Slow internet speed with Arris XB6

[ColKurtz]

I have a Shaw Internet 300 package, with a Arris XB6 modem.
I cannot get a faster download speed than 16mbit/s.
I have done everything in the troubleshooting guide, to no success.

My neighbor downstairs, in a split house, has much higher speeds on an older modem.

I tried to chat with tech support, the person I chatted with was clueless.

I tried to call tech support, but was on hold for a painfully long time before I had to give up and get on with my life.

How, as a paying customer, are you supposed to get any help with a service you pay for?

[mdk]

@ColKurtz -- while on hold, did you hear a recording stating that using online chat (www.shaw.ca/chat) is given priority over contact via telephone?

Online chat usually gets me connected to a knowledgeable Shaw Agent within 5 minutes.

It's bad that the "clueless" person did not contact the on-shift supervisor, if they were unable to assist you.

[mdk]

@ColKurtz -- I have a Shaw Internet 300 package, with a Arris XB6 modem. I cannot get a faster download speed than 16mbit/s.

With the older HITRON cable-modem, you should get 300 for download, and 15 for upload.

With a properly-provisioned XB6 cable-modem, you should get 300 for download and 100 for upload.

Use online chat with Shaw to confirm that your cable-modem is properly provisioned by Shaw, and that the current provisioning is not the 300/15 service that was correct for a (previous?) HITRON cable-modem.

[DarinR]

@ColKurtz  There can be a number of factors here.  How are you testing your download speed?  Different tools and sites can give vastly different results.  I use the Speedtest app by Ookla and that has been a reliable one for me.  Are you using a wired or wireless connection?  A wired connection is generally best for testing as there are many factors with wireless that can affect performance.  What kind of machine/device are you using for the tests?  

For example, I recently upgrade to Fibre+Gig from Internet 300 where I would always get the speeds I was expecting with 300.  After migrating to the new Blue Curve modem I ran a speed test on a wired machine and only got 400Mbps, Tried a different machine, same thing.  To make a long story short, the problem was/is the Kaspersky Total Security I am using on my machines.  It has an issue with transfer rates above about 350mbps.  I discovered this by doing a speed test while in Windows Safe mode where I got the full speed I was expecting, and then confirmed it from a Linux machine.

Other things that can be causing your issue, could be a bad coax cable in the house, a bad coax splitter will do it too,  Both these can cause a weak signal to the modem that can result in many strange issues.

[ColKurtz]

Yes, I should explain more.

I ran multiple tests with Shaw Speed Test, Rogers Speed Test, Ookla, all tests same result of 16mbit/s.

I used 3 different PCs for these tests,
Win 7 Laptop
Win 10 Laptop
Win 10 Desktop
I ran these speed tests with both wired and WIFI connection at 5Ghz.
Laptops were ~2m away from XB6 modem.
Desktop PC is ~7m away from XB6.
Direct line-of-sight.

I have a suspicion that I have a bad co-ax splitter.  I am going to change it.

Also I will check if my modem is provisioned.

Thanks everyone for the help!

[ColKurtz]

OK so, I spoke with a shaw tech over the chat window and they got me to bypass the drop amp in my primex box, made a huge difference.  Signal to my house is very poor they say, so they are still sending a tech to check it out.

Thanks everyone for your help.