Confusion about DSL speeds.....

[nevyn]

Hi, I've been floating around on here for a little bit, but finally decided to register and put my question out for you all - I'm too curious to leave it alone.........

I've got Verizon DSL, the 3 Mb plan. My DSL Router (Versalink 327w) reports my line connection as 3360 by 832 kbps down/up. As far as I was concerned, this meant to me that I could download at 336 kB/sec, and upload around 83 kB/sec.

When I run speed tests at any site (here, dslreports, bandwidthplace, etc) I always get about the same numbers - 330 kB/sec down, and 80 kB/sec up.

:::.. Download Stats ..:::

Download Connection is:: 2910 Kbps about 2.9 Mbps (tested with 2992 kB)

Download Speed is:: 355 kB/s

Tested From:: https://testmy.net/ (Server 1)

Test Time:: 2006/12/22 - 2:42am

Bottom Line:: 51X faster than 56K 1MB Download in 2.88 sec

Tested from a 2992 kB file and took 8.422 seconds to complete

Download Diagnosis:: May need help : running at only 46.53 % of your hosts average (verizon.net)

D-Validation Link:: https://testmy.net/stats/id-8YJXMD5ZP

User Agent:: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.8.1.1) Gecko/20061204 Firefox/2.0.0.1 [!]

:::.. Upload Stats ..:::

Upload Connection is:: 665 Kbps about 0.7 Mbps (tested with 1496 kB)

Upload Speed is:: 81 kB/s

Tested From:: https://testmy.net/ (Server 1)

Test Time:: 2006/12/22 - 2:43am

Bottom Line:: 12X faster than 56K 1MB Upload in 12.64 sec

Tested from a 1496 kB file and took 18.438 seconds to complete

Upload Diagnosis:: May need help : running at only 79.17 % of your hosts average (verizon.net)

U-Validation Link:: https://testmy.net/stats/id-28XO4Y05Z

User Agent:: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.8.1.1) Gecko/20061204 Firefox/2.0.0.1 [!]

Why is it not reporting something closer to the 3360 by 832?  If my connection is 3360 by 832, what speed should I be able to download and upload at?

[FiberOptic]

You could try testing with a larger file?

[FiberOptic]

Deleted! Have you tried tweaking?

[nevyn]

I installed Cablenut and used a custom file I made from the link in one "Performance Tuning" thread, but it made no difference at all. I know my PC is fine; I just re-installed windows for various other reasons too - so there is definitely nothing cluttering up that.

Athlon 64 3000+ Venice E6 stepping

2x512 MB DDR400 RAM in Dual-Channel

ECS KN1 Extreme v. 1.0 motherboard

I'm running to the 327w on the 10/100 ethernet port, it's a Realtek 8139.

[FiberOptic]

Could you try a larger file size? Maybe a 5mb or 10mb?

[nevyn]

The largest file size it shows for me is the 2992.....where do I manually set a file size?

[FiberOptic]

Try this test; http://www.testmy.net/dl-12160

[ceddy_5]

Hi, I have some experience with Verizon DSL and have worked for cable internet support, so hopefully this helps...  The plan you have allows you to download around 3000 Kbps and 660 Kbps -upload speed is always slower than download speed, though broadband providers never advertise this.  Your average is exactly what I was getting when I had Verizon 1 year ago..  This means in simpler terms your download speed is 3 Megs and upload speed around 768 K (which is a pretty good ratio, cable broadband usually only get 256K usually).  Another thing is that the reason the test you posted says that your speed is about half the average of the host's average is because most broadband providers are now coming out 6 Meg and 10 Meg packages (upload usually varies from provider, from 256K to 1 Mb), and are getting more popular now.

If you were able to download at 832Kbs, that would likely mean you had a 10 Meg package, because it is very hard to get an accurate reading on that speed because it is so fast..  I have also noticed that if you use USB, windows wll tell you how fast the connection is between the modem and the computer, not between the computer and the internet..  This should mean that your modem is capable of a 10 Meg package, but my advice is to keep what you have, unless you have to have that much speed for some reason..  Hope this helps out a lot of people...

