Upload speed drop, download remains the same

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videobruce
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Upload speed drop, download remains the same

Post by videobruce »

I don't know what to make of this.
In the past 2 weeks (more or less), my uploads speeds have dropped from 11Mbps down to 7Mbps which doesn't seem much except that's a 30+% drop. I have down a few test uploads using a single large jpeg (16MB) and it tops out at 7Mb.

My ISP is Spectrum and it's their e-mail server that I'm using.

Now, I ran speed tests using FF v56 and those speeds vary from as little as 1Mbps (yes one Mb) to 10-11Mb depending on the test site. I ten ran the same tests using SeaMonkey & PaleMoon, all of those tests seem fairly constant around 10-11 Mb. But all of that doesn't account for TB's e-mail upload being slow.

I called Spectrum,using their test site that gave me as low as a 1Mb speed and as high as 5-6Mb depending on when I ran the test. I do have a service call setup, but I can guess where they will put the blame.
I did remove my Router from the mix, that didn't seem to make any difference.

What on earth would/could affect just upload speeds and not download?

Spectrum 100/10Mb
All wired connections,
FF v56,
Spectrum e-mail
Win 7 Pro
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LIMPET235
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Re: Upload speed drop, download remains the same

Post by LIMPET235 »

Moving this to the Tech. forum...
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DanRaisch
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Re: Upload speed drop, download remains the same

Post by DanRaisch »

It's not an answer to your question but please note that you're not comparing "apples to apples" when you speak of Firefox, SeaMonkey and Palemoon in one breath and Thunderbird in another. The email client is not connecting with the same servers as the browsers.
videobruce
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Re: Upload speed drop, download remains the same

Post by videobruce »

I understand that, I was just making a statement about the overall behavior. But, the problem function is the same: uploading.
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RobertJ
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Re: Upload speed drop, download remains the same

Post by RobertJ »

.
Upload speeds are typically 10% of download speeds since the internet infrastructure is primarily intended for browsing and streaming. In my case Spectrum has download of around 200Mbps and upload of around 20Mbps.

What you measure depends on a number of factors including the APP you are using, the NIC on your computer, your ISP, the network beyond your ISP, the server you are connecting to and the time of day.

In my case I typically measure about 185Mbps down and 16Mbps up using Firefox. When I use TB and test with a large file the upload is around 5Mbps. This is to be expected since email IS NOT for transferring large files and the email protocols POP3, IMAP and SMTP are not intended for speed.

Also,
DanRaisch wrote:It's not an answer to your question but please note that you're not comparing "apples to apples" when you speak of Firefox, SeaMonkey and Palemoon in one breath and Thunderbird in another. The email client is not connecting with the same servers as the browsers.
From what you describe I see nothing that I wouldn't expect. As far as the variability, fairly typical.

.
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kerft
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Re: Upload speed drop, download remains the same

Post by kerft »

Email attachments are almost always sent as base64, using only 6 bits out of every byte for data. Sending a 10MB file will use 13.3MB of bandwidth. If you are doing your speed testing based on the size you measure the file to be, not its encoded size that could be part of the explanation. Alternatives that use almost all 8-bits (forbidden escape sequences still need to exist) like yenc and binarymime appear not to be used by any popular email clients.
videobruce
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Re: Upload speed drop, download remains the same

Post by videobruce »

Up to two weeks ago 11Mbps was fairly uniform uploading with TB to Spectrums e-mail service/server(s). After that 7M is about ti. That's ar 1/3 drop in speed. TO put it another way, if your 100Mb d/l service was all of a sudden running at 70M, I would like to think you would make an issue out of that. Right??

Anyway, the service call did find a bad jumper cable, but ti was not in line to the Modem. It did show noise. It was removed, but no change. Speed tests are fine, their mail server apparently is not. The tech seems be think with current changes and the fact he feels Spectrum wants to get rid of e-mail ( his statement), that maybe the issue. He put put in a complaint regarding the situation.

Also, I did try the current version of TB, but no difference there either.
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RobertJ
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Re: Upload speed drop, download remains the same

Post by RobertJ »

.
videobruce,

FYI - if before Spectrum you had Time Warner with Road Runner, Spectrum is not supporting it and will over time phase it out. With web based email like Gmail and others, email is a looser for providers like Spectrum.

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BobbyPhoenix
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Re: Upload speed drop, download remains the same

Post by BobbyPhoenix »

One other thing to note is how old is your modem (not router)? I know the last time Spectrum updated their internet for me they told me I needed a new modem as the one I had was old, and couldn't handle the new software/speeds. Once I replaced my router my up/down speeds about tripled.
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videobruce
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Re: Upload speed drop, download remains the same

Post by videobruce »

RobertJ wrote:.
videobruce, FYI - if before Spectrum you had Time Warner with Road Runner, Spectrum is not supporting it and will over time phase it out. With web based email like Gmail and others, email is a looser for providers like Spectrum..
FWIW, I did have TWC previously.
Can't that be said about Internet access?? They both are services you pay for. They both cost money to support and provide. Where is the "looser" part??

What you just stated, seems to support what I was just told.
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RobertJ
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Re: Upload speed drop, download remains the same

Post by RobertJ »

.
Have been doing some research on Spectrum. They are focusing on their "core" businesses (Cable TV, Internet, Phone and Wireless). They will be exiting home security and email.

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FF 92.0 - TB 78.13 - Mac OSX 10.13.6
videobruce
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Re: Upload speed drop, download remains the same

Post by videobruce »

The modem is or was not the issue. It was the same Modem 2 weeks ago as it was now. I say was since I decided to you their Modem now that was in storage. TWC kept raising Modem rental fees before Charter bought them out. I wasn't going to pay to 'rent' their modem when it was TWC. Since I didn't know what to expect (I don't trust any of them), I kept my Zoom Modem in use until now. It's far easier for a tech to swap Modems (provision) than for me.
Browsers that don't have a conventional horizontal Menu bar (where it's been for 25 years) are poorly designed. Period. Stop 'fixing' something that isn't broke!
videobruce
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Joined: March 25th, 2006, 11:38 am
Location: New York State

Re: Upload speed drop, download remains the same

Post by videobruce »

RobertJ wrote:.
Have been doing some research on Spectrum. They are focusing on their "core" businesses (Cable TV, Internet, Phone and Wireless). They will be exiting home security and email.
.
That will be what will make me switch to FiOS which I have been considering.
Browsers that don't have a conventional horizontal Menu bar (where it's been for 25 years) are poorly designed. Period. Stop 'fixing' something that isn't broke!
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