It seems a shame that the USA doesn't do better. I can't complain about my Comcast connection though.

{{gwi:1507893}}

I switched to DSL in Arlington, VA a couple years ago and don't regret it for a second. After endless mystery outages from Comcast, often at the same time of day, such as around 5:00pm weekdays and what appeared to be other high volume times. It's sheer agony when the 'net is down, the family is seemingly in tech withdrawal after 5 minutes, , and your phones happen to also be on voIP (Vonage), too (i.e. useless!). Of course Comcast would never admit to these outages and always act like it was the first they ever heard of it.

After two years of that misery, I switched to DSL (Cavalier) at half the cost and half the measured speed (though it still is fine for everything we do, including viewing netflix online, etc.). The reliability is infinitely better for us, and it's nice to use regular phones and have dial tone if the power's out. No regrets here.

Side note, for what it's worth: For a while I was using a signal repeater (Wifi range extender) for one computer in the far end of the house. They cut the speed in half yet again, but it was still fine enough. Any lags were a fraction of a second at most.

FWIW....Cox fibre-optic cable.....various US locations tested.....avg. approx. 2.4 / 12.0.

Bob414's comcast readings are great!

mine is a little slow today, had to use the Austin server since the Houston one did not show up. I am usually around 27-29 or so. Of course it is right at noon too.

{{gwi:1507894}}

I could not stand DSL was so happy when I got Verizon fios to do away with the dreadful DSL. Now I have comcast and it is also very fast and dependable. In over a year I have not had any problems.

Comcast showing well!

In practical terms, I can't get close to those numbers. All I can say is that if I stay local I sail up to the 30's....but that's hardly indicative of overall performance.

All I can say, is, regardless of what I have, I am just grateful to be able to join the internet and get around the world so to speak, speed is good for videos, etc., know because I have probs there, but nothing I can't live with anymore, I am older, don't go anywhere much, and am just glad to be in touch with the outside world. speed is a good thing, and a bad one too, just enjoy what you have and be thankful!

Like shaddy, I'm thankful for any speed at all.

I have
386 kbps Download and
413 kbps Upload

It seems to vary a lot depending upon the time of day. I have service with a local company and it is broadband.

up to 512 kps is 35 per month..and is what I have but
1 mbps is available for 'just' $70 per month.

Here is a link that might be useful: Speed test

That's about what I report 1 mbps Download and that varies according to time of day. With Wild blue I'm great full to just have a connection, speeds never an issue because there isn't any speed.....

When I had Comcast I never noticed a connection, pages loaded instantly @ 20 mbps.

With Wild blue I'm great full to just have a connection, speeds never an issue because there isn't any speed.....
Oh my...you just reminded me of my Wild Blue nightmare...what an ordeal!

I think my WB rant can still be found here at CH, but am sure not going to relive it.

Here is a link that might be useful: wildbluesucks

Last month I finally was able to get faster service as a 3G Internet network became available to my rural area. Before that, get ready to laugh now, on an antique DUN I was able to get 5kbps. Yes, all of 5 per second.

DA

If I remember right my first modem was 300 baud. I think thats 300 bits per second or 0.3kbps. It connected to my Commodore 64 through the serial port. I gave up on the internet for a few years after that experience.

I have Comcast in Portland OR I checked using the test linked above and got:
Download speed 16.03 mbps
Upload speed 7.07 mbps

I have no idea what that really means. I don't stream much and have no complaints. I've never tried Netflix. I listen to music online a lot with no problems.

Speed has never bothered me. I use the slowest speed that Cox Cable has and it's fine. I was happy with Juno years ago.

buyorsell888-
What it means is that you have a very fast connection...much faster than the majority of people in the U.S., and this means that you can typically watch videos without pausing or buffering, that you could easily stream Netflix movies at the highest quality, and that large files and updates get downloaded to your computer very quickly. Things probably work well all of the time, so there's nothing to "notice." If you had a connection that was 0.5 Mbps or less, I guarantee you would notice the lags for some things.

While I was on dialup, my connection was so slow I could hardly open a web page if it had many graphics----it would time out on me. Downloading was torture. Then I used Wild Blue satellite for a couple of years. Much better, but bad weather would make me lose my signal. When 3G became available where I live, I switched to that. Still not fast enough to watch streaming movies, and even UTube has to stop and buffer once in a while, but a big improvement for me. I have a 5GB monthly cap, but I've never gone over it. With no DSL or cable or FIOS available in my rural area, I'm thrilled with 3G. Great when I travel also.

Bonnie,

My 3G user cap is 15GB monthly with 20 cents a MB after that. Not to offend, may I ask what you pay monthly? I pay $49.99 a month less 5% as I also have my cellphone (gosh I hate them) with the same company. The cellphone bill is reduced an additional 5% also.

DA

Bonnie?????

Sorry Bobbie. That's what happens when you start typing before your first coffee.

DA

That's okay, Dan. Mine is with Verizon, and I pay $59.99 per month. My cell phone bill is $34.99 per month.

