DSL Speed/ Fluctuation

[Pez]

Hi all.

I'm pretty sure I'm right about this, in that one of the differences between a cable connection to the Internet and a DSL connection is that a cable connection's speed can be effected (slowed down) during peak usage times.

I think the higher peak usage times is later afternoon into the evening hours (when people who have 1st-shift day-jobs are getting home from work, kids are home from school, etc.). This is when if, in a neighborhood that has subscribers to a local cable company for their Internet connection, many people are logged on all at the same time, then connection speeds can drop.

With DSL, since this is not the same as a cable connection and is not "shared" but rather a dedicated line to just your house, shouldn't your DSL speed remain relatively consistent?

I don't mean just because, say, your subscriber contract with a company is for 50Mbps, that you will always get EXACTLY that speed. Almost as a disclaimer, companies usually use a phrase such as "with speeds up to...."

From a little searching I did, one of the items that can affect your DSL speed is you're house's distance from the "exchange" or the "hub". That sound about right?

I've got a quality DSL modem and other quality equipment with my desktop system. If there are not any other draws on my connection (other devices in my home using the wireless signal), then shouldn't my DSL speed be pretty much what I am subscribing to?

Just the network cable going from my DSL modem to my desktop tower unit's NIC. So, a hardwired connection, not Wi-Fi.

With my subscription speed that I pay for, I'm not going to quibble if it's a Mb or two lower than what's stated, but, there are times (like RIGHT NOW!!!!) where it's about 10Mbps lower than what my subscription contract speed is supposed to be.

So what do you think? If I contact my ISP, do I have a legit complaint with them? Or will they be able to wiggle out of it somehow by claiming that such-and-such will affect your speed, blah-blah-blah, etc.?

Thanks for any info,
Pez

 

[dvo]

DSL is shared with neighbors just like cable. There is not an individual dedicated server for every household. When a buddy of mine down the street and I both had DSL we could certainly affect each other's internet speeds by pulling a bunch of bandwidth. We occasionally did it without reason just to be jerks to each other, because why not. Even the gigabit fiber line I have now is shared and its speed can vary by as much as a few hundred Mbps, though it generally is fairly consistent near its rated speed.

Distance from the 'hub' (or whatever the correct terminology is) does indeed play a part in speed, which is why DSL 'neighborhoods' are usually significantly smaller than a cable neighborhood. I had a cable tech once tell me that they guaranteed their speeds to be within like 30% of the 'Up To' speed that they advertised. any slower than a 30% loss and they would investigate for problems. I took that claim with a grain of salt though, because the next person could simply say 'we advertise up to, so thats what you get'

 

[bill001g]

All internet is eventually shared.

DSL the connection between your house and the dslam equipment is dedicated. Problem is the connection between the dslam and everything upstream is then shared by every one with DSL lines into the dslam. In newer systems they have 10gbit connection to the dslam so you would seldom overload it but in older equipment they used to use slower uplink connections.

Many times the modem part of your router will show you the maximum speed it can run at based on the signal levels it is detecting.

With cable the actual connection to your house is also shared but since the bandwidth is so high on cable it generally is not seen much anymore.

 

[failboat]

uverse is pretty consistent and they won't under provision. Which isn't great if you don't care about latency. They guy told me he was getting over 6Mbs on the line, but they wouldn't sell more than 3.

You should read your contract. mine defines minimum quality from 1.5Mbs - 3Mbs on a 3Mbs contract.