George Kaufman wrote:
>
> I have a 56K modem that I suspect is downloading at a lower speed.  How
> can I verify that?

My favorite way of checking download speed is with a dedicated FTP
program, such as Cute FTP or WS_FTP. Ideally, you would download a
rather large file from your local ISP's site, so that variations dealing
with the net itself are avoided as much as possible. Download the file
several times, at different times of the day. Why use a dedicated FTP
program? They seem to be more accurate in determining and displaying the
current actual download speed, as compared to Netscape's status window,
for example.

Around here, I almost always connect at an initial speed of 48,000 bps,
but as you may know, the actual connect speed is free to fluctuate up
and down as line conditions change. My 'best' download speeds when I'm
connected at 48Kbps are about 4.1-4.3 KB/sec, but it's much more common
for me to see speeds around 3.5 KB/sec. High connect speeds are nice,
but it's even nicer when that bandwidth is actually used to it's fullest
capacity. (Increased bandwidth does not automatically equate to improved
operational efficiency or throughput).

One last thought: When downloading, you're pretty much at the mercy of
the sending system, minus any bottlenecks along the way. You can improve
things at your end, the receiving end, as much as you want, but if
you've reached the limits of the sending system or the transmission
medium itself, then your local improvements will do little good.


Jeff Delzer

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