DSL Wow!!

Pat Carlson · Post by **Pat Carlson** » 4 Apr 2005 6:09 pm

Just got the DSL package today.The down load speeds are incredible.Can get a picture in a second or less that used to take at least 20 seconds or longer!The dial up modem used to connect at 52 K.
Wonder what speed this rig is running at ?
The phone company switching room is only about 3 blocks away.
Best part is having steel radio on while surfing and not slow the computer down.

Bobby Sparks · Post by **Bobby Sparks** » 4 Apr 2005 9:12 pm

Patrick,

You can go to http://www.dslreports.com/stest
or go to google.com and type in "dsl speed test" and you should get several hits.

BNS

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 5 Apr 2005 2:27 am

There are several levels of DSL (and several levels of cost).

The dslreports.com is a good place to start for speed tests. They also have a tweak section there that will test your PC and advise what, if anything, needs tweaked for optimum performance.

I had DSL at my old residence location and when I moved it wasn't available at the new location because I was too far from the Telco central office. I now have cable (RoadRunner) and it puts DSL to shame. But, DSL is a major step above dial-up.

Michael Garnett · Post by **Michael Garnett** » 5 Apr 2005 10:23 pm

Depending on which online test I take, I usually get around average for DSL. I absolutely can't live without it, our dorms in college split a T-1 connection, and even with the bandwidth of that thing being split several hundred ways, I got addicted real fast.

One DSL speed test said I could download (from their servers) 80 KB per second, which is about half as fast as T-1/cable connection speed. However, I frequently get upwards of twice those transfer speeds and more, depending on the bandwidth of whomever I'm downloading from. So, I'd say the combination of me living in a small town, plus being probably one of the few subscribers in the area, I have most of the phone company's DSL bandwidth all to myself.

Oh, man I love my internet!

-Michael

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 6 Apr 2005 1:51 am

I recently downloaded a file from Microsoft and it downloaded at OVER 530KB/sec, with RoadRunner cable!

Bill Llewellyn · Post by **Bill Llewellyn** » 6 Apr 2005 7:24 am

Oh, you DSL/Cable guys. C'mon. So what's wrong with a 56k modem like I have? So what if my wife and I can't have both our computers on line at the same time? What does it matter if people who are trying to call us get a busy signal? (Hey, maybe they're telemarketers anyway!) What's wrong with doing an all-night download to get my OS updated? Or 15 minutes per song on iTunes? Now listen....waiting for pages to load or files to come in teaches us patience! Don't we all need that? And what would I do with my 56k modem if it's honored spot were to be uslurped by an upstart DSL box? My old SupraModem 28.8k was orphaned that way--it's worth about $3 on eBay right now. That's a tragedy! And doesn't having a gloriously fast connection cause you to spend more time online due to the increased satisfaction? Less time with wife & kids? High speed Internet connections break up homes and families! Let's all go back to 2800 bits per second and save America, NOW.

Um, how much did you say DSL costs per month? Just asking!!!!

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Bill, steelin' since '99 | Steel page | MSA U12 | My music | Steelers' birthdays | Over 50?

Jim Smith · Post by **Jim Smith** » 6 Apr 2005 7:33 am

I remember complaining when I upgraded my Commodore 64 modem from 300 to 1200 baud. The words were coming in so fast I couldn't read them!

Jim Peters · Post by **Jim Peters** » 6 Apr 2005 3:23 pm

Just took the test from Bobby Parks' link, download speed= 960, upload speed= 309. SBC standard DSL. Eat my dust! JP

Bill Ford · Post by **Bill Ford** » 6 Apr 2005 6:46 pm

Soon, I hope>>>they're laying the cable for digital as fast as they can(or so the cable guy told me)

BF

Ken Lang · Post by **Ken Lang** » 6 Apr 2005 7:07 pm

I've been using a computer since 1985. At work, for engineering.

Didn't get one of my own at home untill 1998, and used DSL right away.

I've often thought of going wireless. Cut all the cables in half, get off the web and get some real work done again.

Michael Garnett · Post by **Michael Garnett** » 6 Apr 2005 7:31 pm

Jim, I know exactly what you're talking about. Growing up in Fort Worth, we used to access the Star Telegram's BBS, "STARTEXT." It was great because by the time the page of monochrome text news had finished loading, you were finished reading and ready to move on.

-Garnett

Marty Pollard · Post by **Marty Pollard** » 7 Apr 2005 8:00 am

I'm sure Jack's refernce to downloading meant to say Kb not KB.
Kb is kilobits; KB is kilobytes.
1 KB= 8Kb
Big diff.
Just FYI.

Oh and same w/MB/Mb or GB/Gb etc.

