Diaboyos
join:2007-08-21
Shreveport, LA
clubs:
 ·AT&T Southeast
 ·RoadRunner Cable
·Comcast
| Explain Symmetrical ?
General question here. Can someone explain what symmetrical service means? I tried searching and there were lots of threads found but they were merely discussing it with the assumption you already knew what it was.
And what is the opposite? Asymmetrical? Or is there no such thing?
Thx for the info! |
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Rick
Premium,MVM
join:2001-02-06
Waterbury, CT
clubs: | speaking in HSI terms, it means the same speeds each way.
ie: 1500k download / 1500k upload
Asymmetrical would be 1500k/384k
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The Coyote captured the RR! Roadrunner Rick is now Comcastic! |
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Coollikethat
join:2005-09-21
USA
| reply to Diaboyos
Is Symmetrical faster? I always find it to be faster than asymmetrical speeds. It just seems like the download is faster when it's symmetrical.
Like for example 1.5Mbps download/1.5Mbps upload seems way faster than 6Mbps download/384Kbps Upload |
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sgdxgsd
@clearwire-dns.net | "Like for example 1.5Mbps download/1.5Mbps upload seems way faster than 6Mbps download/384Kbps Upload"
Upload is faster download isn't. There is more room for the TCP protocol overhead, but 384k is much more than needed for 6mps down. |
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Rick
Premium,MVM
join:2001-02-06
Waterbury, CT
clubs:
| reply to Coollikethat
said by Coollikethat  :Is Symmetrical faster? I always find it to be faster than asymmetrical speeds. It just seems like the download is faster when it's symmetrical. Like for example 1.5Mbps download/1.5Mbps upload seems way faster than 6Mbps download/384Kbps Upload well, obviously in your scenario, the 1500k ul would be faster than the 384k.
And, other times, the 1500k/1500k COULD be faster even than the 6000/384k on the DOWNLOAD side as well..if a person were ALSO uploading at the same time they were downloading something.
The reason doesn't have anything to do with the available bandwidth..just in how your connection is being utilized at that given time.
When you download something..it ALSO requires your upstream as well, because you're continually sending back "acks"..or acknowlegements that you've received the data you were requesting.
If you were uploading something at the same time..and fully utilizing your upstream bandwidth..it could very possibly take longer for those acks to get sent back..and hence..your download speeds could slow to a crawl.
By having more bandwidth available for the uploads..you reduce the chances of that happening.
Anyways..that's the general idea of how it works.
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The Coyote captured the RR! Roadrunner Rick is now Comcastic! |
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Diaboyos
join:2007-08-21
Shreveport, LA
clubs: | reply to Rick
Ah ok, thx for the info! So Comcast offers asymmetrical service, at least where I am. Who offers symmetrical? I've never seen any advertisements for the same speeds down and up for any ISP. |
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ztmike
Mark for moderation
Premium
join:2001-08-02
Michigan City, IN | Thats because no major isp in the U.S of A offers symmetrical service. I think surewest does but they have strict caps in place.
Not even Verizon FiOS has symmetrical service. So don't count on it for a long time coming yet. |
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DMS1
join:2005-04-06
Carrollton, TX
| said by ztmike :Thats because no major isp in the U.S of A offers symmetrical service. Except, of course, anyone who offers T1 service.  |
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cypherstream
Looking forward to the future of things.
Premium,MVM
join:2004-12-02
Reading, PA
clubs:
1 edit | Yup, good ole T1. Outrageously priced, for business class support and uptime.
We have a partial T1 at work. Actually it's a T1, but 8 Channels are dedicated to data and the other 16 are dedicated as voice lines. |
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NormanS
Premium,MVM
join:2001-02-14
San Jose, CA
·Pacific Bell - SBC
| reply to Diaboyos
said by Diaboyos :Ah ok, thx for the info! So Comcast offers asymmetrical service, at least where I am. Who offers symmetrical? I've never seen any advertisements for the same speeds down and up for any ISP. When I was investigating DSL service, my old dial-up provider, Astragate, offered SDSL (Symmetrical DSL) for $99 per month (to get 144kbps/144kbps)...
