[sf-lug] Is there a way to...

Mark K. Zanfardino mark at zanfardinoconsulting.com
Fri Dec 7 10:20:55 PST 2007


Blake,

Thank you for the observation.  Yes, I did observe some of the same
things.  Having only just moved up here last year from San Diego where I
had Time Warner (I was outside the Cox region) I am familiar with the
similarities in services provided.

I switched largely as a function of cost: I have no need for digital TV
at this time and couldn't bring myself to pay more for less after my
one-year introductory price expired.  Astounds prices are much more
manageable.  That and I have a whole other set of issues with cable
television providers that I don't want to get into here.

By chief interest is to see if I can verify my hypothesis that the ISP
is altering packet priority.  I'm not sure what I'll do about it yet, as
I'm not sure if there is any recourse that I could take, but I'd sure
like to know if it's true.

Cheers!

Blake Haggerty wrote:
> I have no ideas about how to look at whats going on with your network. But I have a ?/observation. I noticed you said you switched from comcast to astound. Although I can't find anything to confirm this after a quick google search. Comcast and Astound are very, very, very, similar. I notice that they offer the same Channel package lineups, they both have the feature called Ondemand, their equipment and menus and guide all look weirdly similar. Looks allot like Cox, and Comcast down in southern California. I have a feeling that these two companies are somehow intertwined, maybe astound has bought a piece of Comcast's infrastructure?  This being said I don't think the switching of the service provider will really change anything unless moving to a AT&T or sonic...etc
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> -----Original Message-----
> From:Mark K. Zanfardino mark at zanfardinoconsulting.com 
> To: "Linux userGroup" ;
> Sent: Dec 7, 2007 09:50:42 AM
> Subject: [sf-lug] Is there a way to...
>
> Is there a way to analyze the traffic through my router? I'm not sure 
> that I'm asking is correctly, so let me set up a scenario: I've been a 
> Vontage customer for a little over a year now. Up until a few months 
> ago the service was crystal clear. However, a few months back I notices 
> that the calls are not choppy, evidence of packet loss I suspect. 
>
> I switched ISP's from Comcast high-speed to Astound. I had anticipated 
> that this might resolve the issue, but it hasn't. It's occurred to me 
> (and forgive the conspiracy mindedness of this statement) that since 
> both Comcast and Astound provide VoIP services of their own that they 
> maybe lowering the priority of VoIP packets on their network. Granted, 
> they wouldn't lower the VoIP packets of their own service, so this 
> theory is dependent upon them being able to shape high-speed data 
> traffic separate from the VoIP service they offer. 
>
> I realize I won't get a straight answer if I call either of these 
> company's: are they really going to admit to interfering with traffic? 
> So I'm wonder if there is a way in which I could analyze the data stream 
> and see if I might be able to identify a trend in packet priorities or 
> something of that nature. 
>
> I know that we are able to capture network traffic trends within my 
> office using a solitary hub (old-school, not a switch) and wireshark. 
> Is this the same type of method I'd likely need to use? 
>
> This is more a question of curiosity than criticality. Any thoughts 
> would be appreciated. 
>
> Cheers! 
>
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