Re: Slow broadband..

I'm paying for the AT&T 600 kilobit DSL service. Actual speed-meter testing shows my downloads averaging about 1.1 megabits. I think the quality of the line and the distance to a substation dominates DSL speed.

John

Unlikely.

Look at the connection speed at the status of your modem. You will see something like 3...10 Mbits downstream. The transfer rate is trottled at provider, not by the physical link.

Vladimir Vassilevsky DSP and Mixed Signal Design Consultant

John's statement is indeed true for DSL.

Just picked a random test site: download, 6397kbps, upload 1646kbps (I'm on Cox cable.) I've seen higher numbers for other testing sites. ...Jim Thompson

I get 6 MbpS down and 1/12-th that up at apr. $17 (+ apr. $15 for cable TV which I can't avoid if I want their cable - which has no alternative on our street) - this in Sofia, Bulgaria (a suburb actually, downtown they usually do have options). The 6 MbpS are real for in-village (Bulgaria being the village) traffic, for international it does not go beyond 2 MbpS (good luck doing anything about it in BG, of course).

Dimiter

"Speed-meter testing?" This sounds way cool - is there Linux software that will do this? I need for it to run under Linux because I don't do windows on the 'net - too much malware.

Or, should I just find some large file on some robust server somewhere and time a download?

And I _do_ agree with your comments on the quality/distance factor; I'm just curious because the company is paying about $85/mo. for the DSL. Ten bucks of that is for the static IP, but that's still $75 for an "industrial" connection. Residential is much cheaper, of course, and probably about the same quality, because what's different besides the zoning as "industrial?" It's residential right across the street from here.

Thanks, Rich

Google dsl speed meter

There are lots of them. Should work with any browser.

John

I believe Vladimirs point is the for less than say 3Mbits the line quality and such doesn't matter much, because it it always atleast

At higher rates the modem might be set for 20Mbits but only achieve

-Lasse

On Thu, 01 Oct 2009 10:14:44 -0700, Rich Grise wrote: ...

A EULA for residential DSL typically forbids running any server processes, while industrial DSL often allows it.

Absolutely! However, the phone company can deliberately throttle data rates - both regular line modem rates (from 48K down to 28K) as well as "promised" DSL rates; same physical line. And they refuse to admit to that fact or actually doing that.

I'm curious how my ISP compare to the others out there. So far mine has live up to their claims (insofar as is can be expected WRT line quality at any given moment; lightening has a habit of generating a wee bit of noise when it strikes nearby [within 10 miles around here I've noticed]).

My ISP: Embarq Corporation

Paying for: 5 Mbps DSL (fastest I can get out here in the stix)

Cost per month (DSL only): USD 19.95

Cost per month (DSL _AND_ landline _AND_ all taxes/fees/etc.: ~USD 51

Years with Embarq DSL: >3

Only one problem in this time frame: Embarq customer service had to remotely reconfigure modem ~2 years ago due to glitch (exact cause of which is unknown); no trouble since

My DSL modem reports maximum available: 5.884 Mbps download, 0.889 Mbps upload

speedtest.net reported 5.00 Mbps download, 0.774 Mbps upload

I feel like I'm getting my money's worth.

-- Thomas

Just for S&G, I did one of those online tests, and got about 2700Kbps from them to me, and about 725Kbps from me to them.

I can't why you couldn't order a static IP on a residential line, and run a server.

Heck, when I first downloaded Linux (3.something, about 1996-ish), I set up an apache server on dialup! ;-)

Cheers! Rich

You can. Round here you get 20 Mb download/ 15 Mb upload with a fixed IP for about $100/month (FiOS).

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

Late at night, by candle light, Rich Grise penned this immortal opus:

Try

Just make sure your own network is unloaded when you measure, if you share it with a box that's d/l'ing some heavy files you'll get slower readings.

- YD.

At first, we had dynamic IP, but there are nameservers designed to be used with dynamic IP - they provide a script to run when your IP changes, that updates the nameserver like right now.

Cheers! Rich

They advertise speeds up to X Mbps.

They haven't throttled the data rate so much as put two (or more) different analogue signals down the same copper line using an old technology. If you will insist on connecting to the the net with a piece of wet string in the twenty first century what do you expect...

They have to find real copper circuits for the people who buy ADSL services. They do that by putting the remaining cheapskates onto paired lines in the UK. I expect something similar is done in the USA.

Depends on the service you are buying. Sounds very much like they have DACS'd your phone line (or whatever the US acronym for it is) - OK for voice but lousy for modems/FAX/Redcare. If that is the problem you will probably do better by forcing a prehistoric 33k6 connection if your ISP will permit it instead of trying for 56k on V90 and failing miserably.

There used to be a site that you could connect to and get a spectrum analysis of your line during the testing phase of 56kFlex. DACS'd lines had a very characteristic frequency response which was a dead give away.

I was surprised by the speed John L said he was getting on (A)DSL. It is quite hard in the UK to get an ADSL service at less than 2Mbps. Mine is a shade over twice that speed over fairly old rural copper lines that have taken one or two serious hits from hedge flailers in the past. In cities effective 8MB nominal services or faster are available.

Contention ratios vary with ISP and the service level purchased. My service is nominally 8Mbps but I am reconciled to the fact that where I live limits the bandwidth - especially at this time of year when damp, spiders get into the works and rodents start gnawing at the insulation.

Regards, Martin Brown

The good news about copper is that your phone is exchange-powered, and they have to look after the battery backups. My land line will continue to work for days after the power goes out. FTTH services like FiOS force you to get rid of the copper, and install some backup batteries in your furnace room, which you get to maintain.

Copper for me for awhile yet!

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

I=20

=20

insulation.

=20

=20

Yep and that is exactly i keep exactly one line powered telephone at all times. All the rest are cordless and thus line/ups dependant.

It's both.

The physical quality (most significantly, the length) of the link between the DSL modem at the home, and the DSLAM termination, sets the upper limit of the connection speed. If the length is too great, the attenuation of the signal (in particular, its higher-frequency components) reduces the SNR at high bit rates too much, and the rate of cell/packet loss becomes unacceptable. The link has to be run at a lower symbol rate in order to get the data through at all.

For shorter links, the transfer rate is set/throttled by the provider at the DSLAM.

I've been in both situations with my DSL connection. When I originally set it up, the DSL termination was provided at the telco central office in my city, which is several miles away. I was getting around 512 kbits/second on an account which was sold as "up to 1.5 megabits"... I was just too far away from the DSLAM to get a higher rate, no matter what I paid for.

A couple of years ago, the telco installed a "remote terminal" (mini-DSLAM connected to the central office via fiber) about a quarter mile from here, and I asked my provider to switch me over to it. I'm paying for a 3-megabit/second downstream connection, and have a solid connection at that rate (actual throughput is around 2700 kbits/second due to ATM overhead). When the telco guy set up and tested the new line connection, he said "I'm getting a solid 6-megabit signal quality"... so I could go up to that speed if I wanted to pay a bit more (i.e. the line is currently throttled at 3 megabits at the mini-DSLAM).

I've checked my DSL-modem status, and it says that it has negotiated a

It depends on the provider. Some won't provision static IP on residential lines, or charge more for doing so, and some have "no servers" terms of service. Such providers are to be avoided.

I've had a static IP address, and a server-friendly terms-of-service on my home-DSL connection for years (no blocking or filtering at the ISP end; I do my own spamblocking and am responsible for making sure my server isn't cracked/compromised and used for abuse).