Bandwidth, bandwidth, bandwidth

[g_shocker182]

BANDWIDTH - a simple concept that confuses comcast customer service.

[indolikaa]

I read a story about this, either USA Today or FOX News. Comcast is sending out nasty letters regarding bandwidth usage. 100GB seems to be the unofficial trigger.

I love my DSL.

[gmatov]

Don't get too enamored of your DSL. They, also, discourage excessive bandwith usage, more properly, throughput.

You set up a server that gets hit hard, you will get a nasty letter, too.

Besides which, the shocker and I enjoy 3 mbs, whereas you, I think, still have 784kbps. Quad power. I have hit near 400, but think it was a burst while I browsed to the "Save to" folder, leveled off to 300+.

Cheers,

George

[indolikaa]

Don't get too enamored of your DSL. They, also, discourage excessive bandwith usage, more properly, throughput.

Good evening, George.

Although my account is reviewed annually, there are zero restrictions on bandwidth usage or thoroughput. However...

You set up a server that gets hit hard, you will get a nasty letter, too.

...this could be an issue down the road. But with T1/Frame-Relay readily available, and symmetrical SDSL online this spring, I've got options. I was part of their initial SDSL testing. Whoa.

Besides which, the shocker and I enjoy 3 mbs, whereas you, I think, still have 784kbps.

Some noteworthy speed test as of 10:07-ish Arizona time...

Chicago, IL Server: 882 Down, 267 Up
Rochester, NY Server: 818 Down, 275 Up
Kingman, AZ Server: 1142 Down, 271 Up
Elk Grove, CA Server: 1089 Down, 271 Up

These speeds are before the registry edit that increases DSL speeds.

"[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\VxD\MSTCP]"DefaultRcvWindow"=dword:00007d78

I'll reboot and test again. See you in a few minutes!

[indolikaa]

OK, new speed tests with edited registry!

Chicago, IL Server: 1052 Down, 257 Up
Rochester, NY Server: 1087 Down, 265 Up
Kingman, AZ Server: 1187 Down, 273 Up
Elk Grove, CA Server: 1121 Down, 275 Up

[gmatov]

Indolikaa,

Yeah, our Bell said they were going to up their speed to compete with cable, and decrease their price, ditto.

The funniest thing about it is that a girl I do comp repair for was told, at the same time, that her "loop" was no longer compatible. We'll give it to more people, but those who have it now can't anymore. She's on cable now, and quite happy.

Personally, I'd like to get it, also, as the cable company, Comcast, after buying AT&T, advised me if I don't also take cable from them (I had the Dish ), my internet would rise 15 bucks. So, what the hell, now I have cable TV, also, and it sucks as much as Dish did.

I don't know if I can get it, but an old fart neighbor, just today, mentioned that he is getting spiels from Verizon to get it,; will have to check DSLReports, and Verizon, to see if the CO 2 miles away is now capable..

Your numbers are impressive.

Cheres,

George

Haven't checked the toast.net speedometer for awhile, but my down is 300KBPS+, with a good server. That's 2.5MBPS. 2 to 3 times your DSL throughput.

I have a large DL going now, or would try. It's only running 77KBPS, roughly 600kbps, really sucks, when you CAN, but still CAN'T.

[indolikaa]

I thought they were impressive, too.

I had ISDN, DSL, and Cable at different times when I lived in Albuquerque. Cable was blazingly fast, but DSL seemed to be the most-stable connection you could find, with the most consistent speeds. ISDN, what a long time ago that was...

We also lived in an apartment community where a T1 line was shared by nearly 250 apartments, but only about 45 were actually connected. And this was during the heydays of Napster. Sick, I tell you. Just plain sick!

[fmctm1sw]

These speeds are before the registry edit that increases DSL speeds.

"[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\VxD\MSTCP]"DefaultRcvWindow"=dword:00007d78

I'll reboot and test again. See you in a few minutes!

Huh? I can increase the speed of my DSL with that? I'll try it when I get home. What's the name of that download speed testing site?

[Hardcoreruss]

These speeds are before the registry edit that increases DSL speeds.

"[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\VxD\MSTCP]"DefaultRcvWindow"=dword:00007d78

I'll reboot and test again. See you in a few minutes!

Huh? I can increase the speed of my DSL with that? I'll try it when I get home. What's the name of that download speed testing site?

Yeah whats all that above about ?

[fmctm1sw]

These speeds are before the registry edit that increases DSL speeds.

"[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\VxD\MSTCP]"DefaultRcvWindow"=dword:00007d78

I'll reboot and test again. See you in a few minutes!

