Broadband and downloading

[Steve Maskery]

Hi all,
I'm just downloading a Quicktime upgrade (been watching those DT videos :shock: ), and I noticed that my download speed is about 7Kb/s. Now I don't do a lot of downloading, but this speed is probably typical. However I have 1Mb broadband! Is the difference entirely due to their end being slow, or is something in my setup throttling download speeds? Seems I'd be just as quick with an old 14.4K modem! Anyone know the ins and outs of transfer speeds?

I have a wireless router between my PC and the cable modem.

Cheers
Steve

 

[LyNx]

Maybe the time of day, but i'm downloading it at 120kb/s minimum.

Try another site, windows update then your can compare the two

Andy

 

[wizer]

sounds about average to me. there are many factors which interfere with download speed:

Bandwidth from ISP
Bandwidth from download site
Time of day (i.e. peak times like about now)
PC Speed
Router efficiency
Telephony equipment (lines within your house, outside your house, quality of micro filter, etc)

You can test your speed here:

http://www.adslguide.org.uk/tools/speedtest.asp

I think in this case it is Apple setting the download speed. I am on 512 and also got 7kbps when downloading quicktime.

 

[Chris Knight]

Steve,
About 1000 variables - so hard to answer really. However the figure you quote is too slow for anything resembling normal operation really. I have a 1MB download line and on downloads from major sites (except MS which can be slower!) normally get 998kbps to 1.02mbps. On good days my ISP and BT have a purple patch and think I am on a 5mbps line for about a couple of minutes and I have literally downloaded files this quickly. This is exceptional given that the advertised speed of my local exchange (which is close to 6.5km away) is only 512kbps for my house but I am not complaining.

Something is up with your connection but it could be your PC, your phone line, the local exchange, your ISP, the big pipe carrier, the web host at the other end etc etc. try a trace route to find where the hold ups are.

 

[Chris Knight]

Just tried downloading quicktime - I get it at 1.04mbps so summat is wrong for you and Tom.

 

[RogerS]

As WiZeR says..check out your speed using his link. If speed is OK then it's nowt to do with you or your ISP but elsewhere...like Apple as suggested.

 

[wizer]

I would have thought it is Apple using peak bandwidth controls. They kick in when downloads hit a certain capacity.

at the moment I am getting a constant 555kbps from another site.

 

[Steve Maskery]

Thanks guys. I did the test and got 936 for actual downstream, so I guess that's not too bad, is it? Do I take it from this that there is nothing wrong with my setup, and it is all someone else's fault (like life in general, eh? )

But I have NEVER seen any download of anything at anything like that sort of speed, not even treble figures.

Cheers
Steve

 

[Jake]

An outside chance that it could be traffic shaping - where they impose different speeds for different types of traffic.

 

[RogerS]

Steve

It could be any or all of the suggestions in this thread At least it's not your set-up.

My money would be on contention at the server(s) hosting the download item that you want. Simple law of physics...if enough people all want the same item at the same time then no matter how powerful or massively configured the server is, you will experience this sort of delay. It also is a means of managing the demand by the hosting website. Better to let more people download the data at a slower rate then a few at a faster rate.

You often read about websites crashing in the press ..usually just after some really interesting item has received press coverage...the servers just can't cope with the demand.

And, as Jake suggests, servers and routers can be configured to give different priority to different types of traffic or even different ports.

 

[devonwoody]

I have not yet promoted myself to broadband yet, (wiring problems at home) but does the above mean that there is a lot of hype around re broadband and if there is something hot around its like the old days?
slow slow quick quick slow.

 

[RogerS]

No dw...you won't regret broadband.

 

[wizer]

the difference between dialup and broadband is night and day

 

[devonwoody]

the difference between dialup and broadband is night and day

Mmmmmmmmmm but which is the night?

I always preferred driving at night

 

[wizer]

surfing during the night would be dangerous

 

[Mike-W]

Is it anything to do with the wireless router? I understand hard wired networks are better for higher speed/large file exchanges.

Mike

 

[Jake]

Only for things like streaming video from a (networked) server.

On any currently available adsl/cable connection the bottleneck will be the line or beyond, not the wireless connection.