Internet speed

[gt94]

Ok i was just wondering can anyone answer why i get so much of a difference between the Galway and limerick server im getting a better result from a server double the distance.Using upc 20mg broadband

[CJ]

Speedtest.net is not to be trusted st the best of times, use Magnet or UPCs own test:

http://speedtest.magnet.ie/

http://www.upc.nl/internet/snel_internet/speedtest/

UPC contention ratios are on the up right across the country due to a high uptake in cable broadband (I recently had a detailed discussion on this point with a UPC network engineer). I started off with 20Mbit but downgraded to 10Mbit after a few months due to flakey service and not being able to get anywhere near the elusive 20Mbit. Note that UPC also throttle certain bandwidth intensive traffic on their network core, this may not be your thing if you have a tendancy to download the likes of Linux distros via Bittorrent for example.

CJ

[Sgt_Major]

Most accurate tester Ive found yet: http://www.thinkbroadband.com/speedtest.html

[CJ]

Magnets test servers hang off INEX and will provide real-world in-country results.
Becuase the UPC test server is connected to the UPC / Aorta core, results will be more accurate using the UPC server i.e. you don't leave the providers network.
Thinkbroadbands servers are UK based so will give an idea of usable bandwidth between the UK and Ireland.

CJ

[gt94]

Thanks for the replys will try them when i get home

[gt94]

Got a better result with both upc and magnet 14.14mps download and 1.41mps upload

[gt94]

got bumped to 30mg not to bad it was a bit late 2 in the morning

[Dilogoat86]

Hmmm, that's a nice big broadband size. I'm still on the 10Mbit but should be going to the 30Mbit soon.

[karlf]

At that time there was probably very few people online that time which would account for your high speed. UPC have a contention of 24:1 and as such it is very unlikely you ever reach the speed you signed up for. The good news is that by this time next year they are hoping to be able to provide 120mb-140mb. I work for a contractor that do installs for upc and were told that at a meeting recently by UPC staff.
Also they said that it is hard to get a true representation of speed on some of these sites as the amount of people using them at the same time will affect the results. They hope to introduce a system where only one person will be able to do a speedtest at one time through upc's own site. Once one person has started a speed test it will stop others being able to access it, it will be done using ip address or passwords of somekind.

[colm_mcm]

God I miss Magnet 10meg broadband

[Dilogoat86]

Your ping is massive on that server colm. Should be 50ms or less.

[jayod12b]

[Dilogoat86]

[CJ]

Bandwidth isn't everything, I dropped from UPC 20Mbit because I wasn't using it (and rarely got anywhere near that rate due to high contention ratios). 10Mbit is more than enough for me (and I'd consider myself a heavy user). UPC are also blocking selected sites and using traffic shaping to control certain protocols (this will be come more common as times goes on)

Point to note: you're better off undertaking speed tests on a non-wireless connection to ensure more accurate round-trip delay reading.



CJ

[Sebastian]

Digiweb
12 mg - that's what they say

[mcgon1979]

UPC are also blocking selected sites and using traffic shaping to control certain protocols (this will be come more common as times goes on)
CJ

what sites are blocked on UPC? Last I had heard they refused to block any sites and told IRMA to go F itself. Has it changed now? Very disappointed if thats the case. Not that I'm bothered as I probably 100 ways to get around that, but it would be sad to think UPC was the same as Eircom when it comes to that.

[CJ]

UPC don't block TPB (they can't go back on their word after such a public announcement) they block a number of file hosting sites that link to the likes of Dbox firmware etc. I've reason to believe they also significantly throttle down http traffic to certain torrent based sites (funnily enough).

CJ

[mcgon1979]

Didn't know that at all. Got any actual site addresses that are blocked (I'd like to do some tests ) I knew they employed traffic shaping but I kinda agree with that myself. Doesn't bother me as I still get speeds of 1.6mb down (torrents) on a 15mb line. TPB website furor is such a mute issue anyway. Everyone I know on Eircom has just moved to torrentz, although I'm sure IRMA will have a request in to block that soon.

[Wildhound]

It's normal procedure for ISPs to use throttling on high bandwidth applications like torrents to ensure quality of service for all users. This usually only applies during peak usage hours and has nothing to do with sensorship. As far as I am aware it is not currently UPC policy to block any websites as their stance is that it is not their business to control what users can and can't access, they just provide the service.

This might change though because IRMA have turned their sights on them following the Eircom settlement (3 strikes rule).

On the original topic, UPC are planning to introduce 50 megabit broadband across their fibre network in August with 120 megabit to follow soon afterwards. The plan, I believe, is to have Ireland in line with their Netherlands operation by the end of the year. They'll have spent €300 million upgrading the network between 2007 and 2011. As somebody who has used cable since ntl first introduced it nearly a decade ago, I have had service that consistently matched the advertised speed (starting at 512k, going to 600k, 1meg, 3meg, 6meg and then 10meg as they continued to upgrade the network), so bring it on I say!

[mcgon1979]

my god.. 120mb lines. I have 15mb and it's more than enough. damn...
I see that Vodafone are the first network here to be rolling out 4G in Dublin and Cork areas so far. current mobile broadband speeds are 7.2mb but the new speeds will be 24mb per second. no handsets have compatibility with it yet though, but maybe in a year or two.

[CJ]

As far as I am aware it is not currently UPC policy to block any websites as their stance is that it is not their business to control what users can and can't access, they just provide the service.

I can confirm that UPC were blocking particular sites last year, I had to use an alternative ISP to get access. It would be worth pointing out that the sites are currently accessible.

+50Mbit access rates at a domestic level sounds great but the last mile will need significant work in many cases to provide half decent QoS. If class-of-service is offered as an option, a number of possibilities are opened up. They would want to be spending big bucks on their core network to support the level of throughput that high b/w broadband will generate - either that or throttle the hell out of the traffic and provide brutal line contention rates.

CJ

[fox]

Not bad for that time
And true you don't need that much speed for browsing, but if u download torrents it really makes a difference.
Getting from closed private tracker torrent speeds up no problem to over 3,5 Mb/s. It is nice to have the stuff quickly.
Still upstream could be a bit better. Doesn't go over even 50% of promised speed.
Can't wait for the 120mbit...

[colm_mcm]

Not too shabby for Co. Clare
advertised as 25 down and 2.5 up

[goz_83]

Breathing life back into the forum colm?

[gt94]

not to bad for 2pm on a monday i downgraded to 25mb from 50mb as i also wasnt using it, fast enough for my ps3 and laptop. Seems everyone is conforming to upc for the money/speed it seems the most desirable.