I don't have a broadband connection; it's not really cost-effective
for me so I'm still on dial-up, but I'm a little confused as to the
claimed connection rates for the former. My downloading usually
trundles along at anywhere between 3 and 6 Kbps (which AIUI is short
for kilobytes per second), although the modem itself is V.92 standard
and capable of a maximum of 48 Kbps. The port speed is set at the
maximum of 115200, although I'm not sure of the units.

The numbers being mentioned in the media lately for broadband are of
course much higher than these, which is what broadband is all about,
but they seem to be talking bits per second, usually megabits, whereas
it is my understanding that my modem figures are in bytes per second,
kilobytes in fact. I know that there are 8 bits in a byte, so am I
right in thinking that to make a proper comparison I should be
dividing the broadband speeds by eight, or multiplying my modem
figures by eight? I appreciate that even if reduced eightfold,
broadband rates are still vastly greater than dial-up, but is it not
rather misleading to quote bit-rates for broadband when (AIUI) old
dial-up rates were byte-rates?

Or have I got it all wrong?

-- 
 
Chris

E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net

"Chris Hogg"  wrote in message 
news:0hjl44d6sjalsmgvt6klk44aup1mls7fob@4ax.com...
>I don't have a broadband connection; it's not really cost-effective
> for me so I'm still on dial-up, but I'm a little confused as to the
> claimed connection rates for the former. My downloading usually
> trundles along at anywhere between 3 and 6 Kbps (which AIUI is short
> for kilobytes per second), although the modem itself is V.92 standard
> and capable of a maximum of 48 Kbps. The port speed is set at the
> maximum of 115200, although I'm not sure of the units.
>
> The numbers being mentioned in the media lately for broadband are of
> course much higher than these, which is what broadband is all about,
> but they seem to be talking bits per second, usually megabits, whereas
> it is my understanding that my modem figures are in bytes per second,
> kilobytes in fact. I know that there are 8 bits in a byte, so am I
> right in thinking that to make a proper comparison I should be
> dividing the broadband speeds by eight, or multiplying my modem
> figures by eight? I appreciate that even if reduced eightfold,
> broadband rates are still vastly greater than dial-up, but is it not
> rather misleading to quote bit-rates for broadband when (AIUI) old
> dial-up rates were byte-rates?
>
> Or have I got it all wrong?
>
> -- 
>
> Chris
>
> E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net

56 K modem = 56 kilobits. Definitely. Modem speeds, both bb and dial-up, 
are quoted in bits, not bytes.
The convention is;
Kb, Mb etc = bits.
KB, MB etc = bytes.

It's a long time since I used dial-up in any quantity, but I remember 
that my 56K modem used to deliver about 12/15 megabytes per hour. I am a 
couple of miles from the telephone exchange, which affects bb speed as 
well.

What kind of quantity comes down your line in an hour?

Ed

Chris Hogg wrote:
> I don't have a broadband connection; it's not really cost-effective
> for me so I'm still on dial-up, but I'm a little confused as to the
> claimed connection rates for the former. My downloading usually
> trundles along at anywhere between 3 and 6 Kbps (which AIUI is short
> for kilobytes per second), although the modem itself is V.92 standard
> and capable of a maximum of 48 Kbps. The port speed is set at the
> maximum of 115200, although I'm not sure of the units.

Your download is between 3 and 6 Kbytes.  Your modem is connecting at 
48Kbits. 48Kbits is 6Kbytes, so your download speed seems normal to me.

Actually a v92 modem should, in theory, max out at 56Kbits, but in 
practise this rarely happens. I used to be lucky if I hit 30Kbits, and 
for the last few months I had dial-up I never managed more than 10.

 > but is it not
> rather misleading to quote bit-rates for broadband when (AIUI) old
> dial-up rates were byte-rates?

Old dial-up rates have always been bit-rates, not byte-rates.

> Or have I got it all wrong?

