What kind of connection to internet is there?

it is the third highest one...i am going to do a speed test and see what it shows. it just occured to me that our dsl modem is at least 7 years old, could that have something to do with it?

Internet connection determines how fast the pages load. Yes a 7 year old Modem could be an issue too.

"sisters computers are lightning fast" I bet she doesn't
have dsl.

youtube probably very busy Friday nite every kid in town is connected to it

my sister has midcontinent cable network. my only other options where i live is satellite internet or something like alltel wireless. my download speed that i am paying for is 1024/512k we just upped it like i said, and i can double the speed for another 5 dollars a month which would be $50.00 a month. my test results are download speed 0.44, uploads at 0.46, ping 199 ms, so what does this mean then?

can i ask one more question so i don't have to start a new thread again? i am just wondering if it is really necessary to go download the BIOS and drivers at Dell like it is telling me too. thanks so much you have been so much help.

The Brand new computer is asking you that? As long as the computer is running leave the BIOS and drives alone. Looks like you have Dell software running on it then dell up dates and stuff like that.

For 5.00 I would double the speed for sure!

well it came with a paper that says important information before you use your computer and it says to update the latest BIOS and drivers to makes sure i have the latest version. what does this have to do with anything? i know 5 dollars doesn't sound like much but we just already doubled the speed for 10 dollars a month and now 5 dollars a more, i just kind of felt like it would never end.

That is really not high speed at all. I second Zep's suggestion. Your ping is high too, but you really can't do anything about that. Yes, Friday night things do slow down on some sites because of the traffic.

I would never give instruction to a user to update BIOS. Call Dell or whoever and discuss it with them. Updating the Bios could cause lots of issues if not done correctly. Leave well enough alone until you talk to the Manfacture.

ok thanks, i am glad i asked first about the driver stuff. we will double the speed again too i guess then. i was thinking today if i got rid of my blackberry and cell phone bill, satellite tv, and internet, i wouldn't even have to work, and we haven't even gotten dvr or an hd service yet! technology definitely comes at a price.

Youre actually getting maybe half the download speed you are paying for but it could be you are far far away from the dslam.. You might call your isp and ask them how come your speed is only about half.

They can run line tests and sometimes speed you up.

That is an expesive isp/dsl - my verizon/dsl is about $40 monthly and 7.1 mb download and runs full speed, never changing, all the time.

Yur speed tests tell me that you have a connection which is nowhere near the speed you are paying for. While cable speed varies depending on how many people are online at the same time, when you buy DSL, it should have the same constant speed...and it should be the one you are paying for. I have 3MB DSL from Verizon, and one day it seemed that it was slower than usual. My speed test showed I was getting about half of that, so I called the ISP. They did some tests and determined that the outside phone cable had deteriorated. As soon as the section of cable was replaced, my speed went back up to the normal 3MB. You should: 1) have the lines checked and get the company to deliver the speed you are paying for, and 2) spend the extra $5 to double the speed, once the problem is resolved. If you can get it to 2 MB, I think you will be satisfied.

Allright will do thanks

yes I agree it is likely the poor quality of the service lines and connections of the dsl line to you from the local CO and if you are at the end of the line your speed will be worse than someone closer, this is why I hated DSL. Demand they do test and come out to your house and check the equipment there too including that old old modem they need to give you a new updated modem for sure. Also when they come out you can tell them to put a whole house DSL filter at the box outside so you do not have to use the individual dongles on each phone line, that is much better and helps the connection because people fail to put dongles on some lines. It is free to have them put the whole house filter on but you have to tell them to do it while they are there.
And I would expect a refund for the time period you have been paying for a higher speed and not getting it.

And no do not do any bios updates!

Now i wonder if all these years i have been getting screwed on this. the day they supposedly updated my connection which was supposed to be doubled from what i had before they even called to say it had been done. what sucks is we are literally across the road for being able to be on the cable networks and all the fiber optic stuff.
i just noticed in the phone book for the company i go through that it says "download speeds up to 4mbsp" so evidently that is their max, well my sister just ran the speedtest on her computer and this is the comparisons:
mine / hers
down 0.44 / 13.66
upload 0.46/ 1.01
ping 119/ 10
mp3 2 min/ 4 sec
movie 258 min/ 7 min
videoclip 11 min/ 19 seconds

Doesn't matter how much speed you pay for, if you live too far from the dslam or if there is a poor or wrong kind of connection on the line between you and there you're not going to get it. The phone company is only required to provide line quality good enough for voice transmission. Good luck trying to get them to do more. I would talk to them and see if something can be done and if not I would just go with dial up. I wouldn't pay what you're paying for what you're getting.

