Cable modem slow download speeds??

[ag4sm]

I have a cable modem with Cox Communications. I have a new 256 K package that they have that has 256 K up and down speeds. When I go to download a file, the transfer rate shown in the download window shows it starting at around 110 K then immediately trickles down to 16 Kbps. The cable company keeps saying that there is no problem. Speeds look good when they check the modem through the cable line, however they had me ping the gateway IP address and they said that the maximum and average ping times "did not look good" and to call a high level technician. This tech then basically told me the same thing.

What could be the reason my download transfer rate trickles down like this? It happens with many different servers/web sites. I am paying more for high speed and am getting worse than with dialup! Is it something in my computer slowing down the speed? I am using Windows firewall, and AVG antivirus. I have even tried turning both these things off, to no help.


Thanks for any help you can give a new cable modem user!

[Byte 2.0]

That looks about right for a 256 package. It starts out high and then when it gets more data the computer refines the esimated speeds.


========Edit===========

I just did the math.

256kbps /8 = 32KB max download speed, 16 is alittle on the low side.

Same for uploads,

===========

What verison of windows are you using? any other computers connected with a router?

USB or Ethernet connection?

[ag4sm]

I am using Windows XP with an Ethernet connection directly to the cable modem. What is the reason that I got around 28K transfer rate when I used dialup?

[Gizmo]

You'll never get a full 56k transfer speed when using dial-up. It's the same with DSL. You'll never get the exact rated speeds.

[glc]

Are you reading kilobyte or kilobit speeds? a 256k cable is kilobit, that should get you 32 kilobyte speeds. A dialup is kilobit, if you are looking at 28, that's kilobit. If the cable is 16 kilobit, you have a MAJOR problem. Try the speed test at www.pcpitstop.com.

Do you have another computer available to test with that has an Ethernet connection?

[ag4sm]

When I download a file, the transfer rate says 16 KB/s which I assume means 16 kilobytes per second? The speed starts at around 74 KB/s and ramps down to around 16 KB/s for the remainder of the file download. I just built the current computer I am using now and was experiencing the same issues with the older one, so I don't think the computer is the deal.

[bailey]

also, you can ping the ip address of the sight that your downloading from to see how the connection is doing over a period of time.

ping (ip address) space -t and it will continue sending data back and forth and you can see if the timimg is steady or if there is a slow down of any kind