CenturyLink Fiber Latency Issues (Seattle, WA)

Tue Nov 2 01:43:44 UTC 2021

Hi NANOG Mailing List,

I don't know if any of you work at CenturyLink/Lumen, very less on their 
Fiber network in Seattle, WA. However, here's my story.

If I attempt to run certain applications that use 1000, or 10000 TCP 
connections, I get latency spikes. It is based on how many connections, 
but also how much bandwidth is used. This means certain things like Tor 
relays are off limits to me (which I wish to run).

On an idle connection, the PingPlotter outputs look like this: 
https://centurylinklatencyissues.com/image-000.png

If I attempt to run BitTorrent with 1000 connections in Deluge, 
PingPlotter looks like this: 
https://centurylinklatencyissues.com/image-002.png

Getting support, or even executive contacts to admit the issue hasn't 
worked. They all love to blame my equipment or applications, when CL 
routers also show the issue when I run the same things whereas my same 
exact OPNsense box on Google Fiber Webpass running Tor at another 
address had no issues whatsoever, and I can ping other Tor relays on 
CenturyLink AS209 just fine (from a VPS).

The most competent person I dealt with was actually one tech. He told me 
there was "capacity issues" in our neighborhood, and that's the reason 
for the issues. However, nothing was done about it afterwards, I'm 
guessing since I turned off my Tor relay after the visit to avoid 
complaints from family members.

On an AT&T forum, people have said GPON gives latency spikes/packet loss 
on congestion: 
https://www.dslreports.com/forum/r33242889-How-rare-is-GPON-XGSPON-saturation

The capacity managers in Seattle are literally dragging their feet: it's 
100x worse than AT&T's 802.1X. I know AT&T and CenturyLink don't 
compete, but if I had to choose between AT&T Fiber and CenturyLink, I'll 
take AT&T in a heartbeat, no ifs, no buts, even if I have to use AT&T's 
crappy router instead of my OPNsense box.

Going back, do any of you who work at CenturyLink/Lumen can get me to 
the right people, hopefully the capacity managers in Seattle?

I could go with Comcast, but it's either (a) 35 Mbps uploads or (b) 
$329/mo for "Gigabit Pro" with a 2-year contract and a steep install 
fee. I am seriously considering Gigabit Pro even if it breaks the bank, 
but hope I won't have to go there.

I don't need 2 Gbps and would rather pay $65 than $329. 300-500 Mbps 
uploads when I need it is the sweet spot for me (even without Tor) which 
CL GPON should easily handle without a sweat. I also don't exactly 
**trust** Comcast, they're a horrible company in many metrics, but in 
some ways Comcast is more competent than CenturyLink.

Best,

Neel Chauhan