Forum Discussion

Bill_B's avatar
Bill_B
New Contributor II
5 years ago

Speed Test to Cox Servers Around the Country - Consistently Inconsistent

Our church has been Live Streaming for over a year.  We have upgraded to 200 x 20 Mbps service, but when I run the Cox Speed test to our Cox local server (Norfolk, VA), it shows we are getting about 185 - 195 x <10 Mbps.  Upload is our concern for our Live Streaming.

The confusing issue is when I run the speed test to other Cox servers, i.e., Providence (RI), Atlanta, New Orleans, Baton Rouge, or Las Vegas, I get comparable download speeds, but also the full 20 Mbps upload.  That tells me the problem is not our internal church network or equipment.  Interestingly, running the Cox test against Cox servers in  Fairfax (VA), Oklahoma City, Omaha, Wichita, Phoenix, San Diego, and Orange Country (CA), again gives me comparable download speeds, but just half +/- on the upload.

The Cox technicians who have been out say their meter shows 200 x 20 Mbps at the modem, but they can't explain why all Cox servers show appropriate downloads while some are showing uploads at very slow speeds.  And it is consistently the same servers which are high and which are low.  The techs are blaming the Cox sped test.

This just seems odd.  Does anyone have any ideas?  And how do we know what is right?  Or how do we get it fixed?

TIA

Bill

  • ChrisL's avatar
    ChrisL
    Former Moderator
    I checked from this end and all seems to be as it should however I did note that all of your speed tests top out right around 90Mbps download suggesting that you may be testing from a wired device that doesn't support speeds above 100Mbps. If you have device with Gigabit Ethernet I'd try testing your speeds again preferably direct to the modem and see if those results improve.

    -Chris
  • bearone2's avatar
    bearone2
    Contributor III

    most speed checks are slower with cox than other servers that can be selected when using ookla.

    3 checks on 500 ultimate plan, cox 310/10, xx 383/10, xy341/10.

    https://www.speedtest.net/

  • Bill_B's avatar
    Bill_B
    New Contributor II

    Thanks to both Christ and bearone2 for your responses.  Unfortunately, I didn't do an adequate job in asking my question so your responses don't give me what I was hoping for.  Please allow me to expand a bit.

    First, I agree that the download speeds are pretty much what I expect (with limitations probably in my equipment).  That is consistent across the country on ALL the 14 servers I have checked.  However, my primary interest in upload speeds where I find significant differences with the differences being consistent for specific servers.  Unfortunately, the lowest upload speeds in the country are right here in Hampton Roads, VA and that is where we are located and where it counts.

    Please take a look at this more detailed information and see if you can help me understand it and what we can to do make it better.

    From June 20 to July 10, I have run a speed test multiple times a day on 14 servers identified as Cox servers.  I ran the tests using the Cox speed test on their web site for 13 of the servers and ookla for the one designated Hampton, VA (our location); Hampton was not listed on the Cox web site.  While I got nearly identical numbers (90 +/- Mbps) for download on ALL servers, the upload speeds were either great at 10+ or terrible typically at <5.  And, if a server was good it was consistently good; if bad, it was consistently bad.  Note I did these tests from my home computer which has a lower speed than our church account, but the results were consistent between the two locations -- servers that show 10s at home show 20s at church; 5s at home show 10s at church, etc.

    Bear with me as I list some stats to illustrate:

    Server/average upload speed

    Hampton/4.7  Norfolk/4.6  Fairfax/4.6  Providence/10.2  Atlanta/10.2  New Orleans/10.2  Baton Rouge/9.3***  Oklahoma City/7.2*  Omaha/5.1  Wichita/7.3*  Phoenix/7.1*  Las Vegas/8.4** San Diego/4.7  Orange County/7.4*

    Notes:  *These locations had upload speeds of 10+ from June 20 until the afternoon of June 25 when they suddenly dropped to 5 +/-.  **Las Vegas also had upload speed of 10+ from June 20 until the afternoon of June 25 and dropped to 5 +/-, but then returned to 10+ on July 3.  ***Baton Rouge was showing 5s until mid-day June 22 when it jumped to 10+ and stayed that way.

    As you can see, Hampton and Norfolk -- the servers through which we are apparently routed -- are the worst in the country for uploads.  Our local Cox techs claim their handheld speed test meters show us at full speed (20 at church), but acknowledge the Cox web site doesn't show that.  They claim the problem is with the Cox web speed test.  It does not make sense to me that it could be consistently right or wrong for the same servers.  I think we are getting shorted which doesn't help our live streaming uploads, but I can't figure out how to address it.

    Observations and suggesting appreciated.

    TIA and sorry about the length of this missive.

    Bill

  • Zedd's avatar
    Zedd
    New Contributor

    Hi Bill,

    As far as I understand, Cox is currently limiting max upload speeds to 10 Mbps or less in certain areas to help cope with line congestion. I do not know why they are not informing all of their customers about it, but I made a post about it yesterday and someone confirmed that they had been contacted by Cox informing them of the upload cap.

    For more info, you can google "Cox slowing upload speeds" or just use this link:

    arstechnica.com/.../

    • Bill_B's avatar
      Bill_B
      New Contributor II

      Thanks Zedd.  An interesting article, but it doesn't exactly address our situation.  The article notes "neighborhood" throttling while what the speed test shows seems to be server issues.  And while I only live a few miles from the church, I wouldn't say we are n the same "neighborhood".  Nor have we received any communication from Cox on an issue.

      But, thanks for the article..

      • Zedd's avatar
        Zedd
        New Contributor

        No problem, just trying to share what I have found. I also never received any notice of throttling, and it doesn't seem like most customers are getting any notice. I have also found that people are experiencing the upload speed caps at different times in different state. So, it might not be your exact issue, could be related though.