Troubleshooting Internet Woes: A Family’s Ongoing Struggle with ISP Limitations

For the past six months, my family’s internet experience has transformed from a seamless connection to a frustrating ordeal, capped at a mere 1.8 Mbps. What started as a temporary visit to care for a sick relative has led to a perplexing series of challenges with our internet service provider (ISP). After returning home five months later, I was confronted with an internet connection so sluggish that I initially feared my device was malfunctioning.

After extensive testing and multiple technician visits, it became clear that the issue lay beyond my computer. Although internet speeds appeared to be moderately acceptable for gaming and general surfing on our home network, mobile devices showcased a much grimmer reality—download speeds were woefully inadequate.

Here’s a summary of the attempts we’ve made to resolve this issue:

• New Modem Installation: A brand-new modem was installed by the ISP, yet our connection remained unchanged.
• Device Testing: I connected various laptops directly to the modem, but the frustrating 1.8 Mbps download speed persisted.
• Visitor Complaints: Extended family members visiting for work expressed their own frustrations, citing slow video download speeds.
• Technician Evaluations: After five visits from technicians, a senior technician even replaced the local cable box port, thoroughly checked external wiring, and assessed our home network. Despite these efforts, he found no identifiable cause behind our slow speeds and ruled out the possibility of throttling by the ISP.

To further investigate, I took my laptop to a nearby library and experienced significantly faster download speeds, reinforcing our suspicions that the problem was localized to our home.

Our circumstances are quite peculiar. The household consists of just a few devices—my laptop, my relative’s seldom-used laptop, and our phones—so the network is not overwhelmed. An old T-Mobile booster was also disconnected following a technician visit, yet it made no difference. Strangely, we’ve been told our speeds now resemble archaic “Dial-up 90s speeds,” which is a far cry from our previous high-speed experience.

The ongoing support from the ISP has stalled, despite a senior technician submitting a ticket for further investigation. It’s quite disheartening that performance tests show acceptable speeds when the network is idle; however, the moment any downloading, streaming, or uploading begins, the connection falters dramatically.

Occasional electrical wiring issues in the house had never impacted our internet services before