I would bet, if I was a betting man, the telephone trunk is fiber-optic while the roadside service line is still copper. If I am right it would be like funneling freeway traffic onto a two lane highway.

I didn't see, are you rural? Suburban? Urban? Somewhere in between?? Any idea how far you are from the switching station?

DA

i am rural, about 25 miles from a town with the midcontinent. i am not sure where the switching station is, we are 7 miles from the company i get the internet from and an hour from the town the speedtest was based from.

Not an expert here on dsl so I yield to anyone with knowledge.

It is my understanding dsl in general is only available within 5 miles of the switching station and if it is in service beyond that the quality drops.

Since your rural are you on a side road (gravel for you city folk.) or a secondary road (two lane asphalt/concrete county road for the same folks)? If you are on a secondary you may have fiber optic lines. However, if your on the side road you may still have copper.

Are your telephone lines buried or suspended?

DA

In my experience, if you qualify to get DSL, it is because you are close enough to the switching station for it to work properly. At one time, several years ago, I wanted to get DSL, but the company said I was about 2000' too far away from the switching station and they couldn't provide it. Later, a new switching station was put in that was closer to where I lived and I qualified. I think the options are: 1) DSL at the advertised speed, or 2) no DSL. Most companies do not give you a third choice of crappy DSL. If you are not getting full speed, you most likely have a line or equipment problem that is fixable. You should not only investigate the speed issue, but confirm that their policy about providing DSL is as I've described.

oh it is very well known fact the farther you are from the CO station the more degraded your signal will be no question about that and they will tell you that if you ask them. Will they still sell you the package well that depends on how reputable and money hungry they happen to be and I think we all know the answer to that one.

back when I was on DSL I was at the end of the line for the local CO I had so many problems and kept at them constantly they finally got tired of it and actually sent someone out and found the bad patches of line and replaced them and put the whole house filter on, things improved.
Then I got verizon fios and was a very happy camper, now that I have moved I have comcast and am happy with it.

You have not mentioned that I see what company you are with but you may want to look over on BBR forums because the telco's have set up actual forums on there where you can talk directly to their reps on the forum and it is one of the best ways I have seen to get fast results. Look to see if your company has a forum there. On the link I provide scroll down to the Direct support forums area.

Here is a link that might be useful: BBR

thanks, we live on a busy county lake road which is paved, i believe the lines are buried. i know like i said that on the other side of the road they get cable, and our neighbors who live just east of us get it as well, so we are borderline on it all, although i have to say i don't know of anyone who has cable internet, just the tv service ut i could be wrong. Our provider is just a very small town company who sells computers and internet service, phones and phone service, and DirecTv so it isn't a large company that anyone would recognize the name or anything.

My mom only lives 15 miles from me and she gets comcast so i need to check on that. i did check on satellite internet last night and didn't think the speed or price was any better than what i have now, and we have issues here with our satellite signal going out in bad weather even though it says it has 99.9 % strength. I have also checked with alltel and verizon in the past, and although their upload speeds sound impressive, the people i know who have their service hate it and have a lot of outages. So basically i just need to call Monday and see what my options are i guess. I appreciate all the advice and help.

I am spending my day today researching routers and trying to figure our which one i should get and i am wondering if the transmission speeds noted on these have anything to do with how it will affect my internet speed. i am so tired of reading reviews and specs and need to just make a decision already because i have already spent way too much time on this, but there definitely does not seem to be one that has all good reviews, i just do not want to get something that will slow me down even worse if there is such a thing.

po;arprincess-
You are spending unnecessary effort and time researching router specs. Any new router you get will not be a limitation. What you need to do is focus on your Internet connection speed problem....

Check with server, we are on our 5th modem, and they say the best one, didn't cost us a thing...but these modem's can not be plugged into a surge protector, as they have their own, and it will cut back on dsl connection severely.