I'm trying to get a real-life feel for download speeds.

I have Time Warner cable now with 10Mbps download, and I am pretty happy with that.

I am looking at switching to ATT as they have an awsome bundle for HDTV, Phone, and Internet. Only problem is ATT's download speed is 6Mbps.

I am not a gamer, and rarely watch streaming video.

Is there going to be a perceptible difference if I downgrade from 10Mbps to 6Mbps?

(ATT has a premium speed boost to 18Mbps for $20 more per month.)

Thanks

I have been on speeds 3Mbps, 6Mbps, 10Mbps and presently 20Mbps, I remember when I got the boost from 6 to 10 and it was noticeable, but only because I download and upload large amounts of Data. You would'nt notice any difference with gaming and streaming media between 6 and 10, if you just use the internet for basic standard use, then by all means downgrade. I find that larger speeds are only necessary for quick uploads and downloads for large data use.

Thanks.

That's what I needed to hear...

JD99, occasionally I will watch a TV episode online that I missed, and notice that the picture can be a bit "jerky", especially if I enlarge it. Will that get worse downgrading from 10 to 6 Mbps?

Also, has anyone had any experience with ATT internet? If they say 6Mbps, is it really 6? I do get the full 10Mbps on Time Warner.

That can be hard to say as the picture being shaky could be due to the site and the amount of users also viewing that same clip, streaming media should not ne affected from downgrading 10 to 6.

Unless you have a fast system, the online video will be a little jerky, esp if you fullscreen the video. So yes, I think it'll stay jerky.

Well that's exactly the case.

I have an older system (1.8GHz P4), and the picture got "jerky" when I went to full screen.

So it sounds like I'm okay then downgrading from 10 to 6Mbps?

Still, it seems inherently wrong to choose an ISP that is slower. But they have such an awesome TV and phone bundle, and the price is great.

They call it U-Verse. It includes a DVR that can record 4 different channels at once and play back on any TV in the house. Pretty cool I think.

ATT keeps telling me about fiber optics, but I guess it's still DSL from their hub to my house. I've always heard that cable is better than DSL. Now I'm reading that DSL is unaffected by multiple neighborhood users, whereas cable will slow with multiple users.

Any last words of advice before I take the plunge to ATT?

Speedtest.net - The Global Broadband Speed Test

Check it out

Thanks. I actually use that regularly to monitor performance. It's a cool site.

I am noy sure what I can say that already hasn't been said but I will add my 2 cents.

I recently had 5meg Cable and switched to 10meg.
I didn't notice a difference.
I game A lot and still didn't notice.

I have heard that DSL isn't effected by community cpacity, unlike cable. For example it may be 10 meg at my house but shared between the people on my block.

But it sounds like it's small sacrifice for the items you're getting in return. An awesome bundle that's priced nice is hard to comeby.

Does your current ISP offer a 5meg or 6meg. If so maybe you can downgrade for a month and see if you notice a considerable difference.

Hope This Helps!

Thanks Rick,

The more I hear that 5 or 6M is fast enough, the better I feel. I just didn't want to change everything, and then say "what in the hell was I thinking giving up 10M for 6?"

My current ISP only has 10M and 15M.

By chance, I ran into an ATT installer and he told me that the farther you are from the fiber optic node, the slower the speed will be on DSL. I am at the very end of my street, so I can't help but wonder if I'm really going to get the 6M.

At speedtest.net I am actually downloading at a full 10M now.

I wish I could just try this out, but I suppose that's not practical. Once I shut down Roadrunner, I also must give up my 15 year old email address :-(

A speed from a cable company is guaranteed. With dsl the speeds that you receive will depend upon the amount of repeats from the server to your home. Whomever says that your speeds are effected by your neighbors on cable is incorrect. The speeds that you receive are registered per the config file that is sent to the modem with the speeds that you will receive. Going from 10mbps to 6mbps will produce a negative effect, however it may not be noticed if you do not do something that regularly requires a high data transfer rate. If you are doing the occasional browsing/internet and email/watching a movie or 2 online you should not have a problem, however I would not recommend going below 5mbps if you can help it. And as for the multi-room dvr, they are pretty neat boxes however I believe that you still have to have receivers in each of the rooms.

Just another thing to think about here.
While the real difference between these services is simply a number, do either have a limit on the contract.
For example data usage, say X GB a month or other restrictions to their use?

The other thing to consider is if there is a change in technology from Cable to DSL.
DSL speeds are quoted as UP TO as they are greatly affected by distance.
Whereas Cable speeds are close to what they advertise.

Thank you both. Very useful info I did not know. Especially about DSL speeds being quoted as "up to", vs cable.

Echo: Yes, you do need a box in each room for the multi-room dvr. A cost drawback.