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Norman
~Oh Lord, why have you come
~To Konnyu, with the Lion and the Drum |
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NetFixer
Freedom is NOT Free
Premium
join:2004-06-24
Murfreesboro, TN
 ·Vonage
·AT&T Southeast
 ·Cingular Wireless
·AT&T CallVantage
| reply to Diaboyos
said by Diaboyos :Ah ok, thx for the info! So Comcast offers asymmetrical service, at least where I am. Who offers symmetrical? I've never seen any advertisements for the same speeds down and up for any ISP. Before anyone can actually answer that question you will need to tell us your location.
Covad (and their resellers) offers up to 1.5 mbps SDSL service in many metropolitan areas as well as T1 and bonded T1 services (multiple T1 circuits connected in parallel to allow higher bandwidth). Your local ILEC will most likely also provide similar business class symmetrical services. Don't expect to pay $42.95 per month however, since these are not residential services.
--
We can never have enough of nature.
We need to witness our own limits transgressed, and some life pasturing freely where we never wander.
Test your firewall. |
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tj_blues
join:2007-08-17
Mississauga, ON
| reply to Diaboyos
are you about to run HTTP/FTP/SMTP servers, are you going to stream video over Internet? If the answer is NO -- that you don't need symmetrical and costly connection.
TJ
--
In a World without fences and walls,
who needs Gates and Windows? |
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Coollikethat
join:2005-09-21
USA
1 edit | reply to Rick
said by Rick :said by Coollikethat :Is Symmetrical faster? I always find it to be faster than asymmetrical speeds. It just seems like the download is faster when it's symmetrical. Like for example 1.5Mbps download/1.5Mbps upload seems way faster than 6Mbps download/384Kbps Upload well, obviously in your scenario, the 1500k ul would be faster than the 384k. And, other times, the 1500k/1500k COULD be faster even than the 6000/384k on the DOWNLOAD side as well..if a person were ALSO uploading at the same time they were downloading something. The reason doesn't have anything to do with the available bandwidth..just in how your connection is being utilized at that given time. When you download something..it ALSO requires your upstream as well, because you're continually sending back "acks"..or acknowlegements that you've received the data you were requesting. If you were uploading something at the same time..and fully utilizing your upstream bandwidth..it could very possibly take longer for those acks to get sent back..and hence..your download speeds could slow to a crawl. By having more bandwidth available for the uploads..you reduce the chances of that happening. Anyways..that's the general idea of how it works. So in other words web pages will snap faster on a 1.5Mbps/1.5Mbps connection versus a 6Mbps/384Kbps connection?
I guess the upload really makes the download faster. |
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sacfsdvfsdv
@clearwire-dns.net
 from:
Cabal
| said by Coollikethat :said by Rick :said by Coollikethat :Is Symmetrical faster? I always find it to be faster than asymmetrical speeds. It just seems like the download is faster when it's symmetrical. Like for example 1.5Mbps download/1.5Mbps upload seems way faster than 6Mbps download/384Kbps Upload well, obviously in your scenario, the 1500k ul would be faster than the 384k. And, other times, the 1500k/1500k COULD be faster even than the 6000/384k on the DOWNLOAD side as well..if a person were ALSO uploading at the same time they were downloading something. The reason doesn't have anything to do with the available bandwidth..just in how your connection is being utilized at that given time. When you download something..it ALSO requires your upstream as well, because you're continually sending back "acks"..or acknowlegements that you've received the data you were requesting. If you were uploading something at the same time..and fully utilizing your upstream bandwidth..it could very possibly take longer for those acks to get sent back..and hence..your download speeds could slow to a crawl. By having more bandwidth available for the uploads..you reduce the chances of that happening. Anyways..that's the general idea of how it works. So in other words web pages will snap faster on a 1.5Mbps/1.5Mbps connection versus a 6Mbps/384Kbps connection? I guess the upload really makes the download faster. No that is not correct. |
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NormanS
Premium,MVM
join:2001-02-14
San Jose, CA
·Pacific Bell - SBC
| reply to Coollikethat
said by Coollikethat :I guess the upload really makes the download faster. Maybe the browser page will load faster, but the data transfers at a fixed rate. If your download package is 6Mbps, your download will be up to 6Mbps, depending upon the server upload capacity (you can't pull data from my computer any faster than about 425kbps because that is all the upload that I have).
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Norman
~Oh Lord, why have you come
~To Konnyu, with the Lion and the Drum |
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