Bandwidth issues in the Sprint network

Mon Apr 7 21:24:17 UTC 2008

--- braaen at zcorum.com wrote:

I am currently having problems get upload bandwidth on a Sprint circuit. I am 
using a full OC3 circuit.  I am doing fine on downloading data, but uploading 
data I can only get about 5Mbps with ftp or a speedtest.  I have tested 
against multiple networks and this has stayed the same.  Monitoring Cacti 
graphs and the router I do get about 30Mbps total traffic outbound, but 
individual (flows/ip?) test always seem limited.  I would like to know if 
anyone else sees anything similar, or where I can get help.  The assistance I 
have gotten from Sprint up to this point is that they find no problems.  Due 
to the consistency of 5Mbps I am suspecting rate limiting, but wanted to know 
if I was overlooking something else.
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I would not use one FTP session to test bandwidth.  The rate limiting may be in the FTP software or other area of the computer.  Likewise, Speedtest servers (in my opinion) are more marketing tools than testing tools.  Try several similarly configured (but separate boxes) FTP servers simultaneously.  If you see it go up by a factor of three you've found the issue.

I have had to push my four OC-12s to Sprint to the max at times and get full BW.  That's in Hawaii, but I imagine it's the same as other areas.

scott