Internet Connection Speed

[daedalus]

Hey, I've been experiencing a really annoying problem for the last few months....My internet only connects at 33600 bps, instead of 56000 bps. Just incase you were wondering, I do have a 56k modem of course.

Occasionly it actually connects at 56000 bps, but it always disconnects about 30 secs later, so then i reconnect, and it reconnects at 36000 bps, and works fine but it's really slow. I've tried to put up with it for a while, but it's really starting to piss me off.

I thought it might have been caused by some little tweak or something, but I reformatted last night and it's exactally the same. My isp is Iprimus.

If anybody has any ideas, they would be greatly appreciated. : peace2:

[Darthtanion]

It could be caused by any number of factors, but the two most common will be ISP and phone line conditions.

ISP - If your ISP doesn't have enough modems/routers/bandwidth to the primary backbone, then your connection speeds will suffer.

Line Conditions - Most telephone lines are made of metal. Unless you happen to live in a brand new edition and have all modern lines running to your home, it is unlikely that you have a perfect, static-free phone service. These inperfections cause "noise" in your internet service and force your modem to connect at lower speeds. Also, unless you have a dedicated phone line with ONLY ONE PHONE OUTLET, you'll be picking up more "noise" from that. This will also cause your connection to be slower.

But hey... look at the bright side. At least you can actually take a quick peek at 56k speeds, even if only for a short time. In the US, the phone line speeds are federally capped at 53k and it is highly unlikely that you will ever see even that speed. 33.6 - 48k is common and sometimes slower if the phone lines are old or the ISP is dodgey.

But then, that's why I have cable. :D

[daedalus]

Yeah, Cable's looking like a real good option at the moment, if only it weren't for the prices in Australia...

Anyway, I too thought it may have been the phone line, but if it was, why hasn't it played up for the last year or so, and it is a dedicated phoneline so it can't be that either. I'm beginning to think it may be the ISP after all...

Thanks for the input though Darth :)

[Wiggo]

With the internet being so popular here now the user to modem rate is getting higher now. :(
There are some good ADSL packages available here to now. ;)
Sure not as quick as Coble but it sure beats dailup. :thumb:
<center>:cheers:</center>

[daedalus]

Yeah, your right, I can't think of anything that doesn't beat dialup.....

Except maybe no internet at all! Now thats a scary thought :D

[Wiggo]

I think my sister may go to ADSL before Xmas. ;)

[Kheldar]

I can think of a reason.

Pair gain phone lines

telstra in their infinite wisdom decided that since they where going to put optic fibre to every house (that'd be nice), they save money by sharing the copper line with everybody else. its quiet common in newer areas.

this means that you will only get crappy connectio to the internet ie 33.6k or less and that you can't get ADSL

one way to check is to go to the bigpond site and see if you can get adsl.

If it says you can't get adsl on this service usually thats because you've got a pair gain phone system

IF you get adsl then stop whinging and install it

[pdv]

Daedalus
Be happy :) i can only connect at 26400....no adsl options
modem locked down to that........ so i can get some speed.
still pay same dial up fees as those that have good to very good connections
Swap ya

[drpeterbright]

Here it's amost always a phone company issue with line quality.