Download speed

[MaverickMike 10]

Im not sure if this topic should be here because i doubt its a bug with the site

 

Basically when im downloading a file from the site the download speed seems to never rise above 21kb/sec. It isnt a problem with my connection because I can download files from other sites at my normal average speed of around 600kbs/sec (I have a 7.7mb broadband connection) So im just wondering what could be causing this. (By the way all other devices connected to my router are not using any of my bandwidth)

 

Thanks in advance

 

Mike

 

 

 

[+Erik 1,812]

That is horrible and I apologize you're having problems.

 

A connection to download files, videos, photos, etc is all the same in that it depends on a consistent ability to send and receive data across a routed path between two ends (you and us). As the connection becomes more and more complex that connection tends to degrade and if you have a bad or heavily trafficked router or carrier anywhere between your computer and ours that is when the connection becomes really bad. I'm suspect that you're somewhere in that mix.

 

When I trace back to your machine from our server I get out 8 hops to London.opentransit.net and then the routing gets masked. The last machine to respond is out at hop 11 and it's difficult for me to see if that's even in your netblock or ISP. Up and to the last response the hops are out 200 milliseconds which isn't too bad considering that small thing between us, the Atlantic Ocean. Past hop 12 it's anyone's guess what's happening but I suspect that's where the problem is that's causing you such slow access.

 

9 * * so-6-0-0-0.loncr4.London.opentransit.net (193.251.131.185) 165.093 ms

10 * * *

11 * * *

12 87.237.20.241 (87.237.20.241) 199.839 ms 197.348 ms 193.335 ms

 

You are welcome to run the following on your machine from a command line. C:\tracert combatace.com

 

That will give you a look directly at your routing and latency from your machine to us. If you'll paste that trace into this discussion I can look at it and maybe give you a better idea of what's going on and where to start with a resolve.

 

Erik

[MaverickMike 10]

Thanks for the reply Erik

 

I have just done the tracert. Here is the result.

 

 

How weird is that. The other weird thing is that this has only started to happen recently.

 

Mike

[+Erik 1,812]

The only two hops that responded are your router and our machine. Something is fishy. Either you have a firewall in play that is filtering that traffic or your ISP does. If the connection can't be negotiated properly and we're just blindly throwing packets back and forth between our machines it is no wonder you only get 21 kb/s. Start turning off firewalls, internet (anti-virus) suites, and disconnect from your router by going straight to the modem for testing to see if you can eliminate software and hardware as being the cause. Next would be a nice conversation with your ISP tech support to see what the heck is going on. Looking at our traffic today I'm not seeing any issues with our throughput. Let me know what you find out.

[+RAVEN 414]

Will the trace show why I get disconnected (3,4 Times) a download, Even 1Meg files,(141kb/s to 12kb/s) and is it OK to run the C:\tracert combatace.com? I don't want to do something I'm not suppose to.

Raven

Edited October 28, 2010 by RAVEN

[+Erik 1,812]

Disconnects usually happen because one end of the connection goes away. There are a few causes for this but mostly it's due to packet loss. Packet loss is a very loose term compared to the actual negotiation of traffic but what happens is this.

 

Consider a packet of data like a box with stuff in it. This is what a good connection would look like.

 

We send a packet --> You receive a packet and answer back you got it.

We get the got it answer and send another --> You receive it and send back the got it.

We get the got it answer and send another --> You receive it and send back the got it.

 

This goes on until the file transfer is complete. The faster we get the "got it" answers the faster we send and the faster you receive. This is what most people consider bandwidth or connection speed. In actuality there is much more happening but for a basic overview this gets the job done.

 

Now let's consider a bad connection or slow connection.

 

We send a packet --> You receive it and answer back you got it.

[somewhere in the connection, like a busy router, loses that data packet or delays sending it so we receive it late] This is considered packet loss or network congestion.

We send another packet --> You receive it and answer back you got it.

We get the got it answer and send another --> You receive it and answer back you got it.

We receive the first got it answer and the third got it answer and send another with a longer wait time between it --> You receive it and answer back you got it. The traffic has now negotiated to a slower speed.