Marty Pollard · Post by **Marty Pollard** » 7 Apr 2005 8:09 am

I'm showing:
<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>2005-04-07 12:07:59 EST: 931 / 519
Your download speed : 953424 bps, or 931 kbps.
A 116.3 KB/sec transfer rate.
Your upload speed : 532268 bps, or 519 kbps.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
from speedtest.westmancom.com/

but only:
<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Download: 777,864 bps
Upload: 556,224 bps
QOS: 42%
RTT: 63 ms
MaxPause: 1141 ms
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>from internetfrog.com.

And yes, I notice that the kbps is over 10 times larger than the bps; go figure...

Don Poland · Post by **Don Poland** » 7 Apr 2005 8:34 am

2005-04-07 12:38:10 EST: 3251 / 250
Your download speed : 3329373 bps, or 3251 kbps.
A 406.4 KB/sec transfer rate.
Your upload speed : 256000 bps, or 250 kbps.

Using a cable modem

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1974 MSA D10 7+4
If you ain't steelin' it, you ain't feelin' it !!

www.steelin4fun.com

Bill Llewellyn · Post by **Bill Llewellyn** » 8 Apr 2005 6:56 am

Cable speed is a function of time of day since it is shared with neighbors. DSL is dedicated, at least until it meets the backbone at the phone co's central office. But when traffic is low, cable can outpace DSL pretty well by quite a bit (download).

They used to air commercials around here that humerously showed how neighbors, when several were using cable simultaneously, would slow each other way down. (It was an ad for DSL.) I'm not sure if they've improved that. I would think so, but I don't have the data. But I haven't seen those commercials in a while now....

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Bill, steelin' since '99 | Steel page | MSA U12 | My music | Steelers' birthdays | Over 50?

Pat Carlson · Post by **Pat Carlson** » 8 Apr 2005 5:22 pm

Just did the test,1205 kbps download and 308 kbps up. Thanks guys! Surfing this way is sort of addictive.Better shut the commuter off and start practicing

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The Lone Prairie Steeler Pat

Wiz Feinberg · Post by **Wiz Feinberg** » 10 Apr 2005 10:24 am

I also have a DSL connection to the 'Net, and originally was assigned the lowest guaranteed speeds; 128 kbps up and 384 kbps down. This was 9 times faster than the dialup connection I had been using prior to getting DSL. My cost for this low-band DSL was all of $29.95 per month, based on an annual agreement.

In late October an SBC phone company rep informed me that things had changed in relation to my distance from the nearest RT, and that they could now offer me higher DSL speeds, at only $26.95 per month (annual plan). I asked how much faster and was told about twice the speed, up and down. Great, said I!

Most of you on DSL know that there is usually a ten day tuning period, where ASI fine tunes your "modem" to receive the highest up and down stream speeds, before block errors set in. During this period I was averaging between 384 and 650 kbps down and about 200 kbps up. Much better that I was getting just a week earlier.

One day a tech called me from ASI to ask about my wiring problems. ????? says I. He told me that line pings showed that I should be getting over 1 Mbps down and 256 kbps upstream. After going through troubleshooting tests we found the problem that was slowing my speeds down. It was a wall phone that didn't have the DSL Filter between it and the wall socket. When I dug out the wallphone filter and installed it my DSL speeds jumped to an astonishing 1.304 mbps down and 329 kbps upstream !!!!! That's where it sits to this day. All this for only $26.95 per month!

Shamless plugs to follow. Hide your kids and change channels if you don't want to hear ads and self promotion.

Ever since I became a computer troubleshooter I had my own website, which I wrote by hand (I am now also a freelance Webmaster). Part of the website is a page that is a doorway to several modem throughput tests. There are test files that range from a tiny 15 kb, up to 1 Mb, which can accurately test the throughput of anything from a 14,400 POTS dialup in a rural country setting, up to a T3 line in an office building. I don't charge for the use of these tests, but do ask that you restrict your use of the larger files to once or twice a day; thanks.

My modem tests are found on my website, at http://www.modemtest.info . These tests consume a lot of bandwidth and my website is only supported by my thin wallet, or by the sales of products that I advertise on it. If you find my tests to be of value please check out some of my advertisers offerings. I am affiliated with Verison DSL, Comcast Cable Internet, Propel Accelerator for Dialups, Callwave Internet Answering Service, and various accelerated ISPs, like Netscape, NetZero, Juno and PeoplePC, plus RAM suppliers Crucial and Kingston, and laptop accessories from Laptops For Less. They all have ads on my website offering very good prices for great products and services. If you can use their goods or services and buy or try through my links we both gain.

End Shamless plugs

Wiz Feinberg http://www.wizcrafts.net http://www.wiztunes.com
Member SGF[This message was edited by Wiz Feinberg on 10 April 2005 at 11:26 AM.]