Technical Internet/tv Question

[jeff1234]

I watch US tv via USTVnow.com.
During the day I can watch shows and access my recordings without a problem but nights and weekends I get too many interruptions and disconnections.
I have all other apps closed and have set USTv to the lowest reolution.
I'm pretty sure that the problem is with Fibertel locally but I'm wondering if a VPN or other gizmo could help by bringing more data to Fibertel.

I've tested Fibertels speed using Speakeasy and found:
At 7am: Download: 9.8mbs
At 9Pm: Download: 1.76Mb

Any suggestions?

 

[nlaruccia]

I also watch USTVnow.com and have Fibertel and it often doesn't work. I'd be glad to hear any suggestions.

 

[thorsten]

VPN can only make you connection slower, not faster... There are two possible sources of the bottleneck: a lot of local users on Fibertel that all share the available bandwidth would slow down all internet traffic, independent which servers you are communicating with, or the connections to the US (assuming you are watching content hosted there) is too small-scaled. If its the first issue, you might be able to check out the speeds of another provider, if its the second even a provider change wouldn't solve the problem.

 

[nlaruccia]

I think pretty much all internet service providers offer the same speed, don't they? Maybe I'm wrong. It must be similar to the crappy cell phone service limit.

 

[jeff1234]

I think pretty much all internet service providers offer the same speed, don't they? Maybe I'm wrong. It must be similar to the crappy cell phone service limit.

We got a free subscription to a Fibertel competitor, Speedy, so we installed it in our house along with Fibertel. I'm not sure how accurate Speakeasy is but it shows Speedy as being alot slower than Fibertel: Speedy at 9pm Download: .3mbs vs Fibertel 1.76mb

 

[dennisr]

I use wifi and switching to the 5GHz router band solved a lot of my problems with streaming video during peak hours. Building I live in is overwhelmed with user on the 2.4GHz band.

 

[jeff1234]

I use wifi and switching to the 5GHz router band solved a lot of my problems with streaming video during peak hours. Building I live in is overwhelmed with user on the 2.4GHz band.

Good for you.
How does one make this change?
Does it affect any other part of the service?

 

[dennisr]

Good for you.
How does one make this change?
Does it affect any other part of the service?

Need a dual band router which I had to purchase: netgear.
From the reading I have done the 5GHz does not travel as far as the 2.4GHz signal. Was not a problem for me in my cubicle. All I know is it solved my streaming problem.

 

[thorsten]

Switching to a 5Ghz router can help, but only if your local wifi connection is the bottleneck. If you face the low download rates with a cable connection, it won't help anything. If, however, you live in an apartment complex for example with every neighbor using Wifi, the channels can be overloaded, which leads to a lot of collisions/packet losses and thus poor speed/connectivity. The good thing here: nobody uses 5Ghz, so if the local Wifi pollution is an issue, you'll most likely be the only one on the frequency band. You can find free tools for PC/Mac/Smartphone to check how many different Wifis are competing with yours.

 

[PhilipDT]

I've noticed the peak hour drop off with Arnet, Fibertel and Speedy. I've just given up.