An internet question

Lord_Snot

Hey guys,
I've got a 10Mb connection, but I only get around 2.5Mb/s, if I upgrade to a 20Mb connection, would I still only get the same speed, due to limitations of my line?

bowen

Are you sure that connection isn't in Mbits? Most connection companies quote numbers in bits because it makes the connection's throughput seem larger than it is. And then once you're in windows most things refer to Mbytes for transfers and storage. Though 2.5 Mbyte/s roughly translates to 20Mbit connections, which is suspicious.

Lord_Snot

bowen wrote:

Are you sure that connection isn't in Mbits? Most connection companies quote numbers in bits because it makes the connection's throughput seem larger than it is. And then once you're in windows most things refer to Mbytes for transfers and storage. Though 2.5 Mbyte/s roughly translates to 20Mbit connections, which is suspicious.

No, I know about that. Both speeds I quoted are in Mb (Megabits, not MB). I get 2.5Mb, which is about 300KB/s.

Foomy

are you sure you have a 10 megabyte connection and not a 10 megabit connection? ISP's love to measure speed in megabits because it makes it sound faster. while your computer is going to show megabytes for it's measurements.

Mb is megabit or 1000000 bits, while MB is megabyte or 1048576 bytes or 8388608 bits.

so if your connection is 10 megabits/s that's actually about 1.5 megabytes/s

edit: ah saw your post just before i got mine in.

if your not getting the full speed it could be due to a few things, congestion, bad lines, too far from the isp. upgrading might get you a bit more speed but I wouldn't count on it.

bowen

Yeah the upper/lower case doesn't even matter anymore because most ISPs use them interchangeably. I'd verify that one with them on the phone or in your contract.

Aeyther

There's also this:

syndalis wrote:

This is another possible problem. They are not obligated to give you all you are paying for all the time.

If they have tried and failed to increase your speed, and no dice, they will keep taking your money for sub par service as long as you are willing to pay.

Try and find a better ISP.