connection/download speed

[enhanced08]

i'm on a dial-up internet connection. normally i average 31.2kbps. if i'm connected this fast, why can't i download that fast?? i normally download at about 2-3kbps! whats the point of being connected at 31.2 if i can't use it?

[Confused]

Download speed is governed by slowest point. The site could be your hold up. Also time of day and network traffic affect speed.

I notice my download speeds are much better at 4AM than 3PM and a lot better early Sunday morning than Mondays.
Chas

[enhanced08]

ok, then does that mean that if the site anetwork are all working in your favor and your connected at 31.2 you could download at that speed?

[Heon2574]

as far as i know you will never be able to download at that speed. It's not 31.2 KILOBYTES/SEC (aka 31,200 bps). IT IS 31.2 KILOBITS/SEC.
If you're connected at 31,200, then you're max download would be 3.12.

I remember when i was in 56k, i though that i should be getting 56 kilobytes on my downloads but that wasn't the case. I was really getting 5.6 kilobytes max download speed.

[glc]

Actually it's a factor of 8, not 10.......max theoretical on a 31.2 is 3.9 KB/s but real world will be closer to 3.12.

[imbest123]

Actually i have friends that download at 7kb on 56k. A kilobit is an 8th of a kilobyte so just divide the numbers. I found out that 7kb is the most you could download on 56k.

[Markoman01027]

imbest,

even if you see them download at that speed, they are not actually downloading at that speed, because of the FCC 56K block they put out a while ago.

[imbest123]

Oh ok tnx for the info. but why would they do something like that?

[enhanced08]

o ok, i understand now. but yeah, why would they put a block out??

[azscary]

Probably for the same reason that TELCO's still consider 14,400 as good connection speed for dialup. The short answer is I don't know!

[glc]

The 53k restriction has something to do with the maximum amount of power allowable over an analog phone line - the faster you push it, the more power it requires.

You CAN see 7K or even higher if the files you are transferring are compressible - analog modems are capable of data compression to increase the efficiency. The only way to get a TRUE reading of your download speed is by downloading a fully compressed file (such as a .zip or a .rar, etc) with a FTP client, not a browser, from a FTP server - and then do the math for the whole download - bytes/time.