Connection speeds

iSon · Sat 04 Feb, 2006 04.13

A bit of an odd one here.

I'm with ntl (yes go on laugh) on their 2Mb service which i share via a wireless router.

My laptop takes full advantage of the 2Mb connection and downloads at wonderful speeds.

Erm, but my main desktop PC seems to have decided to take a turn for the worse. It was previously as fast as the laptop, but recently downloads on the main PC have dropped to around 50/60 Kb/s which is around the speed of a 512k connection.

I've not changed anything, so why the sudden drop in speed on this PC and not t'other.

Help!

Jamez · Sat 04 Feb, 2006 04.41

I used to be on NTL 2meg, and although the download speeds were fabulous, the upload speed was a bit shit.

When uploading or transferring data, the top speed would only be around 25kbps

Until last weekend at my old house, I was on Plusnet 1meg ADSL, and I never had any problems at all. Upload speed was marginally better than cable, so maybe my new place will offer me faster speeds.

Afterall, my new house is closer to the city centre in Cardiff, so you'd think I'd be able to get around 8meg? I doubt it, though. This *is* Wales afterall, and broadband is practically non-existent here in rural west wales where I am at the moment while I prepare to move to my new gaff in Cardiff.

Sput · Sat 04 Feb, 2006 10.11

25kbits or bytes? If bytes that's correct as the upload is 200kb/s rather than adsl's 256ish

Jamez · Sat 04 Feb, 2006 11.42

Kilobytes.

I've never experienced an internet connection with 200 kilobytes upload!

Gavin Scott · Sat 04 Feb, 2006 12.03

Jamez wrote:Kilobytes.

I've never experienced an internet connection with 200 kilobytes upload!

My work line is 2Mb up, 2Mb down.

Sput · Sat 04 Feb, 2006 13.03

If you enjoy conventions, jamez, you might like to know that kilobytes is kB whereas kilobits is kb.

Jamez · Sat 04 Feb, 2006 15.14

*ignorant*

What's the difference between a kilobyte and a kilobit?

I've been on the net since April 1999, so you'd think I'd know all this computery stuff by now

Dr Lobster* · Sat 04 Feb, 2006 15.34

a kilobyte is 1024 bytes ( 1024 x 8 ) = 8192 bits

1 megabit is 1048576 bits or 131072 kilobytes

a kilobit is is 128 bytes.

i think it's more a marketing thing to be honest, like the way the hard disk industry measures a hard disk gigabyte as 1000 megabytes not 1024 megabytes

Sput · Sat 04 Feb, 2006 15.39

You forgot the simple bit - a byte is 8 bits.

Dr Lobster* · Sat 04 Feb, 2006 15.46

lol, aye, i just noticed that... i do find it strange why they use two different units for measuring the same thing... reminds me of the old sega mega drive and snes games where were measured in megabits (it's even more amazing when you realise that those games were crammed into such a small space)

it seems a bit random, and not just bandwidth which is measured in bits but also some capacities when it suits.

cdd · Tue 07 Feb, 2006 21.17

Sput wrote:You forgot the simple bit - a byte is 8 bits.

Was that a very poor attempt at a pun?

Meanwhile, I have a similar gripe with Firefox, as decribed in this thread.