At 08:46/28/Mar, JAY EMRIE (1:387/496) said:
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RC>>CM> I was wondering what is the best way to check your internet speeds?  

RC>>CM> Use the USRobotics v.Everything v90 with Internet Explorer 4.01.  I'd
RC>>CM> like to check to see if I'm getting any better connects.
RC>>If you're using Win95, you can use SYSMON to display your throughput.  If 
RC>>yo want accurate results, though, the only way is to download a file 
large 
RC>>enou to be significant _directly_ from your ISP.  Downloading something 
from 
RC>>a remote site introduces the possibility that the results will be skewed 
by 
RC>>ot delays in the system.
JE> Rick, after all, aren't the conditions in the last sentence the final
JE> defining conditions controlling normal throughput for most of us? I
JE> can't even get to my ISP with full X2 or v90 speeds - too many codecs
JE> between me and the phone co main office.
The poster wanted to "check if he was getting better connects".  Therefore, 
he has to eliminate all extraneous causes than could reduce throughput.  His 
actual day to day performance on the Inet is going to depend on a whole whack 
of factors, his connect speed being one, and perhaps not the most 
gnificant.
With the net as it exists, there can really be no "normal" throughput.  What 
you get is what you get, and it can change from minute to minute.  People are 
accustomed to a more or less "dedicated" conection to a BBS, a condition 
where you can expect a particular download rate day after day.  Upgrade to a 
faster modem and you see an immediate improvement in your throughput.
The Internet doesn't work quite that way.:-)
What you can do in your particular case (taken from a previous message) is 
talk to your telco.  Chances are, you are connected through a "non-integrated 
SLC" (Subscriber Line Concentrator).  Essentially, your anaologue signal is 
converted to digital by the SLC and sent to the telco.  If the SLC is 
"integrated", the digital signal is handled digitally throughout.  If not (as 
I suspect in your case) then digital signal is converted to analogue within 
the CO, then back to digital again.  That's the end of 56K possibilities.
The telco may be able to connect you instead through "pure copper" (no SLCs) 
or through an integrated SLC.  The only way to find out is to call them and 
discuss the problem.
Rick
--- Msged 4.00
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