Understanding Rogers and Speeds

[JadziaAdrienne]

Hello:

So I'm totally new here, but I've been a Rogers customer for at least 20 years.

Normally, I am not much of a whiner when it comes to speed. I can only afford so much, and I realize that the Internet isn't piped directly into my apt like someone drinking a glass of water with a huge straw, it's more like many people drinking water with many straws from the same glass. But speeds are important when you have 10 plus devices, ... like I do.

So I read this article, https://communityforums.rogers.com/t5/Internet/Troubleshooting-a-Slow-or-Intermittent-Connection-Wir... and it was very helpful, but here's where I get a little confused. Now I need to tell you, I am totally blind, so watching the modem lights isn't helpful, and neither is the colour coating of information. However, showing what the tables should show is quite helpful and valuable. I plan to analyze mine when I have some more available time.

My question is: the aforementioned post says there are some reliable speedtest sites, but it fails to mention what they are. Also, why does a speedtest need to be done by the Rogers one exclusively? Why would it matter which one is used? Also, what really confuses me is that I ran a speedtest using the app by Ookla on my 5G iphone 14 pro max, and my up and down speeds and ping time were faster than when I ran it and I was using my wifi from Rogers. How is that possible? In the speedtest I ran on my phone when NOT connected to wifi, it was connecting to a server in Toronto. When I did the speedtest using the wifi, it connected to a server in St. Thomas, but like I said, the speeds, ping time and jitter were worse. So to sum up, what speedtest sites are reliable, why should you only use the Rogers-specific one, and why would a cell phone network be faster than a network where you actually physically are? Oh yes, and isn't saying that you should use the Rogers speedtest or the home connect app kind of biasing the results, similar to how a drug company will only favour studies where their drug was shown effective and they will disavow studies where it failed? Just curious.

PS: I stay with Rogers for accessibility purposes, as the Ignite voice remote was the coolest thing when it first came out, and the app is equally accessible. However, as someone who streams, games and hosts techsavvy guests, speed is a factor. I'm supposed to be getting 1.5 down and 50 up, but when I see my phone telling me I'm getting 201 down, but 50 up, I have to wonder what's the deal. I also have to say that technical support seems very baffled by talking to a customer who is totally blind, and it's offensive to assume that all blind people have sighted people at hand who can just do whatever they need at their beckon call. Some of us do actually live alone! For all the accessibility Rogers has gained over the last 20 years, obviously customer service and education for dealing with disabled customers has continued to be an afterthought and a low priority. Necessary redundancies should exist in place so that tech support can see what the user sees, without depending on a set of living eyes to do so.

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@JadziaAdrienne : I have the following comments:

1. If the information on the Rogers website were incorrect or misleading, it would be all over the web. It is accurate.

2. Using the HomeConnect app (WiFi Troubleshooting test) is a very good test because it shows you what the Gateway is provisioned for - for example 1.5 Gbps down.  

3. The same test also shows you the speed to the Gateway. I have done this test and it shows my 1.5 down provisioning and also shows 1.9 down as the speed I'm getting, which is exactly what Ookla shows me on my Mac Mini M2 E10 computer.  Now, some speed tests are going to be a bit faster or a bit slower due to servers, location, software, etc, but they should be in the ballpark.  Most speedtest websites utilize "Ookla" which is usually written right on the website.

4. The Troubleshooting test will also tell you something about your WiFi connections in your home - whether they are "good" etc. These speeds will vary tremendously, depending on the home, interference due to walls or metal, distance from the Gateway, equipment used, etc.  Please "read up" on what can affect WiFi speeds on the web. (I don't know how you do that when blind, but you seem to be doing OK on this forum). 

5. Please realize that each piece of equipment has its own limitation. For example, a lot of computer equipment is limited to 1 Gbps and will "measure" 940 Mbps max even when connected via Ethernet.  Also, only port 4 of the XB7 or XB8 gateways has more than 1.0 Gbps capability.

6. Equipment limitations also come into play for WiFi - where the max can often be around 600 Mbps when close to the Gateway and rapidly falling off with distance.

7. The main reason for having a high speed connection is for people/families with many users since this will allow for a "good" speed at each device when several devices are used simultaneously. 

[JadziaAdrienne]

Appreciate the feedback, and you pretty much articulated what I've thought, but wasn't sure if I was really right. To ask another dumb question, if a household has many connected devices, would that not have some impact on speed as well, especially over wifi?

I sometimes forget to consider that while my more tech savvy friends have and desire higher speeds, they have maybe 6 devices total, whereas I have sometimes had over 20 at one given time, most of them exclusively wireless.

Finally, not everything and anything on the web is accurate, regardless of its prevalence. The joy and danger of the Internet, is the user's ability to pretty much find anything to validate the opinion of one person, even if it's totally contradictory. When it comes to information regarding ISPS and monopolizing corporations, the information gets more and more muddy. And regardless of factual accuracy, one's own attitude often defines what one will decide is believable or not.

Thanks for the thoughtful response.

PS: if you can tell me to go search the web to formulate better questions and find more answers to the ones I've posed, perhaps you should follow your own advice and find out just how blind people accomplish these tasks. LOL. 😛💩😝😏

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@JadziaAdrienne wrote:
1. To ask another dumb question, if a household has many connected devices, would that not have some impact on speed as well, especially over wifi?

2. Finally, not everything and anything on the web is accurate, regardless of its prevalence. 

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1. Most devices use very little bandwidth.  Therefore they have little (or no) impact on speed. The total of those devices would have to exceed the Gateway's capacity. Check out the following link for typical bandwidth utilized by devices.  A lot of them would be required, doing a lot of downloading or streaming, to be a problem for a 1.5 Gbps connection:

https://www.rogers.com/support/internet/basic-internet-speedtest

2. Agree, but an intelligent individual is able to separate the wheat from the chaff.