I know this is off the "computer topic: but does anyone know if you can connect a TV straight to a DSL line and use it's own tuner like with cable, or do you need a converter box for DSL?

OK that's where there's another difference.
With Cable the WHOLE service comes down the one line, where as with DSL the TV and Internet are separate services.The DSL is over your phone line and the TV comes down a "normal" aerial/receiver.

ATT must have something different, as they explained it to me. They call it U-Verse.

They have a fiber-optic cable that runs to a junction in the neighborhood.

From there, they convert to a twisted pair of copper wire to your house (underground).

They tie that into your normal home coax cable system for distribution throughout the house.

The same cable carries internet, TV, and VoIP phone service.

Perhaps I misspoke when I said DSL. I thought that it was still DSL with this system.

This is using the DSL system as a cooper pair is involved, but the speeds should be up with what they advertise. You still connect to the internet via a normal phone socket.

This is a similar way that cable works.
They run Fibre to a local POP (Point of Presence) and then coax from there to your house.

Either way sounds like a good deal, least there's only ONE bill to deal with for everything.

Did they mention anything about data caps or other restrictions ?

CB,

No they did not mention data caps. First I've heard of it, so I didn't ask.

The ATT store was less than technically informed. Same with their call center unfortunately. That's why I'm asking some of the technical questions here.

So CB, there have been a number of comments above from others, about DSL being UP TO 6Mbps (advertised), but could be much less depending on distance, etc. You say that it should be as advertised. So I'm a bit confused.

Does this sound like DSL? And if so, is it possible or likely that my speed could be less than the 6Mbps advertised?


Thanks... MSC

One last semi-related speed question.

My wireless router is 802.11N and I'm getting a connect speed to my PC of 300Mbps.

Is this wireless connect speed related to the download speed we've been discussing?

If it's the same, than having 300Mbps wireless seems like total overkill.

ATT includes a wireless modem that is 802.11G. My last G system opeated at 54Mbps. Is this more than fast enough for these download speeds? Or is this apples and oranges?

I am pretty sure when it say 100mbps or 300 or whatever, it's just it's capabilities, it's not actually running that fast although that would be amazing!

Rick,

Is the wireless connect speed the same "thing" as the download speed?

In other words, If my internet download speed is 10Mbps, does that mean that my wireless connection only needs to be 10Mbps?

Or are they 2 different things altogether?

Thanks

Are you asking if the 300mbps is overkill?

If you have a draft 802.11N then your router is capable of 240mbps (not 300, but close) but your Wireless NIC is only capable of mostlikely 54mbps. So yes maybe the 802.11N does seem like anoverkill when you only have 5-15 meg speed but it doesn't hurt. The only reason you might want it is to for signal distance, it travels farther and you can use your PC greater distances away.

Another thing. I have a Linksys wrt150-n 802.11n like you. I am currently only connectd at 54 from my router to the PC because my WNIC can only support data transfer up to 54 meg. I am connected at about 7meg from the router to the internet (although I'm paying for 10meg,) The router itself has capabilities well over 54meg but neither my computer or my ISP offer anymore than that. The only reason I bought the 802.11N was for signal distance. Not for speed. I could be fine on an 802.11b/g. I am not sure what you're asking but hope this helps!

And cable is not guaranteed as far as speed goes and it is effected by usage of the line that runs into your house. Right now like I stated above I pay for 10mbps high-speed through Charter Communications but I share that 10mbps with my whole row of townhouses where I live which is 5 houses. So at any given time my actual speed ranges from 3-10 mbps. DSL is effected by distance from the source.

Not sure if this answered your question!

Rick,

Thanks. All useful info.

My PC is older so I had to buy a wireless PCI card. I tried different brands over time for speed, consistency, and range. Started with 802.11b, the went to g, and now n.

I recently upgraded to a matching pair PCI card and wireless router by D-Link which is N, but bought it for range, not speed.

My Linksys G system had a weak signal and was always giving me errors for some reason. I kept having to power cycle the PC to get it to connect.

I find the D-Link to be more stable and much stronger signal strength. And even though it's a draft N, my wireless icon says 300Mbps connection speed. (?? )

As far as my question, I'm sorry I don't seem to be able to articulate it clearly. I'll try again.

When someone talks about internet download speeds, they might say 10Mbps. If I understand this correctly, this is the speed at which the ISP server downloads data to my computer via a cable.

When someone talks about wireless connection speed being say 54Mbps, is that the same definition as the ISP download speed? The speed in Mbps that the router downloads data to my PC?

Is it the same thing except one is over a cable and the other is wireless?

I remember reading somewhere online that the wireless speed has nothing to do with download speed, but I don't understand why that would be the case.

I hope that made sense.

Thanks...

