About ISP speeds

[TakumiFuji]

I have PeoplePc Dsl service and am confused I've tested my line speed 3 times and these are the results

Speed Test #78888457 by dslreports.com
Run: 2009-09-25 23:19:05 EST
Download: 2494 (Kbps)
Upload: 271 (Kbps)
In kilobytes per second: 304.4 down 33.1 up

Is this correct for 3000kbps down / 514 kbps up or am i still to slow it seems like could go faster because my average speeds on utorrent are 349k down / 55k up.

[chikorita157]

Kbps/Mbps and MB/s and Kb/s is different. For every 1 Mbps, you can get about 128 kb/s transfer rate. 8 kbps = 1 kb/s

KB/s = Kilobyes per second
KBPS = Kilobits per second

For example, if you have a 15 Mbps down and 2 Mbps connection, you can get a max of 1.86 Mb/s and 250 kb/s theoretically.

The point is, Kbps does NOT equal to Kb/s. If your connection is running too slow, I suggest getting a faster service like Cable or Fiber or lower your upload speeds.

This is the same exact explanation that I have explained in this post

Another thing is that with DSL, depending how far you are from the central office, the speeds can go down if you far away from the central office.

[Vexx]

DSL is also dependent on what telco equipment is between you and the telco's central office: in other words, how old is it? how many medium conversions are there (copper, fiber, etc).

Usually when I hear complaints about downloading... the user has a type of service in which (to be simplistic) the upload traffic crowds out the download traffic. They need to understand how to throttle their torrent uploading in their client. The other problem is that they often have a modem router that is underpowered to handle "too many connections". To a large extent, "you get what you pay for" in a router.

[chikorita157]

Originally Posted by Vexx

DSL is also dependent on what telco equipment is between you and the telco's central office: in other words, how old is it? how many medium conversions are there (copper, fiber, etc).

Usually when I hear complaints about downloading... the user has a type of service in which (to be simplistic) the upload traffic crowds out the download traffic. They need to understand how to throttle their torrent uploading in their client. The other problem is that they often have a modem router that is underpowered to handle "too many connections". To a large extent, "you get what you pay for" in a router.

This is a big problem with DSL. If you don't adjust the upload rates, the download rates go south. This is also the case with Cable when I was uploading a 100 MB Youtube Video, but the page only load a few seconds slower since it's a faster connection compared to DSL which makes the page load 2 minutes later if you are uploading something.

DSL is too slow for most type of things you do on the internet such as video streaming which takes alot of bandwidth. You will be waiting most of the time while the video is loading.

The DSL I used to use cost 29.99 a month for 1.5mbps down and 384 kbps up which is a big ripoff since you can get faster cable internet for $20 more (less if you on a Triple Play package and depending if you are subscribed to Family cable) for 15 mbps down and 2 mbps up (even at peak hours, I get around 8 mbps down and it's still faster than DSL, but non-peak hours, I got a high of 12 mbps down (what I tested so far). Upload speeds remained constant, 2 mbps up). If you can afford a extra 20 dollars, I suggest going for cable internet or fiber optics which can produce faster speeds than DSL. Companies like Verizon doesn't care about their DSL lines since they are more focused with fiber.

[Vexx]

The bad thing is that they are SELECTIVELY focused... much of the US market is left in limbo while the telcos cherry-pick their locations to upgrade to fiber.

I live less than 3 miles from a major cluster of Intel Corp. facilities but my Verizon land line might as well be third world... it won't even do dialup at faster than 26.4kbps (obsolete equipment tween me and the CO), and ISDN or DSL is not a possibility. The cable people also ignore our street because it is an "in-between" street (mostly agricultural next to an urban growth boundary).

Just in the last few months, I've now got two wireless options (a local provider I'm using and Clear Wimax just entered my area).... but most of the US still has little or no real access to the Internet (no, I don't really count satellite ISP with their draconian data transfer caps and 1200ms ping).

[Shadow Kira01]

Nothing strange.. Your speed is pretty good!

Mine is supposedly 7Mbps for downloads and don't remember what it is for uploads but..

My max speed based on Speedtest is actually 1.48Mbps for downloads and uploads is 0.52Mbps which is generally equal to a full download speed of 180kb/s. Even so, I am pretty satisfied. Of course, on some days... My download speed is only around 30kb/s but that happens to a lot of people using the same ISP.

Next week, I am going to upgrade the service to wireless 6Mbps, so I don't have to waste 200 bucks on getting a router. Hopefully, I don't have to wait a few weeks to get the wireless router. On a second thought, maybe I should just buy a wireless router instead. Wouldn't want to wait too long...

Update 1: I have decided to drop the plans for an upgrade as that I don't think it is possible to walk-in and pick up the wireless router. Instead, it will be a several days to weeks of waiting most likely. If I need internet access on my other laptop, all I got to do is unplug the ethernet cable and plug it into the other one. Pretty convenient..

[chikorita157]

Originally Posted by Vexx

The bad thing is that they are SELECTIVELY focused... much of the US market is left in limbo while the telcos cherry-pick their locations to upgrade to fiber.

I live less than 3 miles from a major cluster of Intel Corp. facilities but my Verizon land line might as well be third world... it won't even do dialup at faster than 26.4kbps (obsolete equipment tween me and the CO), and ISDN or DSL is not a possibility. The cable people also ignore our street because it is an "in-between" street (mostly agricultural next to an urban growth boundary).

Just in the last few months, I've now got two wireless options (a local provider I'm using and Clear Wimax just entered my area).... but most of the US still has little or no real access to the Internet (no, I don't really count satellite ISP with their draconian data transfer caps and 1200ms ping).

Yes, that's a big problem since Verizon have FiOS in the town I'm living in, but they said they will never put FiOS in the neighborhood since they would need to burry the wires on the ground which can be too costly to them and Verizon doesn't care about the copper lines anymore and we get charged too much for having the landline that we got rid of it. I'm happy that Cablevision doesn't cap or traffic shape their connection like most cable providers do.

Hughesnet is the worst Satellite ISP ever... well Satellite ISPs are the worst, unless you have no choice. The main problem people complain about Hughesnet is the draconian policy of capping your internet to 200 MB (or more depending on your package) in which they slow you down below dialup speeds and they are often expensive. It's better off just getting 3G or EVDO broadband plan since they are cheaper than Satellite internet, but they still have 5GB caps and depending on your coverage can effect your speeds.

I hope US government do something about deploying broadband, especially in rural areas (such as the midwest) or you are stuck with dialup or sucky and expensive satellite

Shadow Kara01: Here is my speeds I get during peak hours:


Comparing to my old ISP:


I also have the ability to tether my iPhone (with a jailbreak and profile) to my Mac and use AT&T's 3G connection which gives me 1.5 mbps transfer rate max (if in a good area), but I rarely use it.

[Sophie]

A lot of great answers here. But please don't forget that you can call your ISP if you're unsure what kind of speed you have. They should be able to give you the best answer as possible.

The speed however will always change and depends on your general computer usage. If you do a lot things at once, it will wear out your connection and you won't be able to yield your connection speed as good as you can.