not getting advertised DL speeds in real world DL's, help

M

marvin888

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I have AT&t uverse 3/1 MEG package. when I run a test from a site like speedtest I get close to advertised speeds.




But when I actually go to DL something, I get like 350KB/s. Steam and Heaven Benchmark 2.0 are my most recent complaints, but these are typical speeds for everything I DL.

I understand speedtest.net is optimized and not real world, but I would like to see something closer to 1 MEG/s DL speeds.

I understand it depends on where the server is, time of day, internet traffic, number of routers (hops). Im not asking for 3 MEG/s speeds all the time, just not 1/10th of advertised speeds.

most of the time Im the only one on the net. Nothing else major (windows updates, torrents, ect.) are running in the background.

I used this registry tweak to improve pings, but did nothing for speeds. http://forums.doghousesystems.com/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=512

Anyone have any ideas on how to improve my speeds.

vitals,

Win 7 premium 64
Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L
E8400
4 GIGs ram

wired to
Gateway 7401-80 Giga switch

wired to
2wire 3800HGV-B gateway
 
3/1 meg package is 3 megabits down and 1 megabit up.

There are 8 bits in a byte so;

1 megabit per second is 1,000,000 bits which equals 1,000 kilobits = 125 kilobytes per second.

125x3=375 so your speed is on par.

The easy way to do it is take your rate say you bought a 20/3 megabit line; round/multiply the number by 1000, so it would be 20,000/3,000kilobits and divide by 8 which would be 2,500/375kilobytes per second.

Basically in more simple terms if you would like 1megabyte downstream then you need an 8megabit line, etc, etc.

Also I can't speak for everyone but I have found every single one of those speedtest sites to be completely unreliable especially when you start pumping a lot more bandwidth I can just imagine how overloaded their servers can get. If you want to really test it download a download manager that splits files into pieces like "Downthemall" or an equivalent, another very good one is "firedownload" and set it use the most pieces, then go to a site of a very large company that would only have the best servers available and download a large file. Use a network meter or gadget to monitor your downstream. By splitting the files into pieces you are assuring maximum possible bandwidth from the server because you are connecting like an octopus with many arms instead of just a single hand which is often capped on their end. Upstream can be tested simply by mailing a large attachment in an email.
 
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according to http://www.speedguide.net/conversion.php 350 kb/s = 0.35 mb/s

Quote from site:
Notes: Keep in mind in data communication 1 kilobit = 1000 bits, while in data storage 1 Kilobyte = 1024 Bytes. This conversion calculator rounds all values to 5 significant digits.

I still think its a little low.
 
You are getting the same speeds on your downloads as you are on your speed test results. 2.88 Mbps is the same as ~350 Kbps. Divide by 8 and you get your KB/s figure. Nothing to complain about here.
 
Welcome to the ISP numbers game, its very similar to the HDD Manuf numbers game.
 
These guys all hit the points, 8 bits in a byte, whatever your advertised speed is, divide by 8 for your real download speed.
 
marvin888 said:
I understand speedtest.net is optimized and not real world, but I would like to see something closer to 1 MEG/s DL speeds.
Click to expand...

Then you're going to have to upgrade to a much faster U-Verse package......go for the MAX package which is 12 megs down.
 
The big thing is byte vs. bit, as stated. Network speeds are generally measured in bits (b), while storage on a PC is measured in bytes (B). There's the 8x difference between the two to make up the majority of the perceived differences right there. Figure in a little network overhead and stuff, and 10x is a good number to use for roughly estimating. Got a 3Mb (3000Kb) connection? Expect ~300KB downloads. Got a 10Mb connection? Expect ~1000KB downloads.

1MB = 8x 1Mb. The capitalization is important, and "1 meg" doesn't specify which one you really mean.
 
marvin888 said:
according to http://www.speedguide.net/conversion.php 350 kb/s = 0.35 mb/s

Quote from site:
Notes: Keep in mind in data communication 1 kilobit = 1000 bits, while in data storage 1 Kilobyte = 1024 Bytes. This conversion calculator rounds all values to 5 significant digits.

