What speeds are you getting with broadband?

[Chris Blount]

This is mainly for broadband users. I'm wondering what kind of speed you get using this speed test:

http://www.dslreports.com/stest

I get 1952 kbs download (which equates to 238 KB/sec) and 367 kbs upload. This is from a Time Warner cable modem. My rating is considered "insane". I have to admit it's quite fast but I'm wondering how it compares to others. Thanks

[gcutler]

I was getting 1256kbs via DSL but lately it has been below 1024 for sure.

[n0qcu]

Thats better than mine.

2003-01-11 20:44:37 EST: 1443 / 76
Your download speed : 1443921 bps, or 1443 kbps.
A 176.2 KB/sec transfer rate.
Your upload speed : 76089 bps, or 76 kbps.

[MarkA]

I'll tell ya'll later this week. The ADSL service I'm getting is rater at 512kbps, so I'm 99% sure I won't get above 512!

[James_F]

My cox cable modem is getting 2953 kbps!

:D

[Richard King]

Starband gives me a typical of about 500-600 (sometimes over 900, rarely below 400) down and 25-65 up. Slow up, but not bad down if you have no other access to BB.

[MarkA]

BTW, just for fun, I tested my modem (56k down, 33.6k up, theoretical max) and got the following result (and I tried several times with both servers and got similar results): 7k down, 95k up. For some reason, I don't really trust that test :)

[James_F]

I doubt it works accurately without a broadband connection.

[Five Hole]

2003-01-12 01:33:09 EST: 1730 / 267
Your download speed : 1730807 bps, or 1730 kbps.
A 211.2 KB/sec transfer rate.
Your upload speed : 267916 bps, or 267 kbps.


This is through AT&T Broadband.

[MarkA]

"I doubt it works accurately without a broadband connection."

It shouldn't be any different! An Internet connection is an Internet connection! It should just be measuring data transfer. And also, ya'll look like you're getting speeds that don't seem RIGHT.

[Chris Blount]

Originally posted by Zac
It shouldn't be any different! An Internet connection is an Internet connection! It should just be measuring data transfer. And also, ya'll look like you're getting speeds that don't seem RIGHT. Zac, quite saying things you don't know anything about. First of all you don't even have a broadband connection so how can you possibly know what we should be getting and that whether or not this test is accurate. Second, results that I am getting are right in line with what I should be getting according to my provider. And third, all upstream and downstream speeds can also be affected by your individual setup, operating system and throughput settings. It is very possible that your upload at 95K is accurate if your compression levels are running like they should.

[James_F]

Originally posted by Zac
"I doubt it works accurately without a broadband connection."

It shouldn't be any different! An Internet connection is an Internet connection! It should just be measuring data transfer. And also, ya'll look like you're getting speeds that don't seem RIGHT.

Zac, I'm getting what Cox is saying I should. At least 2500k download and 256k uploads. Why would you say somthing like that?

[Wedgecon]

Well currently I am getting

736 kbps Download
125 kbps Upload

I am on the lowest tier with Charter

Like all cable modems my speed varies greatly depending on how many of my neighbors are on line.

Cable Modems can be screamers if no one else is on your local loop. I live near a small college so all of the kids there tend to hog my bandwidth and are always trying to play hacker.

[Keith4USC]

I'm getting this with Time Warner (Road Runner)


2525 kbps Download
360 kbps Upload

[Mark Lamutt]

With ATT broadband in Denver, I'm getting 1346 kbps down and 147 kbps up.

[Mike123abc]

My results 776 down 1296 up, I know it looks backwards, but my connection is 2mbit both ways, but it is shared with others, so I am getting less of the download bandwith. If I run it in the middle of the night I have gotten 1400/1400 which I suspect is the T1 limit somewhere along the ways.

I have a wireless connection. I use a 802.11b antenna mast mounted (it is about 2' long, 40' high, 10' above roof line on 2 story house) pointed at a tower on a 12 story building about 3 miles away. I have 11mbit connection but the ISP speed governs down to 2mbit/sec. This feeds into my ISP (also via wireless). It is like a cell system set up around town. The have multiple towers scattered around town. They claim 11mbit/sec for 15 mile radius and 5 mbit/sec for 30 mile radius, you of course have to pay more for faster service.

DSL and now Cable modem has finally arrived to my neighborhood, I will probably switch soon though because even though this system has been very reliable and very fast, it costs $90/month!!! I keep going back and forth... most of a T1 to myself or lower cost....

[toddjb]

Comcast Cable Modem

1528/121

[someral001]

My Results via TIME WARNER hawaii.rr.com:
download @ 1054
upload @ 407

Retested 10 minutes later and got this result:
download @ 1230
upload @ 317

Waited another 10 minutes and got this result:
download @ 1257
upload @ 366

Different results at different times, but Im satisfied with my
download speed...besides, websites load much quicker now
than when I had dial-up with my 56k modem...WAY FASTER!

