I'm on a package for around 12mbps, which used to work out fine for me, but now I've been having problems streaming YouTube videos (even on SD quality) and playing COD: BO2 at the same time for the past month or so. I checked the bit rate while the two were on simultaneously and I was getting 9.28 mbps download and 2.39 upload on speedtest.net. Do I really need to upgrade to a 25mbps package (extra $20 a month), or is there something wrong with my connection?

Are you using wifi? You could try to change the channel.. When a lot of people in the neighbourhood use the same wifi channel it can drop the quality

Yes I'm on wifi. I'll try doing that.

I have this exact problem, and, having looked itnto it, sorry it's unfixable. It happens when both me and my brother do something on the same connection, like playing a game and watching a video. Both of our pings spike to like 300ms from 30ms which make games unplayable.

Connections from two sources can cause a problem in the "network buffer" on the ISP end if it's too small, and it's not a value you can persuade them to change (let alone get across to a level 1 tech support person). It's nothing to do with the connection speed.

Run this while watching a video:

http://netalyzr.icsi.berkeley.edu/

and tell me what flags up.

I paid for 3Mbps from Verizon and got 700kbps download and 200kbps upload.

Not to mention all the technical issues and other nuisances that came with the service.

I will, thanks. The strange thing is my ping is still reasonable, like around 40ms or 50ms tops. I had a similar problem 6 months ago, and he somehow boosted my signal to where it fixed the problem. Cable guy is coming on Tuesday, so I hope he fixes it again.

Have you tried a wired connection? You can get powerline adapters that negate the need to drill holes in things.