Geekzone: technology news, blogs, forums
Guest
Welcome Guest.
You haven't logged in yet. If you don't have an account you can register now.


ettexor

42 posts

Geek


#61220 12-May-2010 14:07
Send private message

Hi, I recently changed from the Advanced Plan to the Everyday Plan, both are FS/128k but I've noticed a big slowdown in speed, especially during the free off-peak times...I used to download over 2-3GB's during these hours, now I barely get 2GB's downloaded, data speed is usually around 120-130kbps, whereas it used to be well over 250kbps.

Would this have happened since I changed my plan?  Maybe I should switch back to the Advanced Plan?

Create new topic
Ragnor
8223 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

  #329444 12-May-2010 16:30
Send private message

I doubt it's related to your plan change.

I suspect you'll find Slingshot has added lots more users recently and hasn't added much if any more international capacity.

Also with the colder weather more people spend more time indoors on computers and queue up files for download in off peak.

They probably have some kind of plan or forecast for growth and it was too low or conservative. At some stage they will purchase more capacity but in the mean time what you're most likely seeing is more contention for available bandwidth.



nyquist
102 posts

Master Geek


  #329498 12-May-2010 19:09
Send private message

General browsing and youtube streaming has slowed down recently as well, both off-peak and on-peak. I've found it impossible to stream small clips any time after 7pm.

milez1987
7 posts

Wannabe Geek


#329545 12-May-2010 22:08
Send private message

my lame speed tonight... Yell


im on nDSL FS/FS



johnr
19282 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user


  #329550 12-May-2010 22:10
Send private message

Busy night for the inter webs with this bad weather outside

CM

CM
141 posts

Master Geek


  #329700 13-May-2010 11:13
Send private message

My problem with Slingshot has been going on for a while. About every 10 to 15 minutes I get no connection for about 30 seconds to a minute. Does anyone else experience this? It still shows as connected, but no webpage will load, and Outlook says 'error' when it checks for mail.
My first assumption is that it's a Slingshot issue and there' not much I can do. But is that an ok assumption? I have a cheap 'Billion' brand modem I got 4 years ago - could that be it?
It's really annoying, but not annoying enough to switch providers. I'd love to fix it though, if it can be done easily.

ettexor

42 posts

Geek


  #329706 13-May-2010 11:18
Send private message

yeah, sounds like it could be your modem...are you using any bittorrent software in the background, or downloading from any other peer-to-peer software?

Buttonmash
361 posts

Ultimate Geek


  #329722 13-May-2010 11:48
Send private message

CM: My problem with Slingshot has been going on for a while. About every 10 to 15 minutes I get no connection for about 30 seconds to a minute. Does anyone else experience this? It still shows as connected, but no webpage will load, and Outlook says 'error' when it checks for mail.
My first assumption is that it's a Slingshot issue and there' not much I can do. But is that an ok assumption? I have a cheap 'Billion' brand modem I got 4 years ago - could that be it?
It's really annoying, but not annoying enough to switch providers. I'd love to fix it though, if it can be done easily.


I've recently been experiencing the same thing. Brand new modem.  Haven't looked into it though.

 
 
 

Trade NZ and US shares and funds with Sharesies (affiliate link).

CM

CM
141 posts

Master Geek


  #329730 13-May-2010 12:15
Send private message

ettexor: yeah, sounds like it could be your modem...are you using any bittorrent software in the background, or downloading from any other peer-to-peer software?


Sometimes I use bittorrent software, but it even happens on days when I don't.
Maybe I should borrow another modem and see if it does it with that.

animebuster
86 posts

Master Geek


  #330308 15-May-2010 09:21
Send private message

Hi, I have noticed a huge decrease in my internet speed during offpeak time as well. I rang up slingshot support and got told that alot of people have recently joined so that would be the reason for the slow down, and that if this problem starts affecting the onpeak times as well slingshot will buy more bandwidth.

Also try changing the phone cable that links your modem to the wall. My speeds during both onpeak times and offpeak times were horrible and my connection kept dropping. But changing the phone cable has stabilized my internet plus given me better speeds. Although during the offpeak times i still get horrible speeds.

richms
28199 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted
Lifetime subscriber

  #330398 15-May-2010 15:14
Send private message

Youtube is back to being useless unless you luckout and get it from the cache. - you can tell when that happens because the statusbar of the browser will show the slingshot cache IP instead of something.google.com while it is buffering.

