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User2k's avatar
User2k
New Contributor
6 years ago

Paying for 150Mpbs internet, getting 5 on the Cox speed test. Bad modem power levels.

Hi. We have been paying for 150Mpbs internet for the longest time, but get much slower than that. I just assumed we were getting slow speeds, but it turns out we are getting a lot less than we are paying for. I did the Cox Internet speed test and only was able to get 4-9 Mpbs during the testing. I've been looking into the issue, and although I can't pinpoint anything, I think our modem's "power levels" are really low and maybe affecting my internet speed. Another problem could just be outdated modem firmware, which I'm still not too sure of.

Picture of channel power levels: http://prntscr.com/ocu3ar

The other thing is that despite getting 6.0 Mbps on the Cox speed test, my actual download speeds on somewhat busy servers, like Steam, are less than 1Mpbs. This is really insane considering the plan I'm on, so I'm sure it must be an outside factor like my modem or router. Any help is appreciated, thank you.

Internet Speed Slow
  • ekhawaii's avatar
    ekhawaii
    Contributor
    6 years ago

    User2k...your original post imply that using the Cox speed test that you are getting 4-9Mbps download speed or was that upload speed.  4-9 would be like dial-up or maybe DSL or even TP-link or weak WiFi, but using at least a decent modem with cat5?  Changing cables could affect, but not to go from 10 to over 100 or more, especially since you pay for 150+  Could your Network connection actually pointing to WiFi or some other network connect?  Just feels so strange.  You never mentioned what modem/router you have either.

  • BrianM's avatar
    BrianM
    Moderator
    6 years ago
    Although the signal levels could be a little better, I am not seeing any packet loss or anything of that nature from my end. Have you tried bypassing your router and connecting a computer directly to the modem? One other thing that I did notice was that the modem is connected to a device that is only connecting at 100 Mbps, so you would never reach the full 150 Mbps. If this is your router that is currently connected, you may have an older one that does not have a gigabit ethernet port. Using an older cat5 cable instead of cat5e or cat6 could also be a possibility.

    Brian
    Cox Support Forum Moderator
    • User2k's avatar
      User2k
      New Contributor
      6 years ago

      Hey brian, how can I fix my signal levels? Thank you for the other tips by the way. -James

      • Allan's avatar
        Allan
        Moderator
        6 years ago
        @user2k You can bypass any splitters on the cable line going to the modem to see if that helps with the signals. -Allan
    • User2k's avatar
      User2k
      New Contributor
      6 years ago

      Hey brian, I think you may be right about my ethernet cables being too old. I will purchase a cat6 cable later and update you.