 

This goes on until the file transfer is complete or the connection degrades to the point where we or you stop getting and receiving information.

 

If you want to run a traceroute to combatace.com and post it here I may be able to help further. You can also run a ping test in conjunction with the traceroute for more helpful information. To do that it's the same command window but type. C:\ping combatace.com -n 20

 

Post those results here and we'll go from there.

 

Thanks.

 

Erik

[MaverickMike 10]

Well I have done what you suggested. Turning off both my computers firewall and antivirus suite and the routers own firewall (I have a combined modem/router) before trying the download again and it still was the same.

 

I guess im going to have to ring up the ISP to find out whats going on. I doubt I will have a chance to do that until monday now though.

 

Il let you know what they put it down to

 

Mike

[+Coupi 4,388]

Hi,

 

I have the same issue... only 17Ko/s! It is very low...

 

Before, I had 120Ko/s in average from CombatAce. I have tested other downloading sites and I have this 120Ko/s rate!

 

Coupi.

Edited November 1, 2010 by Coupi

[+KnightWolf45 1,147]

Same are from 50-80 to 15 to 9 kbs

i have usb modem conected direty on desktop outers normal speed

 

Thanks in advance

[MaverickMike 10]

Well as a follow up I tried to get some sense out of my ISP about the packet loss and rubbish connection to the site and they basically told me that there was nothing they could do.

 

Looks like im stuck with the rubbish connection to the only site on the net worth visiting

 

Mike

[+KnightWolf45 1,147]

i know how you fill man

[+Erik 1,812]

Nobody is stuck with anything there are always options. The hard part is I have to have valid credible evidence to wield not just reports of problems. I'm not saying that the reports aren't credible I'm believing every word what I am saying is that when I make the complaint to our upstream provider the first thing they are going to ask for is the proof not the claim. That said I've already filed off the first complaint and we'll see where this takes us. What you can do in the meantime is help me get ready for their response. Here's how.

 

For my upstream:

1. I need new traceroutes to combatace.com

2. I need new ping reports to combatace.com

3. You can also traceroute to files.combatace.com (they hate this because our files machine is on their competitors line).

4. Ping reports to files.combatace.com

5 Screenshots of the download windows of throughput while the file is downloading showing the 15kb/s.

6 Traceroute and ping a site you get good speeds from.

 

For me:

7. Compare the download speeds between the two servers (The standard download button and the mirror download button) and report them along with the above.

 

I'm sure you guys are up to the task so once I get those I'll do the return traces back to you and fill out the appropriate paperwork and continue the complaint. If they don't or can't explain the issue I always have the option of looking for another provider.

 

If you are having problems with download speeds and are reporting them please read the entire thread, and provide the above. The more documented cases the easier it is to make things happen.

 

Let me know.

 

Erik

[MigBuster 2,884]

One other thing - try downloading files at different times during the day to see if you get any times that are faster - congestion is quite common with some Broadband services. I expect my cheap / naff service to slow down again this winter as more people go online between 07:00 and 10:00.

[+Erik 1,812]

Ticket is open and I'll need that information from you guys to proceed. Please post it up when you have it so we can get this resolved. Thanks.

[MaverickMike 10]

I was just completing the tests that you have listed and got as far as the screens of the download in action and believe it or not the speed was up to around 80kb/s.

 

When I tried the mirror it was up to around 200kb/s which to be honest I can live with. Would you still like me to post the results from the tests?

 

Mike

[+Erik 1,812]

Yes. The fact that our mirror is faster really puts the wrench to me. I'd like to have your traces and speeds to use as ammunition. Thank you.

[MaverickMike 10]

Ok I think I have everything you asked for. As for a comparison site I have used Armaholic.com which i use to get the latest files etc for Arma 2 Here goes on the screenies;

 

Ping Combatace

 

tracert Combatace

 

Ping Armaholic

 

Tracert Armaholic

 

Ping files.combatace

 

Tracert files.combatace

 

 

 

And finally comparison of the download mirrors

Edited November 4, 2010 by MaverickMike