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jeff k · Dec 3, 2009, 01:01 AM

There are sites that measure you speeds, but what are good speeds?
I had cable modem but moved to dsl -- time warner to verizon.
Going very slow. so curious to hear what others think.

turtle777 · Dec 3, 2009, 01:19 AM

999GB up and down is good.

-t

jeff k · Dec 3, 2009, 02:29 AM

Turtle, the speed test is saying,
6494 kbps download speed
671 kbps upload speed.

EndlessMac · Dec 3, 2009, 04:55 AM

Originally Posted by turtle777

999GB up and down is good.

-t

I wish I had that speed!

I don't think jeff fully understands what you are saying though...

Originally Posted by jeff k

Turtle, the speed test is saying,
6494 kbps download speed
671 kbps upload speed.

You have to convert that to bytes if you want to be in the same format as turtle. Most ISP will advertise numbers in kilobits which is what you have because the numbers are larger. You are getting 811.75 KB (kilobytes) down and 83.875 KB up. Turtle is saying gigabytes which is insane speeds.

Your speeds are decent numbers but I would consider it rather slow compared to other ISP speeds out there. It's kind of the low end of broadband speeds. I'm getting something like 17,866 kbps down and 2718 kbps up but right now it's very off peak hours so it's faster. You can find a converter on the internet do the bits to byte conversion if you want but I'm feeling a little lazy.

ghporter · Dec 3, 2009, 08:41 AM

Originally Posted by jeff k

Turtle, the speed test is saying,
6494 kbps download speed
671 kbps upload speed.

You are getting slightly better performance than I am with a "up to 6Mbps download/up to 600kbps upload" DSL connection. In real world numbers, I consistently get over 5Mbps down and over 600kbps up-quite reasonable.

Please note that your browser has very little to do with these numbers; it's your Internet connection that does that. Safari is just the vehicle through which you see the speed of your connection most noticeably.

jeff k · Dec 3, 2009, 07:53 PM

GH, thanks,
I was with Time Warner Cable and that was going slow.
Then changed to VErizon DSL.
They claimed ( and other have said this), that the sluggishness I have with Cable Model should vanish with DSL as with DSL, I'm not sharing the line with the neighbors. This seemed to be true for a month or so, but now really slow to see websites upload.
I have several flash websites with thumbnail galleries and its' just painful to watch how slow the thumbnails propogate while I'm on the phone with someone. I shudder to think what potential clients are thinking

imitchellg5 · Dec 3, 2009, 08:01 PM

Interesting, I've always heard the cable is less sluggish than DSL. What does Verizon say you should be getting?

sek929 · Dec 3, 2009, 08:04 PM

Odd, Verizon DSL will never be faster than most cable connections, yes it's a shared connection but it's also a hell of a lot faster (in most cases)

Verizon DSL usually peaks out around 300K/sec download speed, while my Comcast Cable Internet can manage 3000K/sec from the right server.

jeff k · Dec 3, 2009, 08:13 PM

sek,
did not understand 300K, how does that relate or compare to what I'm getting?

ghporter · Dec 3, 2009, 11:01 PM

Jeff, when was the last time you restarted ALL of your network gear (modem, router, etc.)? If you haven't lately, do it now. That could fix your issue immediately.

olePigeon · Dec 3, 2009, 11:08 PM

Speed tests and problem diagnosis tools - dslreports.com

I find this helpful.

jeff k · Dec 4, 2009, 01:09 AM

gh,
I usually do that when there is no connection. Do you think I should add this into my "monthly maintnaince"

jeff k · Dec 4, 2009, 01:24 AM

gh
Just did the reboot of modem/router.
The speed was not better. Exact same.
But my thumbnail galleries are loading better, so maybe it helps?

turtle777 · Dec 4, 2009, 01:32 AM

Originally Posted by jeff k

But my thumbnail galleries are loading better, so maybe it helps?

They are cached.

-t

jeff k · Dec 4, 2009, 02:24 AM

I emtied the cache, but who know, what about my question, is this a montly maintence recommendation? thanks T.

turtle777 · Dec 4, 2009, 02:28 AM

Well, if it helps, why not. It's not gonna cost you anything.
Everybody needs some voodoo routines around their computers.

-t

EndlessMac · Dec 4, 2009, 03:25 AM

Originally Posted by jeff k

This seemed to be true for a month or so, but now really slow to see websites upload.
I have several flash websites with thumbnail galleries and its' just painful to watch how slow the thumbnails propogate while I'm on the phone with someone. I shudder to think what potential clients are thinking

You might also want to call your ISP and see if there are any problems with their infrastructure since you said that it was fast at the beginning. They won't fix the problem unless you complain. It could very well be a problem on their end and not yours.

ghporter · Dec 4, 2009, 09:57 AM

Originally Posted by EndlessMac

You might also want to call your ISP and see if there are any problems with their infrastructure since you said that it was fast at the beginning. They won't fix the problem unless you complain. It could very well be a problem on their end and not yours.

