SamKnows Results

NeVeR · 16-08-2014 6:55pm #1

Hi All,

I've had the Samknows box installed about 2 weeks now.

I'm suppose to be UPC 120MB Unlimited package - Well thats what i'm paying for.

Here are my results from the past week.

I'm not really impressed with this.

AlanS181824 · 16-08-2014 11:50pm

Wow, it's extremely varied.

Perhaps there is some issue with your internet?

dazdrog · 17-08-2014 4:18am

thats fairly all over the place alright when compared to my 50mb vdsl

NeVeR · 17-08-2014 7:58am

should I should this to UPC and ask them to investigate ?

ED E · 17-08-2014 8:25am

ED E wrote: »

I had the same pattern for months. UPC never actually fixed it, though we had three visits from techs and supervising techs to check it. It seems actively cooling the EPC3925 has fixed it, but Im not 100% confident it wont return.

NeVeR · 22-08-2014 11:38am

UPC sent a tech around. Didn't know what SamKnows was.

Didn't fix the speeds

SpaceTime · 22-08-2014 11:39am

Is that possibly the modem going into some kind of energy saving mode when not in use ?!

It looks like it's pausing the connection or loosing sync with the local headend.

NeVeR · 22-08-2014 1:52pm

SpaceTime wrote: »

Is that possibly the modem going into some kind of energy saving mode when not in use ?!

It looks like it's pausing the connection or loosing sync with the local headend.

I've no idea.. surely when the Samknows box kicks in that the UPC box would not be in sleep mode.. and if it was it would come out in seconds ? .. didn't know Modems had a sleep mode.

ED E · 22-08-2014 4:40pm

SpaceTime wrote: »

Is that possibly the modem going into some kind of energy saving mode when not in use ?!

It looks like it's pausing the connection or loosing sync with the local headend.

Its definitely not a sleep with the EPCs anyways. Happens under load. There were two scenarios: A, slow to a crawl on DS, reboot, perfect again and B: Freeze for 60s, reboot, fine.

SpaceTime · 22-08-2014 5:01pm

ED E wrote: »

Its definitely not a sleep with the EPCs anyways. Happens under load. There were two scenarios: A, slow to a crawl on DS, reboot, perfect again and B: Freeze for 60s, reboot, fine.

I'd demand a new modem from UPC tbh. That's some kind of fault.

You should start a thread on the UPC forum with the images from the tests.

Alun · 22-08-2014 5:08pm

What is this box actually measuring to produce those results? If it's measuring throughput to/from servers external to UPC's network then it could be down to any number of things not remotely connected to the modem's synch speed. Also does the box prevent all other traffic from the internal network during the tests?

ED E · 22-08-2014 7:11pm

SpaceTime wrote: »

I'd demand a new modem from UPC tbh. That's some kind of fault.

You should start a thread on the UPC forum with the images from the tests.

I've had 3 ^^

It stabilized after I fitted a fan to the top. Been running ok for a few months now.

NeVeR · 25-08-2014 9:11am

Alun wrote: »

What is this box actually measuring to produce those results? If it's measuring throughput to/from servers external to UPC's network then it could be down to any number of things not remotely connected to the modem's synch speed. Also does the box prevent all other traffic from the internal network during the tests?

From what i've read the box runs it's test when there's nothing else happening on the network. I do be in work all day so it's no in use...

Also other people using the box have shown great results. I'm sure if they are going to go to the trouble of sending out 100's/ 1000's of free boxes to people and setting up a website to test and monitor results that they would have servers dedicated to handling downloads / uploads with fast connects

dazdrog · 25-08-2014 11:49am

NeVeR wrote: »

From what i've read the box runs it's test when there's nothing else happening on the network. I do be in work all day so it's no in use...

Also other people using the box have shown great results. I'm sure if they are going to go to the trouble of sending out 100's/ 1000's of free boxes to people and setting up a website to test and monitor results that they would have servers dedicated to handling downloads / uploads with fast connects

What the box tests is the following

Downstream Speed (multithread)
Upstream Speed (multithread)
DNS Response Times
Failed DNS Queries
RTP Jitter Up
RTP Jitter Down
UDP Latency
UDP Packet Loss
Website Load Times
Failed Web Requests

since install ive noticed that my latency has improved as you can see below. i also know that im getting what next to what i pay for, 50/15 with my average speed being 46.7mb down and 14mb upload

NeVeR · 26-08-2014 3:51pm

another screen shot just for laughs

Cuddlesworth · 27-08-2014 1:58pm

This is pretty much what I used to see on my 3425 until I dropped it into bridge mode and put a decent router in front of it. Its crashing under load, they are incapable of doing everything UPC asks of them.

