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I've just attempted to download a 2.5MB file using my Xtra broadband
connection and it took ten minutes. Is there any way that I can see
what my broadband connection speed is at any given time.

All my Local Area "status" shows is speed: 1.0MBps, but that's clearly
not the case. Thanks.

wrote:
> I've just attempted to download a 2.5MB file using my Xtra broadband
> connection and it took ten minutes. Is there any way that I can see
> what my broadband connection speed is at any given time.

I find gkrellm is pretty good for monitoring this sort of thing.

HTH

Peter

T'was the Sun, 14 May 2006 16:59:10 +1200 when I remembered
saying something like this:

>I've just attempted to download a 2.5MB file using my Xtra broadband
>connection and it took ten minutes. Is there any way that I can see
>what my broadband connection speed is at any given time.

www.nzdsl.co.nz/speedtest I think.
--
Cheers,

Waylon Kenning.

On Sun, 14 May 2006 16:59:10 +1200, wrote:

>I've just attempted to download a 2.5MB file using my Xtra broadband
>connection and it took ten minutes. Is there any way that I can see
>what my broadband connection speed is at any given time.
>
>All my Local Area "status" shows is speed: 1.0MBps, but that's clearly
>not the case. Thanks.



Try this site as its a great help..

A must I would say.

http://www.dslreports.com/tweaks

Waylon Kenning wrote:
> T'was the Sun, 14 May 2006 16:59:10 +1200 when I remembered
> saying something like this:
>
>> I've just attempted to download a 2.5MB file using my Xtra broadband
>> connection and it took ten minutes. Is there any way that I can see
>> what my broadband connection speed is at any given time.
>
> www.nzdsl.co.nz/speedtest I think.

I am also a recent newbie here - and the following is the results of my
research. Seaeagle might find this to be of value, I would appreciate
clarification on anything said below that is incorrect.

There are two things to consider - the speed of connection from your router to
DSL hardware at the exchange, and the actual throughput available at any time.

The speed of your connection can generally be found using the administration
capabilities of your router. If you post make and model someone is bound to be
able to tell you how to find this out. These speeds (down and up) set the
absolute maximum that will ever be achieved and as a general rule they will be
in excess of the maximums provided in your plan.

The actual throughput is what is actually achievable at any given time. The
nzdsl site Waylon posted provides a facility to register and if you do then a
history of test results is kept for you - recording actual throughput.

The other factor is this is the speed caps imposed by all ISPs in NZ for ADSL
services (at least) - that is the maximum speeds included in the plan you use -
Telecom (as the provider of the line to your home) limits the maximum speed to
those quoted on your plan (such as 256 Kb/sec down, 128 up).

So in summary the following applies in respect of download/upload speeds:

- They will never exceed the connection speed reported by your router.
- They should never exceed the speed of your plan.
- Actual speed at any time is dependent on conditions.

The highest speed should be the connection speed, and Actual speeds should be as
close as possible to your plan speeds. Sadly there is usually a yawning gap
between Plan and Actual speeds.

HTH,
Crash.

<> wrote in message
news:...
> I've just attempted to download a 2.5MB file using my Xtra broadband
> connection and it took ten minutes. Is there any way that I can see
> what my broadband connection speed is at any given time.
>
> All my Local Area "status" shows is speed: 1.0MBps, but that's clearly
> not the case. Thanks.
>

Speedtest sites :
www.nzadsl.co.nz
www.jetstreamgames.co.nz/speed/

You using a router or a modem ?
Also depends what time of day etc..... atm with my ISP, trying to d/load at
speed in the evening is a joke.... in the morning its fine (all the kids are
at school etc).

Crash wrote:
> So in summary the following applies in respect of download/upload speeds:
> - They will never exceed the connection speed reported by your router.
> - They should never exceed the speed of your plan.
> - Actual speed at any time is dependent on conditions.
> The highest speed should be the connection speed, and Actual speeds should
> be as close as possible to your plan speeds. Sadly there is usually a
> yawning gap between Plan and Actual speeds.

Yes, my understanding is much the same.
The conditions that actual speed depends on include;
- traffic anywhere on the internet between you and the server
- server speed and loading
- malfunction of Telecom system

It appears that the OP wanted to measure actual speed, which is why I
suggested gkrellm. There are probably other tools, as well. The speedtest
sites are ok to test speed capacity of your link, but they won't tell you
the actual speed of a particular download.


HTH

Peter

>
> It appears that the OP wanted to measure actual speed, which is why I
> suggested gkrellm. There are probably other tools, as well. The
> speedtest
> sites are ok to test speed capacity of your link, but they won't tell you
> the actual speed of a particular download.
>

People must also take into account that overseas servers which do single
threaded TCP download tests won't give you the correct full speed due to the
latency outside New Zealand.

If you are downloading anything it is better to use a multi-threaded
download program like download acceleator/aget/whatever the best is for your
OS. You'll find downloading at multiple streams will max your circuit out, a
single TCP stream won't always.

Also (even in NZ) latency can make a big difference.. 40ms vs 70ms over
DSL.. the 70ms person may download slower/may not be able to use their
entire bandwidth for tcp connections due to a number of factors.

Thanks
Craig

On Sun, 14 May 2006 21:45:31 +1200, "XPD" <spam@xpd> magnanimously
proffered:

>
><> wrote in message
>news:.. .
>> I've just attempted to download a 2.5MB file using my Xtra broadband
>> connection and it took ten minutes. Is there any way that I can see
>> what my broadband connection speed is at any given time.
>>
>> All my Local Area "status" shows is speed: 1.0MBps, but that's clearly
>> not the case. Thanks.
>>
>
>Speedtest sites :
>www.nzadsl.co.nz
>www.jetstreamgames.co.nz/speed/
>
>You using a router or a modem ?
>Also depends what time of day etc..... atm with my ISP, trying to d/load at
>speed in the evening is a joke.... in the morning its fine (all the kids are
>at school etc).

I'm using a DSE modem supplied by Xtra (free). I noticed a huge
increase in download speeds towards the end of April. This is the
first time I've had problems (except outages) since then. The download
was late-morning over the weekend (kids not at school). Using one of
the tests suggested the speed (1870 KBps) had increased considerably a
few hours later.

It would be interesting to see a trend profile for connection speeds

heres mine today on xtras 3.5mbps / 128kbps plan via the nzdsl test
site

down 1259 kbps
up 129 kbps

ran the test three times all about the same