Roggers started throttling download speeds in my area

[codelyoko161]

Hello,

As the topic says. Rogers seems to be throttling download speeds/under-provisioning modems in my condo for a few months now. I used to easily get 1.1-1.2 gbps download speeds when i moved into the building. now i get between 500 to 650 even though the speed test shows the full 1.5 gbps.

The throttle only kicks in on downloads and does not show up in speed tests. The speed test also confirms that the Wifi6 link i am using is capable of 1.5 gbps transmission received from a bridged Archer AXE95 plugged directly into the GPON.

Proof:

Okta Speed Test: 1.4 Gbps down/1.3 Gbps up (pretty good!): https://www.speedtest.net/result/17202173619
Steam download speed without VPN: 658 Mbps
Steam download speed with VPN: 823 Mbps

[RogersYasmine]

Hello @codelyoko161 ,

A warm welcome, and thanks for posting those results for us!

If possible, can you kindly use our Rogers Xfinity App to run a quick speed test for us? Once done, please post a screen shot here for reference. 

Much appreciated!

RogersYasmine

[codelyoko161]

Hi Yasmine,

As mentioned in the post, I am using a third party high end router as the Rogers modem is not really capable of 1.5 Gbps wifi.

However a speed test is not an issue. My speed test is fine and gives the expected 1.5gbps up/down: https://www.speedtest.net/result/17202173619

You can see the results in the link above.

The issue is that in actual downloads - when they start - be it Steam or Hugging Face. The download is throttled to 600 mbps.

[57]

@codelyoko161 : I have the following comments/questions.

1. Your speedtest shows 1450 down.  I'm on the 1.5 Gbps plan and regularly get 1.9 Gbps download speeds, since Rogers has "speedboost" available (Ethernet on a Mac Mini M2 10E).  When I was on the 500 Mbps plan, I regularly got 1.3-1.5 Gbps download speeds with speedtests.

2. When I download a large file - say Garmin Maps, the speed starts out at 1.9 Gbps, but then "slows" to the 1.5 Gbps which I pay for, after the initial speedboost of a few seconds.  (When I was on the 500 Mbps plan, I got over 1000 Gbps initially, but then, after a few seconds, I got the 500 Mpbs that I was paying for)

3. Is it possible that the 600 Mbps is the limit at the "sender" instead of with Rogers?

4. It is possible that your neighbourhood has some bandwidth issues and therefore long downloads may be throttled so that your neighbours don't end up with issues?

5. It may also be that Rogers may throttle certain websites?

[MDK-2024]

> the Rogers modem is not really capable of 1.5 Gbps WiFi.

I disagree. If you subscribe to Internet at the 1.5 Gbps speed, then the cable-modem receives at that speed. I see that Shaw is offering 2.0 Gbps speed, using the XB7/XB8 modems.  

Once the packets have been received by the cable-modem, it communicates with your WiFi device at the speed of the network adapter inside your device. Older devices use the "Wireless N" protocol, which maxes-out at about 400 Mbps. Newer devices use the "Wireless AC" protocol, which maxes-out at about 1200 Mbps. 

If you have a desktop computer with the "usual" 1000 Mbps network adapter, and you use a "CAT-5e" or "CAT-6" cable, the cable-modem should feed the desktop computer at the 1000 Mbps speed.

Note that "1000 Mbps" is a large multiple of 10, while Windows tends to report "multiples of 1024". So, "1000" becomes about "930".  Compare to measuring with a yard-stick labelled in both "metric" and "inches". So, one "yard" (expressed as 39.37 inches) is one meter -- one meter is larger than one yard, but not by much. So, "930" is about the same as "1000".