# how fast is broadband?



## HermitJohn (May 10, 2002)

I stopped by city library this morning. My library card expired in '02 so I had to get a new one. I just hadnt used library much since getting internet some time ago. 

Anyway they offer wifi throughout the building plus have the dummy terminals too. After getting new card, I logged on one of their dummy terminals, it had a crippled version of IE. Funny but surfing with it wasnt any faster than my dialup connection on a good day. Shouldnt broadband be faster or is it limited in this sort of situation? They do have desks with plugins so dont need battery to use my laptop. Next time to town going to take laptop and see if I can get wifi connection to work. My own computer then so I can test download time. I was thinking along lines of going to library to download big files faster. Not worth it if no better than dialup connection though.


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## 14yearpcmaker (Mar 11, 2007)

Depends on the speed of the broadband. My broadband connection is 6.0 something..the higest they offer...I get my broadband for $24.00 a mo. My broadband load blazing fast!! it takes LESS THAN A HALF OF A SECOND to get here to HT- the time it takes to type the web address in the address bar.


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## Shrek (May 1, 2002)

My mothers phone company is supposed to be 290k baud if I recall. But with the filtered multiplexing of the frequencies on the lines between her phone and questionable filter tolerences, computer and sattilite reciever acessing the feed also, it often drops in connectivity by up to 70%.

The most recent issue we are addressing is which filter is breaking down causing her broadband modem and PC to lock up.

Last month it was the primary DSL filter that was taking her dish tv offline.

$90 a month for her packaged service and in the last 60 days all of her systems using the broadband line have worked properly at the same time only 11 days. My lines here still cant support broadband , yet I can stay connected at 50k to 52k and I only have my dial up disconnect and reconnect about twice a month or so.

Sad part is when one tier of her package goes down, to troubleshoot requires using my cell phone to call a broadband support tech rep, then a phone repair tech and if the TV is wonky, a dish service rep too.

Then whenusing both my cell phone and the broadbanded landline to interface with all the service techs, either the cell tower signal drops or the cell frequency will fuzz up the filtered frequencies being diagnosed on the broadband line.

Amusingly the broadband account keeps a dial up access as backup so if the broadband doesnt work , she can re-activate her dial up :rotfl:


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## morrowsmowers (Jun 14, 2004)

Speed issues depend on how they are connected to the net, through whom, and how many users are sharing that connection. In our home we have Comcast serving 5 TV's (one with HD Digital), VOIP telephone service, and our computers. The router has wired connection to four devices and we also have high speed wireless. We usually have 2 gaming systems and about 4 computers on line at any one time. I test the connection occasionally from my laptop and usually get connection speeds from my laptop, through a wireless connection to the router, from the router to the cable modem by ethernet, and then via Comcast over the internet at about 11500 to 12800 on a regular basis. And that is with all of that other stuff running. With an on demand movie running, a phone call in progress, and all the computers on line I logged a speed test to NY at 10400 -- that's the slowest I have logged in a few months. We are paying for a 6 meg. package but it has always been much faster.

Ken in Glassboro, NJ


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## Gary in ohio (May 11, 2002)

broadband is a generic term. It imply no speed. It covers cable, wireless and DSL connections. Speeds can vary from 128kb to over 6mb/sec.

Also keep in mind in your liibrary the entire building might have been sharing a single "broadband" connection.


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## HermitJohn (May 10, 2002)

Gary in ohio said:


> broadband is a generic term. It imply no speed. It covers cable, wireless and DSL connections. Speeds can vary from 128kb to over 6mb/sec.
> 
> Also keep in mind in your liibrary the entire building might have been sharing a single "broadband" connection.


Computer system wasnt an afterthought addon. This whole library is fairly large and relatively new and was designed with lot of automation including self checkout, "computer lab", all records/card catalogs via computer, and building wide wifi. They even won some kind of special award for it. I wouldnt think they would cheap out on their internet connection. Should be considerably above consumer level home system. Course they are running bunch of overhead I am sure with filters and such to keep people using internet for porn, not to mention virus protection and the like. 

Like I say, I got wifi card so will take my laptop along next time and see what it does. Should be more direct connection than dummy terminal though I suppose they still run their router through all the filters and such to keep people from abusing their system.


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

I've noticed that some library Internet connections are sluggish. The ones in Clark County, NV are terrific, but recently I used one in Mohave County, AZ and it was terrible. The librarians were clueless. I suspect that they don't power cycle their equipment as often as they should. In fact I'm positive that they don't turn their equipment off at night, since Internet access is available 24/7 by simply parking near the library building.

Free broadband isn't limited to libraries though. You may have better luck with businesses that offer free wireless service. Search here for free hotspots in your area:

http://www.free-hotspot.com/


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## Gary in ohio (May 11, 2002)

HermitJohn said:


> Computer system wasnt an afterthought addon. This whole library is fairly large and relatively new and was designed with lot of automation including self checkout, "computer lab", all records/card catalogs via computer, and building wide wifi. They even won some kind of special award for it.


Keep in mind the IN HOUSE system and the public access terminals are more than likely running at 100mb and being routed around the library at high speed. Its the link outside the building that matters. A business grade T1 line is only 1.5mb and many home connections are as fast if not faster in at least one direction. Also keep in mind with a library system all the libraries in the district may be link togeather and shareing the same outbound. Without knowing the outbound speed and the number of users, SLOW is a relative term. The library may also be throttling the public terminals to keep them from hogging the available bandwidth. Again broadband is not a speed, wifi is not broadband, wifi is an interface connection and while the wifi may "connect" at a specific speed that doesnt mean thats the link speed to the internet.

When I have setup internet cafe's most customers will limit the bandwidth what a single customer can consume. SOme sites have fixed speeds and some have variable speeds based on the number of customers. there is a lot you can do with bandwidth.


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## lharvey (Jul 1, 2003)

I agree with Gary.

I maintain the network and machines at a local library. They have DSL connection but everything has to pass through the State Library System in the capital where it it filtered for content and the usual Uncle Sam stuff.

They are getting about half the speed that they should be if they were the actuall DSL subscriber.

L


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