Question Bizarre issue: Just moved down the street, internet crawls but STEAM fast..?

[Sulaco]

Hey gang,

So I just moved into an older house (circa 1978) with my wife. It's literally about 5 blocks from our previous home, which was a newer apartment, in the same zip code. Literally nothing else has changed; same ISP (Spectrum), same data plan (100Mbps), same modem (Arris TM1602), same router (Apple Airport Extreme), same PC (in sig).

But there's been a pretty dramatic shift in our internet speed. For example, downloading drivers or a file would typically (at our old place w/the same service and hardware) go at about 12-15MB/s. Here, I'm lucky to get around 3 MB/s. I've tried MANY different files, servers, and server locations. Everything from downloading Nvidia drivers to utilities maxes out at around 2.5 MB/s. Different speed tests show different results:

I'm wired directly to the modem/router, not using WiFi.

Here's the weird thing, though. As slow as everything else is, STEAM games routinely download in the 13-15 MB/s, multiple times faster than EVERY other download I try. And I can't figure it out. Why on earth would everything else run so slowly, but STEAM manages at least decent results when downloading?



Please help!

 

[DaaQ]

Hey gang,

So I just moved into an older house (circa 1978) with my wife. It's literally about 5 blocks from our previous home, which was a newer apartment, in the same zip code. Literally nothing else has changed; same ISP (Spectrum), same data plan (100Mbps), same modem (Arris TM1602), same router (Apple Airport Extreme), same PC (in sig).

But there's been a pretty dramatic shift in our internet speed. For example, downloading drivers or a file would typically (at our old place w/the same service and hardware) go at about 12-15MB/s. Here, I'm lucky to get around 3 MB/s. I've tried MANY different files, servers, and server locations. Everything from downloading Nvidia drivers to utilities maxes out at around 2.5 MB/s. Different speed tests show different results:

I'm wired directly to the modem/router, not using WiFi.

Here's the weird thing, though. As slow as everything else is, STEAM games routinely download in the 13-15 MB/s, multiple times faster than EVERY other download I try. And I can't figure it out. Why on earth would everything else run so slowly, but STEAM manages at least decent results when downloading?

View attachment 26631

Please help!

Intel Puma 6 Modem List Chipset Defects – Approved Modem List

The Do Not Buy Intel Puma 6 modem list with an explanantion of the chipset defect. Details on the lawsuit & how to spot the defective modems.

approvedmodemlist.com

.
your modem is on this list.

Tool available here.

Cable modem Puma 6 chipset test | DSLReports, ISP Information

Cable modem Puma 6 chipset test, broadband news, information and community

www.dslreports.com

Puma 7 is reported to not be much better.
Look for modem with Broadcom chipset. If ISP provided, try and get different manufacturer, Technicolor perhaps.

Not to say the above is your issue. Possibly have a bad module in an amp or LE since new place is on a different part of the plant.
Did they run new coax? Did they do a drop certification upon install? Did they verify there is no noise ingress on the existing cabling?

 

[mxnerd]

Run Open Visual Trace Route from your PC.

Open Visual Traceroute - Browse /1.7.1 at SourceForge.net

Open source cross-platform Java Visual Traceroute

sourceforge.net

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Open+Visual+Traceroute

or

CountryTraceroute - Fast Traceroute with IP country information for Windows

CountryTraceRoute is a Traceroute utility, similar to the tracert tool of Windows, but with GUI, and it's also much faster than tracert of Windows.

www.nirsoft.net

or windows tracert

==

It could be a temporary routing issue. Turn off your modem overnight and turn it back on next morning see if things improves. You could get a new IP and a new route.

 

[VirtualLarry]

You said that your previous residence, was a "newer apt."? Possibly, the wiring was newer, more up-to-date, and less leaky/troublesome than this place that you just moved into. I would try to get some evidence (CableModem signal levels, logs, timeouts in logs from the head-end, lots of "uncorrectables", etc.), and contact the ISP (I presume that this is cable, and not DSL, @ 100Mbit/sec plan), and see if they can send a cable tech out.

It is kind of weird that Steam seems to download no problem, though. Maybe try @mxnerd 's idea, of leaving the CableModem switched off for 24hr, and see if you pick up a new IP / route.

 

[JackMDS]

In addition, Spectrum cable is Node Shared, if in the new Place there is More Node mongers, then you share gets slower.