Suddenly last week my Internet speed on www.SpeedTest.net went to 0.14 mbps, consistently up and down.

Supposed to get 3 mbps up. So was getting 1/20.

Suspected a change to their system, since all my computers had the same problem and tried with different routers and a direct connection to the cable modem.

The cable guy came out and looked at my 10 year old cable modem and said he had the exact problem with his modem and he had the same speed.

Cox made a firmware upgrade to all the modems. They must have made some change on the protocol which these older modems did not support. They probably fell back to a level that was supporte at both ends, some old, extremely slow protocol.

The old modem was from Cox. Since I was an early adopter, they gave the modems away.

Now 10 years later, I thought I would have to buy a new modem. The Cox guy said they could sell me a new modem at a discount from the store. I checked and it was about $20 or $30 cheaper.

But, he got a text message from his manager to give me the new modem for free. Last year Cox had put an ad in the paper asking people to replace these modems for free. Cox new the upgrade was coming.

Did a few speed tests. The slowest download speed was 16 mbps. The latest test was 28 mbps. Upload speeds 4 mpbps to 5.5 mbps. That is fast.

The new modem is a Motorola SB5101U.

Do not know why I am getting such phenomenal speeds. The Cox guy tested the transmission on the line coming into my house and said the numbers were perfect.

If you want super fast Cox Internet and you are not getting it, try upgrading your modem.

By Andrew Weitzen (c) 2010

Weitzen is the publisher of several online Internet journals including: InternetHandholding.com, DomainNames.gs, DotNetNuke.bz, Programmer.bz, Software.vg, WebHosting.vg