Brand New Gigablast Download Speeds Are Unacceptable
Previously i subscribed to the the Ultimate 300 plan and I had an Arris Panoramic modem. Typical Speeds were 265/31. Upgraded to Gigablast and received new Technicolor CGM4141 modem three days ago. I set it up while on the phone with Tech Support so I could ensure it would be done correctly. And, now speeds are anywhere from 250-360 download and consistently 35 on the upload. The highest download speed I have ever seen is 382 Mbps and that is a rarity. I alternate testing the speeds with speedtest.net, Fast and Cox. My Cox account shows that Gigablast is the current internet plan. The typical download speed now averages about 320 Mbps. As I said, uploads max out every time at 35 Mbps. So, uploads are perfect.
I am getting about 45-50 Mbps on a nearby laptop via Wi-Fi (the modem is not on the floor). That Dell laptop is several years old and only can handle 2.4 Ghz so I can't tell what the 5 Ghz speeds would be on it.
Called Tier 1 Tech Support several times the day of the installation since I was dissatisfied with the download speeds and they verified that the speed coming into the modem is about 1030 Mbps. After resetting this brand new modem several times and verifying it was configured correctly. Nothing changed and the download speeds were no higher than the mid-300's.
I then called Cox Complete Care and the tech remoted into my computer and verified all modem and network card settings were correct and that the NIC was capable of handling 1 Gig.
My primary computer is a 5 year old Dell desktop with a Realtek 8111E LAN card aka Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller. This PC is connected to the modem via an Ethernet cable (Cat 6) and the network card properties show the Ethernet status speed of 1.0 Mbps. The Complete Care guy said everything is configured correctly. He thought that perhaps the network provision was still at a 300 cap and we then contacted via conference call CAG (Tier 2) tech support.
Tier 2 spoke with the Complete Care guy and was updated, but Tier 2 could not remedy the situation so Tier 2 dispatched two field techs to my house to check out the street box, the lines from the street box to the house, the wiring, settings, etc.
After spending nearly 3 hours at my house checking everything out the techs said there was no noise on the line, the signal is a gig or better and all hardware was "pristine." The tech suggested maybe it was a modem issue so I swapped out the original brand new Technicolor CGM4141 for another brand new Technicolor CGM4141 and the tech remoted into the new modem's interface and set it up and verified all was well.
We checked the new speeds on my desktop, Ipad and his new cell phone.
Disappointingly, the speeds remained the same.
This field tech really went above and beyond checking everything out and he suggested that I call Tier 1 to be referred back to Tier 2 and have Tier 2 refer to the Network Engineers. He said I would have better luck than he would getting the situation resolved. That doesn't make sense since he would obviously have to submit a work order detailing what he found and advising that that the problem was unresolved. Wouldn't that automatically escalate it to the Network Engineers?
Nevertheless, I followed his advice.
I called Tier 2 yesterday (Saturday) and updated Tier 2 on the situation. I find it incredible that I had to wait on hold for 20 minutes just to get to Tier 1 and then had to wait another 20 minutes on hold to get to Tier 2. There are no direct numbers for the customers because I asked for the direct numbers for both Tier 2 and the Network Engineers and was advised by Tier 2 that you just have to "go up the chain" each time to speak with Tier 2 and that only Tier 2 can check on the status of the Network Engineers. You can't get to 2nd base before touching 1st base regardless of the current level of the ticket. Everything must go through Tier 1 tech support each and every time. Needless expended time and energy.
Anyway, the bottom line is that neither Tier 2 or the Field Techs can explain why I am not getting proper download speeds since the network is feeding in a gig to the modem and my computer is receiving it.
2 brand new modems along with verification by Cox personnel that all hardware, fittings, lines, signals, etc..are configured correctly yet my download speed is only 50-100 points higher than when I had the 300 plan. Only the upload is maxed out to 35 which is only 4 points higher than when I had the 300 plan.
So, now I'm supposed to wait for the Network Engineers to look into this problem and call Tier 2 back via Tier 1 on Wednesday if I haven't heard from the Network Engineers so Tier 2 can send another email to the Network Engineers to check on the status. Tier 2 told me that even they can't even call the Network Engineers. They can only submit tickets to them via email.
Cox is way too compartmentalized.
Tier 2 told me that he has never seen a situation like this before where everything appeared to be working properly both in the network and at the residence yet the download speeds remain so low. Apparently, he's never read the Cox forum.
So, I would appreciate any suggestions from the board on trying to get the download speeds higher than the mid-300's.