[QUOTE=mitchsc;1445785]Rick,
When someone talks about internet download speeds, they might say 10Mbps. If I understand this correctly, this is the speed at which the ISP server downloads data to my computer via a cable.

When someone talks about wireless connection speed being say 54Mbps, is that the same definition as the ISP download speed? The speed in Mbps that the router downloads data to my PC?
QUOTE]


Correct. Internet Speed is the speed your ISP allows you to download pages and data. It's the speed from your router/modem to the internet. Your wirless connection speed is from your computer to the router, it refers to the speed of internetwork transfer speed, or the speed you can transfer stuff inside the network, not outside the network.

I am pretty sure this is how it works but I sat and thought about it so long I might be confusing myself! AHAHAHAHA

Rick,

Okay, we agree.

But can the to be defined as the same thing?

Are they both just data transfer speed? And are the units of measure both the same... Mbps?

Both are measured in mbps. They are both data ransfer speed yes but they differ in the fact that one refers to internetork transfers the other to internet transfer.

I am glad we could agree!

Have a merry x-mas!

Mitch, the 300 Mbps you are seeing is the speed of YOUR network and NOT the internet download speed.

Rick, I'm not sure why you think this is overkill, bear on mind that corporate offices are now running 1 Gbps as standard and 10 Gbps is available.

My work network is running at 1 Gbps, even though my WAN is only 2Mbps.

So internally it's lightening quick, which is what you want ;)

ITStudent, if you are not getting the speeds which you ARE guaranteed you need to contact your isp. I troubleshoot speed issues all the time for this fact. When you run the speedtest it is important that you do a direct test (aka remove you router and have an RJ-45 from modem to computer) for the test as this is something that will effect your speeds. You will also want to remove any software or hardware firewall that you do have. I can guarantee you that they are guaranteed, however if you are not getting the speeds then it is an issue at your residance or somewhere on the maintenance side of things. Just because you are not getting the speeds does not mean they are not guaranteed, it means you just have not done enough troubleshooting to find out where the problem may lie.

And in regards to the wireless N, if you have a wireless N card and have a wireless N router then you will get faster speeds. It will not show through the internet speeds, however if you have something that you have to transfer from one computer to another and both are wireless N and configured properly then you should see a very fast transfer rate between the two. Would you be using the wireless inside the home for anything other just the internet(ICS, sharing files between pcs, Media Box) If you are doing any of the previous, I suggest upgrading to the wireless N standard.

I did not know I had to go direct from my PC to modem! Thanks Theecho. And CurlyBen re-read what I wrote I not once said it was overkill, I asked him if he was asking me if it was overkill! No worries though, and I know the 300mbps (it's actually 240 w/ 802.11N not 300) is YOUR netowrk, we discussed this earlier.

Thank You guys for clearing up anyhing I in't already!

So if I'm paying for 10 meg, I should be getting 10 meg somewhere?

When I tested on my laptop which is wireless to the router I was only getting anywhere between 2-5.

If I go direct it should increase as well as temporarily disable any firewalls?

That is correct. I pay for 10mbps down 2mbps up and average around 8 through my router. If I go direct to modem, I will get 20mbps because of the powerboost. If you do not mind me asking, who is your isp?

Theecho -

I understand everything you're saying, and did not know that speed tests should be performed without router and firewall. Thank you.

My cable ISP quotes 10Mbps.

When I do a speedtest (thru my wireless router and Windows firewall) I do get the full 10Mbps.

Can I assume from this that if I switched to ATT (which I believe is DSL) and they quote 6Mbps, then I would get the full 6, even though it is running through my firewall and wireless router?

No. With DSL it is quoted as "up to" which means you may or may not get it. DSL speeds depend on how far away you are from their server. DSL uses repeaters to go through and attempt to deliver the speeds however it just cannot send it the same way that cable does. I would never be on a DSL connection for myself and would not recommend it to anyone. Also something to keep in mind is that you normally have to keep the service of phone and internet together for the internet to work whereas with cable if you don't want the phone you don't have to have it. I only say this because I do not have a home phone. I only use my cell phone and do not wish to have a home phone at all, and definitely not be required to keep it for my internet.

Many homes and offices cannot get the higher speed DSL because they are located too far from the telephone company's central office. DSL circuits cannot maintain high-bandwidth connections past relatively short distances (such as 18,000 feet). In contrast, cable technology provides all customers equal access to high-speed services.

Thank you.

For anyone interested, this is what I've been talking about: U-verse - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I'm still not entirely sure it is DSL...

My isp is charter communications when I get home I will retest without my router and see if I get 10mbps you see I always thought cable was effected by how many people weqe on that line

You can also check your internet download and upload speed test here http://www.ip-details.com/internet-speed-test/ at free of cost.