Sonic.net

I have 25Mb service at the moment. DSLReports speed tests reports 23MB down (pretty okay) but something like 1.5 - 2.5 MB up (meh). So is there a way to make the connections a little more symmetrical? With 4 adults in the house we could use more bandwidth but fiber to the house is not available.

Is the 50MB service about 5MB up?

Hi Sonic, how about telling us the numbers for the available services?

Thanks!

(I'm using hard wired connections for the speed tests and not WiFi just to head off the obvious questions)

Hello,

The service you are on is provisioned for 20Mbps down and 1Mbps up so you are definitely getting the full speed with the service we installed there. The download number on these types of circuits are always larger than the upload because most everything you do online is download. The upload stream is only for sending your requests out to the internet so that never needs too much bandwidth. This year is different however since many of our customers are working from home and most are using video conference software ie zoom or skype, Microsoft Teams etc. When using video conference software, it uses considerably more upload bandwidth than ANYTHING else you can do. I believe Zoom posted a "minimum upload requirement" of at least 2Mbps for smooth operation of video calls for one person. If you have multiple people using zoom at once, you may definitely experience a "bottle neck". There is an upgrade in your area though that would provide you with 50Mbps down and 6Mbps up which would increase your upload capacity by 6X. You would definitely see better performance on this service. For the time being the only symmetrical service we offer is our Fiber service which is 1,000Mbps up AND down. Once that comes to your area we'll definitely inform you so you can make the switch when it happens. I hope this information helps. If you would like to sign up for this upgraded service or know more details about it please call our support center @ 707-547-3400. Have a great day!


Kind Regards,

Jeff M.

Thanks Jeff!

I don't think that we will ever see FTTH in my area. I'll look into the expanded service. I understand the typical usage model, but it doesn't fit everyone even before the current situation.

With the speed you quote, it seems your service is VDSL.

There should be a way to enable "Annex M", which will lower your down speed but will increase your up speed.
Call 611 and ask about it. I think it needs to be turned on both on your modem and at the other end.

The other option would be to get two circuits (2 bonded lines) to double up and down. I think the cost is $20 extra per month if available.

If you use zoom, you can see how much bandwidth is being used for voice and video in each direction. I found that zoom can work even if fairly low bandwidth.

-Francois

Unfortunately, we are not able to switch the line to Annex M on our IP Broadband services, which run through AT&T's infrastructure and IP network, so we wouldn't be able to that in this case. This is a Fiber to the Node service, so the 20mbps download and 1mbps the full speed possible for us to provide. If you do need more upload bandwidth, the upgrade to 50mbps download and 6mbps is going to be the most bandwidth we can offer until FTTH becomes available.

I don't see any plans for Sonic's Fiber expanding to that area yet, however we also can resell AT&T's FTTH as well and they might reach you before we do. So if AT&T updates the infrastructure in your area to FTTH before Sonic does, we will be able to upgrade your service to the full symmetric gigabit as well.

If you want to try the 50mbps/6mbps upgrade to see if it helps in the meantime, please let us know and we can get the process started on that.

Regards,

So anyway, I put in an order this week. It was installed today. I'm seeing about 30-40 down and about 5 up. Pretty good.

My modem needed to be changed. I know that I am receiving a new ATA but the old one is still working. The installer (Sean? from AT&T) even helped to make sure that my vaguely funky phone setup was working before he left.

The modem is about twice the size of the last one and does not include as many lights on the front. There is only power, internet and phone, and the phone is dark. Meh! I already miss the blinking lights.

Hello,

The phone light on the RG is not actually used by us. Some other ISPs may use their phone service through the phone ports but due to this being an "all digital" line the ATA is needed. The old ATA will absolutely work for about 30 days after the new ATA is mailed out. After 30 days the old one will no longer work which is why you'll want to swap out the old one for the new one as soon as you can. It's true that they have reduced the amount of indicator lights on the new RGs but all the basics are still there and we can determine what any issues would be later on by referencing those. I hope all is working out and sorry for the delay in our response. Have a good day!


Kind Regards,

Jeff M.