Cable modem gurus..does this SH*T look right? + short RANT

[thirdlegstump]

I've been having issues with 5-6 second delays during initial load with just about every new site I visit. For example I click on a link that I KNOW is fast but it literally takes 5-6 seconds before my browsers even BEGINS to receive data. These are the same sites that I've had others test out for me and tell me they open INSTANTLY. (Like my site for example) Once the site has loaded, all other pages within the site loads quick assuming that the server isn't overloaded.

Needless to say it was driving me insane and so I had a RR tech come in today and visually witness the problem. First, he sounded helpful and admitted that he sees the problem. Then he called his dispatcher to see what's up and he's told that nothing is wrong with my connection....

From THEN ON, the tech tells me he sees nothing wrong with my connection!

What kind of BS is that?! Needless to say I did get a BIT upset and verbal with him for pulling that kind of sh*t on me and took a screenshot of his diagnostics screen for your review..

Screenshot

From what I can tell, nothing looks bad but I'm no cable tech either.

Here's what a tracert to my site tells me:

Tracing route to maggotcontrol.com [82.165.192.20]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 1 ms 1 ms 1 ms cpe-68-174-152-221.nyc.res.rr.com [68.174.152.221]
2 6 ms 7 ms 6 ms 10.32.32.1
3 7 ms 7 ms 5 ms pos8-0-nycmnya-rtr1.nyc.rr.com [24.29.97.137]
4 8 ms 7 ms 7 ms pos2-0-nycmnya-rtr1.nyc.rr.com [24.29.101.254]
5 9 ms 9 ms 9 ms so-1-1-0-0.gar1.Philadelphia1.Level3.net [63.209.188.5]
6 8 ms 9 ms 9 ms so-7-0-0.mp2.Philadelphia1.Level3.net [209.247.9.253]
7 47 ms 10 ms 13 ms so-7-2-0.bbr2.NewYork1.Level3.net [209.247.8.66]
8 11 ms 11 ms 11 ms ge-9-0.ipcolo1.NewYork1.Level3.net [4.68.97.45]
9 10 ms 11 ms 15 ms 4.78.164.2
10 18 ms 11 ms 11 ms a0nycc1.gw-core-a.nyc.schlund.net [217.160.229.72]
11 11 ms 11 ms 11 ms 82.165.192.20

Trace complete.

Note that the trace took nearly 40 seconds for it to complete.

Pings took on average 12ms which is splendid. No drops either.


So WTF could be the problem? I've tried various DNS servers and bypassing my router completely to no avail.

 

[spidey07]

use NSlookup. open a command prompt and just type nslookup.

Then just type in websites and see if the server returns the address promptly (should be less then a second)

Your traceroute looks great, my guess is a slow DNS server.

 

[thirdlegstump]

hmm...I've done the nslookup and they all respond instantly. This happens on every machine in the household.
I've also tried different DNS servers from my own ISP as well as Verizon and Level 3. They all do the same thing!

 

[spidey07]

Is it just the initial load of a page/site? That's why got me thinking it could be DNS.

You can also ping a site by name, it should resolve to an IP address very quickly.

Also ping with large packets to see if you get any drops "ping www.google.com -l 1400"
That's an 'L' option for length.

 

[thirdlegstump]

Yep, initial load. For example someone on here posts a pic on pics.blzzdd.com....I click the link, wait literally 5 seconds and then it finally starts to download.

Also just tried pinging my guitar site with the -l 1400 switch and it dropped 25% the first time but second time it went through smoothly. What's this mean?

 

[thirdlegstump]

OH CRAP!!!!! I just noticed after this tech visit they dropped my connection back down to 3mbps from 5mbps!!!!

 

[thirdlegstump]

just tried dropping mtu size in my router to 1000. still same problem. ugh.

 

[thirdlegstump]

Arggh. There's gotta be something I can do. I can't sit around waiting a few seconds between every stinkin email account when I check for new mail in OE!

 

[loup garou]

Does it still happen if you plug a computer directly into the cablemodem (bypass router)? Does it happen on all computers on the network?

 

[thirdlegstump]

Yep same thing. Now when I use someone else's connection (ie: open wifi networks) just about every site I've been having problems with load up instantly. Google, Yahoo and also AT are almost always fast, never had a problem but that's probably because I access it so many times a day.

