Billy Brethr
join:2005-04-01
San Antonio, TX
| DSL only slow when downloading ????
My home network has two computers connected to a Siemans router configured as a switch, which connects to the HW1000 ADSL modem.
I run BitComet, and download speeds never get much higher than 40 kps, which I didn't recognize as being ridiculously slow until a few days ago. (Still new to DSL & P2P.)
Found the SBCGlobal Speed Test (»support.sbcglobal.net/cgi-bin/sp···obal.net) which reports my speed as being @ 6 Kps (D) and 250 (U) while downloading files at @ 19 Kps, but when I just down BitComet, the DSL Download speed is reported as 250+ Kps.
??? !!!
If 250 Kps available bandwidth minus 20 kps bandwidth used OUGHT to equal 230 Kps bandwidth left, NOT 6 Kps.
I'm a newb and all, but this makes sense to me. THe math I mean.
So is this a problem ? If so, what do I do about it ?
Thanks in advance,
Billy |
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McSummation
Mmmm, Zeebas Are Tastee.
Premium,MVM
join:2003-08-13
Round Rock, TX
 ·AT&T Southwest
| First question - which DSL plan are you on - the 384 or 1500 or 3000?
Don't be running any p2p application when running a speed test.
--
"The Kinkster" for Governor! If you live in Texas, you know who he is. If you don't, then you can't vote for him anyway. |
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Flippant
So Much For Subtlety
Premium,Mod
join:2000-06-04
Katy, TX
Host:
Filesharing Software
Earthlink Cable
Texas Gulf Coast
AT&T U-verse
AT&T Southwest
| reply to Billy Brethr
Welcome to DSL and welcome to P2P. I chuckled rreading your post. First run a speed test on only one computer when the other is not doing anything on the internet and see what your maximum speed can be. It should be around 80% of the advertised speed. How long have you had DSL? Is someone else using the other computer when you do the tests?
P2P can download slowly, particularly if you are just starting and depending on how popular what you are getting. |
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Billy Brethr
join:2005-04-01
San Antonio, TX
1 edit | Thanks for the responses !
First, I can't really tell what kind of DSL plan I have, as the options presented do not appear on my bill.
The "deal" I have with SBCGlobal is they charge me $59.99/month, and then credit me back $30.00 each month. The plan is described as "SBC Yahoo! DSL PRO" on the bill, and there is no mention of "384 or 1500 or 3000" on the bill.
The ADSL modem SBCGLobal provided is a HW1000, and it's "Management Console" says my maximum is "8832 Kbs" (Down) and "1160 Kbs" (Up). (But I don't know if this is the DSL line's maximum, or the modems.)
The HW1000 also reports my "Current Rate" is "3008 Kbs" (Down) and "512 Kbs" (Up). But these numbers don't look anything like the test-result numbers (below).
Results of SBC Yahoo Throughput Test:
With no other Internet Activity:
Computer A:
#1 2.4 Mbps (Download); 422 Kpbs (Upload)
#2 2.5 Mbps (D); 430 Kpbs (U)
#3 2.5 Mbps (D); 431 Kpbs (U)
Computer B:
#1 2.5 Mbps (Download); 431 Kpbs (Upload)
#2 2.5 Mbps (D); 433 Kpbs (U)
#3 2.5 Mbps (D); 435 Kpbs (U)
With BitComet running as fast as I can make it go: (@ 50 KB/s (Down) & 50 KB/s (Up)
Computer A:
#1 907 Kbps (Download); 92 Kpbs (Upload)
#2 337 Kbps (D); 58 Kpbs (U)
#3 25 Kbps (D); 64 Kpbs (U)
Computer B:
#1 752 Kbps (Download); 63 Kpbs (Upload)
#2 481 Kbps (D); 33 Kpbs (U)
#3 848 Kbps (D); 105 Kpbs (U)
I would like to know why it is that the throughput numbers drop so dramatically when BitComet is running. I can't imagine that a puny 100 Kbs down & upload rate would affect a DSL connection so severly.
And these "test" numbers really do reflect the poor level of performance when Bit Comet is running. Neither computer can browse the Internet while down & uploads are in progress. Pages refuse to load & time out.
