[kwlug-disc] I'm looking to host a high ram server in a fast connection area.

[Andrew Kohlsmith (mailing lists account)]

On Tue, Nov 01 09:18:45 AM unsolicited wrote:
> If I may ask, whom is your cable internet provider, and have you
> received any comments (or have any observations) about speed good/bad
> at any particular times of the day?

I'm with Teksavvy which is of course delivered via Rogers in K/W. I'm in the 
Chicopee area (at the bottom of the hill). I'm using a D3 modem but obviously 
not getting Ludicrous Speed just yet. Teksavvy tells me that the recent CRTC 
decision allows them to offer the same speeds as Rogers, but to be honest I've 
been perfectly happy with my unmetered 15Mbit service. I do see bursts up to 
45Mbit, and one and only one time did I see a 100Mbit speed for about a 
minute. I couldn't reproduce it. Ping times are almost always under 25ms to my 
colocated box at iWeb, which is in Montreal.

I had excellent speed/latency the first month. The second month I had total 
dropouts from about 4-6pm but it was a cable plant problem. Teksavvy support 
was helpful but since my phone comes in via the internet connection and cell 
service in my area is total garbage, I could only talk with them while service 
was up. :-) I ended up plugging a TV in and comparing the signal strength of 
the various "basic cable" channels that you get with an internet-only 
connection. When the internet was up, the channels were clear. When the 
internet was down, the channels were fuzzy and ghosting. Clearly an RF 
problem, not a modem problem. We have new construction going on in the area 
which probably caused it. Rogers came out and did something at the road to 
correct it.

I agree with one of the other posters when they say that having a 3rd party is 
problematic. Teksavvy can't make Rogers come out and fix a problem as quickly 
as Rogers themselves could do it. And if they do call Rogers out and it's NOT 
a cable plant problem, you get a $95 service call fee. To their credit, 
Teksavvy DOES seem to try their damnedest to ensure that it is NOT a modem 
problem before calling out Rogers. I bought a second modem that sits in a box 
in case my modem does blow up. Too bad I have to call them to get the MAC 
authorized, cryptographically-signed cable profiles means I can't just change 
the MAC of the new modem to match the old one.

I've had great speed and latency. No measurable dropouts or loss of speed (I 
graph my bandwidth use). I don't torrent from my home connection, but I do 
pull in a LOT via newsgroups, and we use Netflix and Apple rentals quite a bit. 
My data usage in the past month was just shy of 500GB, but my normal data 
usage is under 150GB/mo.

I have no problem recommending Teksavvy for my neighbourhood.

-A.