Internet : Connection speed vs download speed!!

[Shan2nu]

Well, my DSL has a connection speed of 288kbps but, the fastest download speed i've had so far is around 36kbps.

What i feel is that my connection speed is measured in "kilo bits per sec" while my dwnload speed is in "kilo bytes per sec".

8 bits make one byte so, 288 bits make 36 kilo bytes (which is the fastest download speed i've got so far).

Can anyone clear that?

My average download speed is around 22-25kbps.

Shan2nu

[revtech]

yes dude
your absolutely right.you internet connection is always in kilo bits /sec and download is kilo bytes per sec and 8 bits is one byte.

in short what you have written is totally right.and is same with every one.


Rev

[Shan2nu]

It's important to know such things bcoz when you see your connection and compare it to your download speed, it just breaks your heart. LOL

Shan2nu

[adya33]

Hey Shan2nu

you have made some nice research there but I must correct one thing

When you specify your connection speed, it is what it is CONNECTION SPEED
Also please do remember DOWNLOAD SPEED & BROWSING SPEEDS ARE DIFFERENT

Browsing speed is much faster than your downloading speed.
Please follow the link to check your BROWSING SPEED http://reviews.cnet.com/Bandwidth_me...?tag=cnetfd.ft

Download speed will always be considerably slow than browsing speed

[Shan2nu]

Well, i did the test and it says that my browsing speed right now is 152.6kbps which is 19.075 kilo bytes per sec (close to my average download speed).

Only thing is that you say download speed is always slower than browsing speed but, i was just downloading a 5th gear file and was getting between 19 and 22kbps (which is the same as my browsing speed).

But, was i right about the kilo bits and the kilo bytes?

Shan2nu

[adya33]

I did some netsearch & I am seriously starting to doubt the download pseeds measured in bytes.
it may give an idea as when you have a really really bad conditions thedownload speeds goes into bytes (as bytes > bits)

here is defination of kbps
http://www.cnet.com/Resources/Info/G...erms/kbps.html

here is defination of bps
http://www.cnet.com/Resources/Info/G...Terms/bps.html

both from website Cnet.com

Now here where it gets damn confusing

What is Mbps (megabits per second) - same for Kbps http://searchstorage.techtarget.com/...212534,00.html

and now What is MBps (megabytes per second) same for KBps
http://searchstorage.techtarget.com/...838242,00.html

And I used to think Applied Mechanics is difficult

I don't know who is your service provider but BSNL trariff web page
http://bsnl.co.in/service/dataone_tariff.htm
shows you speeds in
Kbps

please note that B stands for bytes
while b stands for bits

hope that helps
Aditya

[Shan2nu]

please note that B stands for bytes
while b stands for bits

Righto!!! Wooohooo. My connection speed says 288kbps while my download manager says 19-22KB/s.

So, connection is in bits and download is in bytes.

Shan2nu

[revtech]

hey aditya
thats some great info man.thanx a lot.its very interesting !!


Rev

[adya33]

Originally Posted by revtech

hey aditya
thats some great info man.thanx a lot.its very interesting !!


Rev

no problem man,
i also got to learn something new!

[RX135]

If you are using FireFox, it comes with network bandwidth testing extension. Used it a few times, but I normally don't care about it. And yes, only 90% of available bandwidth is fully utilized by your system. Rest is factored for noise.

[v1p3r]

The bits vs Bytes issue vexes a lot of people who are not familiar with data measurement techniques. Glad to see that Shan and adya are right!

But, adya, as far as I know, anything that you browse or surf is, in essence, downloaded onto your hard disk. Thus browsing is exactly the same as downloading, except that it involves a lot of small files at the same time, rather than a single large mp3 or mpeg.

Sheesh...who'd have thought that my comp sc engg would have any real life app...

[adya33]

Originally Posted by v1p3r

But, adya, as far as I know, anything that you browse or surf is, in essence, downloaded onto your hard disk. Thus browsing is exactly the same as downloading, except that it involves a lot of small files at the same time, rather than a single large mp3 or mpeg.

.

there is a difference my friend. when you are browsing websites then webapges DO get downloaded on your hard disk BUT these are numerous small files then one single file.
also your web browser checks whether certain file is updated & if not then it displayes file from your hard disk (it is called as caching & thus the term "CACHE")

also web browsers do simulataneous connections to website you are viewing IE does 4 connections, Opera by default does 8, can be increased upto 20 (dialup user won't get any improvement)
which downloading an mp3, mpeg or exe file you are downloading single big size file, by single connection hence download speed is less
if you use download managers (e.g. DAP, get right) they do have feature called as segment download which does multiple connections while downloading a single file & download diff chuck of data & compiles it, which gives you better download speed

Sheesh...who'd have thought that my comp sc engg would have any real life app..

hey dude I am also doing computer engg, though first year.

[Shan2nu]

if you use download managers (e.g. DAP, get right) they do have feature called as segment download which does multiple connections while downloading a single file & download diff chuck of data & compiles it, which gives you better download speed

I've heard of something called "Mirrors" while downloading. is it similar to this?

Shan2nu

[adya33]

Originally Posted by Shan2nu

I've heard of something called "Mirrors" while downloading. is it similar to this?

Shan2nu

follow this link
http://www.answers.com/topic/mirror-computing

[RX135]

Originally Posted by Shan2nu

I've heard of something called "Mirrors" while downloading. is it similar to this?

Nope, Mirrors are essentially replica of web servers which host the softwares etc. One should choose a physically closer mirror to get better download speeds.

Roughly speaking, there are 3 main factors which contribute in deciding download speed :
1. Ability of hosting server to support concurrent multiple downloads.
2. Number of hops a network packet (think of it as small part of your file) has to make between source (host server) and destination (your machine). Lesser the better!
3. Your network bandwidth (e.g. Shan, you have 256 Kbps link, I guess).

Mirrors share the load on main hosting server (#1 above) and if you choose physically closer mirror, you can reduce number of hops (#2 above).

The techique described by Aditya makes better utilization of your network bandwidth (#3 above).

Edit Note : Oops, Adya has already replied to it!