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Discussing
Speed
There
are many factors that impact the speed of your cable modem. The configuration
of your computer, the shared nature of the Internet itself, and
the performance of distant end devices (content servers) all affect
the speed you see from page to page, website to website. The network
of countless circuits, switches, routers and servers that power
the Internet are similar to an urban highway system. Sometimes,
everything is flowing smoothly at the posted speed limit. Other
times, a single breakdown can have an impact on routes that are
seemingly far removed from the problem area. Likewise, depending
on the time of day, the website you visit, and just general Internet
congestion, the speed of your service may be less than blazing fast.
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Internet access with Irvine Online is made up of two primary components.
First, there is the Irvine Online network that moves traffic from
your cable modem to the Internet and second, the Internet itself.
Because Irvine Online has no control over the Internet, it is impossible
for Irvine Online, or any other Internet service provider, to guarantee
that customers will always see Internet pages download quickly.
If you access a site that is powered by a server that is only
transmitting data at 100 kilobits per second, it does not matter
what bandwidth you have with your Irvine Online connection.
Your
highest potential rate can only be 100 kilobits per second.
It is fairly easy to identify which websites are built to serve
data at high speeds. These sites usually include those that
are providing streaming audio and video or involve frequent
content downloads. However, even sites like these will become
congested during a major event or crisis, based on the traffic
attempting to access these sites. All these factors affect the
speed you are seeing but, unfortunately, they are beyond Irvine Online's
control. |
Understanding
Downloads
File
sizes are measured in bytes while transfer speeds are measured in
bits. With a dialup connection, you may have had a 28.8 kilobits per second
(Kbps) modem that received files that were 1.0 megabytes (MB)in
size. The math works as follows:
- There
are 8 bits in 1 byte. Therefore, 8,000 kilobits equals 1,000
kilobytes. 1,000 kilobytes equals 1 megabyte. This is clearly
a source of confusion for many consumers as download speeds
are reported in both bytes and bits, while many service
providers state their optimum speeds in megabytes. For example,
a speed test on bandwidthplace.com might show a download
speed of 545,832.6 bits per second. This represents an equivalent
speed of 545.8 kilobits per second. At this speed, it would
take a 1-megabyte file about 15.4 seconds to download, factoring
in the necessary control information described in more detail
below.
- Another
variable affecting speed is the actual size of the file.
When a file is retrieved from the Internet, the actual download
includes more than just the file itself. Control header
information that among other things, helps correct errors,
can increase the amount of data that needs to be downloaded.
For example, downloading a 5MB file can actually transfer
as much as 6MB of data or more. If the user divides the
stated file size by the download speed, the actual download
speed may be significantly understated
- Also,
your computer continually negotiates a transfer rate with
the remote server from which you’re downloading. For
example, if your computer is an older model or is busy processing
other things (running a game, playing a DVD, listening to
music, saving a large Word document with images), it will
have fewer resources available to process incoming data
from your download, therefore causing a delay in the download.
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