[loki123]

what you ask is pretty common.

1Mb = 1 MegaBIT

1MB = 1 MegaByte

these are NOT the same, so if the service says 3Mb/768Kb you are supose to have that speed in the download (arround 300KB/s dl and 85KB/s upload).

I have to go now, so I cant explain in dept, but you are getting what you are paying for.

[nevyn]

If the numbers I"m getting as actual download and upload speeds are correct, though, why does a bandwidth test only read me as 2.9 megabit? If 3360 is supposed to be 330 kB/sec, and that is what I'm getting, shouldn't the bandwidth test match?

[MYRIAGON]

If you take the Kb amount and divide it by 8.192 that will give you the actual KB amount.

Also I have found it is very rare for DSL connections to be right at the cap, there are too many things that can cause a slower than advertised speed, distance from the CO being the most common problem, the farther away from the CO the worse the speed is.

Your speed as reported here is actually very good and close to cap.

Hope this helps....

MYRIAGON.....

[dlewis23]

If the numbers I"m getting as actual download and upload speeds are correct, though, why does a bandwidth test only read me as 2.9 megabit? If 3360 is supposed to be 330 kB/sec, and that is what I'm getting, shouldn't the bandwidth test match?

because bandwidth is different then actual download speed.

[nevyn]

Yes, that I understand, but if the download speeds reported match my actual download speeds, then should the reported bandwidth match the actual bandwidth?

[MYRIAGON]

If the numbers I"m getting as actual download and upload speeds are correct, though, why does a bandwidth test only read me as 2.9 megabit? If 3360 is supposed to be 330 kB/sec, and that is what I'm getting, shouldn't the bandwidth test match?

3360Kb is not 330KB it is more like 410KB

I have 1.5 Mbps DSL and my modem reports something like 1566 but in actuality the best I get anywhere is about 1350Kb and when I download a file from a good website I get around 165KB/s

Maybe I just don't get what you are trying to figure out.

Again, I hope this helps.

If not I'll shutup.....

[Xybirium]

Yes, that I understand, but if the download speeds reported match my actual download speeds, then should the reported bandwidth match the actual bandwidth?

Your download speeds are actually very good.  Where I come from, if we get above 70% of our subscribed speed, we have no cause for complaint.

2910/3360=86.6% is so much better than what we have here.

It is very rare for you get 100% of your subscribed speed.

PS - Either we misunderstand what you are trying to say OR you still don't understand what we are saying.

[ceddy_5]

hi again, I think we are all close to the same page on this topic, but I think I understand where are getting hung up...  I did a little more research on this topic for you, and I also checked on your Verizon equipment (Versalink 327w) on the website..  I have set one of these up before and are familiar with it...  Hopefully this helps.

This is the actual definition of bandwith quoted from a dictionary website...

(1) A range within a band of frequencies or wavelengths.

(2) The amount of data that can be transmitted in a fixed amount of time. For digital devices, the bandwidth is usually expressed in bits per second(bps) or bytes per second.

Basically, the key word is "range", which means whenever testing your speed on any test website, you are almost always going to get a different number...  the reason it is helpful to test with a larger file size is so some of the factors such as web traffic and loss of signal at times are eliminated more.  When you start to download large files for example, you will notice the speed is very fast at first, then will slow down and stabilize...

Also, most notice when you use a router, the computer directly connected through your Versalink will always get the faster speed, and you will get different speed depending how many people are using Verizon DSL in your area at that time..  Sometimes you will get a little more than 3 meg download speed if everything is perfect, but not often..

This is a great question that I think everyone has on their mind when they visit this great web site,  thanks for asking!

happy holidays! 

[nevyn]

I think it's a little of both    I'll try to break it down to a simple question, don't know how well it will work:

Why do the speeds reported for downloading and uploading on the bandwidth test match my actual download and upload speeds, but the connection rate numbers do not?  Are my actual download/upload speeds lower than they should be for my connection rate, or is the connection rate reported by the test wrong?  If so, why?