I still think its a little low.
Click to expand...

little b = bits, big B=bytes.

350Kb/s is 0.35Mb/s. However 350KB/s is also roughly 3Mb/s. (fixed by Cmustang87, tech terms before coffee=problems).

The os is measuring 350 kilo bytes per second which as has been mentioned is equivalent to 3 megabits per second.

My fios plan is 20megabits down, and i get around 2MB/s if the server can handle the speed.
 
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just keep in mind nobody will ever get there advertised speed from there isp and I dont understand why people think they are going to get there full package from there isp I just wanted to say you wont get the full speed sorry.
 
timreichhart said:
just keep in mind nobody will ever get there advertised speed from there isp and I dont understand why people think they are going to get there full package from there isp I just wanted to say you wont get the full speed sorry.
Click to expand...

I get more than my advertised speed. Consistently. Every place is diff I guess.
 
This thread has gone from semi-helpful to full blown retarded.

Also, interesting thread coming from a "Limp Gawd, 7.3 Years"

Just saying...........
 
marvin888 said:
I have AT&t uverse 3/1 MEG package. when I run a test from a site like speedtest I get close to advertised speeds.




But when I actually go to DL something, I get like 350KB/s. Steam and Heaven Benchmark 2.0 are my most recent complaints, but these are typical speeds for everything I DL.

I understand speedtest.net is optimized and not real world, but I would like to see something closer to 1 MEG/s DL speeds.

I understand it depends on where the server is, time of day, internet traffic, number of routers (hops). Im not asking for 3 MEG/s speeds all the time, just not 1/10th of advertised speeds.

most of the time Im the only one on the net. Nothing else major (windows updates, torrents, ect.) are running in the background.

I used this registry tweak to improve pings, but did nothing for speeds. http://forums.doghousesystems.com/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=512

Anyone have any ideas on how to improve my speeds.

vitals,

Win 7 premium 64
Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L
E8400
4 GIGs ram

wired to
Gateway 7401-80 Giga switch

wired to
2wire 3800HGV-B gateway
Click to expand...

why are you complaing? those speeds look like a 3/1 package to me.

i've got fios..its a 20/5 package. in your face. just kidding of course
 
I didn't post this in genmay because I wanted real help. which I got from most of you.
I think I know where I got confused. uverse package is in Mbps (bits) not MBps (bites). I understand the whole bits/bytes thing. I guess I was just getting confused and assumed AT&T advertising MBps.

thanks for clearing it up for me.
 
marvin888 said:
I didn't post this in genmay because I wanted real help. which I got from most of you.
I think I know where I got confused. uverse package is in Mbps (bits) not MBps (bites). I understand the whole bits/bytes thing. I guess I was just getting confused and assumed AT&T advertising MBps.

thanks for clearing it up for me.
Click to expand...

It's cool man, networking is confusing as hell in the beginning. Some of us are network administrators and have been doing this for several years...this comes natural to us. No worries. I've been in the IT game for almost 6 years man.

take it easy.
 
marvin888 said:
I didn't post this in genmay because I wanted real help. which I got from most of you.
I think I know where I got confused. uverse package is in Mbps (bits) not MBps (bites). I understand the whole bits/bytes thing. I guess I was just getting confused and assumed AT&T advertising MBps.

thanks for clearing it up for me.
Click to expand...

it's how ISPs get the uneducated/computer-illiterates really.

Internet speeds have always been advertised as bits per second, so the number looks larger than it really is.

and on top of that, it makes it even more confusing that most download apps display the speed in bytes per second.
Then you have the speed test sites which display the results in bits per second.

when I worked as ISP tech support, I was always getting that question, and having to try to explain it to a truly computer illiterate was a difficult process.
 
You are not going to get the speed your service offers across the internet. However, you will have that speed from your house to their CO. It's just the way it works, there are too many variables once you leave their network. If you talk to their network admin, they will tell you the same thing.

Quite frankly, if you want more speed, upgrade your package.

Now, what is really interesting, is I can pull down 22.84 megabits per second on my 20 megabits per second line, and it's not just a spike. :cool:
 
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