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Poll

What's Your Internet Speed/Reliability SATISFACTION?

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Last post Author Topic: What's Your Internet Speed/Reliability SATISFACTION?  (Read 82511 times)

nudone

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Re: What's Your Internet Speed/Reliability SATISFACTION?
« Reply #25 on: September 07, 2010, 04:06 AM »
yeah, i just realised before your post and edited mine.

cranioscopical. that is a really, really, sad connection.

Deozaan

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Re: What's Your Internet Speed/Reliability SATISFACTION?
« Reply #26 on: September 07, 2010, 04:10 AM »
yeah, i just realised before your post and edited mine.

cranioscopical. that is a really, really, sad connection.

Yeah I noticed that you had edited yours while I was typing mine up. . .  :-[

I had it worst on Friday at my parents' house. It was 0.23/0.22, ~500ms ping. But that was because I didn't know my parents' internet was limited so it got throttled to those speeds when I left an MMO Updater (essentially a bittorrent) running overnight.

tomos

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Re: What's Your Internet Speed/Reliability SATISFACTION?
« Reply #27 on: September 07, 2010, 04:35 AM »
my internet seems to confuse speedtest.net a little :)

Fist I got

speedtest001.png

so I tried again and got

speedtest002.png

I think the best actual download speeds I've seen were a little over 2MB/s. Connection is supposed to be 20MB/s and apparently is very good at street level but the cable leading up to the house is bad bad & needs to be replaced - still a lot better than many people here are getting.
Tom

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Re: What's Your Internet Speed/Reliability SATISFACTION?
« Reply #28 on: September 07, 2010, 05:22 AM »
Ok, I'll bite.

I've had DSL and Cable in many places, and my findings are that DSL can get you some packet loss under really high load (eg: torrents), but the normal uptime has always been extremely stable.
The advantage of DSL is that you have unbundled service in most countries (at least in the US and Belgium). Meaning, the company providing your physical line has to, by law, allow you to chose a different ISP. This is VERY important. Many people think they are stuck with something crappy like verizon, when in fact they can pick any ISP in the country offering dsl, including many good smaller ISP's.

When we lived in PA, we were with localisp (http://localisp.com/) - the advantage being that most of these smaller isp's don't have the TOS from hell. Verizon's TOS for example, last I checked, does not allow you to run any type of server (including game servers) or use third party voip. Not that they actually apply this in practice, but they are bastards for it nontheless.

With localisp I had 100% uptime. I ran a monitoring server from my connection and received alerts+logs when something was down, and in the few years we lived there it never happened. They also offered a redundant line which could serve as a backup if one goes down, for relatively cheap (If i want the same from comcast here i'll be broke in an instant). The only times things became unstable (read: packet loss) is when the upload bandwidth was consumed 100%. I solved that using QoS.

DSL was a lot slower, but it sure was magnitudes more stable.

I've had cable in the US from RCN and now Comcast Bussiness, both randomly cut out. When it's up, the connection is stable. Unlike dsl, using 100% upload does not cause packet loss, however, one day you may wake up to find your internet not working at all, when you call them they claim to be working on something or other,... I've experienced downtimes of >3 hours in the middle of the day on a monday. Bad mojo when you're in the middle of work, and rely on a connection to do your job.
If I were given the option again, I'd pick the uptime stability over the speed.

Interestingly, when I was in Belgium, the same story was repeated. I had DSL (belgacom) there and cable (telenet). The DSL service had very stable uptime, though gets funky when you max things out (need a good QoS setup in your router). Cable is stable when up, but more overall downtime. - That leads me to believe the phenomenon is inherit in the technologies used.

I haven't tried FIOS yet, it would be interesting to see how it compares in uptime versus speed.

