High speed Internet connection question

Well, I am not sure of your provider and their services, so I will give you my experiences with our providers in the Bay Area. (Both my home and work environments.)

Phone DSL - good, but not great upload and download speeds.
Usually somewhere in the neighbor hood of 500K up and down, although as you get further from the hub, the speeds go down, and once you are half a mile or so from the hub, the upload speed is down to 100K or so. So, if you are near a hub, this is usually your best choice. Speeds can also be affected by the number of people online at one time, as there is only so much bandwidth available. (Hence one reason why being near a hub is so important.)

Cable - Very good download speed (typically around 500K), but only okay upload speed (100K), regardless of distances from the hub. If you are not near a hub, (see above) this is a good choice also. Typically not affected by distances to a great deal, nor by the number of people on-line.

Wireless (Note: NOT satelite, but line of sight wireless) - Great upload and download speeds (typically about 1MB up and down!). However, more expensive, and there are lag issues. (Lag is only a big concern if you like to play online game, particularly FPS (First Person Shooter) games, (which unfortunately for me, I do).

I hope this helps.

Good Luck!

Thought I'd recommend to everyone the following site as the best way to measure download and upload speeds. Click on the location nearest to you:

http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/

Kurt -- I suspect your numbers are in kiloBytes (or megaBytes) per second, abbreviated kB/sec or mB/sec. In case it's not clear to anyone, I want to clarify that the numbers in my earlier post are in kilobits or megabits per second (abbreviated kbps or mbps), which is how internet connection speeds are most commonly specified (multiply kB/sec or mB/sec by 8 to approximately convert to kbps or mbps).

Even making that assumption, your cable numbers are slowish compared to what is usually available these days. Try the Speakeasy test and see what it gives you -- you may be pleasantly surprised, especially if your numbers were determined by dividing file download times by file sizes (a methodology which underestimates connection speeds because server response times at the other end, and internet propagation delays in between, come into play). These should not be included when evaluating connection speed to your isp.

Regards,
-- Al

thanks everyone for the thoughtful replys!

I am getting Charter cable internet for 29.95/mo the first year.

I am lacking in choices but this will be good.

The speakeasy test results, Comcast cable Michigan ($45 a month):

5.5 mb download
1.5 mb upload

Dave

I use Astound cable service at www.astound.net. I use their 6 Mbps downstream/1 Mbps upstream service and it is excellent. They offer five Astound Internet plans to find the right internet service level for you:

Low Speed $ 19.95 monthly
256 Kbps downstream/128 Kbps upstream

Mid Speed $ 34.95 monthly $ 25.00 monthly
(with Cable TV)
1.5 Mbps downstream/256 Kbps upstream

High Speed $ 44.95 monthly $ 35.00 monthly
(with Cable TV)
6 Mbps downstream/1 Mbps upstream

Power User $ 54.95 monthly $ 45.00 monthly
(with Cable TV)
10 Mbps downstream/1 Mbps upstream

Power User Plus $ 64.95 monthly $ 55.00 monthly (with Cable TV)
10 Mbps downstream/1.5 Mbps upstream

I also use Astound for my TV and phone service. Please see their web site for the details.