Why do I max out at 45,333 bps dial-up speed?

[MaxDSP]

Ive got a USR/3COM Internet Gaming Modem but can never get it beyond 45333 bps, no matter when I connect. Any USEFUL tweaks for my model? Im running Win98 and using Earthlink

 

[BillMartin12]

Are you on Windows98? I've noticed that back when I used a modem it always maxed out at that as well. But upon tests, pings, download speeds and other such tests I've found out:

That's not the max out.

You are most likely still getting 5.3K per sec.

The only other thing I can say is it might just be who you're dialing into. Not every company out there gets a max of 5.3K per second.

....but I must say my cable modem is worth EVERY penny...and dollar.... hehe

Bill Martin

How To Build Your Own Home PC for Under $700, Even If You're a Techno-Dummy!

 

[sohcrates]

wow billmartin12, you're seriously posting up a storm tonight!

 

[Zach]

You might be lucky to get that high. Most 56K modems I've seen are at about that. Line conditions, modem, ISP modems, all dumb down the theoretical 56K (which in the real world is 54000 kbs max).

 

[MaxDSP]

Im reaching for that glorious 53000 bps connection. Also, I was connected at 44000bps the other day but I got a download rate of 11-13 KB/sec momentarily but dropped down to 5-7 a few minutes later. How is this possible?

 

[LukFilm]

Thos 13kB was text, the rest image or something. Not comparable.

 

[eGAK]

I have used this Guide with the most success. At least your initial connection speed will show up as 115200 bps ;^) It has provided a noticable increase in my connection speed, using an Aopen FM56-ITU/2

 

[Xenon]

This site is the best I've seen for 56k modems. I believe you can force your modem to connect higher in your init string, but even if you achieve a higher initial connect, that's no guarantee your connection will be any better. Good luck!

 

[Quickfingerz]

out of the 1,000 times that i've logged on to the internet using dial-up, i've only once got that infamous 53,333 bps download speed (drool)

 

[Scouzer]

My old 56k never had anything except 44,000bps...the theoretic maximum is like 53,000bps I think.

 

[KDOG]

MaxDSP: Thats pretty good, I just bought a USRobotics modem and the highest I can hit is 42666, most of the time its 37333

 

[GrumpyMan]

Thank god I have DSL now I couldn't bare to go back to that kind of speed.

 

[PsillyDude]

I used to suffer the "dial-up" nightmare, but broadband put an end to that.

It's too bad it's not as widely availble as dial-up (someday), but once you have it, you'll NEVER go back. It's like going from a 286 to a P-III as far as performance, not to mention no tied up phone lines or busy signals.

I'm not saying this to rub it in your face (I was there too), but to point out that the only "real" performace gain you're going to notice is a switch to a fatter pipe; i.e. Digital.

I vote DSL all the way. Cable may be faster a certain times, under certain conditions, but DSL is all around more stable and reliable.

Just my two cents.

Peace, and 10x Karma

 

[Mem]

It`s all down to modem,phone line and ISP,I always connect at 49,333bps(have tried 4 ISPs)and once got 52,000bps

 

[jaydee]

Thats not bad. Due to local line conditions I max out at 21.6k or 24k. Now thats bad. Too far away from CC for DSL, and no cable comes through our nieghborhood. Sucks to be me.
My friend actually used to get 115k connections on dial-up. I dunno how you pull that off.

 

[MaxDSP]

<< I used to suffer the &quot;dial-up&quot; nightmare, but broadband put an end to that.

It's too bad it's not as widely availble as dial-up (someday), but once you have it, you'll NEVER go back. It's like going from a 286 to a P-III as far as performance, not to mention no tied up phone lines or busy signals.

I'm not saying this to rub it in your face (I was there too), but to point out that the only &quot;real&quot; performace gain you're going to notice is a switch to a fatter pipe; i.e. Digital.

I vote DSL all the way. Cable may be faster a certain times, under certain conditions, but DSL is all around more stable and reliable.
>>



The thing thats stopping me right now is not the cost, since I can more than afford 40 bucks a month. My concerns are the instability of the DSL companies and more importantly, whats gonna happen to me if my parents find out Im paying 40 bucks for an Internet connection. I pay 20 bucks right now so if I upgrade to a faster question, my dad will start asking things like &quot;Are you a professional or businessman that you need this luxury [referring to broadband]?&quot; This is why DSL is the only broadband options for me, since it would be easy to hide from my dad and I can install it myself. Any suggestions?

 

[MaxDSP]

<< Thats not bad. Due to local line conditions I max out at 21.6k or 24k. Now thats bad. Too far away from CC for DSL, and no cable comes through our nieghborhood. Sucks to be me.
My friend actually used to get 115k connections on dial-up. I dunno how you pull that off. >>



Sorry about that. Would satellite work for you or is Sprint Broadband available in your area? The new Sprint service is supposed to be extremely fast and costs like 50 bucks a month, but the installation and equipment costs would be like 300-400.

 

[crazyjoekuta]

DAMN.... till now i thought 56K meant 56Kb, not 56K=56000 bytes! So i was SOOO confused why a 56kb/second connection could't ever get past 5????? it's alll making sense now!

 

[ArchAngel777]

After looking through this post, I see a lot of information that people have is wrong.

