Forums > Specific Focus > Technical Mexico

johnv

Apr 7, 2006, 10:04 AM

Post #1 of 13 (4659 views)

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Internet Speed

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I just checked the speed of my Infinitum 512 service at DSL Reports: 12 Down/6 Up. I'm really getting fed up with poor service of all kinds, and unavailability of products in this country lately. (Couldn't buy a common thin split key-ring at 3 locksmiths in Guanajuato, Guanajuato yesterday)

johanson / Moderator

Apr 7, 2006, 12:06 PM

Post #2 of 13 (4650 views)

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Re: [johnv] Internet Speed

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The real question is when you right that you have 12 Down/6 Up, what units are you talking about, bits or bytes?

You 512 kilobit or 64 kilobyte connection usually averages about 411 down by 64 up if we are talking kilobits or 51 down by 8 up if we are talking in kilobytes (Lakeside)

So things are really bad if you are speaking in bits and 8 times better but still kind of bad if you mean bytes

Rolly

Apr 7, 2006, 1:05 PM

Post #3 of 13 (4640 views)

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Re: [johanson] Internet Speed

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Watch carefully how the speed is labeled.

KB = kilobytes
Kb = kilobits

one KB = eight Kb

Rolly Pirate

johnv

Apr 7, 2006, 6:53 PM

Post #4 of 13 (4626 views)

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Re: [johanson] Internet Speed

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I'm talking about the units used by DSL Reports, and I'm talking about service that is very very very slow. For those who do not know what units are used by DSL Reports, they are abreviated as follows: kbps

johanson / Moderator

Apr 7, 2006, 8:24 PM

Post #5 of 13 (4611 views)

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Re: [johnv] Internet Speed

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Those are terrible results John. I too use www.dslreports.com and your results were so bad I incorrectly assumed you were quoting their KB/sec readings. (They show both) Shown below is what I just got when I ran a test on my 512/128 kb/sec Prodigy Infinitum connection which costs $ 401 pesos per month including IVA
dslreports.com speed test result on 2006-04-07 22:21:12 EST:
421 / 41
Your download speed : 421 kbps or 52.7 KB/sec.
Your upload speed : 41 kbps or 5.2 KB/sec. (I usually see an upload speed closer to 64 kbps)

I prefer my Lagunanet wireless connection that is rated at 768/768 Kb/sec which costs $60 US including tax here in Ajijic. I get more money for the buck. Here is the reading I just got
dslreports.com speed test result on 2006-04-07 22:32:46 EST:
703 / 819
Your download speed : 703 kbps or 87.9 KB/sec.
Your upload speed : 819 kbps or 102.4 KB/sec.
That is a download speed that is 67% higher and a upload speed that is almost 2000% higher but the cost is only about 65% more than prodigy

Now admittedly if I were to run the tests again, the upload differences might not be so extreme, because Prodigy's upload speed is often closer to 64 and sometimes as high as 80 Kb/sec And sometimes my Lagunanet upload speed is as slow as 300 kb/sec, but any way you look at it, I'm getting more bang for my buck with my Lagunanet connection here in Ajijic, Jalisco, Mexico, than with my Prodigy Infinitum Connection. Now I must stress that if you live far away from the Infinitum switching station or from a Lagunanet wireless antenna, you are not going to get as good results. I'm lucky I live maybe 700 meters from both the Prodigy switching station and the Lagunanet ISP. That said, I know folks who live only a few blocks from me who have had much worse results than I with the same ISPs.

(This post was edited by johanson on Apr 8, 2006, 10:41 AM)

Rolly

Apr 7, 2006, 8:58 PM

Post #6 of 13 (4603 views)

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Re: [johanson] Internet Speed

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Pete, my down speed is about like yours, but on ups I typically see around 100KBs.

Sometimes my speeds take a dunp, sometimes for several hours, but never for days.

