Internet Speed Queries...

[Bmw]

Hey,

 

Well I've been looking a lot into internet speeds lately, and have a few questions I'm hoping someone can answer for me.

 

 

 

What EXACTLY does it mean to have say...a 3mbps connection? The package that I'm on with Rogers (ISP) says my modem is configured to give me up to 3mbps, and 384kbps down. I know it's megabits per second, and I know that 3mbps = 0.375MBps, correct? But what does that mean exactly? When I download off the internet, I usually get 200 - 500KBps, sometimes even up to 1MBps! So what's the 0.375MBps about? :?

 

 

 

Also, when I download from, say, torrent sites my speeds are incredibly slow, not because there are a low amount of seeds, just because..well, I dunno why actually.

 

 

 

If I were to 'upgrade' to a 6mbps modem, what would that mean for my downloading speeds?

 

 

 

Finally, what about you guys? What kind of downloading speeds do you get, and what type of package are you on? Apparently North American internet services are really weak, seeing as the max mainstream you can get for a half decent price is 6mbps @ $50CAD/mo. In Japan and other countries, speeds range upwards from 10mbps for as little as $20 USD/mo.

 

 

 

What does it all mean for download speeds?! That's all I really want to know :x

 

 

 

Thanks,

 

 

 

Bmw

[wooden_fire]

Find out what speed your internet is meant to be from your isp, this will give you an idea what modem you should get.

 

 

 

Torrents are generally slow because the 'seeds' are people with an ADSL connection which means that the upload speed is a lot lower than the download speedbecause most people are downloading stuff at home rather than uploading. Servers on the internet however use SSDL which means the upload and download speed are equal, it can upload at decent speed and so it seems fast.

 

 

 

And in answer to the last question im in england and get downloads speeds of 8Mbps but not a lot of servers output at this speed :(

[Vape]

Note the difference between bits and bytes please.

 

 

 

The abbreviation for byte is "B", the abreviation for bit is "b"

 

 

 

There are 8 bits in a byte.

 

 

 

Thus 1 Mbps is actually equal to 0.125 MBps, which is 125 KBps.

 

 

 

Hopefully that helps you to understand a bit more about your download speeds.

 

 

 

Also note that some ISP's have things like "max 1Mbps" which in actual fact are far slower when the system is under high load (during the day when lots of people are using it.)

 

 

 

Torrent speeds can vary greatly depending on the number of people seeding. Also, some firewalls or ISPs can cause it to be slow. Consult the help documentation of your torrent client.

 

 

 

Here in Australia, I get 256kbps downstream and 64kbps upstream for $60 AUD per month = $45.45 USD. Don't complain to me about download speeds :P

[Bmw]

Heh thanks for replying, but everything you said in your post I mentioned I already knew in the topic :wink: I understand the bit and byte difference and all of that, and after some research I finally found most of my answers. However, 1 thing remains unclear...if my ISP provides 3mbps download speed, why is it that sometimes I can (rarely..only once actually) get 1MBps?! It's happened once...usually even around 500 - 700KBps! I thought my max was supposed to be 3mbps??? 500KBps is much greater...

 

 

 

 

 

Also while researching, I found out that Japan internet users only pay $19USD for 10mbps!!! And only $90 USD for 1gbps! Insane!!! I've gotta move to Japan! :lol: :shock:

[Vape]

Maybe they're just stupid.. or maybe it's average 3mbps or something. Don't complain, just keep quiet 8-)

[Anesthesia]

Do you only get over the expected speed at the start of a download?

 

 

 

I have always noticed unexpected speeds when I'm starting a download, I think it's because it starts the downloading whilst I'm still choosing where to save the file and then reports the average speed as a bit too high because it only starts considering how much of the file we already have when I have finished choosing where to stick it.

 

 

 

If you know what I mean.

[Vape]

Do you only get over the expected speed at the start of a download?

 

 

 

I have always noticed unexpected speeds when I'm starting a download, I think it's because it starts the downloading whilst I'm still choosing where to save the file and then reports the average speed as a bit too high because it only starts considering how much of the file we already have when I have finished choosing where to stick it.

 

 

 

If you know what I mean.

That's a known Firefox/mozilla bug. Can't be bothered finding it. Might be different for other apps though.

[Anesthesia]

And he might be using firefox/mozilla in which case it would answer his query. I seem to remember it happening in IE as well; though I haven't used that for a couple of versions.

[Bmw]

Apparently my ISP secretly bumped my download speeds up from 3mbps to 5mbps, same price! :P

 

So that's why I've been getting such grrrreat speeds lately!

[Anesthesia]

Haha that's excellent, the same happened to me a while back; I was getting double what I should have been non-stop and so I phoned up only to be told we'd had a free upgrade.