Streaming vid seems erattic again as well. As usual local stuff is fine so its not my slow but stable linespeed causing it.




Richard rich.ms

richms
28199 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted
Lifetime subscriber

  #330553 16-May-2010 03:05
Send private message

Torrents are a crawl tonight.

Can see the cache in the peer list but its not connecting to it. Seems that everything is flatlining at about a megabit, even ftp down from a server that will deliver 5 megabytes/sec to another machine, is giving 30-40kB/sec to me here.

and its been like it all day, so its not a free offpeak thing. Will restart my rouger soon to be sure its not that but it doesnt seem to ever be the router.




Richard rich.ms

CM

CM
141 posts

Master Geek


  #330611 16-May-2010 14:17
Send private message

animebuster: Hi, I have noticed a huge decrease in my internet speed during offpeak time as well. I rang up slingshot support and got told that alot of people have recently joined so that would be the reason for the slow down, and that if this problem starts affecting the onpeak times as well slingshot will buy more bandwidth.

Also try changing the phone cable that links your modem to the wall. My speeds during both onpeak times and offpeak times were horrible and my connection kept dropping. But changing the phone cable has stabilized my internet plus given me better speeds. Although during the offpeak times i still get horrible speeds.


Ok will try another phone cable - thanks.
Any other suggestions appreciated. Will still try to borrow a modem from someone to see if that makes any difference (although I'm struggling to think of someone with a spare...).

richms
28199 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted
Lifetime subscriber

  #330632 16-May-2010 15:41
Send private message

Restarted the router and got a stupidly low sync speed, dug out the thompson that I got in a box of crap, configured it and it worked also with a low sync speed for a while, put the netgear back and got 2.3meg or so - still slowness on everything.


here is a graph, you can see the spike where something finally came down from the cache, and then the flatline where my ftp and http trandfers were being throttled to hell till they stopped.



old on the left - current on the right, image at 3:40 pm, even after free offpeak ended the ftp was being throttled. each division is 2 hours.




Richard rich.ms

Ragnor
8223 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

  #330639 16-May-2010 16:04
Send private message

Ask Slingshot when they are buying more international capacity on Twitter, see what they say.

Otherwise change to an ISP that's less oversubscribed.

CM

CM
141 posts

Master Geek


  #330881 17-May-2010 13:10
Send private message

Until the one you've changed to becomes over-subscribed. Rinse, then repeat!

Currently trying to pick up a modem on trademe for $20 to see if that improves. If it doesn't I'll just sell it (and if I get $10 then it's only cost me $10).

My issue seems to be different than just slow speed. It's a completely cut-off every 15 mins or so.

Create new topic





News and reviews »

Gen Threat Report Reveals Rise in Crypto, Sextortion and Tech Support Scams
Posted 7-Aug-2025 13:09


Logitech G and McLaren Racing Sign New, Expanded Multi-Year Partnership
Posted 7-Aug-2025 13:00


A Third of New Zealanders Fall for Online Scams Says Trend Micro
Posted 7-Aug-2025 12:43


OPPO Releases Its Most Stylish and Compact Smartwatch Yet, the Watch X2 Mini.
Posted 7-Aug-2025 12:37


Epson Launches New High-End EH-LS9000B Home Theatre Laser Projector
Posted 7-Aug-2025 12:34


Air New Zealand Starts AI adoption with OpenAI
Posted 24-Jul-2025 16:00


eero Pro 7 Review
Posted 23-Jul-2025 12:07


BeeStation Plus Review
Posted 21-Jul-2025 14:21


eero Unveils New Wi-Fi 7 Products in New Zealand
Posted 21-Jul-2025 00:01


WiZ Introduces HDMI Sync Box and other Light Devices
Posted 20-Jul-2025 17:32


RedShield Enhances DDoS and Bot Attack Protection
Posted 20-Jul-2025 17:26


Seagate Ships 30TB Drives
Posted 17-Jul-2025 11:24


Oclean AirPump A10 Water Flosser Review
Posted 13-Jul-2025 11:05


Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7: Raising the Bar for Smartphones
Posted 10-Jul-2025 02:01


Samsung Galaxy Z Flip7 Brings New Edge-To-Edge FlexWindow
Posted 10-Jul-2025 02:01









Geekzone Live »

Try automatic live updates from Geekzone directly in your browser, without refreshing the page, with Geekzone Live now.



Are you subscribed to our RSS feed? You can download the latest headlines and summaries from our stories directly to your computer or smartphone by using a feed reader.