Internet speed anomalies and questions

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ChocolateGuy97

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Nov 14, 2013
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Hello to everyone who stumbles upon this question. So lately I have been really getting into PC gaming and have started using various downloading applications such as Steam, Origin, Uplay, etc. The question I have is a simple one but have found no help on the web, I have a 8Mb/s connection speed tops from my isp but ever since I've started downloading games I have noticed that during very select parts of the day my internet speed would increase 3-4x and get all the was up to 4MB/s or 30Mb/s which is the top tier from my smalltown isp. I was just wondering if the regulation of this is so off the wire at times if I were to use some type of VPN service if the internet speeds would stay like that since obviously they are sending me 30Mb/s at times. I don't get throttled or anything for youtube or netflix so thats the only reason why I wouldn't just go straight for the VPN for a month as a test but if anyone who knows their stuff could tell me that my internet speed could see an increase I would gladly use VPN services. Thanks in advance, cheers.
 
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Cyberuben
I've had similar behavior when using a VPN. I used PrivateInternetAccess, and i have a 150 down / 15 upload Mbps contract. Using the VPN Speedtest but also downloads showed me a higher download speed than what my contract should allow. The 150 Mbps download contract is the highest this provider offers. I have been told that this has to do with the fact that a VPN encrypts and compresses your packets, so your ISP isn't able to throttle your connection at the right speed. However, I didn't research this so I can't vouch for it, but it sounds like a somewhat logical assumption.

Though, I don't think that in your case you used a VPN, so you might want to find out if you don't have a plan where it guarantees 6 Mbps and allows more during...
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ChocolateGuy97

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Nov 14, 2013
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It costs me $60 a month for basic cable and 8Mb/s down and 1Mb/s up the one for 30Mb/s is $140 a month with cable so yeah I can't switch to anything else since comcast is only available down the street and not here. I would rather pay $40 a year for a VPN service than pay 2x the amount I already do for an actually decent internet speed.
 
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Cyberuben

Cyberuben

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Feb 26, 2014
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I've had similar behavior when using a VPN. I used PrivateInternetAccess, and i have a 150 down / 15 upload Mbps contract. Using the VPN Speedtest but also downloads showed me a higher download speed than what my contract should allow. The 150 Mbps download contract is the highest this provider offers. I have been told that this has to do with the fact that a VPN encrypts and compresses your packets, so your ISP isn't able to throttle your connection at the right speed. However, I didn't research this so I can't vouch for it, but it sounds like a somewhat logical assumption.

Though, I don't think that in your case you used a VPN, so you might want to find out if you don't have a plan where it guarantees 6 Mbps and allows more during the night? Nonetheless, be lucky with the speed you get and you don't extra pay for.
 
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Solution
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ChocolateGuy97

Honorable
Nov 14, 2013
22
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10,520


Thanks for your input and yeah that was the VPN I was gonna use. I guess I can give it a shot but yeah the plan I have says up to 8Mb so thats the highest but it usually stays at about 7Mb. Also it's not only during the night its happened midday beffore but ive ran speed test while I have gotten 4MB before and it was still showing 8Mb. Anyway thanks for your input again
 
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Cyberuben

Cyberuben

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Feb 26, 2014
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Might want to add this, I know that Origin reports invalid download speeds at times. Windows shows me 18 MB/s where Origin says 23 MB/s, just a "little" bit off...
 
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Someone Somewhere

Someone Somewhere

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Sep 23, 2012
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It's possible that your ISP is being nice and allowing you higher speeds when there's little congestion - mine offers unmetered off-peak data, for example. Or their speed-limiting proxy crashed.

Compression shouldn't do much for most data - I'd hope that anything large being moved around is pre-compressed.
 
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