16 replies to this topic

[DavidGArce1337]

Pretty much what the tittle states. I'm just slightly frustrated with my internet speed at the moment, rightly so, some pages take quite a few seconds, like 10 to 15 seconds on best case scenario, to open up, making surfing around "gamedev" and "gamasutra" painfull to look around in. Ofcourse, other sites are the same. But these are the worst. I am NOT judging the sites, more like, my speed.

So here I go to Speedtest.net to check it up. I'm paying for a 1Mb DSL connection, I know, It sucks...But, the download and upload speeds are...unexpectively low for me. I am getting .24Mbps on Downloads and .25Mbps on Upload. Is this correct? Seems like I am getting 25% of what its rated as! I can't get Cable here, maybe a better package, maybe. But 25%?

When I download stuff, my highest speeds are usually around the 28-38KBps area with some jumps to the 40's rarely and for small instants.

Need some help =/

[shuma-gorath]

I don't know about you, but I live on the east coast of the U.S., and though I wasn't really affected by Sandy, my ISP (Verizon) had said that some of their equipment along the coast had been damaged. I know last week, my connection speeds were horrible and I couldn't get a stable connection. Everything's back to normal for me now, though. Maybe it's because the packets had to go through more hops, or something.

Edited by shuma-gorath, 10 November 2012 - 10:15 AM.

[DavidGArce1337]

Oh...should of specified that its been like that since I got it. Its just that now I am wondering if its supposed to be 25% or so of what its rated as.
I have "Claro" which I think its Verizon but for Puerto Rico, since I have never seen Verizon here and they have that 50Mb fiber dsl connection offer just like Verizon does in the States.

So, the question is, Is .24 or so Mbps, 25% of the rated speed, normal for a 1Mb rated network speed connection? Is there something wrong with my "lines" or "service"?

[shuma-gorath]

I see. Well, my DSL is rated at "1.2 - 3 Mbps" and I'm getting 2.5 right now. Days after the storm, I was getting around 0.5 Mbps, which is around 25%.

So, yeah, I'd say that figure sounds low.

Edited by shuma-gorath, 10 November 2012 - 11:13 AM.

[Waterlimon]

Do you get the same results with other speed.net servers too?

[DavidGArce1337]

Do you get the same results with other speed.net servers too?

Every server gives the same(pretty much the same) results. Except the pings, if its on a server hosted by other companies...those multiply by 3,4 and even 5 times, even when they are closer than some of my providers servers. I found that weird.

[samoth]

speedtest.net tells me that the "best possible ping" to a server somewhere in Belgium is 41 ms. It also tells me that the measured download speed is 11.2 Mbit/s and upload is 0.7 Mbit/s.

Normal ping times to pretty much every no-crap server within the EU are between 20 and 23 ms for me. I am regularly getting 1.4-1.45 Mbit/s 1.1-1.3 Mbit/s respectively on pretty much every no-crap server in the world.

Conclusion: speedtest.net is maybe not the most accurate thing to use. It might just be that their servers aren't located in the best datacenters.

[Servant of the Lord]

So here I go to Speedtest.net to check it up. I'm paying for a 1Mb DSL connection, I know, It sucks...But, the download and upload speeds are...unexpectively low for me. I am getting .24Mbps on Downloads and .25Mbps on Upload. Is this correct? Seems like I am getting 25% of what its rated as! I can't get Cable here, maybe a better package, maybe. But 25%?

I'd rather have sole usage of a 1MB connection, then share a 6MB connection with four other people who constantly try to stream video or play online games at the exact same time.

Currently, I'm getting by fine with a 3MB connection shared between three continuous users, with one always streaming video.

Look at your bill, see what price it's claiming you get, then contact your provider, ask them to check your connection out. Be polite and courteous, otherwise you'll just get, "Sir, internet access is not a guarantee." Then what am I paying you for?
Also, check out other providers in your area (but be warned of possible one-time installation fees if switching - sometimes pretty high).
What do your neighbors use, and what speeds do they get on Speedtest.net?