Also, since I made the first post, I did some research and made some changes. First I changed my MTU to 4472 (or whatever the correct figure was) by first pinging this web-site until the packets were not fragmented and then added 28?, I think it was.
Also, I read somewhere that some ISP's "red-flag" Users that do high-traffic on certain ports and limit their bandwidth. (Does SBCGlobal do this ?) So I made sure to change BitComet's port to something other than 6881.
And there were two settings in BitComet I turned off, after reading some BitComet support forum posts that suggested it should be done.
Finally, I adjusted my RWIN using Dr. TCP to 32000 or so. Since I have done all these, download speeds have increased from @ 30 Kb/s to @ 60, and it seems Internet browsing has also improved. But I am wondering if there is more that I can do.
Thanks again in advance,
Billy |
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removed
Crisis Management Squad
Premium,VIP
join:2002-02-08
Houston, TX
clubs:
| Wow, what a huge post. I read through everything, but don't really have a big collection of paragraphs for you.
It's really simple:
When you use Bit Torrent, you upload while downloading. Your downloads speeds go to crap when you're uploading at full speed.
Sexy example:
My 6mbit ADSL connection (6016/608) slows to ~2260kbps downloads when I'm uploading as fast as I can.
Solution:
Don't upload at full speed. Slow your client's upload speed down to, say, 40KB/s... and you should be cool.
P.S. If you're capped at 3008/512, it means you're on the Pro pack.
P.P.S. The "max" speed you're seeing in your modem is the max for your line, not the modem. The max speed of the ADSL protocol (and therefore your modem) is 8192/1024. Some modems will show higher speeds than that - but it is obviously impossible to achieve such speeds due to ADSL protocol restrictions. (wow, that was a mouthful)
P.P.P.S. I use P.S. too much.
--
AIM | B | irc.removed.us - #dslr | Give me a ring: 718-606-4100 |
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Flippant
So Much For Subtlety
Premium,Mod
join:2000-06-04
Katy, TX
Host:
Filesharing Software
Earthlink Cable
Texas Gulf Coast
AT&T U-verse
AT&T Southwest
| reply to Billy Brethr
Your maximum speed is right where it should be. Your MTU should be set at 1492 (can't be higher than 1500). Your RWIN is set fine. Your DSL looks fine.
Filesharing via torrents and other tit-for-tat applications is very inconsistent speed wise. The speeds you are seeing are not atypical. The response of your DSL when filesharing is what you should expect. Torrent type programs open lots of connections, latencies are involved and there is lots of overhead traffic. It will all affect your DSL performance. It should be expected.
I would suggest you try the filesharing forum for more information: »Filesharing Software |
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Billy Brethr
join:2005-04-01
San Antonio, TX
| 1472 vs. 1492 ??
Flipper it sounds like you know what you are talking about so can you tell me why you say the MTU should be set at 1492 ?
I have read elsewhere that packets get fragmented when the MTU is too high.
So I ran the "ping" test and saw for myself how MTU of higher than 1444 results in a "packet fragmented" message. And the D/L-U/L speed is faster now, although I can't say for certain exactly what tweak improved it.
Also, which DSL "package" do I have ? |
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Flippant
So Much For Subtlety
Premium,Mod
join:2000-06-04
Katy, TX
Host:
Filesharing Software
Earthlink Cable
Texas Gulf Coast
AT&T U-verse
AT&T Southwest
| I am hardly an expert, there are people here who have this stuff down pat. Tweak wise I am pretty much a ball park tweaker, while most tweakers want every bit of speed possible. To totally optimize your connection I would suggest you visit the Tweak forum: »Broadband Tweaks Read the rules, do the tests and they will get your system set up optimally.
You have a PRO package just like your bill says. Speed wise you are on an advertised speed of 1500kbs - 3000kbps download and 384-512kbs upload. Your tests show that you are basically getting the the maximum real life speeds for this plan.