NeVeR · 28-08-2014 8:06am

Cuddlesworth wrote: »

This is pretty much what I used to see on my 3425 until I dropped it into bridge mode and put a decent router in front of it. Its crashing under load, they are incapable of doing everything UPC asks of them.

ah i see.. so a better modem from UPC would ( might ) solve the issue ?

Cuddlesworth · 28-08-2014 7:30pm

NeVeR wrote: »

ah i see.. so a better modem from UPC would ( might ) solve the issue ?

UPC don't ship better modems. In fact, outside of the initial DOCSIS 3 modem they shipped they have been getting progressively worse. The Horizon router/set-top box is comparable to a steaming pile of ****.

who_me · 03-10-2014 2:16pm

Never heard of SamKnows until UPC sent an email this week 'offering' it. Reading the conditions (don't ever remove it, don't turn off the device etc. etc) I said it wasn't worth the hassle.

At the same time, I am interested what it'd show. The 'peaky' graphs above are consistent with the performance I'm seeing - blindingly fast download speeds at times, pretty slow at others. And this is tested at the same time of day, it's not a peak / off-peak issue. I might be tempted to install it if I thought it'd lead UPC to help offer a more consistent download rate.

dazdrog · 03-10-2014 4:30pm

who_me wrote: »

Never heard of SamKnows until UPC sent an email this week 'offering' it. Reading the conditions (don't ever remove it, don't turn off the device etc. etc) I said it wasn't worth the hassle.

At the same time, I am interested what it'd show. The 'peaky' graphs above are consistent with the performance I'm seeing - blindingly fast download speeds at times, pretty slow at others. And this is tested at the same time of day, it's not a peak / off-peak issue. I might be tempted to install it if I thought it'd lead UPC to help offer a more consistent download rate.

you must not read threads before commenting on them no?

this is what samknows checks

Downstream Speed (multithread)
Upstream Speed (multithread)
DNS Response Times
Failed DNS Queries
RTP Jitter Up
RTP Jitter Down
UDP Latency
UDP Packet Loss
Website Load Times
Failed Web Requests

AlanS181824 · 03-11-2014 5:51pm

Here's my results for this month.

As with everyone's it's a bit all over the place.

Apologies about the size, uploading this straight from my tablet so I can't resize.

Azhrei · 03-11-2014 10:18pm

We've had a SamKnows box for a few months now, and it's been relegated to only having the media pc hooked up to it. Why? Because whenever we had our desktops connected, online gaming suffered badly. I'd keep getting disconnected in Mount & Blade Warband, and my flatmates who play a variety of different games complained of high ping and inconsistent disconnects.

Even when playing a game of Warband over ethernet, they disconnected from my server after only having been connected for five seconds. Since I switched them from the SamKnows box back to the main router, their problems have been sorted. The media pc is used for downloads and media streaming, and we haven't had an issue with any of that yet... but it's staying far away from our desktops. I tried emailing SamKnows once and they said all it should do is monitor, not have any other effect at all. Well, it does have an effect, here in this apartment at least.

So now I keep the media pc hooked up to it and wait until the year is up and I can reflash the router they gave me.

Nollog · 04-11-2014 4:08pm

who_me wrote: »

Never heard of SamKnows until UPC sent an email this week 'offering' it. Reading the conditions (don't ever remove it, don't turn off the device etc. etc) I said it wasn't worth the hassle.

At the same time, I am interested what it'd show. The 'peaky' graphs above are consistent with the performance I'm seeing - blindingly fast download speeds at times, pretty slow at others. And this is tested at the same time of day, it's not a peak / off-peak issue. I might be tempted to install it if I thought it'd lead UPC to help offer a more consistent download rate.

I've had two "whiteboxes", kept them running for about 12 months each and then got a free [whateverflavour]wrt router from it.

ED E · 06-11-2014 9:00pm

Have to say im pretty damn happy with UPC. No DS-Lite now boys, k?

(thumbnail, click for full res)

ED E · 06-01-2015 1:30pm

Continual good form.

jca · 06-01-2015 2:31pm

Mine makes interesting reading. Very up and down until the 18 - 19th Dec when the graph flattens out I had to reboot the router in Dec and I think it might have synced at a lower profile. I'll check the router later and post my Sam Knows graphs later.

