Download Connection Speeds

[GoReds33]

Originally Posted by Sea Ray

I understand that. I guess I haven't made my point very well since no one is addressing it. Why do the download speeds vary so much from company to company? My download speeds have been clocked anywhere from 948 kbps to over 14,000 depending on what site I use. If I use one site the distance will vary my scores by about 10% which is understandable.

Take what GoReds33 said about his Zoomtown. What if his Zoomtown rep said "OK, let's test it. Go to such and such dot com" and the test comes back 2000 instead of 500 which he'd been getting at his site. How does he know the Zoomtown recommended site was accurate and his site was bogus?

For one, some measure upload speed, and some measure download speed. IIRC, download speed should be faster. Correct me if I'm wrong on that. Another thing to remember, as somebody already pointed out, some have servers close to you, while some may be in other countries.

BTW, I know that my speeds have gone down, because two months ago I could watch espn360, and now I can't. It shows like a frame or two every few seconds. I really hope I get this figured out. I hope Zoomtown doesn't jerk me around like I think they will. Maybe it's just that I'm so used to AOL.

[Sea Ray]

Originally Posted by GoReds33

For one, some measure upload speed, and some measure download speed. IIRC, download speed should be faster. Correct me if I'm wrong on that. Another thing to remember, as somebody already pointed out, some have servers close to you, while some may be in other countries.

BTW, I know that my speeds have gone down, because two months ago I could watch espn360, and now I can't. It shows like a frame or two every few seconds. I really hope I get this figured out. I hope Zoomtown doesn't jerk me around like I think they will. Maybe it's just that I'm so used to AOL.

What site are you using to judge your speed?

[Spring~Fields]

Originally Posted by Sea Ray

Why do the download speeds vary so much from company to company? My download speeds have been clocked anywhere from 948 kbps to over 14,000 depending on what site I use. If I use one site the distance will vary my scores by about 10% which is understandable.

When you ask "why do the download speeds vary so much from company to company" Are you speaking to the sites that test the speeds as the "company" or are you speaking about the various providers of internet access as the company?

"948 kbps to over 14,000" is suspect in that I would not tend to believe either of those. What shows up most consistently for you is the most accurate assesment.

If you mean that you go to a various test sites to see what your speeds are then the variables would be in the distance that you are from the test site, time of day, usage traffic. Anything deeper another would have to answer or the egineers at the ISP that you have could more readily explain if they will.

Take what GoReds33 said about his Zoomtown. What if his Zoomtown rep said "OK, let's test it. Go to such and such dot com" and the test comes back 2000 instead of 500 which he'd been getting at his site. How does he know the Zoomtown recommended site was accurate and his site was bogus?

I assume that all the test sites have a variance and somewhat assume them to be a bit bogus. That is why I test at multiple sites logging my results, test at those various sites at various times of day/night and for a period of a week or so and then take the conservative range not the high and not the low to get an idea of what is probably true. All the ISP is required to do is have speeds right around what they advertise is my understanding, and that most all of the providers use the current phone company or cable companies equipment that they purchase a block from.
The ISP can test your speed right from their equipment and not some website.

Someone correct me if I am way off base here.

[Spring~Fields]

Originally Posted by GoReds33

BTW, I know that my speeds have gone down, because two months ago I could watch espn360, and now I can't. It shows like a frame or two every few seconds.

You are using enough memory and keeping the clutter cleaned off the computer aren't you? "I could watch espn360, and now I can't" something clearly changed, curious as to what the engineers will tell you at this point as to the why and why not of the quote above.

[GoReds33]

To answer your questions, I use the website at the bottom to test it. Also, I do cancel everything else that I can. I'm curious to know what they say as well.

[Sea Ray]

Originally Posted by SpringfieldFan

When you ask "why do the download speeds vary so much from company to company" Are you speaking to the sites that test the speeds as the "company" or are you speaking about the various providers of internet access as the company?

"948 kbps to over 14,000" is suspect in that I would not tend to believe either of those. What shows up most consistently for you is the most accurate assesment.

If you mean that you go to a various test sites to see what your speeds are then the variables would be in the distance that you are from the test site, time of day, usage traffic. Anything deeper another would have to answer or the egineers at the ISP that you have could more readily explain if they will.



I assume that all the test sites have a variance and somewhat assume them to be a bit bogus. That is why I test at multiple sites logging my results, test at those various sites at various times of day/night and for a period of a week or so and then take the conservative range not the high and not the low to get an idea of what is probably true. All the ISP is required to do is have speeds right around what they advertise is my understanding, and that most all of the providers use the current phone company or cable companies equipment that they purchase a block from.
The ISP can test your speed right from their equipment and not some website.

Someone correct me if I am way off base here.