BTW, removed  was spot on about maxing out your upload chokes your connection. You should definitely put a limit on how much you upload. Missed your question about the ports. Port ranges have nothing to do with speed, so don't worry there. No SBC has not throttled anyone for the amount of bandwidth they use. removed downloads is a huge downloader and has been for years. If people were getting throttled or blocked we would know about it here. However filesharing like you are doing can still get you in trouble with the internet police (RIAA/MPAA) in general. |
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McSummation
Mmmm, Zeebas Are Tastee.
Premium,MVM
join:2003-08-13
Round Rock, TX
·AT&T Southwest
| reply to Billy Brethr
Your package is the "PRO package".
With SBC's PPPoE protocol, 1492 is the proper MTU, regardless of what the silly "ping test" shows.
Your RWIN should be set to 63888. If you want verification of that, go to the Tweaks forum - »Broadband Tweaks - and they will assist you. However, they will, most likely, come up with the same recommendations that we have. |
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jimkyle
Btrieve Guy
Premium
join:2002-10-20
Oklahoma City, OK
·AT&T Southwest
| reply to Billy Brethr
Re: DSL only slow when downloading ????
said by Billy Brethr :I would like to know why it is that the throughput numbers drop so dramatically when BitComet is running. I can't imagine that a puny 100 Kbs down & upload rate would affect a DSL connection so severly. The reason that the upload saturation kills your download speed is that, when downloading, every packet you get has to be acknowledged to the sender via the upload channel. If your torrent application has filled all the space in that channel, then the download has to wait until it gets a chance to send the ACK packet back. Consequently the speed goes down the tubes.
If you throttle back the upload speed, then there will be room available in the upload channel for the ACK packets to go back immediately, and you'll get much better download speed.
Just for what it's worth, too, all on-line speed tests are simply approximations and all of them are influenced by factors outside your control (such as how congested the internet route happens to be when you run the test). The SBC tests are the most reliable in my experience, since they don't travel over the entire net. I've tested my speed using the DSLR test sites on both coasts, and get wildly varying results -- none of which are better than 2/3 of the speed reported by an SBC test! |
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larryhay
Premium
join:2003-05-15
Saint Louis, MO
clubs:
| This was already posted by Removed and seconded already, lol, but let me be 'third it; reference to the Upload speed on Bittorrent. I chokes not only the Download speed, but the whole computer if left unchecked.
Stay with me here. (Bitcomet and most other programs have this information in their FAQ's; this is mostly a bitorrent situation, not a DSL situation)
FIRST, make SURE you are testing a Bitorrent file on something POPULAR (lots of seeders online,etc. IF there are only 1,2, 5 FUll seeds on a file, You are not going to get above 50 KBS most times ((General, but accurate rule))
I usually test one out on Minninova.org, which has TV shows 1-2 hours after they've been on TV.
Most of your throughput tests indicated around 430 kbs, which is approx. 53 KBs. Capping @ 80% (or LESS)would mean around 42 KBs max. Those upload/Global Upload max settings , if @ 0, means they are uncapped and choking your computer and connection. It can't Download faster, because the unlimited upload is CHOKing the pathway of the download request for more packets/file requests.
In my case, using the 80% limit wasn't enough, and playing with and dropping the MAX UPLOAD lower made an IMMEDIATE, dramatic jump in D/L speed. In your case, if setting to 42 doesn't seem to change it much, try 38,etc.
At the Speedtests you posted before, when running properly on a file with Plenty of Seeders, you should be able to get 250-280 KBS, if the other computer is not downloading as well.
Sorry for the book, but it doesn't sound like you've gone through all the FAQ's on Bitcomet, and this is pretty much the information that should be most helpful.
Port forwarding for those w/Routers, and Upload MAx Speed limitations for sure, are the biggest components of limiting D/L speeds on Bitorrent.
Ok, War and Peace is done  |
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2lazy2register
@pacbell.n
| reply to McSummation
Re: 1472 vs. 1492 ??
I have sbcglobal express package 1536/384 and I had lots of problems with MTU. Whenever I had high traffic like with BT my router would freeze up or reset. I called sbc and they did some tests and recommended I lower my MTU to 1475, the RWIN I didn't change. Since then I have never had any problems. I'm just guessing but I think it needed to be lowered because I am kinda far from the nearest remote terminal. |
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