MBps, Mbps, Kbps, KBps with Cable internet

agathodaimon · June 29th, 2004, 04:28 PM

I'm looking for a new internet provider.
Preferrable Cable or DSL.
But anyways, I found Earthlink internet.
They claim that their speeds are:

Downstream speed of up to 2.0 Mbps
Upstream speed of up to 384 Kbps

I currently have DSL that downloads at a set speed of 180K.
I'm not sure if it's Kb or KB.
I don't know what all that means really.

Earthlink has a special on this for 6 months at $29.99/mo. $41.95 thereafter.
I'm confused as to how fast this really is.

When it says 2.0 Mbps, how fast is it really? All the talk about MB Mb, KB Kb has me confused.

I've had DSL Lite before and really really hated it. I don't want to get stuck with that again.

GameManK · June 29th, 2004, 04:53 PM

B = byte
b = bit
1 byte = 8 bits
1MB = 8Mb
1KB = 8Kb

when u say downloads at 180K is this what the company is saying or what your speed is when you d/l a file?

agathodaimon · June 29th, 2004, 04:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GameManK

B = byte
b = bit
1 byte = 8 bits
1MB = 8Mb
1KB = 8Kb

when u say downloads at 180K is this what the company is saying or what your speed is when you d/l a file?

That is the speed that I am downloading files at.

agathodaimon · June 29th, 2004, 04:59 PM

OHH, Ok, with your chart, the 2.0 Mbps would roughly be 250KB/sec. Am I right with that?
Because if that is correct, than it's what I want.

HeadBand · June 29th, 2004, 05:10 PM

yes that is correct

but when you say it downloads a 180KB/s are you sure that is because of your connection i have a 3Mb connection and i rarley get over 120KB/s because of the servers i am downloading from

you might want to check in to cable if you primary concern is downstream speed and not upstream although 384k is kinda slow on upstream for DSL i have adelphia cable and its like $40 a month for 3Mbdown/256Kb up

btw i hate the thing with the capital and lowercase i usually just use a / when i am talking about bytes and a p when i am talking about bits

gerald_weigel · June 29th, 2004, 05:24 PM

Also don't forget, 250KB/s is a theoretical maximum. Your actuall speed will be less due to line noise, how far you are from the station, etc.

Jeordiewhite · June 29th, 2004, 05:52 PM

Your right on that gerald and there is also tcp/ip over head that is factored in as well that will be the deciding factor on what your speeds are. It's a small overhead, not near as much as line noise or distance, those are usually what slow it down the most.
Headband, that's just you and likely your area getting that speed. My connection is 3mbps/256kbps, I usually get 390KB/s, however that is what it reported, with out the overhead, it's around 375KB/s.
Either your area is over used or your having problems elsewhere like a weak signal stregnth or a few tweaks that could help. Like too many splitters or etc or something causing packet loss. I am guessing your area is over used. Cable is shared with your neighbors, so it's like your on the same network as them. If several of them are downloading large files or playing games etc etc etc, this can impact what speed you have. THis is likely your cause of slow speeds, as it is possible to reach the full potential. I have cable and get full speeds, however this is because not too many people have oversubscribed their service. However some isps will take out their faults on customers, rather than making sure there is enough bandwidth for all users, they will sometimes put caps on the line that slow your connection if reached a limmit or like comcast and cut your connection if over used. Which is completely unfair.
However If i were you I would contact your cable provider and ask them what they think the problem might be, like a new splitter, boost signal stregnth or something else where you might be getting loss.
DSL has a set speed that it will run at, however a few things that effect it.
Tho there are few that cap anymore, mainly becuase people will stop using them and find some one else. it's bad for business when the company can't handle the load and take it out on the customers. Which is good when there is competition that wont do the same thing.

agathodaimon · June 29th, 2004, 05:58 PM

Yes, the 180KB/s is the Set speed it runs at. It never goes any higher, but it WILL go lower depending on how fast the server is that I'm downloading from.

The Earthlink CABLE that I'm looking into claims that the download speed is 2.0 Mb/s. Which is what I was looking for. I know that it will probably be lower then that, but that's ok with me. It's $20 cheaper than the DSL I'm using right now for roughly the same speed.

By the way, here's a nifty conversion chart to go off of that I just found: (I did the earlier calculation in my head... hehe)

http://www.edoceo.com/utilis/bandwidth-calculator.php