Yes, in "companies" I am referring to the sites that test the speeds, like speakeasy.net, speedtest.net, http://www.aroundcinci.com/speedtest/, http://reviews.cnet.com/7004-7254_7-0.html, dslreports.com and others. These vary tremendously. Try 'em if you don't believe me. How can I get a number of 14K on speedtest and .948K on CNET? It's not difference in the distance to the site that can account for such a difference. Which one is right?

[Sea Ray]

Originally Posted by GoReds33

To answer your questions, I use the website at the bottom to test it. Also, I do cancel everything else that I can. I'm curious to know what they say as well.

Just so I'm clear, the website at the bottom of what, your Zoomtown page? You might try some other sites and see what they tell you.

[GAC]

I have HS cable modem through Charter. It advertises at 5 MG, but when I go the various sites mentiones and test it I get variance in the ranges of around 4. Why? I have no idea other then the suggestions already offered on here.

[Sea Ray]

Originally Posted by GAC

I have HS cable modem through Charter. It advertises at 5 MG, but when I go the various sites mentiones and test it I get variance in the ranges of around 4. Why? I have no idea other then the suggestions already offered on here.

You say your results vary 4MG? You mean you get readings anywhere from 1 to 5 MG?

[Spring~Fields]

Originally Posted by Sea Ray

Try 'em if you don't believe me. How can I get a number of 14K on speedtest and .948K on CNET? It's not difference in the distance to the site that can account for such a difference. Which one is right?

If you are using say, three different sites and checking the speeds at morning, evening and night at those three sites and have logged the speeds and can't get an accurate range that indicates that your upload and download speeds are accurate for what your supplier has indicated then you should speak with them if you are getting such extreme variances "14K on speedtest and .948K", I believe you, it is that I just have not experienced such wide swings.

Is there FAQ at those sites that you use, and or do they have a contact us so that they might be able to give you a more direct and specfic answer? I believe that I have used some of those sites and did not experience that wide of difference. Plus I won't use sites that measure speed and want to peddle some computer or speed enhancement, naturally I don't trust those sites.

http://tech.msn.com/speedtest.aspx

[Roy Tucker]

The trouble is, all these network speed tests can vary a lot.

Your system load, the network traffic and load, where the mirror site is, and how loaded it is can all make these numbers vary wildly. And all these factors are variable and change from minute to minute.

I'd pick one site and take a reading per hour for a few days to get a handle on the ups and downs.

[GoReds33]

Originally Posted by Sea Ray

Just so I'm clear, the website at the bottom of what, your Zoomtown page? You might try some other sites and see what they tell you.

Sorry, I feel really stupid, I was going to put the link at the bottom of my post. Here it is:
http://www.bandwidthplace.com/

[Sea Ray]

Originally Posted by GoReds33

Sorry, I feel really stupid, I was going to put the link at the bottom of my post. Here it is:
http://www.bandwidthplace.com/

OK, your site gives its numbers in kilobytes/s which I think is one eighth of kbps. Keep that in mind. I think most sites give it in kbps. But here's what I mean. In the past minutes I've tested the following sites and here are the results I've gotten:

Bandwidthplace: 827 kilobytes which I think equates to 6616 kbps
http://tech.msn.com/speedtest.aspx -3145.7 kbps
speedtest.net-14646 kbps
speakeasy.net-14719 kbps

Those numbers are all over the board. I understand there are traffic issues, distance to the server issues, etc, etc but I can't believe those variables would cause this to jump around from 3K to 14K. In fact

Springfield, you said that you don't experience such variances. I'd be curious if you tested those 4 sites in succession if you got fairly similar numbers 'cause I sure can't. I have a computer at work and two at home. I've used high speed servers and AOL servers and these numbers are all over the board for me.

Unlike GoReds33, I'm not having any trouble at this time. I'm just a curious soul, that's all.

[GoReds33]

So if I got a 400 on the site I put, does that mean that I'm over the 768 kbps needed for espn360?

[GAC]

Originally Posted by Sea Ray

You say your results vary 4MG? You mean you get readings anywhere from 1 to 5 MG?

No. I'm sorry. Didn't mean to confuse. My service is only 3 MG. They are soon going to 5 MG.

I tested my computer today on 3 of the following websites.....

Speakeasy (server - Chicago)

download - 3109 kbs/sec
upload - 251 kbs/sec

Bandwidth Place (server - ?)

download - 1.88 mbs/sec
upload - 229 kbs/sec

DSLReports (server - Columbus, OH)

download - 1773 kbs/sec
upload - 247 kbs/sec

Each site also states that bandwidth calculation is measured against that site's Internet Services. Bandwidth may be higher or lower depending on Internet congestion. Calculated tests do not reflect server reliability and speed.