# Roadrunner Bandwidth fix, does this sound right.



## Atnevon (Jan 15, 2008)

Ok. So I got 2 modems for my apartment so we can share a greater amount of bandwidth between 4-5 people. 2 are heavy gamers, others browsers. We all though get our back ups of our movie files in case we have another fire in our apartment again.

Anywho, I got 2 modems with 5mbs down, and 384kbs up. However, here is where it gets iffy. I called finally because in just about every game, we lag like hell. I tried nearly 15 different WoW servers and never got below 300ms. However, as son as we unplug one of the modems from the wall, the speeds go back down to say 200. Counterstrike is a joke, barley get a below 100, and get constantly kicked for 150 or higher. 

I talked to a level 2 tech and he tell me that our modems are going through the same IP line. Great. 

Well, TW Cable came and told me that it is not infact the same IP, but the modems, because they are pushing to much in and out of the packet info, are pushing the edge of our digital output. 

Here is the analogy he used. He says our bandwidth was like a waterfall, and it is being spread out like a river across a desert. And that the amount of splitting is greater than the rainfall can replace it. However, I told him I ordered 2 waterfalls, and my coverage is only small stream, not a damn desert.

Now, I'm no networking retard, but I know at least more than 80% of the general public. But I'm pretty damn sure the modems ARE going through the same line. Routers will bog a little, but not near as much as another modem plugged in (to my knowledge). Plus, we run maybe 4 colies of WoW on 2 different modems. 384kps on the upload for 2 games should STILL be good. 

So, I expect to go home today and find out if I have my problem fixed., I bitched already and got my last months service for free, so thats no longer a problem. 

If my problem purists, should I upgrade to just 1 modem with 8mbs down and 500kps up, or stick with the 2 modems and lines at 5mps,300kps?

Thanks for reading my really long and boring tale. Hope anyone can have some imput. Oh, and too my firends overseas. I forgive you for laughing at our piss poor bandwidth. Its all good though.

-Thanks a bunch,
-Andrew


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## thoughtdisorder (Jan 15, 2008)

We've been dealing with Road Runner as well for a few years and here's a hint I wish we'd known from the beginning: If you call and complain enough that you are having to reset your modem too many times make them replace the modems. When the tech comes to do that, make small talk,etc and then ask him to "up" your flow from the pole. They can actually adjust and "boost" what's coming into your house from the pole/box. 

Actually after reading your post again it sounds like your getting "lite" service when you should be getting regular high speed.......


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## mrhuggles (Jan 16, 2008)

I'l try to translate what he said into non-retard.

basicly he said your router sucks. i think hes full of shit tho, honestly, if u feel like it then go ahead and get a proper linux router, else get on the modem directly and try it that way, if its lagging then its easy to tell where with tracert


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## thoughtdisorder (Jan 16, 2008)

If you know you have a good sig coming in, then look at your router.


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## Atnevon (Jan 16, 2008)

mrhuggles said:


> I'l try to translate what he said into non-retard.
> 
> basicly he said your router sucks. i think hes full of shit tho, honestly, if u feel like it then go ahead and get a proper linux router, else get on the modem directly and try it that way, if its lagging then its easy to tell where with tracert



You mention a proper linux router. I've seen the flashes for the WRT54Gs, but I assume they make them without having to flash them. Also, why Linux, as opposed to...well, what is the opposition?

Now thought, you mention that I can up the flow from the pole? Would that mean him simply upping my service from the 5 to the 8mbs without TW knowing it?  

Also, I know I am getting the 5kbs from when I run the speedtest from the place my sig is from. The one you see is my campus connection, because it looks uber 1337. But if I run it, what city should I connect to coming out of the Charlotte area for a good indicator?


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## CarolinaKSU (Jan 22, 2008)

Not a linux router, but most definitely a proper one. I love mine...


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## das müffin mann (Jan 22, 2008)

what router is that


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## CarolinaKSU (Jan 22, 2008)

Linksys WRT330N


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## das müffin mann (Jan 22, 2008)

you know the specs on that thing by chance


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## TUngsten (Jan 22, 2008)

I imagine that 2 modems on one line might cause problems, as the modem is essentially the gatekeeper between you and the ISP.

One very good router (one that can support 4-5 people) on one modem would be best.