Calibos · 06-01-2015 5:35pm

ED E wrote: »

Continual good form.

Such a stable high speed connection...and all for the price of a 120mm PC fan

ED E · 06-01-2015 5:45pm

Calibos wrote: »

Such a stable high speed connection...and all for the price of a 120mm PC fan

Only an 80mm

Doesnt need much flow, just enough so whatever IC it is thats troublesome stays within limits. 12v but running on 5v so it barely spins at all.

Slippin Jimmy · 06-01-2015 7:01pm

Are they still offering the trial, or have they gotten the numbers they need? I am between two houses at the moment, one has upc and the other eircom. Can you bring the box between houses?

ED E · 06-01-2015 7:11pm

Duffff-Man wrote: »

Are they still offering the trial, or have they gotten the numbers they need? I am between two houses at the moment, one has upc and the other eircom. Can you bring the box between houses?

The idea is you leave it sit as they want long term stats, not just bursts of info. If you moved it the graphing would just be a mess.

naughto · 08-01-2015 10:57am

Azhrei wrote: »

We've had a SamKnows box for a few months now, and it's been relegated to only having the media pc hooked up to it. Why? Because whenever we had our desktops connected, online gaming suffered badly. I'd keep getting disconnected in Mount & Blade Warband, and my flatmates who play a variety of different games complained of high ping and inconsistent disconnects.

Even when playing a game of Warband over ethernet, they disconnected from my server after only having been connected for five seconds. Since I switched them from the SamKnows box back to the main router, their problems have been sorted. The media pc is used for downloads and media streaming, and we haven't had an issue with any of that yet... but it's staying far away from our desktops. I tried emailing SamKnows once and they said all it should do is monitor, not have any other effect at all. Well, it does have an effect, here in this apartment at least.

So now I keep the media pc hooked up to it and wait until the year is up and I can reflash the router they gave me.

I sent off an email to them when I seen this thread,they got back to me today offering a Sam knows box put only seen that it effects online gaming I play a few hours in the evenings when I can so if its going to effect my ping its a no go area for me.

Ziycon · 08-01-2015 11:17am

I've had the box over a year now and never had any issues with any disconnects or drops when playing any games or otherwise online, I would say it's more likely down to the quality of the connection.

jca · 08-01-2015 11:33am

I can't see how it would affect ping times the box only does tests during quiet times.

naughto · 08-01-2015 3:46pm

jca wrote: »

I can't see how it would affect ping times the box only does tests during quiet times.

How does it no when its quite times?

ED E · 08-01-2015 4:16pm

Its all on their site:

The Whitebox should be placed in between your existing router and your networked computers. Any devices that connected via ethernet cable to your existing router should instead connect to the Whitebox. This ensures that the SamKnows device is always aware of the network being used and will never run tests at a time when you require your full bandwidth to be available.

The antennas also monitor wifi usage, so it'll know if theres a client belting away over the air too.

jca · 08-01-2015 7:06pm

ED E wrote: »

Its all on their site:

The antennas also monitor wifi usage, so it'll know if theres a client belting away over the air too.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

airuser · 08-01-2015 9:47pm

Have had one now for over 12 months.

It proves to me that the IPS's cannot maintain a constant speeds.

naughto · 08-01-2015 9:55pm

I'll get it so and see what the Craic is

airuser · 08-01-2015 9:57pm

Go to samknows website you get the info there

Azhrei · 10-01-2015 1:45am

I dunno, the bloody thing is doing something. Hosting a Warband server over lan, with one of us connected to the SamKnows box, he got disconnected as soon as he entered the server. I changed him over to a switch, problem resolved. When he asked what I did and I told him, he asked if that's the reason he's been having high ping and disconnects for months now.

I had it turned off for two days due to some shake-up of the network here in the apartment and the company sent me an email asking me to turn it back on. So it is. But to the media pc only, again. Looking forward to the day when our part in the thing is over.

naughto · 10-01-2015 10:05am

I play on line through the Xbox one so I will see if there is any lag from Sam if\when I get the box.
If there is it could go in the bin I'll have to see

ED E · 10-01-2015 10:50am

I have mine on its own public IP so it cant even see local load, never caused any issues. That said I have 12mb US, on dsl it might be mkre of an issue.

naughto · 26-01-2015 9:20pm

Have the SamKnows box about a week now I am not happy with the results I am getting from eircom at peak time it goes from near 50 down to 2mbps it does it at the same Times as well each evening or during the day.
Have any of ye got any where by showing them the info from the Samknows box?
Will post my results when iam on the laptop

airuser · 26-01-2015 9:38pm

naughto wrote: »

Have the SamKnows box about a week now I am not happy with the results I am getting from eircom at peak time it goes from near 50 down to 2mbps it does it at the same Times as well each evening or during the day.
Have any of ye got any where by showing them the info from the Samknows box?
Will post my results when iam on the laptop

Maybe a stupid question. But, have you spoken to Eircom ?Surely they will listen to you problems and the figures you are giving them.