So I cant complain:D

[MarkA]

"Zac, quite saying things you don't know anything about."

I just said it SEEMED suspicious. The best broadband around here is 512k, and I thought MOST cable was only 1.5mb? But still, I can say it's not accurate because it is just transfering data and checking speed. The connection type shouldn't affect how well that works. There is NO WAY I am only getting 7k down on my modem, because I can get 40 or so when downloading. But 95k upload? That's impossible. And yes, you can point out compression. If the data being used for the test can be compressed, THE TEST IS DEFECTIVE. Data used for speed testing should be designed specifically to be very hard to compress.

[MarkA]

Well, I don't know what happened, but today it's giving be a believable download speed (26k), but 100k up. And they claim it's nearly uncompressible data (MP3 they claim). Either the test is flawed or the data is being compressed by at least three times. There is NO other way to explain that.

[Scott Greczkowski]

Onmy COX.NET cable modem. Looks good to me. :)

2003-01-12 15:40:37 EST: 2986 / 229
Your download speed : 2986184 bps, or 2986 kbps.
A 364.5 KB/sec transfer rate.
Your upload speed : 229753 bps, or 229 kbps.
Seems like broadband .. above the 1mbit barrier!

[Chris Blount]

Zac,

Like I said, study your facts. There are many other issues that can affect your speeds. Things such as registry configuration and operating system setup. Please do more research before posting your "facts" here.

With that said though, I don't claim the test to be perfect. Anything can affect internet speeds between hosts and clients. (Exchange points, Backbones, The ISP's POP, etc.). Even just regular internet traffic can obviously skew the test to some degree. But you cannot say that the test is "wrong" because it's only providing a snapshot of your particular connection at any given time with certain types of data which can be anywhere from 1 kbps to 3000 kbps (or even higher is some cases).

[Kevin]

Optimum Online from Cablevision:

6523 kbps download
951 kbps upload

Hard to believe that something this good comes from a cable company. :D

[Jasonbp]

SBC DSL-
630/133. Right where it should be and that's where it's tapped. :) Maybe someday we'll upgrade to the next package.

Zac,
With what Chris said. Also the dslreports there not 100% right, but there not defective. There one of the top trusted testing speed sites.

[MarkA]

My complaint isn't the slow download speed it's reporting for me. That's entirely possible. But there is NO way to explain an upload test result THREE times faster than physically possible. Compression doesn't explain it because if data is being compressed and the compression is working, the test is of no worth. Compressed speed is not real speed and therefore, if it's measuring compression, it's not measuring your physical speed.

[bkwest]

2003-01-12 16:17:57 EST: 2429 / 466
Your download speed : 2429956 bps, or 2429 kbps.
A 296.6 KB/sec transfer rate.
Your upload speed : 466635 bps, or 466 kbps.

[TNGTony]

Chris,

Cincinnati Roadrunner is increadibly fast!

My test shows:

2003-01-12 16:17:22 EST: 1770 / 271
Your download speed : 1770550 bps, or 1770 kbps.
A 216.1 KB/sec transfer rate.
Your upload speed : 271702 bps, or 271 kbps.

This is while listening to a 128 kbps web radio station

See ya
Tony

Tried again without the radio...still some other background activity:

2003-01-12 16:27:31 EST: 1973 / 342
Your download speed : 1973534 bps, or 1973 kbps.
A 240.9 KB/sec transfer rate.
Your upload speed : 342583 bps, or 342 kbps.
Seems like broadband .. above the 1mbit barrier!

[MarkA]

Given the download part seems reasonably accurate (I'm thinking I know what the problem with the upload part is - it doesn't run for long enough to get a statistically significant sampling on a painfully slow connection. My upload speed and ping time are beyond slow. Far slower than even a 14.4k modem would be for upload. Therefore, if it runs for a fixed amount of time, and not data - it might not be getting enough data on the upload part (and even possibly on the download part) to be reporting correctly.

Anyways, I think it works best probably at an ideal range - not to slow to get an insignificant sample size, and not too fast to be testing the internet.

Anyways, I'm getting 512 DSL this week, but I'm already jealous of you guys' cable speeds! It should make a nice change from this ROTTEN ISP. It's not the line - line is great. ISP is terrible on their end. Extremely overloaded.

[Bogy]

I've been checking dslreports fairly regularly for the past few weeks. I generally hit downloads ranging from 1200 to 2000, with my top speed so far about 3200, lowest probably about 600. My upload usually runs just over 200, ranging from 150 to 250. If your speed doesn't match what you think you should be getting, try the "tweaks." It pointed out some problems on several of my computers that had previously been set up for dial-up connections, and making the changes made a significant difference. Don't bother trying it until you have broadband Zac, it won't work.

I am looking forward to later this week when I install a router instead of ICS. Anxious to see what difference that makes.