WTF? I don't have that key...

[chiapet]

looked at that key and it doesn't work for Win XP. Do you know of one that would or is XP too "Secure" for something such as that?

[indolikaa]

Here is the link regarding the 'Registry' edit. You will see you can download the edit for a variety of Windows platforms...

http://faq.frontiernet.net/faq_answer.asp?q=187

The test is done on Frontier's network, but the results are mapped through dslreports.com. I think CNet also has a broadband speed test as well.

[g_shocker182]

You set up a server that gets hit hard, you will get a nasty letter, too.

Besides which, the shocker and I enjoy 3 mbs, whereas you, I think, still have 784kbps. Quad power. I have hit near 400, but think it was a burst while I browsed to the "Save to" folder, leveled off to 300+.

George - I tested at a real site and it said 2.5 mbs, so now I know I got it right.

Still trying to set up a server at the house, but all the computers here are in pieces and I need to time to make it work.

On a side note, how fast do you think (w/ a computer-server in place) the fastest upload speed could be(w/ my Comcast)? And were you talking about DSL and getting a nasty letter or do you think I could get one too if I did the above?

....whats pgh mean?

Cheers!

[indolikaa]

@Shocker,

He was talking about a nasty letter from the phone company when they see a DSL user pulling hundreds of GB per month. It can happen with any broadband provider; I was mentioning an article I read regarding Comcast where the trigger was 100GB per month, which I though was ridiculously low in today's Internet environment. But it can, and does, happen with DSL users, too.

(As soon as I find the article I'll post the link...)

And don't get me wrong. Cable is fantastic for Internet. We don't have cable TV out here, everybody is on satellite, and you're only access to high-speed Internet is either DSL (about 250 people qualify), satellite (very popular out here) or wireless (even more popular).

I know for a fact I have no bandwidth limitations. But I also know it's standard practice for Cable companies to put a trigger limit on their users. Now, getting the cable company to admit what that limit is can be very difficult. As it appears you found out.

IMHO, if it's anything less than a quarter of a terabyte, I'd make stink with 'em. Cable's aggregate bandwidth in a given market is astronomical.

[g_shocker182]

@Shocker,

He was talking about a nasty letter from the phone company when they see a DSL user pulling hundreds of GB per month. It can happen with any broadband provider; I was mentioning an article I read regarding Comcast where the trigger was 100GB per month, which I though was ridiculously low in today's Internet environment. But it can, and does, happen with DSL users, too.

Do you mean a user downloading a certain amount, or uploading a certain amount (as in with a server)?

[gmatov]

To you both,

Pgh, Pittsburgh, PA paper had an article today that "abusers" would get letters telling them they were taking too many "Bytes" at the apple. If they detected you hogging the cable bandwidth, they would cut you off without warning, if you didn't mend your ways.

I think I am the only person in this hamlet, read coal mining patch, from days of yore who is on cable. I am not hogging the lines keeping my neighbors, almost all of whom are older, even, than I am, from using VoIP, or checking their e-mail. On the other hand.....

You should know, Shocker, unless Indolikaa can tell you a registry hack, that we are limited to 256K upstream, designed to prevent you from being a "real" website or server, at least with unlimited users.

And, good for you, 2.5 mbps is 312KBPS, more than twice what we had before the raosed the bar a few months ago.

We, with cable, are on a common line, so they might put 100MBPS on that line, but everybody tapped off it decreases the available throughput. (We're also on our own network, but that's another story.) Indolikaa, on the other hand, with DSL, has a pair of wires running straight to the DSLAM at the nearest Central Office, sometimes, in a rural setting, a few thousand pairs of wires, in an urban, highly populated area, maybe a couple hundred thou pairs of wires, all going to a swithchboard, in the olden days, or to a computer, today. So, if you DL a bunch, you are not shortchanging your neighbors. You are, however, raising the throughput the provider has to buy from the main trunk suppliers, Qwest, Global Crossing, MCI, some of the other bankrupts.

They charge by the traffic.

The ISP my youngest daughter was marketing coord. for was set up by a rich man's son who asked to have a T1 line strung to his house. Dedicated. T1 is 1.54mbps, same as cable was, but it was about 1500 a month. When the old man got his phone bill, he hit the ceiling, the boy said he could sell the excess to 1000 other people for 20 bucks a month, hey, what the hell, 14.4 modems were the latest thing, he couldn't use the pipe.