Rolly Pirate

johanson / Moderator

Apr 7, 2006, 9:54 PM

Post #7 of 13 (4596 views)

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Re: [Rolly] Internet Speed

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Thanks for the info Rolly

johnv

Apr 8, 2006, 6:50 AM

Post #8 of 13 (4586 views)

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Re: [johanson] Internet Speed

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Today my results are more "normal", but low in my opinion, for 512 service: 416 down / 61 up. I love it when you call Telmex about slow speeds and they send you to "their" site to clock the speed, which gives a phony high reading, and you tell them that 3 other sites give very low readings and they say everbody else is wrong and they're right.

johanson / Moderator

Apr 8, 2006, 9:36 AM

Post #9 of 13 (4574 views)

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Re: [johnv] Internet Speed

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John, those numbers are close to what I usually get which is maybe 420/65 kb/sec. (Rolly gets a little better upload speed than us) Could you please post the URL for Prodigy's speed testing sight. It would be fun to play around with.

I did another two tests just a few minutes ago. Both times my download speed was 418, but my upload speed varied from 58 to 69 kb/sec.

(This post was edited by johanson on Apr 8, 2006, 10:42 AM)

bournemouth

Apr 8, 2006, 10:59 AM

Post #10 of 13 (4561 views)

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Re: [johanson] Internet Speed

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Today, using http://test.lvcm.com/ as my test, we are getting 54064 bps download but 106840 bps upload - my spouse, trying to work on line, is going nuts - Infinitum has not been to working for us over the last couple of days. Yesterday we were getting even worse download speeds, coming almost to a complete halt over the noon hour, but as the day went on things improved until by 7 p.m. we were getting 164 kpbs down and 61.6 up - liveable with. I've finally decided it has to be Telmex and not our equipment. Vonage is not working properly with these speeds - aaagh!

That's why, Pete, you have to give me Laguna information!

johanson / Moderator

Apr 8, 2006, 11:25 AM

Post #11 of 13 (4560 views)

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Re: [bournemouth] Internet Speed

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I just ran the same test and got

MySpeed Results Download 433,536 bps Upload 103,456 bps

The second time I got 432/67. Something is not right at your home. Lagunanet is great but there is a setup fee of about $450 US. Before I switched to Lagunanet, I would try to figure out why your connection is so much slower than that of your neighbors

raferguson

Apr 8, 2006, 6:23 PM

Post #12 of 13 (4538 views)

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Re: [johanson] Internet Speed

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I agree that something must not be right at your house. Have you asked people on your own block or neighborhood what speeds they are getting? If one side of town has good speeds, but your neighborhood has slow speeds, maybe someone or some company is hogging all the bandwidth, downloading movies or something. But if that was so, your speeds would return to normal (400), as opposed to semi-slow (160). Maybe there is a bad piece of equipment somewhere that is barely working, affecting the whole neighborhood.

If you have poor speeds, and your neighbors good speeds, that argues for a problem specific to your house. Have you tried to reset your DSL modem? Every few months, my browsing gets annoyingly slow, even after I restart my computer, so I go downstairs, unplug the DSL modem power for a few seconds, plug it back in, and after a minute or so, the problem is gone.

Another possibility is that you have a bad line. Do you hear crackling on regular voice phone calls?

Have you tried to pay a Telmex tech cash under the table to look into it?

A few thoughts.

Richard

http://www.fergusonsculpture.com

johnv

Apr 8, 2006, 7:34 PM

Post #13 of 13 (4531 views)

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Re: [johanson] Internet Speed

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I will post the url for the Telmex speed testing site the next time I call tham about a speed problem, as the last time, unfortunately, I did not take note of it. I have called them twice in the past year because of slow speed readings from DSL Reports, and their readings ar always in the range of approximately 1.5 times faster. I just tested my speed again and I have a wopping 362 Up/10 Down. My speed problems in Guanajuato, Guanajuato have always centered around holidays and weekends.