Archive for February, 2009

What exactly is FiOS?

Friday, February 27th, 2009

FiOS is a combination of the words “Fiber”, “Optic” and “Service.” It is a service that offers Internet, telephone, and TV, in a variety of combinations, and it’s only being offered in some areas of the United States by the telecom company Verizon.

Verizon is the first major U.S. carrier to offer ‘fiber to the home/premises’, or FTTP, and so far seems to be the only one offering it.  Other service providers limit the use of fiber optics, so the majority of distance is covered by a copper or coaxial cable.

FiOS has to be installed by extending their fiber optic network to your house.  This is why it’s not available in all areas.  And though it promises speeds far and above the existing providers, it seems that the speeds are highly variable depending on the area, and are affected by the location, cost, and the offerings of the competing broadband providers. Offered speeds in various areas have been changed with little notice—which is why it’s a good idea to regularly measure your internet connection speed. 

They offer a variety of packages so you can choose to pay for only what you really need. The lowest bandwidth tier was 5 Megabit per second for downloads and 2 Mbit/s for uploads, but now its 10 Mbit/s and 2 Mbit/s in most areas, which is considerably faster than Verizon’s fastest DSL plans.

Most customers can double or triple their download speed for a small additional fee. Their highest service, when it’s available in the area, offers nearly commercial bandwidth, including substantial upload speed, in some territories reaching 30/15 or 50/20 Mbit/s download and upload.

If FiOS is available in your area, be sure to keep track of your internet connection speed regularly. Pay attention to the ease and time involved in the download of videos, music and any large files. Then when you check the prices, you’ll know if it’s worth it to switch to FiOS.

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Posted in DSL Speeds, New Products, Speed Testing | 3 Comments »

Broadband Speed Tests

Thursday, February 26th, 2009

Having a high speed internet connection is the in-thing these days. As broadband internet offers a faster means to surf the World Wide Web, more and more people and businesses are jumping into broadband bandwagon. Simply put, the faster your internet connection, the better your uploads and downloads will be. And one of the most convenient ways to find out the speed of your connection is by taking a broadband connection test.

There are several reasons why you should run a speed test. First of all, a broadband connection test will help you verify the broadband speed that is promised by your service provider. More often than not, subscribers to a particular internet package do not get the bandwidth they pay for.

Another reason that makes running a broadband connection test a necessity is when you are planning to set up a web server. A speed test will ensure that you are getting the broadband speed that is required for the server and service. A broadband connection test will also help you to determine how many users your server can support.

Unlike a dial-up modem which takes time to log you on to the net, a broadband connection gets you connected to the web instantly. This makes broadband ideal for those who are running a home business. A slow internet connection will translate to lost income. And since some ISPs don’t give you the advertised bandwidth, a speed test is the quickest way to find out the veracity of their claims.

If you run a broadband connection test on a regular basis and the results don’t show the speed that your ISP promised, it is probably time for you to switch to an ISP that delivers what it promises.

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Internet Speed - DSL versus Cable

Wednesday, February 25th, 2009

DSL stands for Digital Subscriber Line, and it comes through the phone line. Therefore you are connected through your personal line all the way to the source where the line originates.  As a result the DSL Bandwidth speed is stable.

Internet Cable is fed to the system by nodes, which are sort of halfway points between you and the source.  The Internet Service Provider (ISP) provides a bandwidth to an area that includes many customers, and they share the bandwidth. As a result, during peak usage the speed can be significantly degraded.

Which is better and/or faster is hotly debated, and ultimately it depends on what is available in your area. While DSL offers users a choice of speeds ranging from 144 Kbps to 1.5Mbps, cable modem download speeds are typically up to 2 times faster than that, BUT because cable technology is based on shared bandwidth, the speed fluctuates.

In more rural areas with fewer subscribers, you’re bound to have faster download speeds  than a subscriber in a metropolitan center.

On the upload stream, however, cable and DSL are closely matched for speed. Both DSL and cable Internet speeds are largely dependent upon the service provider and either the distance away from the switching station you are or how many subscribers are in your immediate area.

If you’re thinking of switching from one to the other, testing your current connection’s internet speed over a period of time can help you decide, especially if you can compare them to others in your area.  If you haven’t decided which service is best for you, ask your neighbors which service they use, what speeds they are getting, and if they’re having any problems. Then break down the speed versus the cost, and decide which works best for you.

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Posted in Cable Speeds, DSL Speeds, Speed Testing | No Comments »

Tracking Your Internet Speed

Tuesday, February 24th, 2009

If you want to track your connection speed, you have to know about the factors that influence internet speed. The first and most crucial factor is the maximum connection speed your Internet Service Provider (ISP) promises. In essence, if your ISP has advertised a connection speed of 3Mbps, your internet speed will never exceed 3Mbps. However, it’s highly probable that your connection speed is somewhat lower than the advertised speed.

Another factor is your computer’s distance from your ISP’s central server and the distance of the route which connects your computer to the host. Since data over the internet is sent through packets, it makes sense that the further you are from your host, the longer it will take for the packets to be sent. Then again, your connection speed may be affected by the server from which you are trying to download a certain file. The number of users logged on to the same internet line affects your internet speed as well. This is why you will often find your internet running slower during certain times of the day or week.

One of the easiest ways of tracking your internet speed may simply be “Pinging”. The Ping program is meant for testing your network and informing you about the data packet loss. To ping, you need to open an MSDOS window or the Run command in Windows, then type “ping-” followed by the domain name or IP address.

Since you cannot always trust your ISP if you want to know the true connection speed of your internet, the most reliable way to use a web-based service. Speedplexer will give you an accurate measurement of your actual internet speed, easily and conveniently.

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Internet Speed Basics

Monday, February 23rd, 2009

Many companies now, especially those with DSL and cable, are advertising speeds of upwards of a megabit or more.  But what does “internet speed” really mean?

Let’s break it down:

“Mega” means millions.

A “Bit” is the basic unit of information or data–a binary digit– a single unit that is either 0 or 1. (You can remember it by using the bold letters from the words in combination.) Everything on the Internet and all information and software on your computer is composed of bits.

“Megabits per second” is often abbreviated Mbps.

So it breaks down into how quickly millions of bits can be delivered to, or from, your computer each second.

Internet connections are usually broken down into two speeds: download and upload. For most people, it’s the download speed matters most— that how quickly you will be able to experience all the web sites, emails, sound files, video streams, and telephone calls. It makes a big difference in your internet experience.

Upload speed measures how fast your computer sends data to the Internet. Unless you frequently send large volumes of or huge email or other files — or run a server of some sort – this speed likely isn’t critical.

It’s a good idea to run occasional internet speed tests, and track the history of the results so you can detect any problems. If your speeds don’t match the promises made by your Internet Service Provider (or ISP) — or they decline — it’s worth investigating.

Speedplexer can help you do that, and because it’s a desktop application, once you’ve downloaded it you don’t have to do more than simply double-click the icon in your system tray. There is no registration required, and you can run as many tests as you like for free!

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Welcome to the Speedplexer Blog

Friday, February 20th, 2009

Thanks for visiting our blog. Speedplexer bloggers will be starting to write on Monday February 23rd. Please check back for interesting information on Internet speed monitoring and news on all your favorite Internet Service Providers.

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