[PLUG] Seeking opinion on new century link 1G install

[Russell Senior]

>>>>> "RParr" == RParr  <RParr at TemporalArts.com> writes:

RParr> Located in NE Portland.  I have a Century Link DSL business line
RParr> (static IPs, etc.).  I've had this line for over 10yrs.  It's
RParr> dead slow and getting worse.  I also have a Comcast business
RParr> line.

RParr> I recently installed Century Link 1G fibre.  It's up.  It's
RParr> working.  I have my statics configured and working.  My hope is
RParr> to have the fibre replace both the DSL and the Comcast.

RParr> I am seeking the groups opinions as to if, and how best, to
RParr> proceed before switching my main connection to the 1G.


RParr> 1) Speed is way better than my old line BUT it is not as fast as
RParr> advertised.  Using a variety of speed tests I get...

RParr> Google test to Seattle server 42Mbs down / 194Mbs up / 5ms
RParr> (several other speed tests gave similar results)

RParr> Ookla test to Portland server 336Mbs down / 736Mbs up / 8ms

RParr> DSLReports test 310Mbs down / 799Mbs up / 45ms

RParr> Century Links own diagnostic speed test shows 200Mbs down /
RParr> 660Mbs up

RParr> Both systems currently using the Century Link fibre line see ping
RParr> latency of 6ms +/-

RParr> Both I and the installer were a little surprised at the down
RParr> always being 1/4 to 1/2 the upload speed.  He said "give it a
RParr> little time and it will get faster".

RParr> The upload seems great at (up to) 80% of advertised.  The upload
RParr> seems to indicate the line/equipment is capable.

RParr> Does anyone else here have Century Link fibre? What are you
RParr> seeing?

Yes.  Be sure you are doing speedtests on a wired connection, not wifi.
>From gateway to gateway over 4 hops of CL's network (that is, a gigabit
to gigabit service) using iperf3, I see upper hundreds of megabits.

RParr> Would you'all complain about the "slow" download or just shut up
RParr> and "be happy"?

Complaining can't hurt.  I think they do have peering issues.  The more
noise there is, the more likely it is to be corrected.

RParr> 2) My plan is to switch one of my current routers, a Netgear
RParr> WDNR3700 running OpenWRT, to be the router/firewall.

RParr> The Century Link fibre comes into a Calix router/modem then to a
RParr> ZyXEL C1100Z router.  The Calix is a black box which even the
RParr> installer/techs can not access (lack of access concerns me but
RParr> different topic).  I am assuming it is configured in bridge
RParr> mode. Century Link insists the ZyXEL has to be "in the chain" so
RParr> they can enter the account username/password.  I can put the
RParr> ZyXEL in bridge mode and connect it to my OpenWRT router.

RParr> My concern is starting out with 3 routers in a chain with 2 of
RParr> them in bridge mode.  Is this a practical performance problem or
RParr> just a theoretical problem?

The Calix is what's called an ONT.  You don't replace that, but you can
replace the router they sell.  You do pppoe on a VLAN (201).  I've done
that at several locations now.

The WNDR3700 is probably not going to be able to route at wire-speed,
based on my experience, because of inadequate CPU speed.  However, there
are options.  The more expensive version is a PCEngines APU, which is a
single board computer.  A cheaper option is a router based on a MT7621.
One example is the D-Link DIR860L (hw version B1).  I've found them on
Amazon for ~$30.


-- 
Russell Senior, President
russell at personaltelco.net