In the United States, upload speeds are always way less than download speeds (because people consume more than they produce). I think I get 3.0mb down, 0.5mb up.
Your company might be doing something sneaky (so read the bill, and read their website), where 1mb is not 1mb download, but the total of the download and upload combined. Even so, you should still be getting about 0.6mb upload on average, unless A) they are lying, B) something is wrong on their side, or C) something is wrong on your side.

[Shippou]

Your ISP, the ISP of the "page" your looking at - the embedded coding the "page" uses - the ads - your browser - your router .... all of these things affect page loading times.

I am happy with my 500/100 KBS I have right now, loads "pages" quite fast.

[amrazek111]

OP: Something funny is going on with your connection. Try diagnosing where the problem might be with something like PingPlotter and then contacting your ISP. Just to be clear though, your connection speed is rated at "1 Megabit/1 Mbps" (max expected download speed = 125 kbps) and not "1 Megabyte/1 MBps" right? Most ISPs use Mbps to measure their speed to make it a tiny bit more confusing for consumers.

Currently, I'm getting by fine with a 3MB connection shared between three continuous users, with one always streaming video.

Assuming you mean Megabyte, you're actually on a 24+ Mbps connection. That's 100 times faster than what the OP is getting currently

Edited by amrazek111, 10 November 2012 - 04:48 PM.

[Servant of the Lord]

No, I meant Mbps, my mistake. 3.0Mbps down, 1.5Mbps up.

[mhagain]

Any network connection is a chain that's only as strong as it's weakest link, so in a connection between two nodes, the greatest speed you're going to get is the slowest of your speed, the remote node's speed and the speeds of any intervening devices.

Ping times don't measure bandwidth; they measure latency. It's possible to have good bandwidth but high latency (I've 20mbps but typically 300ms latency for example, which is great for streaming or downloading but sucks for anything that does a high volume of small packets) or vice-versa.

So basically a 1mbps connection can only ever guarantee you 1mbps between you and your ISP, and your bandwidth may be dropping off at any other point beyond that.

[amrazek111]

No, I meant Mbps, my mistake. 3.0Mbps down, 1.5Mbps up.

I'm impressed, then. I guess you're not too bandwidth intensive. I've got 30 down and it's barely enough to cover three HD streams + gaming

[Servant of the Lord]

Meh, mostly GameDev + YouTube + Netflix, and downloading games on Steam. I live a sucky distance from any good gaming servers (I'm in the midwest), but can still play Modern Warfare 3 fine, and am preloading Black Ops 2. Large files take time, and pre-loading takes time, but videos stream fine and Netflix streams real-time and looks good on a HDTV.

[Hodgman]

I'm paying for a 1Mb DSL connection

Do you know how far away from the nearest telephone exchange you are?
DSL only provides you with the maximum quoted speed if you're within about 1KM of the exchange, otherwise signal loss/noise on the copper cables degrades performance by a lot. If you've got a router with a diagnostics page, you should be able to see what the attenuation and noise on the line are (measured in decibels). If these values are too high, then the problem may be that your telephone infrastructure isn't up to scratch.
In any case, 25% of the quoted speed is pretty disappointing - I'd bring it up with your ISP and see if there's any diagnostics they can run on the line.

[tstrimple]

Bandwidth porn thread! I <3 Fios.



I should be getting 25/25, but I'm downloading a game on Xbox currently.

[samoth]

I'm paying for a 1Mb DSL connection

Do you know how far away from the nearest telephone exchange you are?

+1 That's a valid point (well, lounge, no +1).

Though I believe that 1km is quite pessimistic, but in the end of course all depends on the line attenuation, which might just be a cheap cable, too... impossible to tell for us (but, at least here, every ISP will measure that for free, if you have such a complaint).
You typically get around 6-9Mbit/s at that distance here over antique ADLS/POTS, and at only 1Mbit/s, it's more like 5km. Double or triple that range when using something like G.992.3 Annex L (at ~15x-20x bandwidth, depending on how much you want to pay).

Edited by samoth, 11 November 2012 - 06:21 AM.