Also, with cable your speed will vary up and down depending on where you live and the time of the day. (Everything is 'shared' with your neighbors so to speak) - This can work to your advantage when you live in the middle of nowhere, or disadvantage when you're in the city ;  while dsl lines are dedicated.

speed.png

[edit]
PS: It's interesting to compare my speed and mouser's - same provider, same area, except he is more in the city than I am - (It's also a different plan, though not sure how much different)
[/edit]
« Last Edit: September 07, 2010, 08:07 AM by Gothi[c] »

Renegade

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Re: What's Your Internet Speed/Reliability SATISFACTION?
« Reply #29 on: September 07, 2010, 06:43 AM »
...they are bastards for it nontheless...

:)

It's a requisite to being (big && (telco || bank || government || etc. etc. etc.) ) =p
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Crush

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Re: What's Your Internet Speed/Reliability SATISFACTION?
« Reply #30 on: September 07, 2010, 06:44 AM »
VDSL50
[attachimg=#1][/attachimg]
The speedtest differs a little bit from server to server, but the dl/ul-rate ist rather stable. The best ping was about 20ms till now.
I also have IPTV and think the settopbox reserves a lot of bandwith that can record 4 streams in parallel while watching a 5th.
A look into my modem-settings shows the maximum rates:
DSL Downstream: 51392 kBit/s
DSL Upstream:     10004 kBit/s
Perhaps it gets faster when I switch off the STB?
« Last Edit: September 07, 2010, 06:46 AM by Crush »

Renegade

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Re: What's Your Internet Speed/Reliability SATISFACTION?
« Reply #31 on: September 07, 2010, 06:49 AM »
Speed to Toronto:



Dallas (where my main server is):



To Seoul:



It's actually been pretty good today. Yesterday was Hell.
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y0himba

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Re: What's Your Internet Speed/Reliability SATISFACTION?
« Reply #32 on: September 07, 2010, 07:47 AM »
I have been nothing but happy with my service.  Rock solid, FAST, polite and knowledgeable LOCAL support.  I pay $59 for 10/1.5, and even with all the college kids in town, during prime time, I still get almost 100% of my rated speed.  It has been this way since I first got broadband cable in 1999.  We bought our house in 2007 in a small town 45 minutes from where I first got cable, and the connection stayed the same.

I have cable, phone, all movie channels, and a PVR through them for a total of $180 a month.  Not the fastest connection nor the least expensive, but I would rather have a solid, reliable connection with good support and pay a little extra.


mrainey

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Re: What's Your Internet Speed/Reliability SATISFACTION?
« Reply #33 on: September 07, 2010, 09:08 AM »
Yesterday afternoon on Speedtest I recorded 12.82/2.13, this morning it's 19.93/2.13

This with Charter.
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Carol Haynes

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Re: What's Your Internet Speed/Reliability SATISFACTION?
« Reply #34 on: September 07, 2010, 10:10 AM »
OK - I'll bite too:

Urealistic test ('cos 50 miles is pretty pointless on the net):

Manchester UK


More realistic:

San Jose California


Sad:

Perth, Australia
(using the appropriately named Server FastHit!!)

or

Toronto, Canada


Strange that Vancover is quicker to the UK than Toronto:


My main gripe is that upload speeds are totally pants - and there don't seem to be any UK providers that do better (unless someone can point me at one).
« Last Edit: September 07, 2010, 10:11 AM by Carol Haynes »

superboyac

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Re: What's Your Internet Speed/Reliability SATISFACTION?
« Reply #35 on: September 07, 2010, 11:53 AM »
You know what I would pay $100 or more a month for?  Internet access at FIOS speeds, and also a little portable hotspot device (like Sprint has now) which I can take with me wherever I go to get 3g/4G speeds for a laptop/phone.  If those two services could be bundled just like that (nothing else), I'd pay $100+ for it.

ljbirns

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Re: What's Your Internet Speed/Reliability SATISFACTION?
« Reply #36 on: September 07, 2010, 01:29 PM »
There has to be something wrong with these tests.  Here are two from two different servers in GB.  Must have more to do with the servers than with my ISP.