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## asb2106 (Jan 22, 2008)

*My trials*

I have Road runner also, and I had them upgrade me to the 15mbs/1.5mbs and I pay 54.95/month.  The speeds are great and with my cheap linksys router I split signal to myself and 3 other roommates.  IF we are all online gaming at the same time I will notice a glitch here or there but very very minimal.  and my ping is <100 almost 100% of the time.  We use the Linksys router right after the connection and then I have a trendnet gigabit switch to route the connections(incase we break out in a small lan party)


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## CarolinaKSU (Jan 22, 2008)

das müffin mann said:


> you know the specs on that thing by chance



What specs do you need to know? 

Just throwing some out there: it's a Draft 802.11n so its bandwidth is 270mbps, has 4 10/100/1000 base T ethernet ports (so if you have Cat 6 cable you can get 1000mbs but that would be wired so whats the point of having a wireless router..), the range is AWESOME if you use the WPN300n PCIe card for your pc, and you have your standard 64-128 bit security with WEP, WPA, WPA2, TKIP, etc. 

I love the WRT330N because the black finish is b/a, but the WRT350N is awesome because it has all the features of the 330, but also has NAS capability so you can hook a hard drive to it and have it act like a mini-server. It just has a sort of plain-jane silver finish to it. 

Hope that helps.


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## das müffin mann (Jan 22, 2008)

ya that helps quite a bit i was thinking of up-ing my router abit,
but to anwser your question i would just get one good router you would notice an increse in performance


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## Atnevon (Jan 29, 2008)

CarolinaKSU said:


> What specs do you need to know?
> 
> Just throwing some out there: it's a Draft 802.11n so its bandwidth is 270mbps, has 4 10/100/1000 base T ethernet ports (so if you have Cat 6 cable you can get 1000mbs but that would be wired so whats the point of having a wireless router..), the range is AWESOME if you use the WPN300n PCIe card for your pc, and you have your standard 64-128 bit security with WEP, WPA, WPA2, TKIP, etc.
> 
> ...



That helps me a bit too. By chance, I hear the good things. But anything negative? 

And to update my info, we are dropping Road Runner in favor of DSL. Yes I know, but one of my roomates had a dinner with one of the managers of Time Warner in the area, and he even reccomended DSL. I only wonder a few things, like how well does DLS work with a router like this, because I have never even seen a DSL modem now that I think about it. 

But yea, the manager told us that Large city traffic, such as Charlotte, are bad on cable. To think a bunch of kids playng Runescape,  (hey, he said it, not me) can bog a network that bad.


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## flashstar (Jan 29, 2008)

DSL is much worse than Roadrunner even. My friend's dad went with it because it was only $20 a month for 1.5 mbps down, 512 kbps up versus $30 for Verizon fios with 5 mbps down and 2 mbps up...  We had a lan party and most css servers were around 200-300 ping and half of them didn't even show up. Web pages took ages to load too.

DO NOT GO WITH DSL!!! 

Do anything else, I guarantee that it will be better. If you have Verizon Fios in your area, they have a plan that is 5 mbps down and 2 mbps up for $30 a month and 15 mbps down and 2 mbps up for $40 a month. It's definitely worth it.


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## CarolinaKSU (Jan 29, 2008)

Atnevon said:


> That helps me a bit too. By chance, I hear the good things. But anything negative?
> 
> And to update my info, we are dropping Road Runner in favor of DSL. Yes I know, but one of my roomates had a dinner with one of the managers of Time Warner in the area, and he even reccomended DSL. I only wonder a few things, like how well does DLS work with a router like this, because I have never even seen a DSL modem now that I think about it.
> 
> But yea, the manager told us that Large city traffic, such as Charlotte, are bad on cable. To think a bunch of kids playng Runescape,  (hey, he said it, not me) can bog a network that bad.



There are such things as a DSL modem. My aunt in St. Louis has one actually, but the speeds suck big time compared to cable. 

The router itself comes with buggy firmware out of the box so toss the cd it comes with in the trash and download the drivers directly from linksys. Upload connected to it with cat5 and configure manually allowing windows to manage your wireless connection and youre golden!


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## mrhuggles (Jan 29, 2008)

i like my openWRT + X-wrt solution, it seems to enjoy having > 20 people all abuseing my DSL without any problems at all, actually with QoS enabled and configured i can play games online while people are messing around and downloading with very minimal lag yay for proper linux routers


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