 | What's a good speed for browsing and occasional download? Can someone please recommend me a good speed that would allow me to stream radio, and browse sites without slowing down, or making the radio stream cut off? I don't watch much videos and when I do I don't care if it's regular 320 resolution.
I currently have 6 mbps and seems to be overboard for my internet usage so I'm looking to downgrade to a more appropriate level.
Thanks. |
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 dslx_nick join:2011-12-24 Chatsworth, CA kudos:11 | In most cases, the audio stream itself doesn't use up much bandwidth; 512kbps-1Mbps is typically fine for such. If you want to browse at the same time as you're listening to music, then the bandwidth for the browsing needs to be added to the bandwidth being used for the streaming radio. Of course, if you want to download files, then for best results you'll want to stop streaming music during that time and/or increase your bandwidth.
I've never personally tried testing to see how SLOW I can go while limiting myself to just online radio and site browsing; that's sort of like asking how slow you can drive down the freeway. However, if you've got more bandwidth than you know what to do with and want to downgrade, then I'd predict 3Mbps would let you comfortably surf without killing your radio stream, while 1.5 or 1 should let you do both, but depending on which sites you go to (especially graphic-heavy sites, sites with embedded videos, etc.) the radio quality might suffer. |
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 | reply to speedq Thanks for the response.
The reason I'm considering to downgrade is to save some money.
Do you know of any software or settings that would "emulate" 1.5Mbps speed to test it out? I assume this would be easier than having DSLX/AT&T adjust my line. |
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 dslx_nick join:2011-12-24 Chatsworth, CA kudos:11 | Don't know of any software that does that, offhand. Why don't you send me your account info, I'll have a tech look into this. |
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 | reply to speedq Nevermind, found that it is called "bandwidth throttle." I installed a demo program that simulates bandwidth called Charles and can adjust it to any kbps. Seems to be working as speed test shows the lesser amount. Now to see if I can live with it... |
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