http://www.speedtest...result/944290743.png

http://www.speedtest...result/944298123.png
Lew

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Re: What's Your Internet Speed/Reliability SATISFACTION?
« Reply #37 on: September 07, 2010, 01:39 PM »
ljbirns: the speed you get to test servers will vary depending on a lot of factors - generally, if hosted in a datacenter, a speedtest server will only be allocated "excess" bandwidth; if there's some heavy paid-for traffic going on, test-bandwidth will be down-prioritized. Also, there could be routing/peering concerns between ISPs.
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ljbirns

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Re: What's Your Internet Speed/Reliability SATISFACTION?
« Reply #38 on: September 07, 2010, 01:52 PM »
FOdder

So then does  MY ISP speed only count from my ISP's  server to me .  The rest is just dumb luck. ?
Lew

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Re: What's Your Internet Speed/Reliability SATISFACTION?
« Reply #39 on: September 07, 2010, 02:18 PM »


That is showing just slightly under the speeds I am paying for.

But it doesn't matter what that speed is, since I can't stay connected long enough to enjoy it. Anyone that has spent any decent amount of time in the DC IRC channel can tell you that my connection is highly unstable, worse than the worst dialup.

This is what I got when I told my ISP I was willing to pay for more bandwidth and upgraded my account from 768/128 to the next level. No matter how many times I call them to complain about the issue, they always say the same thing: Sorry, our fault, the problem is on our end, we'll fix it. Then I get a phone call 3 days later with a voice recording saying they fixed it, and they really didn't. I call back and complain, and they say the same thing again. It doesn't matter how many times I call, it's always the same. This has been going on for the last 2 years. I have basically given up trying to get them to fix the issue.

The way I see it these are my only options:

  • pay more and upgrade to fios
  • pay more and switch to cable
  • downgrade back to 768/128
  • deal with it, use a download manager like I used to on dialup, and try not to lose my mind

I am not willing to downgrade and watch youtube vids buffer all the time, I can't afford fios or cable (landlord won't give permission for fios any way), so the last option is about the only thing I can do at this point.  :(

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Re: What's Your Internet Speed/Reliability SATISFACTION?
« Reply #40 on: September 07, 2010, 02:22 PM »
So then does  MY ISP speed only count from my ISP's  server to me .  The rest is just dumb luck. ?
Not exactly dumb luck, but yeah :) - there's no way your ISP can guarantee you'll get full bandwidth utilization to a remote server; the server might not be on a link that's fast enough, there might be traffic congestion, or you may be running through a slow route.
- carpe noctem

ljbirns

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Re: What's Your Internet Speed/Reliability SATISFACTION?
« Reply #41 on: September 07, 2010, 03:21 PM »
Well, at least I'm happy with Cox cable. BTW  I had FIOS when I lived in NY and it was VG, ( upgraded from DSL ) but I don't remember it as being any better than the cable I have now.
Lew

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Re: What's Your Internet Speed/Reliability SATISFACTION?
« Reply #42 on: September 07, 2010, 03:30 PM »
Well, at least I'm happy with Cox cable. BTW  I had FIOS when I lived in NY and it was VG, ( upgraded from DSL ) but I don't remember it as being any better than the cable I have now.
Yeah, cox is great.  I think the only significant difference you would see is the upload speed.  FIOS should have more than Cox.

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Re: What's Your Internet Speed/Reliability SATISFACTION?
« Reply #43 on: September 09, 2010, 08:09 PM »
Line is mostly stable, but if I really maxx it out it sometimes dies, and I have to power-cycle my modem (and I have to wait a few minutes before turning back on, or it doesn't connect). Not sure exactly why it happens, but it's mostly if there's high bandwidth usage and a lot of connections - I suspect it's more a matter of unstable firmware than the raw copper not being good enough quality.

Yes. Many modem+router combos get into big troubles when the NAT tables max out.