First of all, 2 posters claim their friends get 115,200Kbps. While this looks true, you will notice that it is not their real connection speed, if it was true you would download at 14.06/K a sec and that is simply not posseble. Before you start telling me it is, I also had a 115,200 connection. Any modem can acomplish this with a simple &quot;AT&amp;F&quot; override command in your modem properties. I don't know why that command was made, but the only logical reason I could think of was it was made was to &quot;fool&quot; modem users into thinking their connection was faster. Whatever the case, modem users do not get 115,200Kbps.

Second, everyone must know that modem speeds refer to Kilo&quot;BIT&quot;s per second not Kilo&quot;BYTE&quot;s per second.

a true 48,000Kpbs connection downloads at 5.85K/sec.

48,000/8bits=6000bytes*1024=5.85K/sec


And there we have it.


I am sure a few posters knew this, this is to inform those that do not know!

 

[RSI]

The max is 53333bps. I connect at 42666, 44000, 45333 and 48000 (I've connected at 49333 maybe twice in years). With my previous modem it was 49333 all the time, and it was faster.

There isn't much you can do to make it go faster. 6.6KB/s is the highest possible download rate for any 56K modem, as it is impossible to achieve a connection higher than 53333. And 53.333 (this is in kilo BITS) divided by 8 (to get kilo BYTES) equals 6.6.

So really you are connecting at 5.6KBps (45.333kbps) most of the time, which is why most of the time your downloads are between 2-5KB/s. Unless you're connection is functioning at 53333bps, it is impossible to download faster than 6.6KB/s, or 6600 bytes per second. Any other fluctuations in download rate are attributed to other factors such as compression and line conditions, ISP, etc.

One thing most of you people have to get straight is the difference between bytes and bits, and the significance of the key case. If it is upper-case it's bytes, if it is lower-case it's bits. 1 byte is equal to 8 bits. Understand? It's quite simple if you think about it.

byte = B bytes per second = B/s or Bs (B/s more common)
bit = b bits per second = bs or b/s (bs more common)
kilobyte = KB kilobytes per second = KB/s or KBs (KB/s more common)
kilobit = kb kilobits per second = kbps or kb/ps (kbps more common)

It follows this pattern up to mega, giga, etc. Hopefully I've made this clear enough for people who didn't understand it.

Oh yeah and the same type of crap goes on with hard drives .. when you buy a 20GB hard drive, you're not getting twenty gigabytes.

 

[ArchAngel777]

Thanks RSI, I guess I really didn't explain those differences, just that its not posseble to get 115,200.

Thanks again.

 

[crazyjoekuta]

wow... that's a lot of work....

SWITCH TO CABLE!

Thanks ArchAngel777 and RSI

 

[ArchAngel777]

HEHE, yeah Cable is nice... but we really shouldn't be taunting like we are..... I remember what it was like to not have the chance for cable or dsl...... only my modem with 21.6Kpbs..... man was that fast.... I would type in the URL, go outside play some BBall, and then when I came back it was 90% done. HEHEHEHE.

 

[bozo1]

<< Thanks RSI, I guess I really didn't explain those differences, just that its not posseble to get 115,200 >>



The 115200 speed reports are caused by one of 2 things:

1. The init string for the modem (or default configuration) is configured to return the DTE rate, not the DCE rate. The DTE rate is the speed at which the serial port communicates with the modem. This is always set higher than the DCE speed (that actual rate at which the 2 modems are connected) in order to make use of data compression. Modems normally return the DCE rate but do not if misconfigured.

2. The .inf file for the modem is not correct or not the proper version. This should contain all of the possible DCE connect rates. If the modem reports a DCE rate that is not defined in that file, Windows doesn't think it is a correct value and defaults to reporting the DTE rate, 115200 in most cases. This mismatch was very common years ago when we were all flashing our modems to support v.90, etc. and updating the .inf file was a step that users didn't do or the modem vendors weren't prompt in updating the one on their websites.

Having transfer rates of 10Kbps+ is quite possible when transmitting text files that can be greatly shrunk with v.42 compression but you rarely see that as most of what we download is already compressed.

Another thing that many people are not aware of - getting and retaining high connect rates 49333, 50666, etc. is quite rare. The modem may train at these speeds and report it but usually within a few minutes, the modems have retrained to a lower level due to line noise, packet loss, etc. This is a feature of v.90 as opposed to the earlier days when the modems would just drop line on you when line errors occured. You can test this by going online, download a bunch of stuff for 10-20 minutes or so, disconnect, go into Terminal in command mode and type whatever command your modem uses to report the last DCE rate. (usually ATIx with x being modem dependant) Unless you have a very clean line, this last DCE rate will usually be lower than what you initially connected at.

 

[Paladinexe]

It is possible to run 2 modems tandem and get greater speed. Sorry I don't have the links readily available with more information. Best bet is the dsl though. I have Prodigy and I hated them for the first 10 months. Had the same problem of losing line sync. Finally they either got enough experience or hired someone who knew to cap my line speed to stabilize.

Unfortunately I am not able to get speed tests at the max 1.54 megs/sec and my downloads are significantly slower. Still it beats dial up. Previously my max download was about 143 KBPS. Now with my line capped at 768 I consistently get speed tests of 776 KBPS and get downloads in the 50ish range.

The cost of dsl is about the same as running 2 phone lines and you can use your telephone while online.

One thing to mention is filters are required. Either a splitter has to be installed near the interface box (where the phone line connects to the house/building) or filters installed on the phone jacks for each phone. The filters block out dsl interference to the voice transmission/reception.