Sprint BB Direct > Sure Web Based Speed Testers are accurate !

Sure Web Based Speed Testers are accurate !

RedMeat:

Well your ftp upload number is certainly interesting. When I first became concerned about Sprint's upload speeds I ran multiple ftp tests. The results ALL confirmed a speed similar to the DSL reports test, IE 3-5Kbytes a second.

After seeing your post I again ran an ftp test. The results of putting the .5meg file was 3.99, 5.10, and 3.93 Kbytes a second. These results are again very similar to what DSL Reports gives for upload.

Your upload speed is truely incredible however. What ftp server do you use? I test against 24.221.30.130.

hey, i what is the user/pass for the sprint ftp tests?
it keeps asking me for em. gr.

reply to tomc7
24.221.160.18 user: cust-ftp pass: ftp-cust

reply to liht
user: cust-ftp pass: ftp-cust

reply to tomc7
Also, What os are you using ? If you are using W2k set mtu auto discovery to be disabled. If you are using Windows 98 set your mtu to 1100 and auto discovery off.

Hoo hah!
I used that nifty little utility DrTCP to make the adjustments. Voila! More than doubled the upload speed. Thank you much.
[text was edited by author 2001-02-14 03:29:41]

Doubled from what to what, please? Apparently, it doesn't help if you are in a buried area like mine 8o(

More than doubled from 20-40k up to 80-140k. The dl speed seems a tad slower.

However, the big news is a much lower average ping time and much much fewer timeouts.

The unscientific results are that web pages simply appear faster, and I don't get stuck waiting like a moron until I get an error message and realize I need to hit the refresh button because the original packet got lost.

I tried different MTU settings and found 576 to be best. I also disabled Discovery. Both of these actions are frowned upon by DSLReports Tweaks pages. But, the proof is in the no-fat, sugar-free, instant pudding substitute.

I also set rwin to 49152, as I read that Sprint recommends that.

Here are some results from 6:15pm on Vday:
Linkline
** Speed 2752(down)/86(up) kbps **
(At least 55 times faster than a 56k modem)
Megadeath
** Speed 1760(down)/145(up) kbps **
(At least 35 times faster than a 56k modem)

If you haven't tried these tweaks, please do. You'll have Redmeat to thank, as do I. Thanks Red! uh...Mister Meat.

As for buried, I'm in sector 191, which I understand is under quite a few feet of rubble, itself.

reply to Anon
I think the real story with poor Sprint BB network performance is latency and the burstiness of their network. ftp downloads and dsl report's speed testers are both based upon downloads and uploads of large files.

With respect to performance for web browsing, VPN, gaming, and such, these types of tests are skewed, because they trigger "opening up the pipe" later in the download or upload; this is directly observable when watching an FTP download. This is also why many people observed that web surfing improved dramatically when they opened a streaming video while surfing.

Large file downloads and uploads have an entirely different traffic profile than web browsing and VPN, which are more interactive in nature and consist of lots of small packets going across the link. This is why Sprint is misleading their customers with their FTP downloads to show speeds, and why DSL report's speed tests don't tell the whole story about Sprint BBD performance.

What's a good performance test for interactive Web surfing and such? I dunno, but I somebody could probably write their own by analyzing the output of tcpdump, for example ... but that's beyond Internet 101

reply to garypen
I think I'm a believer! I just changed MTU to 576 and discovery off and got my best evening uploads ever - 155 Kbps to the ftp server. I'm going to watch it for a few days, but looks good so far. Also, the browsing seems a bit snappier.

I wonder if the smaller MTU is more compatible with the burst nature of SBBD?

John

Unfortunately, it didn't do a thing for me. I think they have fixed or at least helped Sector 191 in San Jose, but 169 is still screwed up.