Best thing is, when I bitched to my kid the bastards would time me out after 12 hours, even in the midst of a 75 meg DL, which, if I didn't start it at the beginning of the 12 hours, would invariably get shut down, no resume, she said "Well, Unlimited Internet Access doesn't mean you can log on and stay on, it means you can connect at any time." Well, pardon me, unlimited means "Unlimited", in my book. Hey, how much can you DL in 12 hours at 56kbps, more likely, here, 48kbps?

I do believe MSN is offering DSL here, and, since I don't like Comcast cable TV, might go to DirectTV satellite, and MSN DSL. Since they're near where I was before the speed boost, won't be too much of a crippling blow.

Reloading W2k in the other room, running there, back to here, really can't type well enough to say anything coherent.

Cheers,
George

[indolikaa]

George,

You're fun to read, did anybody ever tell you that?

I did some checking with one of the tech-types at Frontier. Over a sloppy bacon cheeseburger...

* I discovered there does (technically) exist a bandwidth tripwire for DSL users out here: 1 terabyte. Once you hit that ceiling, they begin to monitor your weekly usage to ensure that you don't cut too deeply into the aggregate bandwidth they've purchased from the backbone provider.

* Currently, that aggregate available to the Central Office is 'classified' and not discussed outside of the facility itself. Yeah, right. Anyway, they measure their usage versus capacity at somewhere between 8% and 9%.

* Supposedly, if SDSL doesn't become available this spring and I get server-happy, I can have a T1 line installed (with hardware and first month's service) for $1999 and $999 per month for Dedicated T1, with no limit on usage.

I know of no registry hacks for Cable, but if Shocker lives in a metropolitan area SDSL might be available. That would be one option for dealing with upload speed limitations.

Do you mean a user downloading a certain amount, or uploading a certain amount (as in with a server)?

That's a good question. Downloaded data normally exceeds uploaded data (from the user end) by something like 250:1. I'd suspect their traffic software calculates what you've uploaded and downloaded together, since both have to negotiate the backbone bandwidth they lease.

In my case? It's aggregate: up and down together.

[g_shocker182]

George,

You're fun to read, did anybody ever tell you that?

I second that. Most of your posts have thought and experience put into them, unlike most comments made here.

This thread has become quite intuitive, stuff I never knew before.

[gmatov]

FUN? Good God, guys, have you not read some of the responses I have elicited?

I have been virtually pilloried in some threads.

The beauty is, it IS a forum, totally voluntary, no one forces you to read-respond to any given thread. You are offended by the 100th time someone asks "Which is better, -R or +R?", you just say, "Not again!", pass on by. Maybe!

You just might decide to jump on the "Newbie", belittle him, drive him away.

Lighten up. Get some more humor here. I like the site. I try to help, I sure as hell learn.

A grand a month for a dedicated SDSL line? Man, I hope you have a business plan that takes that into consideration. Or you have enough to carry you till you get enough traffic to offset it with ad click through income.

A friend has a site with 7search as the search engine, and I do believe he said he gets 7 cents for each user who uses his clickable button. Trouble is, it now posts paid placements as the top 10 or 15 results.

Ah, well, gotta go look at the other machine.

Cheers,

George

[shelbyGT]

www.dslreports.com has tips to increase your rcvwindow for both cable/dsl users. i don't believe registry stuff is solely in the hands of dsl users. I usually get 300-400+ download speeds with cox.net cable.

[indolikaa]

i don't believe registry stuff is solely in the hands of dsl users.

I don't think it is, either. My experience with Cable previously was, "Whoa! Somebody get a glass of water! This connection is on fire!" and boosting my speed was the last thing on my mind.

A grand a month for a dedicated SDSL line? Man, I hope you have a business plan that takes that into consideration. Or you have enough to carry you till you get enough traffic to offset it with ad click through income.

A grand a month for Dedicated T1 bandwidth, not SDSL. The sloppy burger guy didn't have a price structure or availability yet on SDSL. As for business plan, well, there's several options:

* Clone Smurf's website and call it LordSmurf.US and then tell everybody his site sucks, mine rocks, and go into intimate detail about my personal life (if this sounds like an idea I stole from dvdrhelp.us, it is!),
* Offer Baldrick the fabulous opportunity to colocate dvdrhelp.com,
* Porn,
* Sell excess bandwidth to people 'round here who just need basic dial-up but can't get it reliably (this idea actually has merit),
* Data warehousing,
* Porn,
* It's all mine, and I ain't gonna share any of it!

Who needs a business plan? I'm rich as hell, thanks to Martha Stewart's stock tips.

.indolikaa.
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