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You are here: MacNN Forums > Software - Troubleshooting and Discussion > Mac OS X > Very strange download speed difference between X and Virtualpc

Very strange download speed difference between X and Virtualpc
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Grizzled Veteran
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Apr 1, 2003, 02:04 PM
 
Hi,

This as really got me me wondering, I'm running 10.2 on a PB firewire, 400mhz and 320 mb ram, running xp in virtual pc and using a dial-up connection with the built in 56k modem.
You won;t believe this, but in X the fastest download speed i get is around 6kb/sec, but, having just ran xp in vpc, and downloadng the same updates from the web, i am getting speeds up to 24kb/s, averaging around 17kb/sec. I am baffled. XP's interface in vpc is sluggish, everything is, but damn, the downloads are unbelieavable. Is there someting wrong in X?.

thanks
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Apr 1, 2003, 02:26 PM
 
I've noticed this with DSL as well. My machine is a 400mhz G4 and I'm running 10.2.4 with VPC 5 running Windows 2000. In OSX i'll get downloads of 50-60K but in VPC it's up around 75-80K. Weird.
     
Grizzled Veteran
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Apr 1, 2003, 02:36 PM
 
wow, that is some difference. I remember reading an article which tweaked the buffersizes in X, doesn't seem to have anything, this was a while ago mind you. I had vpc5 which was quite slow on this mac, but I upgraded to 6 and it does seem to be faster. IAlthough xp is a dog under it, 2000 was fine. I might stick 2000 back on, prefer it to xp too.
     
Mac Elite
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Apr 1, 2003, 05:30 PM
 
If you were getting only 6kb/s(kilobits) then something is wrong with your modem, or your modem software, or something.

You should be getting more like 6KB/s (kiloBYTES) (48kb/s)

So either 1) you really are getting 6KB/s and your XP is running quite a bit slower (3KB/s = 24kb/s), or XP is reporting 17KB/s, which is impossible on a 56kb/s modem 17X8 = 136kb/s .

Do you understand the difference?
     
Senior User
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Apr 1, 2003, 05:46 PM
 
Simple answer:

IE lies. In Win2K under VPC, it claims I am downloading at 700K/sec, meanwhile my router (which the download traffic was passing through) shows 200K/sec. Try Mozilla in VPC, and you might get more believable results.
"Think Different. Like The Rest Of Us."

iBook G4/1.2GHz | 1.25GB | 60GB | Mac OS X 10.4.2
Athlon XP 2500+/1.83GHz | 1GB PC3200 | 120GB | Windows XP
     
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Apr 1, 2003, 07:57 PM
 
Also you probably fuxored your mac when you installed some sort of speed optimizing software on OS X.
     
Professional Poster
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Apr 2, 2003, 05:12 AM
 
Dial up, both connected speed and download speed, are better and definitive more stable on os ten than on windows in my experience. Thought I haven't used XP on dial up my self on the same line as my mac. Anyway, this is just my thoughts. And there is nothing magic about Windows network capabilities, emulated or not.

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Mac Elite
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Apr 2, 2003, 05:17 AM
 
Yep, IE through VPC just plain lies. 6K/sec is pretty darn good for a 56K modem, with the theoretical max being 7K/sec.
     
Clinically Insane
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Apr 2, 2003, 07:07 AM
 
KB/sec, I'm sure you meant.

In short, IE is full of ****.
     
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Apr 2, 2003, 08:02 AM
 
aaah, i see. I thiknk I hve messed aroundwith my network settnigs. I did wonder though at vpc, cause at my girlfriend's, she has adsl and don't always see speeds of 17kb/s, cheers for the reassurance.
     
Mac Elite
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Apr 2, 2003, 08:31 AM
 
Originally posted by Cipher13:
KB/sec, I'm sure you meant.
But of course.
     
   
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