjoy the speed!!!

 

[pcdebb]

Talked to a friend on Time Warner. They gave him a 30 Day upgrade from around say 40 to 100Mbps! To get it to work they had to send him a new Modem/Router. The old one they had supplied would not do the 100. Did they send a new Modem to you or is it the one you have had for a while? The tech flat out told him the old Modem would not work with the faster speed.

This is a Docsis 3 modem. I think I've had it at least a year when my old Surfboard died. I knew it wasn't my computer and sort of on their end. I'm glad it's fixed. Thru all the troubleshooting he did find some signal issues they are gonna come out and take a look at.

 

[dtravis7]

This is a Docsis 3 modem. I think I've had it at least a year when my old Surfboard died. I knew it wasn't my computer and sort of on their end. I'm glad it's fixed. Thru all the troubleshooting he did find some signal issues they are gonna come out and take a look at.

My friends was not a Docsis 3 modem. Sounds like you are pretty much set!

 

[RadDave]

There is finally success!

I got a knowledgeable person on the line and told me something nobody ever told me about my modem: it has wireless in it. And the problem was with my linksys/cisco router. I took it out of the equation, turned on the wireless on my modem (Surfboard SBG6580), and we're cooking with gas now!....

Great & congrats! BUT, is the modem also a router? This is, do you now have a home network behind a router w/ DHCP, a firewall, etc.? If the IP address of your computer is the same as that assigned by your ISP to the internet, then you'll need to reconsider a better solution - just saying - Dave

 

[dtravis7]

Dave, this will answer your question!

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0040IUI46/?tag=macforums0e4-20

 

[pcdebb]

Great & congrats! BUT, is the modem also a router? This is, do you now have a home network behind a router w/ DHCP, a firewall, etc.? If the IP address of your computer is the same as that assigned by your ISP to the internet, then you'll need to reconsider a better solution - just saying - Dave

It's a gateway. I have a 192... address locally. I wouldnt dare be naked to the interwebs like that lol I've already been into the settings to make sure things are secure. He was even gracious enough to give me the admin settings to it

 

[RadDave]

Dave, this will answer your question!

Amazon.com: ARRIS / Motorola SURFboard SBG6580 DOCSIS 3.0 Cable Modem and Wi-Fi N Router- Retail Packaging (570763-006-00): Electronics

Thanks Dennis - it's a combo modem/router which I was hoping - should have looked it up myself, sorry - Dave

P.S. These ISPs charge a **** fortune for their service but offer little explanation - I can understand the frustration of our OP!

 

[pcdebb]

To me, this Surfboard modem doesnt look too different from the previous one I had, just a little bigger that's all. If I had known it had a wireless router in it, i could have avoided some previous minor issues I had. My mother has this huge Arris gateway that has the antenna on it. That's why I was shocked mine had wireless on it.

I was gonna just give up on it, but I knew it wasn't that easy, it had to be something. Do I need the speed? Of course not. But at least I'll enjoy it for free for 30 days to decide if the extra dollars is worth it.

 

[dtravis7]

To me, this Surfboard modem doesnt look too different from the previous one I had, just a little bigger that's all. If I had known it had a wireless router in it, i could have avoided some previous minor issues I had. My mother has this huge Arris gateway that has the antenna on it. That's why I was shocked mine had wireless on it.

I was gonna just give up on it, but I knew it wasn't that easy, it had to be something. Do I need the speed? Of course not. But at least I'll enjoy it for free for 30 days to decide if the extra dollars is worth it.

Older routers that had WiFi usually had external antennas but many of todays have them built in so there is no clue from the outside. Apples routers have always had Internal antennas but Linksys and others were external.

Glad you did not give up.

 

[pcdebb]

They replaced my modem today, Arris DG1670A. I was having signal and connectivity issues. Wifi kept dropping. Speed got better. Not complaining Downloaded Linux Mint ISO in like 4 minutes the other night lol

 

[IWT]

pcdebb

I've followed this thread from the beginning. I'm thrilled for you. Also chastened, as your Upload speed is faster than my Download speed! Well, that's life - (in the slow lane)

Ian

 

[mmaks]

Really?!!??! Up to 6Mbps?

Jeez pcdebb, I wish I had your problems! We signed up for a phone/dish/dsl package from f******r and was promised, and I quote, "up to 6Mbps". Well, after testing over and over I couldn't get any faster than about 2.6-2.8Mbps. So I called to find out what was going on and f******r dispatched a tech to investigate. The tech called me from wherever he was investigating to let me know he discovered the root of my issue. He tells me that there is no equipment in this service area that is rated any higher than 3Mbps. Technically, I suppose that is still "up to 6Mbps"--but I just don't understand why they don't market it at "up to 60Mbps"

 

[GatorJAB]

Not sure if answered yet but my 2 cents

New to the group but saw this and wanted to respond. I too am with a cable carrier for my broadband. In the past year i upgraded my network from 30 to 60. If I was connected by wire i regularly got 50 to 70. Wireless was an annoying 20 or so.

What i found was it was my old wireless router. I upgraded to a D-Link AC1200 Dual Band router. Model is DIR-860L.

While its about 6 months old i get rocking speeds. If i'm within 50 feet I get 50 to 70 just like hardwire. If i'm just about anywhere in my house ( upstairs or down ) I regularly get 30+. If i'm outside on patio i get 20+.

I've got 5 laptops, multiple gaming systems and at anytime 3 to 5 iPads etc accessing it.

Of course more items on it affects speed but sometimes it is the age of YOUR equipment and location.

Good luck.

JB

 

[Lenry]

Your cable company sets the allowable speed by configuring the software inside your cable modem.

Do you have a docsis 3 cable modem? They are inexpensive used on ebay, much less than than your cable company will charge you. Once you get it, you have to register or provision it with the cable provider.

I had this problem when I upgraded to a higher speed. They were confused as to what speed I wanted because I did it twice. They even sent a tech out who said the line was ok, and who also told me that my cable modem was not "big enough". He thought it was physically too small, and they charged me $60 for him to come out. To eliminate my home wiring from consideration, I connected my cable modem to the cable where it enters my house. Then I connected it right to the cable companies equipment to eliminate the outside underground cable from their box to my house. I did this because they tend to first blame things that don't belong to them, or things that can make them money if they fix it. "Oh you have a bad cable modem, or router, or wifi, or house wiring, or computer."

Eventually they reconfigured the cable modem, and when my laptop is connected directly, or to my router directly I can get over 100 Mbps now. However, due to wifi limitations, I only get about 55 Mbps download speed via wifi on my 2009 Macbook pro. I have an 802.11N router with wifi.

Try putting your computer right next to your MacBook air and see if the speed is any faster from where you tested it before. Also, try someone else's laptop that has an ethernet port and use an ethernet cable and see if they are getting faster speeds. Or buy the dongle and try that. Or go somewhere you know the speed is faster because someone tested it, and try a speedtest there with your macbook air.

If you tested by connecting directly via ethernet cable into your router and the speed is what they claim it should be, then the problem is with the wifi portion of your router. If it's not faster, plug it directly into the cable modem. You will have to reboot the cable modem first after plugging directly into it. This way you are eliminating your router/wifi/switch from the chain.

You have to do this troubleshooting to narrow down the source of the problem. The people you talk to at the cable company want to sell you things that make them money, it's part of their job so you have to decide what you need, not them.