What internet speeds should I expect

[rrich]

Speed, it's always speed.

When I started accessing a computer through the PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) I was able to achieve the blinding speed of 110. That is 110 bits per second or 10 teletype characters per second.

Then, OMG I was able to increase my speed by 50%! I used an IBM Selectric with a 150 bits per second modem through the PTSN.

Here, most or our Internet access is through the cable TV company. There is a huge controversy over something called "Net Neutrality". But that's another story. Generally speaking, it doesn't matter where you go for internet access, library, college, high school, café or a smart 4G-LTE phone, the speed is the speed that you get.

Yeah they try to sell higher speeds but I've never noticed a difference.

A lot of slowness is attributed to configurations. Generally speaking, the networks that use Dynamic Host Configuration Program (DHCP) for the router and your computer with a dynamic Domain Name Server (DNS) spend about 5 seconds when you first power up getting their IP address, etc. After that the connection is rather good. Don't get confused by the word "Host". Virtually everything connected to an IP network is considered a host.

[rwbuild]

We have wireless prepaid, 4G, no prob, line of sight to tower about 800m

[doug3030]

Yeah they try to sell higher speeds but I've never noticed a difference.

In Australia at least, the speed you pay for is not guaranteed, the carriers will sell ADSL2+ as "up to 20mb/sec" but because of your location you might only get 1mb/sec, maybe less. But at another location closer to the exchange 20mb/sec may well be available, so its a bit of a lottery.

The other aspect of the "speed equation" is that the speed you get from your service providor is not the only factor governing what speed you download at. There may be many links between you and the server you are downloading from. 20 or more links is not uncommon. No matter what speed you are paying for, you will not get the data at anything more than the slowest link that it has to pass through, probably in some foreign country and totally beyond the control of your service providor.

Cheers

Doug

[Evanism]

Dont neglect the socket!

Especially in Sydney.

I just fixed up a connection that was ratty and slow. Traced back all the wires, redid them using telegraph tieoff technique and pulled apart the old socket and rewired it all properly. Speed jumped to 100% and is 100% stable.

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For the socket, if its the old style, strip back to new wire and wrap it at least once around the post. If it's newer punch-style, take them out and repunch down. I'm not saying the originals workmanship are dodgy/nasty, but they were done in the stone ages. I lived in Mosman and Neutral Bay and in every house the wiring was absolutely RS.

[Arron]

I have had a look at the wiring under our house. It's ancient and looks like it's been hacked around by previous owners. It's pretty simple - just comes in to the roof, then splits somewhere into two wires going into two basic telephone sockets. One in the study and one in the dining room. There were a couple of other telephone outlets but now abandoned due to most calls coming to the mobiles.

We just have adsl and regular telephone service going down it.

I should probably renew the accessible stuff - just pre-emptively.

Any other advice ? What sort of wire and sockets should I use?

[alexm1]

Arron, approach it logically.
First disconnect the lines you are no longer using, take them out of the circuit altogether, then check your speed again.
Next re join all the joints as evanism has outlined above, check the speed again.
Finally, if none of this has improved things then replace the wire, just buy some telephone cable, it will be fine. Reform the plates in the sockets to ensure a firm connection.
Be aware that the problem could be outside your home and you may not get any improvement. I had problems some years back and had rewired all the points in the house with no improvement. The tech that came from Telstra advised that the cable running to the house was pre WW 2, ( that is world war 2!). He put in a request to replace it but the nbn beat them to it, we were fortunate to get fiber to the house so good speeds now.

[rrich]

Arron brought up something very important.

With ADSL or DSL you want to daisy chain all your phones and computer in a continuous chain. If you have the appropriate filter/electronics as provided by your Telco, then put the computer first in the chain. If Telco is not providing the filter/electronics, make the computer the last thing in the chain. Stray capacitance will degrade the electrical signalling.

The ADSL or DSL circuit is distance sensitive. The wire distance to your Telco central office (local exchange or local switch) will determine your speed. I don't know how smart your local Telco is, but if you can, order a second line for your ADSL or DSL. With nothing else on the Telco pair you'll get better performance.

[q9]

I actually forgot the most important thing I did for improving my ADSL connection - I installed a central splitter - one port just for the modem, the the phones fed of the other one. Made a fairly significant difference. Note, a splitter is not the same as those filters....

[rrich]

I actually forgot the most important thing I did for improving my ADSL connection - I installed a central splitter - one port just for the modem, the the phones fed of the other one. Made a fairly significant difference. Note, a splitter is not the same as those filters....

We call them filters here.

But YES!

Remember that one of the advantages (disadvantage too) of ADSL or DSL is that the length of the wire used to connect your home to the Telco Central Office greatly affects the speed possible. ASDL and DSL automatically adjust speeds based upon wire length. It's the physics involved. IIRC any wire length longer than 15,000 feet, 3 miles or about 5 Km is impractical for ADSL or DSL. (I've been retired 13 years and ADSL or DSL fell out of favor about 6 or 7 years earlier than that. Trying to remember all of this poop is difficult at times.)

There is one other thing. I don't know if your Telco uses a "Slick". Think of it as a multiplexor where there might be up to 30 or so phone lines coming into one side and two pair going out to the Central Office. (The slick fell out of favor at least 20 years ago but their ghosts still remain.) It works great for voice phone calls which are about 80% silence. When someone uses a dial up modem or fax (100% sound) the capacity of the two pair out drops significantly. I've been told that ADSL or DSL doesn't work for data through a slick. Assuming that there are pairs from the slick to the Central Office, your Telco may be able to bypass or wire around the slick.

[Arron]

Well I crawled around underneath our house and updated some of the really old and dodgy looking wiring. The result is an increase from a consistent 9 mbs to a consistent 12 mbs. Judging by the speeds told to me by several neighbours who use the same carrier that's a bit more then what they get, so I'm satisfied.

FWIW, the jump from 9 to 12 came from one thing only - disconnecting a spare outlet in the rumpus room. Disconnect, and the speed jumped. Reconnect, and down it went again. It can stay disconnected as we don't have much need for a landline any more.

cheers, and thanks for the advice.
Arron

[ian]

There is one other thing. I don't know if your Telco uses a "Slick". Think of it as a multiplexor where there might be up to 30 or so phone lines coming into one side and two pair going out to the Central Office. (The slick fell out of favor at least 20 years ago but their ghosts still remain.) It works great for voice phone calls which are about 80% silence. When someone uses a dial up modem or fax (100% sound) the capacity of the two pair out drops significantly. I've been told that ADSL or DSL doesn't work for data through a slick. Assuming that there are pairs from the slick to the Central Office, your Telco may be able to bypass or wire around the slick.

IIRC big chunks of Australian suburbia were wired with this technology. It was called "pair gain"

[rrich]

Ian,
Yes, I do recall the term "Pair Gain".

[doug3030]

Ian,
Yes, I do recall the term "Pair Gain".

However there are a number of different wiring configurations that come under the "Pair Gain" banner.

Some pair gain systems will allow ADSL, but most will not.

I am not sure but I think that ADSL2 will not play on pair gains.

The pair gains systems that allow ADSL are usually the less intensive ones such as running just two houses off of one twisted pair. The "slicks" would definitely be a kiss of death to ADSL.

Cheers

Doug

[rrich]

Interestingly, today, it was in the shuttle from car dealer to home. It was a long ride and the passenger next to me was using a Wi-Fi hot spot. His 4G LTE phone was connected to the hot spot and providing Internet access. He said that it cost about $70 per month for unlimited data.