If I could get something for that price, I'd jump on it. I bought my USB modem on E-Bay, so I'm not in a contract on the 3G service, but when I upgraded my phone, I had to get into another 2 year contract. It will be up in a few months. I do not plan to get into another 2 year contract.

Verizon works everywhere I have traveled, and there is a tower about 2 miles from my house, so I don't really have any other choice to get service.

I just checked mine with the above link.

Download:1.36 Mbps

Upload:428 Kbps

I'm on Ntelos.

Good or bad?

Sue

I bought my USB modem on E-Bay, so I'm not in a contract on the 3G service, but when I upgraded my phone, I had to get into another 2 year contract.
Now bear with me as I don't understand a lot on the lingo, but do you have to have a cellphone to have/get 3G if you buy your USB Modem like on Ebay? I don't want or need a cell phone as I now have, and probably always 'will' have a land line that serves me quite well.

I would 'love' something faster but $59.99 and another $34.99 (if cell phone service is 'required') is pretty 'spendy' for me to have some additional speed.

Sue

Can the specs on a computer effect the speed or is speed only based on the server.

Sue I do not think you have to have a cellphone also but it may depend on who you are dealing with. I got the 3G from ATT back when I was moving and knew I would be with out a home access for a time. I do have a cellphone with them also but nothing in getting the 3G had to do with my cellphone. It may cost a bit less if you do have other services with the company and they can bundle.
Most of the ones I looked at had the 5GB cap so that 15GB is great. With ATT my cost is about $70 a month, I am going to be canceling it since I no longer need it, not traveling much these days. I did have to do a contract but I did a one year which was only allowed because I was a long time existing customer, ordinarily it was a 2 yr contract and I did get the 3G modem from them, the deal was that they charge me $99 for it then they would send me a rebate visa card for that amount so the modem would be free, well never did get that rebate card so I ended up paying the $99, which is a very sore subject and I have heard it happens a lot. SO keep track of everything and have names and numbers of the person you talk to when you set up your contract should you need to go back and raise heck with someone if they do not follow through.

this is a 3G national program you may want to look at
National 3G Coverage

it has no contracts and may be in the coverage area you need

Sue,

My carrier is a local, three county, provider. The 3G network and the cellphone are separate with the double additional savings if you have both. Here's the link so you can reference it. (I mis-spoke. It is 5 cents a per MB overage.) You might find the "How much is 15GB" link on the page useful. On the menu on the right is an entry Devices. It will present my Axess-Tel modem. One thing that is nice is if the kids come home and bring their lap tops they can access the wi-fi network.

I paid $99.00 for the modem with a two year contract and $175.00 pro-rata early disconnect fee. A one year contract was around $200.00 for the modem. Both plans had a 45 day trial period too. There is no DUN backup if the network goes down. A handy network feature is the network will notify you when you reach 15%, 50% and 75% monthly usage levels. No surprises then.

Since I live in rural America and in the recognized Bermuda Triangle of the county as far as electronic services goes, I had really no option if I wanted to abandon my antique DUN. Depending on the time of day and the sites I am visiting, they can have an effect on rate, my download speed varies between 10 and 45 times faster than the DUN. However, it is not comparable to dsl or cable. It is just much better than what I had.

DA

Here is a link that might be useful: 3G Network

Sue, I have two accounts with Verizon--one for my cell phone, which I have had for a long time, and another for the 3G service. The phone, in my situation, has nothing to do with the Internet service--only the USB modem does. There are some phones which you can "tether" to provide Internet service, but that's not what I wanted.

DA, I signed up and downloaded the free NetZero just in case I need a backup. You don't get much time for nothing, but in an emergency it would be better than nothing.
Visitors here can also get online via my wireless network.
Surely wish I had something available to me such as you have. Our county recently received a humongeous Federal grant to install FIOS to underserved areas (especially businesses), but I'm not holding my breath until it becomes available to my neck of the woods. Our county is large geographically and, except for three small towns, is largely rural.

I did the CNet test it said my connection speeed was 892 KBPS
Is that good? I have DSL with my Tel co.

sue_va-
Regarding the post on your speed, I'd say it's "not bad." I suspect the only thing you might notice is that some times when you click on an online video (like YouTube) or a news story, you may get a temporary pause (buffering). I have a connection about twice as fast as yours and it's been entirely adequate for 99% of what I do on the Internet. For most things, I bet you would not notice much difference between my computer connection and yours if you were on mine.

vala55-
Good question. No, the computer specs are not typically the limiting factor in the actual connection speed. However, if you have a basic computer or one that is pretty old, it may not be able to efficiently process all the data available to it from a really fast connection, so you might notice things like occasional jerky/buffering video.

thanks Kudzu, I try to buy the best I can and one that I understand to be fast.

Bobbie,

Do I know what you mean. Our county is just short of 1000 square miles, and in the 2000 census the report claimed 45,000 residents. It is estimated that when the full report comes out for the 2010 census we will be down 8-10%.

Definitely will look into Net Zero. Thanks.

