Tom's Hardware > Forum > General Networking > Network General Discussions > How fast is your cable modem?
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Anonymous   01-09-2001 at 11:47:47 AM

I got my first cable modem not long ago and was wondering how it's speed compared with other's accross the country. When downloading I sometimes get over 200 KB/s (1600kbs) and average about 170 KB/s (1360kbs). Since a T1 line is supposed to do 1500kbs, my speed sounds pretty good for $40 a month, but like I said I have nothing to compare it to. Also, cable modem access is new in my area and I know that the speed will drop as more users join me... Anybody else been the first to get one in your area, and if so, how much speed have you lost as the subscribers have grown? Thanks!

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yoda271828   01-09-2001 at 05:10:56 PM
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When I first got my cable modem, I could get 300 KB/s (2.3Mb/s) peak and averaged around 100-150 KB/s (~1Mb/s). I then tweaked my cable modem and found an unbelievable increase in speed. I now average 150-200 KB/s (~1.5Mb/s, usually limited by the uploading end). When I download from a fast connection (like a T3 or something) I can get 640 KB/s (an amazing 5Mb/s). My upload is considerably worse, it is capped at 192 KB/s (1.5Mb/s).

I was one of the first in my area to get a cable connection (about 2 years ago), and I haven't noticed much loss in bandwidth, but I have a friend that lives only 3 miles away with the same service and he has terrible bandwidth problems (his area is overdue for an upgrade). It really depends on how well your ISP upgrades its sevices as more users sign up.

Your cable connections sounds good, and if you tweaked it you could probably find even more speed. Try <A HREF="http://www.speedguide.net" target="_new">http://www.speedguide.net</A> for help.

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Bubba   01-09-2001 at 05:31:25 PM
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I have gotten up to 500KB/sec on a single download.
I have also done things like download 4 or 5 files at a time and get 60KB/sec each.
But I have found that it is not my connection that determines how fast I download, its the senders connection.
My cable modem can take it as fast as you can give it. Its the send that is always the bottleneck, not my cable modem.

I have not noticed a decrease in speed then longer I have had it. I'm sure more people get it every day but I have not noticed any slow-downs.

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Jarablue   01-10-2001 at 01:25:19 PM
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I am on a 512kb network so I can't get above 52KB steady :o(. I pay 40 a month for it too. Oh well it beats 56k tho.


In the immortal word's of Bob Marley, "Let's get together and feel alllright..."

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Anonymous   01-12-2001 at 07:16:10 AM
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Hey thanks for the replies everybody. From what I read here and elsewhere it seems that my connection is not as fast at the top end, though about the same on average. I know what you mean about the server being the limiting factor--it's frustrating! Even when I download 6 different files all from different servers, though, I still max out at around 275KB/s. I tried some of the tweeks from speedguid.net (thanks for the link yoda) but they made no difference that I could find. Not that I'm complaining about my speed.... hehe, I just like to tweak.

This got me wondering about my aging system... P2@350, 100 MHz FSB, 128 MB RAM, Farallon NetLINE 10/100 network card (which I assume leaves most of the work for the CPU) and an old *slow* harddrive. What systems are you guys running?

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Jarablue   01-12-2001 at 07:39:41 AM
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I have:
P3 550e@733 (gonna upgrade to 1 gig TB in about a week)
Voodoo5 5500 agp (pity me)
SBLive XGamer 5.1
256mb crucial pc133 cas2 ram
2 15 gig 7200rpm ata66 maxtor drives(crap)
DTT3500 cambridge soundworks speakers
72x kenwood drive
9300i 10x HP burner
Cable modem


In the immortal word's of Bob Marley, "Let's get together and feel alllright..."

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yoda271828   01-12-2001 at 07:27:29 PM
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I'm using a P-60 (yes, the original socket 5 pentium) as a router, and a P-200, Celeron-366, and a K62-333 as clients. All of them, even the P-60, can reach good speeds.

All cable ISPs (at least all that I know of) have upload caps (mine's capped at 1.5Mb/s), but maybe yours has a download cap also. If you really want to know what the problem is call your ISP.

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Bubba   01-13-2001 at 03:51:13 AM
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Duron 600@950 on A7V
256MB Crucial PC133 Cas2
17 GB HD
64MB GeForce2 GTS
LinkSys NIC
Surfboard SB3100 Cable Modem
WinMe

Rumor has it that WinMe is better optimized for high speed internet connections.

I think your system my slow down how fast your IE starts up but unless there are big java or flash type multimedia on the pages, your cpu should be enough.

I ain't seen a beating like that since somebody stuck a banana in my pants and turned a monkey loose

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