My ISP has just changed their DSL speeds and options. My current
DSL hookup is 78 kbps up and 132 kbps down @ $30 month. It seems
painfully slow. I can upgrade to 1 mbps down and 256 kbps up @ $45 month or 3 mbps down and 512 kbps up for $55 mo.
My other option is switching to Bell South DSL. For $33 mo I can get
1.5 mbps down and 256 kbps up or for $38 a month I can get 3 mbps down
and 384 kbps up, or lastly for $47 I can get 6 mbps down and 512 kbps
up. These are all standard rates and not promotions.
The numbers have little meaning to me. Can someone please advise
me as to the standards of DSL performance an average Old Guy on a
Pewter might appreciate without high speed gaming but little patience
waiting for photo’s to download? Any comments from those more
knowledgeable than me (virtually everyone ) will be much appreciated.
Warm regards, Jim :shock:
The Down speed is how fast you can pull down data from the internet to your machine. The up speeds are how fast data goes from your machine to the Internet cloud. (The speeds in that cloud will vary.)
If it were me, I would go with the Bell South option of 6 MegaBitsperSecond Down and 512 KiloBitsperSecond up.
To put that into perspective, a 56k modem is (at full speed which is almost never reached) 56 Kilo bits per second both ways. A T1 line (Still used by many offices) is 1.5 Mege Bits per Second each direction.
The upstream speed is almost a non-issue, unless you upload a lot of files to photobucket or something, or plan on running a website or FTP server on the line. Most of your upstream traffic is a few bytes requesting data from a server, then that page or file is tranferred using the downstream speed.
Heck, If I can get that deal I am gonna dump my Cable connection!
I use cable, my download speed is 6.4 MB. I love it. Get the fastest speed they offer, you won’t be sorry. Check your speed here; http://www.bandwidthplace.com/speedtest/
What I have learned from cable/dsl and such is that you want to get the fastest cable/dsl out there that you can afford. I have 5mb down and its pretty quick for downloading music, photos and such. Also look at discounts and stuff. Just my 2 cents
I’m with Bubba on this one. I use cable but a friend of mine is on DSL and, because of his location, has a maximum speed he can download at no matter what he buys. It might make sense to go with a slower speed and make sure that you can get what you’re paying for. Or, if you go with the faster speed, check the speed out and then downgrade if they don’t provide what your paying for.
Hey, I am glad you all get high speed inernet. I am out in boonies of Michigan. No cable, no DSL. However, I have a Dish for TV and another seperate Dish for Internet. they both work great and I would classify them as medium, fast, if there is such a thing. In a nutshell, aboutr 50 times faster than dial up. I own the equiment for internet and pay under fifty bucks a month. I am not complaining. Drawback? When Lightning storms come through, no TV or internet, in winter, heavy blizzard, same. I can live with it, after all we do need a break sometimes. FYI> Jonezee
There are several free speed testers on the Net. Just Google Dsl speed test and pick one you trust. (I trust CNET.)
I just tested mine and it is running 1.2mbps at the moment… This can vary from time to time.
At 1.2 mbps the Net seems plenty fast to me. Photos download quickly, and I can watch videos or listen to music just fine. My upload speed is irrelevant to me as, once I click send, it all happens in the background while I go on to do other things.
I might feel a need for more download/upload speed if I played games on-line or downloaded music or movies, but I don’t.
This is just my actual experience and opinion, but I hope it helps to give you some perspective on what the numbers mean in the real world.
I would get the $33 Bell south option. Those speeds are fast and many programs that download data have internal limits that are less than the 1.5 meg download speed. If you are not satisifed with that you can always upgrad to a faster speed. It does look like Bell South has the best cost/speed options so making the change to Bell South (BS LOL) sounds like the thing to do.
I appreciate your comments. While I would be lost without this silly
computer, I am not as knowledgeable as I’d like to be. Your input is
appreciated. Warm regards, Jim
One other thought, do those prices include the ISP fees? If not, those can get ya. They would probably be the same whichever plan you went with however, so it might be a wash.
I have my telephone (digital), television (digital), and internet (digital); all using broadband by “Comcast”. After using dial-up, and DSL, this is like going Warp 9. Just be sure to inslall a NASCAR harness on you computer chair, and to bolt the chair to the floor. Yeeeeeh…Hawwwww!
I agree about the Comcast service. I’m at my store, we have DSL here, which is fast, but once you get the cable connection, it’s hard to go back. We had a line problem a while back and had to use the Modem, AAAAAAAAAAGH! It seemed so slow. I like going home and getting on-line with the cable.
At first, the cable seemed expensive, but I had been paying $22 a month for Microsoft, and had to subscribe to a security service. With the cable set-up, it’s one charge for all, and no extra potential phone charges.
As a former DSL ( and Gigabit Ethernet via fiber optic ) engineer for Ma Bell,
I can advise that although a provider “offers”
certain speed claims, What they will be able to actually provide to you is “Distance dependant” from your local telephone central office (CO).
Not a claim by me but a certifiable fact.
IF you live more than 3 miles from the CO,
the maximum transmission rate will probably
be 128 Kilobits per second ( both directions ).
Closer ? Then you get faster.
CLoser Still ? Then even more speed.
mtb4jc gave you a real good site to visit.
I have Comcast cable and while it’s very fast
( usually ), it is still Ethernet - and one shares the local medium with every one elso on you local line. ( Sort of Like a party line for us old timers ).
Now a cable modem appears to be more bursty and intermittant as more and more subscribers use the service. DSL and cable are a “consumer grade connection” and are NOT a business grade connection in my opinion,( especially DSL ). I know ( because with 30 yrs experience and being responsible for troubleshooting and getting the DSL cable
partners" to effect the repairs ) that you will likely have some problems.
One thing to note… DSL is ( pretty much )the least expensive data/voice service offered by the “phone companies” Does that tell you something???
After a bit of research as to what was available
through local providers my ISP came up with another
offer. We combined phone service, long distance,
1.5 mbps DSL and expanded Cable TV service (including
OLN finally) for a cost similar to what we were
paying for the individual services separately. The
upgraded DSL is super, additional phone features and
200 minutes of long distance, and now I can get fly
fishing on TV. Best of all, their cable controller
works my TV, surround sound, DVD, VCR and Cable box
with one easy to use controller.G I didn’t even
need to hire a neighborhood kid to program them for
me. Now I no longer have to wait for pictures to
download and even video is almost instantanious. I
love it. Thanks for your inputs. Warm regards, Jim
