Broadband forum: ATT DSL too slow?

Unfortunately, Roadrunner is not available in San Francisco to my knowledge. Thank you all for your input. Testing the line brings the same numbers, and ATT has no faster option available at this time.

I will try the cache solution. Sounds like a winner, if it works.

JLL

Here at home I have ATT's ADSL and Time Warners road runner as my backup. Every time I try to stream a video with ATT's adsl (like CNN's or MSNBC) stuttering and long pauses occur, when I switch the same computer to roadrunner everything runs smoothly.

This happens all the time. My adsl connection is 6016K/768K and my roadrunner is 5000K/384K. Speed tests with my ATT adsl are within specs no dropped packets just slow and unreliable when streaming.

I have no explanation for this behavior I can only speculate that there are routing issues with ATT's network since every person I know that have adsl have the same problem.

You should be excited with 320 Kb/s!! I have AT&T DSL Lite which I think is advertised at "up to 256 Kb/s" (I forget the exact number). My download speeds typically run in the 20's, averaging around 27 KB/s. Yes, this is slower than the speeds I experienced with then BellSouth dial-up. I have contacted BellSouth and now AT&T about this problem and they offer no help whatsoever. I questioned if I could expect significantly better speeds if I upgraded to a faster service plan and they told me that I probably would not get a noticable improvement. Their "technical" explanation was that "DSL is a 'best effort' service and there is no guarantee as to download speeds at any specific location."

There are many factors that influence your DSL speed. It may be your current hardware and OS.

I have a new PC with an Intel duo and a gigabit NIC card. I recently purchased a gigabit router that made my DSL run connection faster. If you are hooked up directly to the DSL modem without a router, things may be different and more related to the speed of your PC.

Well sort of.....I live many miles away from San Francisco, but I've lived there before for a few years and had an SBC DSL internet connection that worked probably about as fast as what you're getting. I'm thinking it's your connection because a computer with 1gb of memory should be fine. Are you using Firefox or Internet Explorer? Firefox 2 tends to use alot more memory than IE, but I think this will be fixed with Firefox 3.

I just got AT&T DSL Elite in the metro area of Oklahoma City and the download speed is absolutely ridiculous. The 2Wire modem control panel says I have 6mbs but it's more like 128kbs (or often less). This is my first month with service that is costing about $70 (for both the phone and the "fastest" internet they had). I haven't even bothered contacting support yet because of time constraints but it if I don't find an answer to this problem soon, I'll be canceling all my services with them (totaling about $150/month) and going with Cox Communications instead.

My computer shouldn't be the problem - I'm using a black Macbook with 2gigs of ram and I've installed the software that came with the modem....didn't know that you had to install software to be able to interface with a wireless modem. I've been able to use many people's wireless connections (often with faster connection speeds) without having to install special software.

It's really excruciating to simply go to google.com and actually have to wait a few seconds for the Google graphic to load. I was downloading the beta of Lightroom 2 the other day and my speed was peaking around 60kbs. I'm going to pull my hair out.

AT&T DSL is cheap and efficient if you know how to use it to your advantage.
In my experience, by simply using Firefox to brownse webpages you will see a significant difference between the two brownsers. With the same computer settings, Firefox navigates the web 4 times faster than Internet Explorer specially with their new version. Find the version that is compatible with your computer to have best result. There must be some kinds of software bugs or algorithm layers in IE that causes a subtantial delay in opening or closing a webpage. Simple task like closing a page can take so much time if using IE brownser!

I have ordered ATT DSL service (6M/s) with one year contract. In the morning between 2AM to 6 AM, I can get download speed from 4M/s to 5M/s. However in the evening everyday between 6PM to 11 PM, the download speed is always lower than 0.3 M/s.!! Every day !! ATT DSL is very bad!!

This is becoming a huge issue for most all att users unless you live next to their hub. I moved from where I had a nice solid cheap 3008 Down 512 Up DSL line and was getting great download speeds far past 320, average was 1200. Here on an ATT 2wire 3008/512 ADSL plan, a mere 2 miles from where I was, I get 320 down no matter what or where I am downloading from. This is ridicules. If your paying for 3008 you should get it. I am switching to a local company that doesn't share its pipes with ATT. I tried the same program on their 3008 down system and was flying. Bottom line is ATT is ripping off their customers. My new plan will be twice as fast and 5 bucks less a month. AT&T can kiss my lily white ars.

Look at my AT&T connection at http://s175.photobucket.com/albums/w146/rproffitt2000/?action=view¤t=i15rspeed.jpg

I can't guess what your setup is but your speed numbers are part of the issue, that and some security suites take their toll.
Bob

I am not sure why, but my speed tests showed I could attain the speed ATT was advertising, but I never did. I spent endless hours on the phone with them. I just switched to Comcast. Now I get what I am paying for. ATT should have a huge class action lawsuit over this.

on three different occasions i have spent up to 4hrs. talking to att about my speeds. I am promised 3mbs down and 512kbs up. I actually get ~300kbs down and ~10kbs up. on each occasion the tech has started by saying "we will fix this right away!" and finished my saying "that is within the acceptable range" even though he has not improved my speed.
This 300kbs I get is total not just per computer. I have nice powerful brand new machines that i know how to use properly. ATT is stealing for us all and within a year or two they will be paying for it through lawsuits and loss of customers. but for right now they got my gems in a vise as this is the only option in my area till insight runs its lines out to my house( hopefully this year!)

I read your post with great interest.

I live in a condo complex, ten units - single story, with shared walls. When I called ATT to complain about the speed or lack thereof -- .52 Mbps download max -- of my service, they claimed I could not upgrade. Nevermind the fact that their service is performing at dial up speeds. The fact is that my neighbor, with shared wall, has ATT digital TV. Customer Service person expressed surprise. Can't be so. Not available in your area.

Here's the thing. You live in San Francisco, I live in the center of Los Angeles. We don't have 21 century infrastructure to support the media electronic or film that our rather large cities require. I can't believe that where most film, television, music and plenty of design is produced we don't have access to functioning bandwidth.

This makes me mad because it has been an on going service problem. Our complex is 40 plus years old. When it rains, our phone lines go out. ATT will not fix even this problem. No replacement.