Computer networks are by design contention based networks. This means a network is shared by many and all network traffic for the many has to somehow contend to survive. The majority of the problems experienced by home users and indeed some corporate network users fall into two distinct camps. The first and the most common is congestion. The second, and hardest to prove, is regulation.
The congestion problem is simply that. The ISP network that you use has too much network traffic and this causes inherent delays to your data packets. This is synonymous with public roads in rush hour, when too much traffic at peak times causes excessive delays. The solution is simple: do not drive in the rush hour unless you have to if you want to avoid those delays.
The regulation problem is a natural counter to the congestion issue and again this parallels public road use in the real world. ISPs intentionally regulate your network traffic flow in order to provide a balance for all the other network users that share your connection to the Internet. For the public roads, traffic authorities create regulation methods which, similar to network traffic, are designed to keep the traffic flowing when congested, traffic lights are a good example.
Are you getting the connection speed you pay for? And if not, what should you do to prove this?
The first step in answering this question is to ascertain the bandwidth speeds you are experiencing. This requires that you run a connection speed test to measure bandwidth throughput, it is then simply a matter of deciding if the service received matches the service contracted. Running a speed test is the process of sending (upload) and receiving (download) a fairly large amount of uncompressible1 data and timing how long the data takes to arrive.
For example, if 1 megabyte of data sent in 10 seconds is 0.8 megabits per second (Mbps) and your contracted service was for 1.0 Mbps then you might accept this as a measure that is close enough. However if your service is meant to be 5 Mbps then your actual speed performance is far less than you should be getting.
The speed test in Fig. 1 shows a download speed of 1.13 Mbps, however the connection this test originated on was contracted at 4.5 Mbps. Assuming you were not using the network at the time of the test was initiated, this is not a good result by any account.
The essence of the solution is to make an assessment of the problem and then present your case with supporting evidence to your ISP.
The Resolution Process
The first step in the resolution process is to perform a series of bandwidth speed tests, as a single speed test can be skewed and does not provide representative sample on which to base a complaint. To do this you should take a number of speed tests over a representative period of time at set intervals, such as every 20 minutes for a couple days. A series of tests provides a better picture of network performance and helps identify patterns, such as lower speeds during prime time or rush hour, and makes for a more credible report to provide to your ISP.
It is important that you analyze the data with the purpose of identifying your assessment of the root cause. Taking this extra step does two things to help your case. Firstly it helps the remote support technician to grasp the extent of your problem more quickly, and secondly it helps you to get acceptance of the problem by the ISP. Acceptance of the problem is singularly the most important aspect of getting the problem resolved.
Network Congestion Issues
Proving congestion is relatively straightforward but can require collecting a good amount of speed test data. The amount of data is usually needed because network congestion, just like the rush hour traffic, occurs in cyclical time phases. Showing a clear time phase correlation is powerful proof that the ISPs network is congested.
For example the Fig. 2 graph above shows a number of speed tests extracted from the MySpeed Server database for a single user connection. This data shows a clear drop in service during daytime hours, which then improves towards evening and returns to normal during the night. This type of pattern is typical of congestion, and would be an issue for your ISP to address.
It is also possible to get a clue that congestion is the issue before you go to the length of collecting significant amounts of data over several days. Signs of congestion can often be seen when conducting initial speed tests __ MySpeed analyzes the data flow during the test, the data flow graphs provide visibility to quality of your connection service.