This. Double check your latency too; your perceived poor speed could be due to long latency issues. I use Speedtest.net to check my connection, because it's quite reliable and consistent. It also provides the latency of your connection.

jeff k · Dec 4, 2009, 12:47 PM

thanks Enless will call. Hate calling them though.

GH, what is latency? never heard the term.

ghporter · Dec 4, 2009, 01:30 PM

Latency is the length of time it takes to connect from you to the server. A good wired connection will connect in less than 25ms, while something like satellite Internet will take a lot longer. Longer latency is bad for gaming and streaming, but for most things it's not a terribly big issue. But really long latency can make it seem like your connection takes forever to load a page, even though the actual load happens quickly-eventually.

jeff k · Dec 4, 2009, 10:43 PM

Glenn,
thanks, what is the site to check the latency? I'll try it and report back.

EndlessMac · Dec 4, 2009, 11:38 PM

Originally Posted by jeff k

Glenn,
thanks, what is the site to check the latency? I'll try it and report back.

Most internet speed testing sites will report your latency too.

jeff k · Dec 5, 2009, 02:45 AM

Endless, I use
Speakeasy Speed Test
don't see anything about latency.

EndlessMac · Dec 5, 2009, 03:20 AM

Originally Posted by jeff k

Endless, I use
Speakeasy Speed Test
don't see anything about latency.

I've never used the Speakeasy test but the other forum members have already provided you other sites. I've used the two mentioned below also but I like the DSLreports one better. It just seems more accurate to me and their website is a great place to learn all things about internet connections. Anyway both of them should tell you your latency. You just have to look for it in the report they give you.

Originally Posted by olePigeon

Speed tests and problem diagnosis tools - dslreports.com

Originally Posted by ghporter

I use Speedtest.net to check my connection

jeff k · Dec 5, 2009, 03:21 PM

thanks Endless/ others.
on dslreports.com
where is latency? can't find it sorry.

Spheric Harlot · Dec 5, 2009, 04:18 PM

When you actually test your transfer speeds, it gives you exactly three pieces of information:

download speed, upload speed, and latency to server.

jeff k · Dec 5, 2009, 11:09 PM

Spheric,
thanks, on which of the 5 speed test sites I have bookmarked does it give this?

turtle777 · Dec 5, 2009, 11:11 PM

Originally Posted by jeff k

Spheric,
thanks, on which of the 5 speed test sites I have bookmarked does it give this?

Dude, why do we have to do all the work for you ?

Why don't you go and try and look for yourself.

-t

jeff k · Dec 5, 2009, 11:58 PM

Turtle, I looked over that convoluted site dslreports, up down sideways I can't find it.
I'm sure if I give it another 1/2 hour, I'll probably stumble upon it, but why not just ask?

Always appreciate you insightful help.

AKcrab · Dec 6, 2009, 12:00 AM

Try speedtest.net. Very concise results.

jeff k · Dec 6, 2009, 02:57 AM

thanks AK,
just tried it. worked well. don't see word latency anywhere though.

AKcrab · Dec 6, 2009, 05:05 AM

It's the third result. They label it PING

Spheric Harlot · Dec 6, 2009, 05:45 AM

Originally Posted by jeff k

Spheric,
thanks, on which of the 5 speed test sites I have bookmarked does it give this?

On the one you actually asked about in the post I responded to, perhaps?

I'm outta here.

Chongo · 10:31 AM

Originally Posted by AKcrab

Try speedtest.net. Very concise results.

The also have a pingtest.net

DSL reports

There is also Internet Performance and Speed Test

ghporter · Dec 6, 2009, 10:52 AM

Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot

On the one you actually asked about in the post I responded to, perhaps?

I'm outta here.

In fairness, the sites don't call it latency-at least not all of 'em do. The "ping" time reflects latency.

turtle777 · Dec 6, 2009, 11:36 AM

In fairness, jeff needs to take some Google lessons,too.

-t

jeff k · Dec 6, 2009, 01:53 PM

Ok guys, I got a ping of 27, that is latency? what does that tell me?

Spheric Harlot · Dec 6, 2009, 02:02 PM

Originally Posted by ghporter

In fairness, the sites don't call it latency-at least not all of 'em do. The "ping" time reflects latency.

The very site he explicitly asked about calls it "latency".

Spheric Harlot · Dec 6, 2009, 02:10 PM

Originally Posted by jeff k

Ok guys, I got a ping of 27, that is latency? what does that tell me?

No, you didn't. You got a ping of 27 ms.

If you'd ever bothered using Google, you'd have found that ms is milliseconds, what latency is, and what a ping is and how one of its uses is measuring latency, in ms.

27 ms is pretty good.

Network latency is not your problem.

Thinine · Dec 6, 2009, 03:40 PM

Try using an alternate DNS server, like OpenDNS (208.67.222.222, 208.67.220.220) or Google's PublicDNS (8.8.8.8, 8.8.4.4). I find OpenDNS to be faster, and both should be faster than Verizon's DNS.

Cold Warrior · Dec 6, 2009, 04:19 PM

Instructions here.