Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

General discussion

DSL at 78K? ! ?

Feb 10, 2008 2:31AM PST

I have a similar question, but I suspect it has more to do with my network than the actual DSL.
I have a SBC home DSL line. I can run any of the online speed tests, and get good results. I generally fall
in the 500K to 600K speed range for DL & UL. However, when I actually go to a website, any website, and download a file, any type, my DL speed hovers around 78K. ( which I think is too slow) Here's the crazy part, if I pause the DL, it will re-start at a much higher speed. Initally re-starting in the MB range, then drifting downward, it will settle in the >200K range most of the time.
#1. Why would my inital DL speed not go above 78K ?
#2. Why would it go higher upon re-starting a DL?
Thanks, Mike

Discussion is locked

- Collapse -
"if I pause the DL, it will re-start at a much higher speed.
Feb 10, 2008 3:00AM PST

To explain this you need to fully understand the internet and systems as you see from AKAMAI. The speed from that web site to you can be passing through a shared pipe so the highest speed is set by the slowest section of the pipe. Your connection to your ISP is at "some" speed but this does not and has never meant you get that speed from a web site.

I decline to rewrite this.

Bob

- Collapse -
Bottlenecks
Feb 10, 2008 5:07AM PST

Bob: I don't think I asked the question you answered. I also stated that my problem was more likely in my home network than with the DSL. I say that because, I seem to have the same limitation for any site I visit. The only thing in common would be my home network.
Please understand... this is not just one site,it's pretty much any site.
I understand that there is no guaranteed speed for a given tier of service provided. I also understand the concept of "a chain is only as strong (fast) as it's weakest link". I also understand that my service provider has no control over the sites I visit and download from. I also realise the limitations of the the online speed tests. But, 78K ? everytime, from any site. That's down close to dialup speeds! Given the information above, do you think the bottleneck could be in my home network? If so, then why would the speed increase after pausing and re-starting a download? I personally think it's the fault of Wal-Mart. How so?
When I make a call on my Vonage phone, my Id shows up as "Bentonville,AR". From that I can assume that the nearest node for SBC is in Bentonville. Guess who is headquartered in Bentonville,AR? Yes, you see Wal-mart is siphoning off all my bits and packets.

- Collapse -
"Here's the crazy part, if I pause the DL, it will re-start
Feb 10, 2008 5:16AM PST

"Here's the crazy part, if I pause the DL, it will re-start at a much higher speed."

To answer why it does that, you would have to understand a common system you find all over the internet. The AKAMAI system I noted. I decline to detail how it works but it is the most likely reason for your observation.

I must decline writing how the internet works. I will discuss or supply starter information but there is nothing wrong with your observations. What's missing is the knowledge to understand why it is so.

The answers won't change your speeds, just that you may better understand how things work. There is also possibilities that your ISP shapes network traffic. If you don't know about network shaping, I again decline to write about this. Do some homework and by all means...

CALL YOUR ISP AND GET THEM TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS. You paid them for it.

Bob

- Collapse -
Call your ISP !
Feb 10, 2008 5:25AM PST

Oh Bob, you know, I called them first. I even got up to the third tier with the helpdesk. All they told me was this; if I was running the online speed tests and getting good results, which I am, then it wasn't on "their end". I probably should have posted this over on the home network forum.
Thanks, Mike

- Collapse -
They are in line with my answer.
Feb 10, 2008 5:48AM PST

If the pipe from your PC to them is getting the right speeds then from them to the web server can drop as it's all shared bandwidth.

The reason I must decline writing too much is that I would be duplicating "how the internet works." Let's try to avoid that since you can do that research on your own and try to find out if your setup has an issue.

-> I can't find anything wrong with your observations or tell you that it proves there is something amiss with your setup.

Bob

- Collapse -
Download this
Feb 10, 2008 6:26AM PST
- Collapse -
About 220K
Feb 10, 2008 6:31AM PST

But I'm on cable, a router running OpenWRT and a very clean machine.

Bob

- Collapse -
I'm on AT&T DSL,
Feb 10, 2008 8:00AM PST
- Collapse -
Download this...
Feb 10, 2008 8:01AM PST

Ed: I'm afraid that was a bit confusing. I clicked that link and it downloaded 10MB worth of something. But there was no "halfway mark". The DL progress bar looked like a barber pole. 78K

- Collapse -
No more SBC
Feb 10, 2008 8:07AM PST

ED: I clicked on that imageshack link and it said 1.13MB, then hung up.
I had originally typed SW Bell, I guess that sort of dates me. ( I hired on with Bell in 1969)

- Collapse -
This is the link
Feb 10, 2008 8:19AM PST
- Collapse -
Click on the link...
Feb 11, 2008 12:58AM PST

Ed: Same as before...The download starts and the progress bar scrolls like an old barber pole. There is no
% indicated. Anyway, I let it do about 5MB worth. 78K same as before. The speed does not vary during the DL.
Thanks, Mike

- Collapse -
If you look at this picture
Feb 11, 2008 6:06AM PST
- Collapse -
look at this picture ?
Feb 11, 2008 10:13AM PST

Ed : All I get is a progress bar that scrolls like a barber pole. The .../test64 link starts at 79K and ends ( if I end it ) at 79K. There is no halfway point. My Dl window does not look like the image you posted.

- Collapse -
Download window
Feb 11, 2008 10:23AM PST

Browser = Safari

I tried it with IE and the speed was 80.2K

- Collapse -
78K BYTES PER SECOND looks correct.
Feb 11, 2008 10:49AM PST
- Collapse -
Spot on ? OK, What am I missing here ? ! ?
Feb 11, 2008 11:44AM PST

"..first speed cap is Basic (768kbps)..."

Bob: Hence my initial question...78K is a long way from 768K...
We had (SBC) DSL and I would routinely DL at 300/K +/-. We went to a cable package and I could routinely DL at 1MB+. Our phone service went down a few times with the cable bundle, so we went back to (ATT) for phone & DSL. Now I'm at the 78K ceiling.
10 years ago, with dialup, I could routinely average 40K. Something is wrong with this picture...What am I overlooking?

- Collapse -
78K bytes per second is about
Feb 11, 2008 11:53AM PST

768 kilo bits per second. I had that basic speed back when I had DSL since it was less costly than the higher tiers.

Sorry for the confusion and that they didn't explain this to you.

Bob

- Collapse -
I see....
Feb 11, 2008 12:10PM PST

Thanks for your patience...I guess this is what I get for letting my wife handle the call to AT& T !