Looks that way, sorry :)

deKay
-- 
  Lofi Gaming - http://lofi-gaming.org.uk
  Gaming Diary - http://lofi-gaming.org.uk/diary
  Blog - http://lofi-gaming.org.uk/blog
  My computer runs at 3.5MHz and I'm proud of that

On Sat, 7 Jun 2008 20:20:34 +0100, "Ed Cryer" 
wrote:

>
>"Chris Hogg"  wrote in message 
>news:0hjl44d6sjalsmgvt6klk44aup1mls7fob@4ax.com...
>>I don't have a broadband connection; it's not really cost-effective
>> for me so I'm still on dial-up, but I'm a little confused as to the
>> claimed connection rates for the former. My downloading usually
>> trundles along at anywhere between 3 and 6 Kbps (which AIUI is short
>> for kilobytes per second), although the modem itself is V.92 standard
>> and capable of a maximum of 48 Kbps. The port speed is set at the
>> maximum of 115200, although I'm not sure of the units.
>>
>> The numbers being mentioned in the media lately for broadband are of
>> course much higher than these, which is what broadband is all about,
>> but they seem to be talking bits per second, usually megabits, whereas
>> it is my understanding that my modem figures are in bytes per second,
>> kilobytes in fact. I know that there are 8 bits in a byte, so am I
>> right in thinking that to make a proper comparison I should be
>> dividing the broadband speeds by eight, or multiplying my modem
>> figures by eight? I appreciate that even if reduced eightfold,
>> broadband rates are still vastly greater than dial-up, but is it not
>> rather misleading to quote bit-rates for broadband when (AIUI) old
>> dial-up rates were byte-rates?
>>
>> Or have I got it all wrong?
>>
>> -- 
>>
>> Chris
>>
>> E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net
>
>56 K modem = 56 kilobits. Definitely. Modem speeds, both bb and dial-up, 
>are quoted in bits, not bytes.
>The convention is;
>Kb, Mb etc = bits.
>KB, MB etc = bytes.
>
>It's a long time since I used dial-up in any quantity, but I remember 
>that my 56K modem used to deliver about 12/15 megabytes per hour. I am a 
>couple of miles from the telephone exchange, which affects bb speed as 
>well.
>
>What kind of quantity comes down your line in an hour?
>
>Ed

Thanks Ed. Can't give an answer to your question, but at least you've
corrected my misconception of the last 15 years or so! It's all a
matter of case (B vs b).

-- 
 
Chris

E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net

In article , Chris Hogg 
 writes
>I don't have a broadband connection; it's not really cost-effective
>for me so I'm still on dial-up, but I'm a little confused as to the
>claimed connection rates for the former. My downloading usually
>trundles along at anywhere between 3 and 6 Kbps (which AIUI is short
>for kilobytes per second), although the modem itself is V.92 standard
>and capable of a maximum of 48 Kbps. The port speed is set at the
>maximum of 115200, although I'm not sure of the units.
>
>The numbers being mentioned in the media lately for broadband are of
>course much higher than these, which is what broadband is all about,
>but they seem to be talking bits per second, usually megabits, whereas
>it is my understanding that my modem figures are in bytes per second,
>kilobytes in fact. I know that there are 8 bits in a byte, so am I
>right in thinking that to make a proper comparison I should be
>dividing the broadband speeds by eight, or multiplying my modem
>figures by eight? I appreciate that even if reduced eightfold,
>broadband rates are still vastly greater than dial-up, but is it not
>rather misleading to quote bit-rates for broadband when (AIUI) old
>dial-up rates were byte-rates?
>
>Or have I got it all wrong?
>

A v92 modem has a maximum downstream speed of 56Kb/s  (56K bits per 
second), with a max upstream speed of about 36Kb.

There are 8 bits to the byte, however, there is also the IP overhead so 
you can not actual transfer information at that rate.

If you are connecting at less than 28Kb then speak with BT. They do not 
guarantee a normal phone line for data, but you can get them to look at 
it. If it is less than 28K and you are near to your local exchange, your 
line may have a line sharing device on it. I.e. BT are using 1 line for 
2 separate phones.

Also make sure that you have the correct driver for the modem. Can make 
a lot of difference.


BR
Don C