5 years ago I was still on 56k dial, usually connecting at around 45kbps. At that time we were told by BT that ADSL was impossible on the line. One company, Vispa (whom I'm still with) were one of the few ISPs to actually request that BT connect the line irrespective of their database. For me, I went for a 512kbps connection which was pretty standard at the time.
Fast forward to now, and still when I enter my number into BT's site I'm told that the maximum speed I can get is 256kbps. This is even slower than the fixed-rate speed that I have been on for the past 5 years!
This week my 512k fixed-rate line was automatically migrated to a 8Mbps ADSLMax adaptive line and it has been reliably syncing at 2Mbps! The first day it synced at 1984kbps and today I had to reboot the router after changing some settings at it's synced at 2016kbps. So much for 256k being the highest! (although some ISPs were more optimistic and said 512k is the best possible) I'm happy now though. Going from 56k to 512k was a nice speed boost, but I'd say that from 512k to 2Mbps is just as noticeable, and I can finally use BBC iPlayer.
Great.
I find that even with a fast internet connection, the overall speed is still limited by the server. I downloaded a copy of AVG free the other day and I think it was a 50 odd megabyte file and it took almost 30 minutes to download. I've also downloaded files in excess of 80 megabytes in less than a minute.
Here is the fastest speed I've ever gotten using www.speedtest.net
(http://www.speedtest.net/result/322741491.png) (http://www.speedtest.net)
Usually I'm in the 20000-30000 kbs range using the Chicago server which is the fasted overall for me.
Here is one from Michiana to London.
(http://www.speedtest.net/result/437034340.png) (http://www.speedtest.net)
My maximum speed is supposed to be 1500k. This is about typical for me:
(http://www.speedtest.net/result/437086874.png) (http://www.speedtest.net)
Wow, those are crazily fast speeds. What are the main types of Internet on your side of the pond? Ours are usually ADSL and Cable but there is also Satellite through a dish and 3G over the mobile phone networks. Where we live there isn't cable or 3G coverage, and satellite is too expensive which leaves ADSL over the regular phone lines. But even then we're a long way from the telephone exchange which means what we're getting now is about the limit of what the line can handle. I don't think even ADSL2+ will help that.
These are mine:
(http://www.speedtest.net/result/437255716.png) (http://www.speedtest.net)
This was my previous highest in terms of download speed, but overwise poor:
(http://www.speedtest.net/result/416224511.png) (http://www.speedtest.net)
This was more typical:
(http://www.speedtest.net/result/416223708.png) (http://www.speedtest.net)
Just for the sake of completeness, here's my connection to Chicago, IL:
(http://www.speedtest.net/result/437258246.png) (http://www.speedtest.net)
Check out those horrendous ping times that I was previously getting when at 512k, when now even a connection to Chicago is quicker. This was within the UK to the recommended server.
Over local cable:
Chicago
(http://www.speedtest.net/result/437322754.png) (http://www.speedtest.net)
The closest:
(http://www.speedtest.net/result/437324450.png) (http://www.speedtest.net)
My ISP has 2 levels of service, residential and "high speed." These are residentail and at $40/mo.
Bill
I have a fixed wireless connection through Falcon Broadband (http://www.falconbroadband.net). Unfortunately, fiber is not option in my area.
I tried the server in my backyard this morning and got the following:
Colorado Springs
(http://www.speedtest.net/result/437499518.png) (http://www.speedtest.net)
The ping for London was kinda ugly:
(http://www.speedtest.net/result/437502543.png) (http://www.speedtest.net)
My trip to Yokohama, Japan wasn't too bad:
(http://www.speedtest.net/result/437518585.png) (http://www.speedtest.net)
From my home to Columbus, I got this today:
(http://www.speedtest.net/result/437651285.png) (http://www.speedtest.net)
From my home to Chicago, I got this:
(http://www.speedtest.net/result/437656200.png) (http://www.speedtest.net)
Going all the way to Paris, France was similar to my Columbus, OH test, except with a longer ping:
(http://www.speedtest.net/result/437657457.png) (http://www.speedtest.net)