This is with a 20/1 ADSL2+ connection. But I'm pretty happy, because I'm very far from the DSLAM. Some months ago I had to try a bunch a different modem+router, with various ADSL chipset, to find one that actually could mantain this speed in a reliable way. Manually altering the signal to noise ratio I can get another Mb or so, but sometimes it became less reliable.
« Last Edit: September 09, 2010, 08:15 PM by Mark0 »

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Re: What's Your Internet Speed/Reliability SATISFACTION?
« Reply #44 on: September 09, 2010, 09:38 PM »
I have been nothing but happy with my service.  Rock solid, FAST, polite and knowledgeable LOCAL support.  I pay $59 for 10/1.5, and even with all the college kids in town, during prime time, I still get almost 100% of my rated speed.  It has been this way since I first got broadband cable in 1999.  We bought our house in 2007 in a small town 45 minutes from where I first got cable, and the connection stayed the same.

I have cable, phone, all movie channels, and a PVR through them for a total of $180 a month.  Not the fastest connection nor the least expensive, but I would rather have a solid, reliable connection with good support and pay a little extra.



A few extra dollars is worth it.

Problem is, a lot of the time you really have no idea what the actual quality of an ISP is, and by the time you've found out, you're already locked into a multiple-year contract. Unpleasant.

So when shelling out for a more expensive plan, unless you already know the ISP & quality, it's a gamble.

$180 is pretty high though. I suppose the phone and movie channels though make it much more reasonable. $50 for movies and $50 for phone? $80 for reliable broadband? Doesn't sound bad at all.

I remember years ago when Korea Telecom's broadband was total garbage. That's changed though. They're extremely good now. (They bought enough equipment for an entire country, and ended up buying from all different vendors because nobody could supply them with enough. As such, mismatches caused problems for them at the start.)

@app103 - Yuck. Sorry to hear that.
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Cloq

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Re: What's Your Internet Speed/Reliability SATISFACTION?
« Reply #45 on: September 09, 2010, 11:05 PM »
DSL - 3mbps though the actual speed is roughly 2mbps

For the price I am paying for country dsl, in the city/town, you get 15mbps.  :(

Renegade

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Re: What's Your Internet Speed/Reliability SATISFACTION?
« Reply #46 on: September 10, 2010, 01:57 AM »
DSL - 3mbps though the actual speed is roughly 2mbps

For the price I am paying for country dsl, in the city/town, you get 15mbps.  :(

Another reason why telcos need some kind of oversight/regulation. (Yes, on this issue I have some leftish tendencies.)
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tomos

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Re: What's Your Internet Speed/Reliability SATISFACTION?
« Reply #47 on: September 10, 2010, 04:21 AM »
my internet seems to confuse speedtest.net a little :)

Fist I got
 (see attachment in previous post)
so I tried again and got
 (see attachment in previous post)
I think the best actual download speeds I've seen were a little over 2MB/s. Connection is supposed to be 20MB/s and apparently is very good at street level but the cable leading up to the house is bad bad & needs to be replaced - still a lot better than many people here are getting.

I get consistently huge download speeeds from speedtest.net - the lowest so far was Dublin with 85MB, lets see Moscow gets 190; Frankfurt (automatic choice of speedtest for my location) gets 258 today.

Lets see, is there anywhere else you can check your speeds - this site (http://www.broadbandspeedchecker.co.uk/) give me:
5656 Kbps / 935 Kbps
I've never noticed getting even that download speed 5.5MB but then I usually find download speed is related to wherever I'm downloading from...
Tom

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Re: What's Your Internet Speed/Reliability SATISFACTION?
« Reply #48 on: September 10, 2010, 04:33 AM »
Some antivirus / antimalware that "mess up" with the Internet traffic are known to cause strange results.

BTW, this is what I get form here via 3G network:



« Last Edit: September 10, 2010, 04:39 AM by Mark0 »

Deozaan

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Re: What's Your Internet Speed/Reliability SATISFACTION?
« Reply #49 on: September 12, 2010, 05:33 PM »
Not sure how this happened since I'm paying for 5 down and I think ~0.75 up:

Speedtest.png