Tonights results @ 576 MTU:

Test running..Downloaded 60900bytes in 1810ms
Downloaded 696000bytes in 7970ms
First guess is 698kbps
medium speed line - now test 1mb
Downloaded 1109250bytes in 5430ms
Upload got ok 1 bytes uploaded
Uploaded 1bytes in 280ms
Upload got ok 1 bytes uploaded
Uploaded 1bytes in 1160ms
Upload got ok 1 bytes uploaded
Uploaded 1bytes in 930ms
Upload got ok 50000 bytes uploaded
Uploaded 50000bytes in 18400ms

** Speed 1634(down)/23(up) kbps **
(At least 32 times faster than a 56k modem)
Logging result
Finish.

Hello, Sprint? When will it be our turn in Sector 169?

I don't think it's a matter of THEM fixing anything. It'll be nice when they do, though.
When I change the settings back to default MTU, RWIN,and Auto-discovery, it drops back to its old self.
I am now quite happy (as opposed to somewhat happy) with my Sprint BB performance compared to my old 28k dial-up. Of course, I wish it were better. But, since I cannot get DSL (which has quite a few horror stories of its own), and cable may take 5 years, I'm certainly happy with this, my only alternative to 28k dial-up. (28.8 is the max on this crappy old phone system.)
Did you also set autodiscovery to off and raise your rwin value?

said by garypen:

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I don't think it's a matter of THEM fixing anything. It'll be nice when they do, though.
When I change the settings back to default MTU, RWIN,and Auto-discovery, it drops back to its old self.
I am now quite happy (as opposed to somewhat happy) with my Sprint BB performance compared to my old 28k dial-up. Of course, I wish it were better. But, since I cannot get DSL (which has quite a few horror stories of its own), and cable may take 5 years, I'm certainly happy with this, my only alternative to 28k dial-up. (28.8 is the max on this crappy old phone system.)
Did you also set autodiscovery to off and raise your rwin value?

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Well, no, it's NOT a matter of them upgrading their equipment as far as my recent improvements are concerned.

Yes, it IS a matter of them NEEDING to upgrade their equipment to properly serve their customers. I hope they do. I have a strong feeling they will in our sectors, as it seems they have been upgrading others.

I am in sector 191. My MTU is set to 576. You should try doing before and after DrPing tests, as well as speed tests. Performance is greatly enhanced by reducing packet loss and average ping time.

Anyway, I've got to get back to actually using the internet, not just talking about using it. See ya tonight.

reply to garypen

said by garypen:

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Both of these actions are frowned upon by DSLReports Tweaks pages.

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reply to garypen
Dude, he is trying to tell you that the tweaks don't work if your sector is overloaded and it hasn't been upgraded yet. I, too, am in 169, and I can say for a fact that the tweaks do not work in my/our sector. Last week, Sprint fixed Sector 191 with additional equipment setup at the tower specifically for that sector. For whatever reason, they did NOT do anything for 169 despite having promised to do so. With a fixed sector and the tweaks, your uploads are better (but still not what they SHOULD be, by the way). Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about Sector 169.

SPRINT-WE IN 169 ARE STILL WAITING. WHAT IS THE HOLDUP?

I am in sector 191, SJ area. About a week ago I changed my MTU to 1100 and have been running two speed test a day since.

Uploads are definitely better. The average of 14 test prior to the change is 41kbits. The average of the nine test since is 77 kbits including the 125kb I got today.

Is it new equipment or the change in MTU? I don't know. It may be both. It will take some addition testing to determine.

Now if I could just figure out why Napster uploads fail about 75% of the time. I even tried my backup PC with W98 but experienced the same problem. Any ideas out there?

reply to garypen

said by garypen:

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The unscientific results are that web pages simply appear faster, and I don't get stuck waiting like a moron until I get an error message and realize I need to hit the refresh button because the original packet got lost.

I tried different MTU settings and found 576 to be best. I also disabled Discovery. Both of these actions are frowned upon by DSLReports Tweaks pages. But, the proof is in the no-fat, sugar-free, instant pudding substitute.

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Segments Sent 40810
Segments Retransmitted 4626

Ugg over 11%!

This from sector 191, SJ area. MTU set at 1100, path discovery off.