I have box also. Have found drops in speeds, nothing like yours. Maybe 1 Mpbs. My times are usually 0800, 1400, 1700, 22.00, 0200 hours. This times vary over days.

I am with Sky.

Have had problems with being unable to open pages on the net.(up to two hours). According to my system and Sky Hub I am still connected.

Found that when speaking to CS details from the box were helpful. That is showed there was no complete disconnection from the net.

naughto · 27-01-2015 6:15pm

I have being on to eircom not getting very far to be honest
here is what iam getting

ED E · 27-01-2015 6:32pm

You should include the labels with that, we're guessing the metrics in question.

US variation is well within what Id call normal, but DS is vPoor.

I've meant to find out where Samknows' nodes are, my variation is so low I have to assume theyre right on top of UPCs edge routers.

airuser · 27-01-2015 6:33pm

I am no expert.

Do you have any noise on your phone line ?

Do you have a pre filtered master socket fitted ?

I presume that these figures are wired ?

Seeing the traces on your charts. There is something very wrong.

The first and fourth charts are very regular as the dips are happening. Looks like something happening on the line

Have Eircom said anything ?

Is there any way one can get passed the initial CS people ?

One could ask to speak to next level.

You could try posting these pictures on the Eircom boards page and also on the Eircom forum.

One may get a different response.

Just one thing you could try. Around 22.00 hours connect the modem to the test socket. One can do this by removing the face plate at to the right the is a socket. Plug your cable into this and see in the morning if there is any difference to you figures.

Downside one will not have a phone line overnight.

Keep after Eircom, you are not getting a service

dalta5billion · 27-01-2015 6:35pm

naughto wrote: »

I have being on to eircom not getting very far to be honest
here is what iam getting

Pretty consistent with what I'm seeing at peak times with Eircom. I believe the box downloads a video from YouTube for the "multimedia" speed test. YouTube has been a royal pain in the arse on Eircom lately. (Along with downloads from HEAnet's network).

ED E · 27-01-2015 7:53pm

dalta5billion wrote: »

Pretty consistent with what I'm seeing at peak times with Eircom. I believe the box downloads a video from YouTube for the "multimedia" speed test. YouTube has been a royal pain in the arse on Eircom lately. (Along with downloads from HEAnet's network).

HEANET is poor? Really? They're at INEX as is eircom and the load there is published publicly, never maxes out.

Obviously other factors at play but you'd think something that well embedded in the national grid would be fine.

dalta5billion · 27-01-2015 8:37pm

ED E wrote: »

HEANET is poor? Really? They're at INEX as is eircom and the load there is published publicly, never maxes out.

Obviously other factors at play but you'd think something that well embedded in the national grid would be fine.

I've asked Eircom about a million times on their forum if they can explain why any speedtest.net server on a network that Eircom interconnects with through INEX with can max out my connection in a single TCP connection at any time, but downloads from HEAnet (who they also peer at INEX with) require multi-threaded TCP to actually get anything done at peak time. (can be as low as 3 Megabits per second per TCP connection). Despite traceroutes indicating that my packets to HEAnet and a particular speedtest.net server take the same route to the exact same INEX LAN, it has been suggested to me (via PM) that the difference in speeds could be due to asymmetric routing.

The only response I could get from Eircom was that on the downstream path of one of either INEX LAN1 or LAN2 (on Eircom's side) was a bottleneck and that they were going to work on it.

I suspect Eircom is doing prioritisation to cover for congestion or at least has seriously mucked up their routing.

See more on the battle we've been having with Eircom over here http://www.boards.ie/ttfthread/2057315815
They don't respond to me any more.

naughto · 27-01-2015 9:41pm

ED E wrote: »

You should include the labels with that, we're guessing the metrics in question.

US variation is well within what Id call normal, but DS is vPoor.

I've meant to find out where Samknows' nodes are, my variation is so low I have to assume theyre right on top of UPCs edge routers.

sorry was in a rush
download

upload

udp latency

udp packet loss

website load times

rtp jitter down

SamKnows Results

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