DA

I just had time to rate my 3G network and I share for those of interest:

Speednet.com

1.11 Mbps down
.52 Mbps up

Numion:

65.40 Kbps down
64.48 Kbps up

What Is My IP:
.98 Mbps down
.43 Mbps up

I am going to disallow the Numion rating and accept the other two asd they are close in report.

DA

After reading all about them, I decided I wanted to give them a try and by filling in my zip code on line, it said I was in a covered area. Because I was in a gray colored area, outside of the gold colored areas (of the cities) I called the Toll free support # to see what my options would be if I purchased the jack and then was not satisfied with the actual speed. A 'live person' actually answered in less than a minute, and verified my actual street address for coverage, and it was found that coverage was not available at my residence...sigh. Their service is over the Sprint Network.
Had I been able to get the service, I would have ordered the jack, and once it was received I would have had to call and had it activated. I would have then had 30 days to decide if I was satisfied and had the option to return it for a refund.

Maybe someone else is in the Sprint Network area though that might find it a good option.

Here is a link that might be useful: $49.99 3G Nationwide (well almost) coverage with no contract

When DataJack first came out over a year ago, they advertised UNLIMITED 3G for $39.99. Now I see their cap is 5GB (same as all the others), and their price is now $49.99. Hmmmmm?

my speed result is,download=1.09Mbps and my upload=0.87Mbps and i check my speed from scanmyspeed and the reason why im using this speed checker is that i dont have flash to support speedtest.net so i went for this and without java and flash its working..

Here is a link that might be useful: scanmyspeed

BE CAUTIOUS that site has a red WOT warning on it.

Referring to 5GB limit on 3G service--I often spend hours on my computer researching whatever interests me that day. I enjoy learning new concepts/information--I have 2 Master's degrees to prove I enjoy research. Is there a way I can find out how well the 5GB limit would work for me? Is it expensive if I should go over? I currently have, and despise TDS DSL. I want to dump them when my current contract expires and all that is available to me is satelite or 3G. My speed test today is 5.34 Mb down and 483 Kb up.

I'm not sure satellite or 3G would give you better speeds. My 3G has slowed down considerably since I first started using it over 2 years ago. More and more people using it not only for Internet, but with smart phones, so I think the tower that serves me is probably overloaded.

5GB will provide quite a bit of usage. Unless you stream movies or other video, which uses more bandwidth than almost anything else, that should be sufficient, especially if most of what you do is text. My current plan is just 3GB, and I haven't gone over that yet in the 3 months that I've had it. Heavy downloads is what really chews up your usage allowance.

According to the test I have 1.01 MBPS download and 4.93 MBPS on upload. My computer connected icon in task bar state my speed is 100.0 MBPS and the Cox company advertises 55 MBPS on the commercial. We have a bundle pack with digital phone, high speed internet, and cable tv. I have no idea what digital phone is, and if it really means anything. I think what we pay for all three is way too high, but would not go back to dial up. I never see ads for any other high speed companies.

the 100Mbps is not telling you your internet speed connection it is simply telling you the ability of your router, most today are 10/100Mbps rated. This might help you understand that
10/100 devices

mine also says 100 there likely everyone in here would have 100 there too.

cox has multiple tiers of service you pay x amount of money for x amount of speed you would need to check your contract to know which tier you are paying for to know if you are getting the proper speed.

I am also on cox and if you look way up in this old post you will see my speed test which is much much faster than yours so I would assume you have a lower tier of internet service with them. I do not have any other services with them so I have no bundle just strictly internet.

ML,

Living out here in rural America I have no access to dsl or cable. When I finally got fed up with a DUN I researched the new 3G network in my area and satellite.

As to satellite I found way to many complaints and reports of dissatisfaction. At best it was 50/50 in plus and minuses.

Like Grandms says my 3G network, even though it is dedicated to Internet, slows through the day as activity increases. My earlier posted report was at 10:43 a.m. The current rates at 4:49 p.m. is 575 kbps down/51kbps up. As the evening draws it may drop to much less than that. No matter what it is greatly superior to 5 kbps on a DUN.

As to the usage look at the page below.

DA

Here is a link that might be useful: Data Usage Examples

DA I am very surprised some enterprising American has not followed on the success of this small outfit here in Ontario. Population density in MI would probably warrant something like that. It would never interest big business but it was exactly because of that these folks started up.

Here is a link that might be useful: Internet from farm silos

Download :: 10742 Kbps or 10.74 Mbps (1343 kB/s)
Upload :: 1053 Kbps or 1.1 Mbps (132 kB/s)

This is with Charter Communications for $29.99..With unlimited downloads...

O,

Your referral site is down.

If it is a wireless ISP we do have several of them available in our county. The problem is we are almost 1,000 square miles with only 44,000 residents. These residents are cored in some six small "cities" with everyone else in villages or out in the townships. So the proper business sense is to spend your business money to make your service available to the most residents for the least investment. As I have shared many times I live in the Bermuda Triangle of my county barely within the service of the 3G provider.

DA

Thanks for sharing.............