My battle with Earthlink

Derek Trotter expat.arizonan at gmail.com
Sun Feb 24 12:21:51 MST 2013 

On 02/24/2013 11:00 AM, Mike Bydalek wrote:
> Derek,
>
> I'd be curious what the results of the following tests are:
>
> http://broadband.mpi-sws.org/transparency/bttest-mlab.php
This one said on http and ssh tests there was no indication my 
connection is subject to traffic shaping or throttling.  Below that it 
said passing the test does not mean there isn't any traffic shaping.

The other two I couldn't get to work.  The two below I couldn't use.  
Both said they needed something called web100 to work.  I couldn't find 
a version for a 3.2.0-38 kernel

I'm wondering if there's something else going on.  The pauses, timeouts, 
or whatever they are last for varying amounts of time. The pause may be 
3 seconds or it may be 30.

>
> http://www.psc.edu/index.php/npad/645-pathdiagserverinstall
>
> http://www.internet2.edu/performance/ndt/
>
> The second two have public servers you can use a client against. 
>  Start with the first one and do a compare of HTTP vs. SSH transfers.
>
> I'm not sure what your terms of use are not what the ISP is claiming, 
> but if they say they aren't throttling an you can present evidence, 
> escalate until you can't. Ask for refunds, etc.
>
> -Mike
>
>
> On Feb 24, 2013, at 10:49 AM, Jason Spatafore 
> <jason_online at spatafore.net <mailto:jason_online at spatafore.net>> wrote:
>
>> Derek,
>>
>> I think your best approach will be engage the tech when he's out with 
>> the suspicion of throttling as being the root, and ask them if maybe 
>> they are over-estimating the thresholds. 1MB is still a good 
>> connection but if it's resulting in timeouts, maybe ask them if they 
>> can take the threshold to 3MB for 2 weeks to see if you have a better 
>> experience. Once you get that attention focused on the potential 
>> issue, most network admins (being contacted by the tech) would be 
>> curious on why you experienced it and will start digging a little 
>> more on their own to see if it's some other problem that is causing 
>> the throttle to choke the line.
>>
>> Your goal should be to engage and encourage them to look into it 
>> while being their "test subject" in an "experiment". People typically 
>> eat up that type of approach since it really appeals to their curious 
>> side, which is what most-likely got them into network administration 
>> to begin with.
>>
>> Remember, the technician is your gateway to the network admin. He'll 
>> confirm all the physicals for the admin and yourself.
>>
>> Just my two cents. Very interested in seeing how this challenge works 
>> out.
>>
>>
>> On 02/23/2013 06:31 PM, Derek Trotter wrote:
>>> The more I think about it, the more I think you're right.  I did 
>>> some usenet harvesting using encrypted connections and had no 
>>> problem.  If only I could call earthlink and get in touch with 
>>> someone in this country.  I'm guessing they don't tell their 
>>> overseas tech support very much.
>>>
>>> On 02/23/2013 05:28 PM, Jason Spatafore wrote:
>>>> This is a classic example of QoS usage.
>>>>
>>>> The VPN connection doesn't experience the problem because the QoS 
>>>> settings for VPN would have a no throttling policy attached. SSH 
>>>> would typically be non-throttled as well.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On 02/17/2013 08:02 PM, Derek Trotter wrote:
>>>>> For several weeks I've had a problem with my earthlink dsl 
>>>>> service.  Anytime I'm doing something that uses all or most of my 
>>>>> downstream bandwidth, all data coming into or going out of my 
>>>>> apartment stops.  At the same time I'm downloading something a 
>>>>> series of updates for kubuntu and listening to streaming audio, 
>>>>> both stop.  If I'm using my windows box to download something 
>>>>> else, that too stops.  After a pause lasting anywhere from a 
>>>>> second or two to 15 or 20 seconds, the downloads resume.  A few 
>>>>> seconds later, there's another pause.  This cycle repeats itself 
>>>>> until the download is complete or I give up.
>>>>>
>>>>> Each computer has two nics.  The problem persists no matter which 
>>>>> one either machine is using for it's internet connection.  If I 
>>>>> remove the router, connect the dsl modem directly to either 
>>>>> computer, the problem persists.  I even went to the closet and got 
>>>>> the modem when I had dsl from AT&T.  I set it to work with the 
>>>>> earthlink service and the problem persists.
>>>>>
>>>>> Saturday an AT&T technician was here, checked the line from the 
>>>>> cord that plugs into the dsl modem and says the line is in 
>>>>> excellent shape and noise levels are very low.  This is not 
>>>>> surprising since I live less than 1/4 mile from AT&T's local 
>>>>> office where all their equipment is.
>>>>>
>>>>> Since I've tried two computers, 4 nics, two dsl modems and removed 
>>>>> the router, and the problem still persists, I'm guessing the 
>>>>> problem is somewhere at earthlink's end.
>>>>>
>>>>> Tonight at 21:30 EST, an earthlink tech support person from 
>>>>> somewhere in India called to tell me they had fixed the problem.  
>>>>> While he was on the phone I tried downloading something else and 
>>>>> guess what.  The problem was not fixed.  As near as I can tell, 
>>>>> the dsl connection does not go down. The earthlink people say it 
>>>>> stays up.  The lights on the modem that are on when the connection 
>>>>> is up never go off or blink.
>>>>>
>>>>> The man asks me what dns settings I use.  I tell him 8.8.8.8 and 
>>>>> 8.8.4.4.  He says I should try earthlink's dns servers.  To humor 
>>>>> him I changed the settings on the windows box and guess what.  The 
>>>>> problem did not go away.
>>>>>
>>>>> Maybe I'm missing something, but it's my understanding that once 
>>>>> the download has begun, that dns has already done it's job and has 
>>>>> no further role to play.  One more thing.  If I use a VPN 
>>>>> connection, I have no problem with it.
>>>>>
>>>>> Any idea what's going on?  If you were to venture a guess, would 
>>>>> you say the problem is at my place, with AT&T or with Earthlink?
>>>>>
>>>>> Thanks
>>>>>
>>>>> Derek
>>>>> -- 
>>>>> "I get my copy of the daily paper, look at the obituaries page, and if I’m not there, I carry on as usual."
>>>>>
>>>>> Patrick Moore
>>>>>
>>>>>
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>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
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>>> -- 
>>> "I get my copy of the daily paper, look at the obituaries page, and if I’m not there, I carry on as usual."
>>>
>>> Patrick Moore
>>>
>>>
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-- 
"I get my copy of the daily paper, look at the obituaries page, and if I’m not there, I carry on as usual."

Patrick Moore

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