[Speed Issues] Unacceptable slow speeds during prime time

I know this issue is being discussed in other threads, so I thought you might be interested in an update based on my experience with CS on Sunday night. After a couple of hours on the phone, I finally lost my patience and asked to talk to a supervisor. After it was all said and done, she gave me her email address and said that she would try to serve as an intermediary with a higher level technician. Honestly, I have no idea if anything will come of it; however, I thought I would share my email with all of you. quote:This email is being sent after a conversation on Sunday evening, February 25. The technical customer support supervisor requested that I send her an email directly with my issues and corresponding data. (I apologize that I cannot remember her name.) My name is [EDIT], my address is [EDIT], Grover Beach, CA 93433. My security code is [EDIT]. My IP is [EDIT]. I have been with Charter high speed internet since 2008 (first in Turlock, California and now in Grover Beach, California.) I am an advanced user with experience using cable modems since the early 2000s. Here is a synopsis of my issue: 1. My Internet DOWNLOAD speeds are reduced to a *very* slow rate from approximately 5-7 p.m. until around midnight local time. During this time, I rarely get above 5.0 Mbps download speeds, with most speedtest results being around 2-3 Mbps. (This compares to 25-35 Mbps during other times of the day.) 2. UPLOAD speeds do not seem to be affected. I am getting a solid upload rate all hours of the day. 3. This issue has been persistent (every night) for approximately 3-4 months. I had been hoping it would be resolved by now, but it appears as though Charter is unaware of the issue. Now, I’m very well aware that I cannot expect 30 Mbps during prime time. However, I do expect to be somewhere in the 15-20 range (50-60%), especially given that I am paying a special surcharge for higher speeds. Prior to this issue becoming a problem, I was always slowing down during the 6-midnight timeframe; however, it was somewhere around 15-20 Mbps. 2-5 Mbps is just not acceptable for a solid 5-6 hours every day. Please note that I have found multiple conversations on this issue on a forum for advanced users. These threads indicate an almost identical problem to what I’m talking about. And, I think there are users here in my area of California in specific (NOTE: the URL says ‘dslreports’ however, the forum is specifically about “Charter Internet/TV”) - http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r28036411-Speed-Issues-Nightly-slow-speeds. - http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r27865979-Slow-internet-speeds-at-night Now, it’s pretty obvious to me that there is a capacity problem affecting my area of California. I’m not sure if it’s a small radius or a large radius; however, clearly there is something that needs to be fixed. As I mentioned before, I know that getting really high speeds at night is not really possible with the current infrastructure; but, I do think that getting 50-60% of what I’m paying for is something that I should be able to expect. My hope is that you will forward this email to a high level technician that can review the data that I am providing (at the bottom of this email, below my signature) and that he/she will be able to quickly see the problem and dispatch someone to fix it, either by adding capacity (hardware) or adjusting software settings on your end. If you, or anyone else at Charter needs additional information, or if your technicians would like to contact me directly, I am happy to provide any data needed. I know that direct contact with high level technicians is akin to a conversation with God; however, in this instance I think it might be the best way to isolate this problem and determine the best course of action. I feel that having a low level technician visit my residence in the middle of the day would do no good at all. Thanks, [EDIT] ======================================================== Below is data that I gathered in the past 24 hours using http://speedtest.charter.com If you look closely at the timestamps, you can see the issue that I am describing very clearly. If you want additional days’ worth of data, please let me know. (NOTE: Unfortunately I could not be home before 9:30ish tonight, and I started fairly late the night before, so this particular set of data does not include the slow speeds from about 5-9 p.m. For your reference, the speeds are pretty consistent from about 5 or 6 p.m. until around 11:30 p.m/midnight.) Also, this tool does not provide “packet loss” information; however, in all my ping tests, I have noticed no packet loss at all. Latency is very high at times; however, I’m never showing time-outs or packet loss. So, I’m thinking this is probably not a routing issue (but, I’m not an expert on that subject.