 

[loup garou]

Huh.

Run an ipconfig /all and see what DNS servers you're using. I'm in NYC on RR too and am using:
24.29.99.18
24.29.99.21
24.29.99.27
with no problems.

 

[thirdlegstump]

I actually bypassed mine and currently using 4.2.2.1 and 4.2.2.5
Things were a little better with these DNS servers but it's still not solid.

 

[thirdlegstump]

If I let it auto detect, it's 24.29.99.15 and .14

 

[loup garou]

Originally posted by: deathkoba
I actually bypassed mine and currently using 4.2.2.1 and 4.2.2.5
Things were a little better with these DNS servers but it's still not solid.

Originally posted by: deathkoba
If I let it auto detect, it's 24.29.99.15 and .14

Man, I don't know...something is funky here. Have your requested a new cable modem?

 

[thirdlegstump]

Originally posted by: werk

Originally posted by: deathkoba
I actually bypassed mine and currently using 4.2.2.1 and 4.2.2.5
Things were a little better with these DNS servers but it's still not solid.

Originally posted by: deathkoba
If I let it auto detect, it's 24.29.99.15 and .14

Man, I don't know...something is funky here. Have your requested a new cable modem?

Yep I did, hence the tech visit but he refused to swap it saying that the dispatcher told him there's nothing wrong with my connection. That's when I got a bit pissed...
So basically I wasted my time and they dropped my connection speed while I still pay $60/month for my cable modem service. DSL is not a possibility as my phone lines are pretty much near dead. I'm fvcked.

 

[OmegaXero]

It almost sounds like your router is not using the manual DNS values that you're specifying. I also use RR and I've had horrible performance from their DNS servers recently too (same problems you describe above). Have you tried plugging the cable modem straight into your computer and then manually specifying the DNS servers on your computer? I'd be interested to see if you still have slow DNS resolve times.

 

[thirdlegstump]

Yep I've done that too. What's funny is, if I VNC into someone elses computer and browse through it, it's faster heh.

 

[OmegaXero]

When you VNC into someone's computer are you going thru your cable modem to a remote system on the internet or are you just connecting to another computer inside your LAN?

 

[thirdlegstump]

Another computer over the internet. Every LAN computer here has the same problem.

 

[thirdlegstump]

Hm..also tried typing in the IP address of websites directly instead of the domain name....still same problem!

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: deathkoba
Hm..also tried typing in the IP address of websites directly instead of the domain name....still same problem!

the only way to resolve this is to find out what is going on. download ethereal and capture the traffic. From there you can find out where the delay is.

 

[OmegaXero]

Yeah, if you type in the IP and you still have the same delay then its not a DNS issue. Almost sounds like a router issue on your cable company's end. Like spidey said, a traffic capture on your end might also help pinpoint the issue.

 

[robcy]

when RR went to 5mb here in central florida they changed the IP# of their DNS servers. One person in our block did not get the new IP's updated and was having similar problems, a small delay where nothing happened, and then the page would load normally. Usually about 3 to 5 seconds. On bandwidth test it would show 2.4-2.6 download while everyone else was at 4.1-4.3 download. his peak transfer rates where the same, it was the delay at the begining that was reflecting a lower transfer overall. Anyways to make a long story short, when RR did not correct the issue, his cable modem had a little accident, and his replacement moden works just fine.

 

[sswingle]

Originally posted by: robcy
when RR went to 5mb here in central florida they changed the IP# of their DNS servers. One person in our block did not get the new IP's updated and was having similar problems, a small delay where nothing happened, and then the page would load normally. Usually about 3 to 5 seconds. On bandwidth test it would show 2.4-2.6 download while everyone else was at 4.1-4.3 download. his peak transfer rates where the same, it was the delay at the begining that was reflecting a lower transfer overall. Anyways to make a long story short, when RR did not correct the issue, his cable modem had a little accident, and his replacement moden works just fine.

We had that problem here when they upped our speeds also. I put in the Level 3 DNS servers into my router and has been fine since.

 

[thirdlegstump]

My case is different though. If I do any bandwidth speedtests, I get the full 5mbps. I've also changed the DNS to Level 3 DNS servers as well and still same problems. The tech that came in briefly tested another modem (same Toshiba model I think) and I still had the same problems.