connection speed

[sirTemplar]

we have a network with a DSL connection and each computer is connects directly to the internet via the router (meaning that there is no need to pass throigh any computer on the network in order to connect to the internet).

my question now is this: when one user downloads a big file from the internet, will it affect how other browse on the internet? will it slow down their internet connection? i may also add that some computers on the network use wireless connection.

thanks for any explanation!

[ekephart]

Yes, (in most cases) higher traffic results in lower throughput. Additionally, wireless connections are inherently more vulnerable to transmission errors than copper.

[polishmafia4u]

as far as ive seen, if your connectin is fast enough(mine is 3000/256) then you should be fine. i remember when i had my setup, i would download songs on one computer while my sister browsed the web or vice versa, and it didnt really seem to affect it. as long as you have enough badwidth, youll be ok.

[YeOldeStonecat]

Two things mostly affect this.

Your actual connection speed,
and
what kind of router you have.

Say you have a light-weight broadband connection...like 768 down or something....and someone is downloading a 300 meg file from some website at 100 kbps...that's taking up a good portion of your download pipe...leaving less available bandwidth for the other users. There is also other traffic involved, the received bits...so when downloading, you're also uploading some info too.

Try the same thing on a 6,000 down, 384 up high speed DSL account...and that downloading user will barely make a scratch in the available bandwidth...and not affect the other users.

Now also consider the kind of router that you have. Routers are all different "under the hood"...they all have processors, and RAM. Different brands, models, classes of routers. A 70 dollar router with an 11 mHz processor and 2 megs of RAM will not perform as well as a 300 dollar router with a 33 mHz processor and 4 megs of RAM which will still not perform as well as a 700 dollar router with a 133 mHz processor and 16 megs of RAM. Start building networks with 20 heavy users on broadband...have them all hit the internet at the same time, and you'll see the differences in routers trying to deal with all that concurrent bi-directional traffic.