Evening congestion on Bell Fiber

[ArtP]

I have been seeing drastic speed reductions in the evening. It seems to be fairly regular. I am on 3Gb Fiber. Every morning my speed tests show very good speeds (above 3Gb up and down). The same happens midday. However, when the  evening comes, the speed drops dramatically and the latency spikes. Next morning, the speed comes back to normal and the whole cycle repeats Here is just a story of one day: 

Is Bell's network so badly congested?

Is the network in my neighbourhood (South Pickering) under provisioned ???

[dks]

Thank you for your concern. Have you run the Virtual Repair Tool? If you have, what were the results? 

[ArtP]

Is there a point? The slow-downs "fix themselves" every morning. The speed is perfect now, at 7AM. However, I can bet, it will drop again tonight.

[dks]

Thank you for your question. I should have asked "Have you run the Virtual Repair Tool during your slowdown experience?"  The point is that the VRT is a first level of troubleshooting, which allows us to know where an issue might be, if it is reported back through the VRT. As this is a user to user forum, we have no access or information on Bell's network issues, so I can't speculate on anything involving network congestion. The VRT eliminates other issues if nothing is reported back.  

[ArtP]

Very well. Once the speed drops tonight, I will try the VRT.

[dks]

Thank you. Given what are reported speed reductions, are you seeing any actual impact on your internet service?

[ArtP]

Yes. When the speed test on the modem reports 3Gbps up and down, I can easily achieve 1Gbps on two computers concurrently (measured as speed tests or actual downloads of reference files), Once the speed drops, my practical upload speeds drop to ~500Mbps or less. This is not so bad, but ....

I am paying for 3Gbps.

[dks]

Thank you for your clarification. There are two things to keep in mind. Internet speeds are always "up to" at all times. That's in the Bell agreement. There is no guarantee or warranty of 3Gb or any other speed at all times and especially on every computer. 

With regard to your speeds on two computers at the same time, that is exactly what is expected. Let me use the analogy of a water pipe. 

Your internet connection is like a water pipe that comes into your house. If you open one tap, you will receive full service pressure from that tap. But if you open another tap, start a washing machine or flush a toilet, the service water pressure has to be divided and the pressure to each drops. 

Internet service is like that. If you have two computers running at the same time, your internet service has to be divided between two or three or how many other devices you have attached and running at the same time. The Giga Hub performs the service of dividing the data between all your devices as it is needed. What you describe is perfectly normal and expected. 

Speed drops are not normally noticeable until they drop below 75 Mb.  

[ArtP]

I'd like to think I have an idea of how Internet works. I have been dealing with computing/networking/clouds for the good part of last 30 years. Your pipe analogy feels slightly patronizing ;-).

 I also understand the "up-to" piece. However, if the speed drops to the level of the tier lower (Fibe 1.5) than the one I am paying for (Fibe 3.0), I am beginning to have issues with that. As for your statement about speed drops noticeability at 75Mb - I respectfully disagree.

[Vanadiel]

This looks like the internal modem speed test, which as far as I know is only testing the speed between you and the connection equipment at the other end of the fiber line.

As far as I know it should always show your profile speed.

[ArtP]

Yes. This the internal modem speed test. And I was hoping it would always show my profile speed. It used to. But these days it doesn't do it in the evening.

[dks]

Thank you for your comment. As you gave no indication of your understanding of the internet in your post, I have to default to simple analogies to make a point. No disrespect was intended. I have also had experience with the internet for thirty years, though not professionally. I do not work for Bell and never have. Community All Stars are volunteers. 

I believe you misunderstand what "up to" means. A speed tier is exactly that. Your speed can range in a given moment from zero to 3 Gb. Dropping to 1.5 Gb is not a "lower tier" but well within the range of speed of your internet connection.

If can clarify what I said, visual effects are not usually notable until sustained internet speed drops to below 75 Mb or lower. Other things such as ping times and jitter may also affect viewing experience, but those are often beyond anyone's control.  Experiences may also vary.   

[ArtP]

Are you sure you don't work for Bell ;-).

Your statement: "...Your speed can range in a given moment from zero to 3 Gb..." seems to suggest that if my speed were oscillating around  100Mb, I should be perfectly happy. After all, it is in range from zero to 3Gb, isn't it? 😉

Then, there is the issue of what the internal modem speed test actually measures. If it is the speed from my modem to the connection equipment at the other end of the fiber, as Vanadiel suggested in the post above, then perhaps it is not unreasonable for me to expect the result to be reasonably close to 3Gb, while understanding that this doesn't necessarily translate to practical download/upload speeds.

[ArtP]

So, the evening came. The speed dropped as I knew it would. I ran the virtual repair tool.

It didn't do anything.

After spending 30 min answering silly questions and after having my modem rebooted, I'm back to square one: In the evening my connection speed drops drastically and the latency quadruples.

<sarcasm> But since it is still in the range of 0 - 3 Gbs, I should probably shut up and be happy </sarcasm>

Is anyone from Bell actually reading this?

[dks]

Thank you for your question and your follow through. You are correct. In theory, the connection from the modem to the test server should be close to your speed profile, but that can vary based on other factors. I have seen higher and lower speeds than the profile suggests. I can't comment further, as you have eliminated the most common issues for profile variance. Thank you.