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Download Speed: 4.55 Mbps (0.57 MB/sec transfer rate) Upload Speed: 3.16 Mbps (0.4 MB/sec transfer rate) Latency: 33 ms Sunday, February 24, 2013 10:55:51 PM ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Download Speed: 9.01 Mbps (1.13 MB/sec transfer rate) Upload Speed: 3.16 Mbps (0.39 MB/sec transfer rate) Latency: 35 ms Sunday, February 24, 2013 11:00:41 PM ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Download Speed: 6.06 Mbps (0.76 MB/sec transfer rate) Upload Speed: 3.15 Mbps (0.39 MB/sec transfer rate) Latency: 37 ms Sunday, February 24, 2013 11:11:28 PM ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Download Speed: 11.88 Mbps (1.48 MB/sec transfer rate) Upload Speed: 3.11 Mbps (0.39 MB/sec transfer rate) Latency: 34 ms Sunday, February 24, 2013 11:17:17 PM ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Download Speed: 17.28 Mbps (2.16 MB/sec transfer rate) Upload Speed: 3.16 Mbps (0.39 MB/sec transfer rate) Latency: 38 ms Sunday, February 24, 2013 11:57:28 PM ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Download Speed: 32.14 Mbps (4.02 MB/sec transfer rate) Upload Speed: 3.21 Mbps (0.4 MB/sec transfer rate) Latency: 42 ms Monday, February 25, 2013 2:08:24 AM ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Download Speed: 31.9 Mbps (3.99 MB/sec transfer rate) Upload Speed: 3.19 Mbps (0.4 MB/sec transfer rate) Latency: 32 ms Monday, February 25, 2013 3:50:56 AM ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Download Speed: 36.97 Mbps (4.62 MB/sec transfer rate) Upload Speed: 3.14 Mbps (0.39 MB/sec transfer rate) Latency: 42 ms Monday, February 25, 2013 11:57:04 AM ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Download Speed: 37.2 Mbps (4.65 MB/sec transfer rate) Upload Speed: 3.18 Mbps (0.4 MB/sec transfer rate) Latency: 38 ms Monday, February 25, 2013 1:16:01 PM ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Download Speed: 3.14 Mbps (0.39 MB/sec transfer rate) Upload Speed: 3.18 Mbps (0.4 MB/sec transfer rate) Latency: 40 ms Monday, February 25, 2013 9:54:31 PM ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Download Speed: 3.68 Mbps (0.46 MB/sec transfer rate) Upload Speed: 3.17 Mbps (0.4 MB/sec transfer rate) Latency: 42 ms Monday, February 25, 2013 10:01:46 PM ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Download Speed: 3.74 Mbps (0.47 MB/sec transfer rate) Upload Speed: 3.17 Mbps (0.4 MB/sec transfer rate) Latency: 36 ms Monday, February 25, 2013 10:20:40 PM ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Download Speed: 6.52 Mbps (0.82 MB/sec transfer rate) Upload Speed: 2.14 Mbps (0.27 MB/sec transfer rate) Latency: 37 ms Monday, February 25, 2013 11:00:18 PM ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Download Speed: 6.33 Mbps (0.79 MB/sec transfer rate) Upload Speed: 2.41 Mbps (0.3 MB/sec transfer rate) Latency: 40 ms Monday, February 25, 2013 11:25:22 PM ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Download Speed: 27.04 Mbps (3.38 MB/sec transfer rate) Upload Speed: 3.19 Mbps (0.4 MB/sec transfer rate) Latency: 33 ms Monday, February 25, 2013 11:50:14 PM ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Download Speed: 33.96 Mbps (4.25 MB/sec transfer rate) Upload Speed: 3.15 Mbps (0.39 MB/sec transfer rate) Latency: 35 ms Tuesday, February 26, 2013 12:55:10 AM ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Download Speed: 40.87 Mbps (5.11 MB/sec transfer rate) Upload Speed: 3.17 Mbps (0.4 MB/sec transfer rate) Latency: 34 ms Tuesday, February 26, 2013 1:28:34 AM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------