Any way to increase download/upload speed?

[brentspeak]

I recently downwardly revised my DSL hookup, from a 3Mbps connection to a 768/128 Kbs (money reasons).

Before the switch, I was able to upload between 70-90 k/s; now, it's crawled down to a max ~ 17. Plus, online speed tests tell me I'm only d/loading at 698 k/s, not the 768 advertised.

Any type of program which miracuously increases speeds? Also, what do DSL providers do (if anything) when the customer reports a lower speed than advertised? (I have Verizon DSL, and it usually takes forever to get a hold of customer support -- hence, I'm leery about using up 45 minutes to complain about the speed.)

[RoyGBiv]

1. Read the fine print ...

Like all providers of Internet service, the advertised speed is a "maximum average," which sounds great but is really just a way of saying the best speed you'll get "on average over time" is 768 kb/s. The fact you don't get 768 kb/s all the time is not truly the fault of the ISP. Numerous things affect effective down/up speed on a moment to moment basis. The speed at which your hard drive writes data is an often overlooked yet significant factor in effective speed. Downloading 100 1 meg files will result in a lower average speed than 1 100meg file due to factors such as this.

If you have a 768 kb/s connection on DSL, 698 is actually pretty good for a basic, single test of that speed. Try downloading a large file from a nearby server (nearby meaning few hops between you and the remote server) at around 3-4am. I'd be willing to bet you get better than 768 for brief periods and that the average over several minutes is closer to 768. However, since you're using DSL, your effective speed, no matter the maximum, is going to be affected by the distance you are from the node that serves your area. People right on top of it will generally get closer to top speeds than people farther down the line.

As for the original question, for what tasks are you wanting to increase your speed? If it's basic web browsing you're talking about, you can do a number of things that increase perceived speed through caching, memory management, etc. If you're wanting to increase it for down/up, there are fewer things you can directly do. Streamlining your system is one thing you can do, but it's not going to get you much better than you are getting now really.

BTW, be aware of your definitions. What you have is a 768 kilobits per second connection as opposed to the 3000 kb/s connection you had previously. The difference even in maximum average is quite dramatic and so very noticeable.

[brentspeak]

2. The download speed I get is supposed to be ~ 80 kb/s (max)

Something to do with taking the 768 and dividing it by a certain number (same with the upload). There have a couple of torrents I d/l at around that speed (which I was happy with), but other times when d/l slows to a crawl (I just downloaded a packet-ID program mentioned on a thread below, with a speed of only about 12 kb/s). It's true what they say: you get what you pay for.

[wildflowergardener]

3. speed

someone at work said he called SBC because he wasn't getting the speed that he'd signed up for, and was told they start people out at a slower speed than advertised so it will be more reliable or something like that, but will raise it if you call.

Meg

[RoyGBiv]

4. Around 98 actually ...

The equation to convert megabits/sec (what they advertise) to Kilobytes/sec (what web browsers and FTP clients usually report) is (mbits * 1024)/8, or in your case, (0.768*1024)/8 = 98.30 KB/sec. Upload for you is 16.34 KB/sec.

If you're only getting 12 Kilobytes/sec download, you're getting slower than standard dialup. It could just be that site, but maybe not. If that continues, I'd report that.

You should also be aware that providers don't support their so-called value speeds very well, so I suspect the first thing any technician will try to do is upgrade you back to your original speed.

BTW, the previous reply reminded me of something related to DSL. Every time your DSL modem is reconfigured for a new speed, the modem has to be "conditioned" for it. Leave the modem on continuously, and the average speed will eventually increase to closer to its maximum. If you just did this downgrade recently, that's part of the problem.

[hobbit709]

5. Just ran a test on mine

2248 kbits/s download. Not bad since I'm only paying for 1500kbits. That was with all my security features turned on, won't try it with everything off.

[Jersey Devil]

6. Try the tests at dslreports.com

They have various tests and a tweak test for broadband that might help.

http://www.dslreports.com/tools

[Deja Q]

7. Depends on the quality of the lines... and also the site you're accessing

A site on a slow server can only go as fast as its bandwidth speed allows. (if they ran a site on a 56k line, you'll never do more than 56k from there.)

As for DSL, poor quality lines will impede the speed due to many retransmits of the data failing the CRC checks...