Internet

Symptoms

Customer is able to get on line, but has slow download speeds. Web pages open slowly, and the customer has a slow transfer rate when downloading a file.

Cause

Most computers are designed to handle Cox High Speed Internet Preferred and Premier speeds. However, some older models have Network Interface Cards (NIC) that are unable to transfer the higher throughput.

USB connections are frequently used for peripheral devices such as keyboard, mouse, scanner, and printer. Everything using USB shares the same bandwidth, causing a competition for speed.

Solution

For the best experience, use an Ethernet connection, not USB, to connect a single PC to Cox High Speed Internet service. This will improve both Internet speed and the performance of peripheral devices.
Ethernet is the connection that looks like a large telephone cord, because it has a wider plug and eight wires in the cable instead of four. Ethernet is the most standard way of networking computers, especially in office environments.

There are several versions of Ethernet, the most common in a home environment being 10 Base T and 100 Base T. 10 Base T has a maximum bandwidth of 10 MBPS and 100 Base T has 100 MBPS of bandwidth. (100 Base T has sometimes been called "Fast Ethernet".)