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Thread ID: 15052 2002-01-27 08:05:00 My modem tells porkies Guest (0) Press F1
Post ID Timestamp Content User
33063 2002-01-27 08:05:00 My internet connection speed is always noted at 56000bps.
How can I get my computer to tell the truth? 		Guest (0)
33064 2002-01-27 08:24:00 Do you mean kbps? There's a big difference

What OS? 		Guest (0)
33065 2002-01-27 08:35:00 sounds like you're looking at the dailup symbol which displys the log on speed. forget about that and look at the speed you actualy download at. some browsers, download managers and even firewalls can tell you the speed at which you are downloading at. Guest (0)
33066 2002-01-27 10:15:00 Dial-Up Networking reports the speed at which the modem talks to the computer, not the actual transfer speed which has, in your case, a maximum 56000 bits per second *downstream* component.

That, under ideal conditions, would mean around 5600 bytes per second. In reality, it'll be less, how much less depending on line condition, traffic, website efficiencies, time of day etc.

The best way to tell how fast a connection is, is simply by downloading a file of a known size (in bytes) and dividing that by the number of seconds it takes to download. Multiply that figure by 10 and, voila, that's your modem speed in bits per second (for that particular connection, anyway!).

The actual speed you're connected at will vary minute by minute, so the idea of a 'connection' speed is meaningless really. It's more of a speed limit than a measure of performance.

Did that help?

:-) 		Guest (0)
33067 2002-01-27 10:15:00 56000bps is BITS per second, not bytes, your modem breaks data down into ten bits, so for every Byte (as in kilobyte, megabyte etc) is in ten pieces, (bits). When your modem is downloading a 56000bps it should be retrieving data at 5.6Kilobytes per second. So 56000 bits, is ten times the number of bytes, but remember that that is a maximum speed, and there are dozens of things to slow that down, but only compression to speed it up. If you download a text file you may find that it will go remarkably fast, like 8-10K, but with most files, and web pages, 5.6 is about your max...

Erin 		Guest (0)
33068 2002-01-27 11:39:00 Ok, to get back on track with your original question. You can use an initialisation string to report you correct modem speed. Check the manufacturers website to see if there is one they recommend, any init string that includes AT&F1 should report the true connect speed.

Go here :

www.56k.com

for a list of modem manufacturers

As for converting the speeds it goes something like this:

That 'kbps' part stands for kilo-bits per second. That means for a 56k modem every second when connected, that modem can transfer UP TO 56,000 bits. Don?t forget that kilo stands for 1000 (actually it's 1024 in computer terms), 56k = 56,000

When you download a file from the Internet, Internet Explorer tells you that you are downloading a file at 6KB/sec. A lot of people are fooled by the abbreviation. The web browser reads download speeds in kilo-bytes per second, while the manufactures tell you the modem downloads at 56 kilo-bits per second.

So the maths goes like this:

8 bits = 1 byte

56,000 bits / 8 bits = 7,000 bytes

7,000 bytes / 1000 (1k) = 7 kilo-bytes

That means your 56kilo-bit per second modem does 7 kilo-bytes per second when the web browser measures it.

I hope this helps you a little. 		Guest (0)
33069 2002-01-28 02:47:00 Thanks to all those people who responded to my query. I have a better understanding now.

Geoff 		Guest (0)
33070 2002-01-28 05:07:00 There's just one more point that may be more directly related to your question, and which fools many people.
If you dont have the correct drivers or if you use a Window generic driver for the modem,ie a standard 56k modem, then the speed given by the connection icon in the system tray will be that set in Control Panel-Modems-Properties-Maximum speed.
Thats why some people say they always connect at 115,200bps.
Cheers. 		Guest (0)
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