[MarkA]

Oh well, just a couple more days of this darned slow connection. The downside for you guys is you won't see me as much because I usually post while I'm loading important stuff seperately...

[Bardman]

Here' my results from Triad TWC:

2003-01-12 19:15:43 EST: 2016 / 348
Your download speed : 2016130 bps, or 2016 kbps.
A 246.1 KB/sec transfer rate.
Your upload speed : 348553 bps, or 348 kbps.
Seems like broadband .. above the 1mbit barrier!

Insert me into the Insane category

[Kevin]

Ran another test a little while ago:

2003-01-13 16:22:07 EST: 5554 / 897
Your download speed : 5554482 bps, or 5554 kbps.
A 678 KB/sec transfer rate.
Your upload speed : 897129 bps, or 897 kbps.
Seems like broadband .. above the 1mbit barrier!

BEYOND insane! :D

[MarkA]

Kevin, you make me jealous. Even when I get broadband later this week, it'll be a tenth of your speed :(

[dtcarson]

Using Time Warner's RoadRunner, and according to DSLReports.com's Speed Test, from Triangle area in NC to Los Angeles CA:
2003-01-13 18:13:34 EST: 1825 / 307
Your download speed : 1825108 bps, or 1825 kbps.
A 222.7 KB/sec transfer rate.
Your upload speed : 307455 bps, or 307 kbps.
Seems like broadband .. above the 1mbit barrier!
I sometimes get around 2100 on that site; right now everyone just got home from work, so I have a bit of lag.
When you get it, definitely check out dslreports's tweak tester; it helped me go from dialup to 1500 kbps in one tweak immediately after getting RR.

[MarkA]

I found out why my upload speed was wrong. It says on the site that some ISPs have proxy server setups that kill the upload rating. Anyways, on 512/256 ADSL, I'm getting an average of around 420/212 according to DSLReports. Darn, this is nice :)

[James_F]

Oh so it WAS you. :rolleyes:

[raj2001]

I used to get the same speeds with NYC RR. With Verizon DSL I get 1500/128, which is my advertised speed. The real lucky bastards are in Cablevision territory where they get 8000/1000.

[MarkA]

"Oh so it WAS you."

Not really. It does prove my point that it's not a reliable test. I just didn't see where they disclosed that fault. My download speeds before I could accept. 7k was a little low, but still a reasonable estimate at times for my dial up connection.

[James_F]

Where do they say its scientific? Its for "entertainment" purposes, Zac.

[sorahl]

On a friday night i got 1125 down and 764 up!

I'm impressed. I want to try this on a sunday morning!

:)

[Bogy]

After I got my router installed last night I got a speed of 2145/202. My upload hasn't changed much, but that's up from about 1500 down. :D

[Mike123abc]

Ran the test again this time I got 1005 down and 2000 up. It was after midnight, so I suspect load is dropping at my ISP. I am supposed to be speed governed to 2mbit, so my uplink must be at max right now.

[Rick_EE]

I haven't seen a web site that will send data that fast. The fastest download I have seen is 256K from microsoft. Anyone seen faster?

[MarkA]

Sure, I have NO problem getting 400k downloads from websites. Are you sure you're not confusing bytes with bits? A 256kbyte download is 2048kbit.

[Rusty]

Using the test that is linked to in the first post on page 1, I clocked-in at 741 kbps down. I have Charter Pipeline 728 service and, using other test sites I generally download at approximately 650 kbps. The 741 seems a tad on the high side.

[cnsf]

Originally posted by Zac
My complaint isn't the slow download speed it's reporting for me. That's entirely possible. But there is NO way to explain an upload test result THREE times faster than physically possible. Compression doesn't explain it because if data is being compressed and the compression is working, the test is of no worth. Compressed speed is not real speed and therefore, if it's measuring compression, it's not measuring your physical speed.

Zac, it measures data transfer response time, effectively your connection speed when compression is not involved. Your readings seem appropriate.

As for the other speeds, they too seem appropriate. Another factor in the cable modem mix is provider segmentation. For example, in NYC, if many people in your building are on the same segment, you may notice a significant speed decrease when everyone gets home from work as they all share the same virtual pipe. In rural areas, there is RARELY enough traffic to ever affect speed and the way the network is segmented also plays a factor.

PC performance is rarely a significant factor in the speed test (may affect it but not much).

DSL on the otherhand is dedicated speed, up and down. Those tests should be consistent regardless of associated local network traffic.

Just remember to install and update your personal firewal software and keep your antivirus software updated and current.

[cnsf]

Originally posted by Zac
Sure, I have NO problem getting 400k downloads from websites. Are you sure you're not confusing bytes with bits? A 256kbyte download is 2048kbit.

To find your theoretical download speed for your line, divide your advertised speed by 8.192:
53.333kbps / 8.192 = 6.51 KB/s

2048/8.192=250 KB/s

The reverse applies:

400K download*8.192=3276 kbps (equivalent to T3 speeds)