Cap Question

[SnotRocket]

Greetings fine friends,

I have a question concerning caps and No it is not how to uncap my cable modem..lol

My cap is currently set at 1mb down and 128 up....I consistently reach 950 and 122 on speed tests. If my cap is at 1mb then why do i get a burst of 2.7 mb or higher at the start of a download? My supplier is Cox! It seems to me that a cap is a cap, the speed should never surpass it. Does the modem initially have no cap and then the headend see throughput and catches it? The bursts usually last for 30 seconds or longer and my speed drops toward the level of cap. This puzzles me! Probably one of you experts can tell me the technology behind this perplexing syndrome.

Best,
Snot..my real name is Ricky....I'm not really Snot

[CaptainSpeleo]

Your speeds are over 90% of your ISP's caps, so you're doing okay.

I'll let one of the experts answer your question for you.


Frank's Windows 95/98 Tips (http://9337387.home.icq.com/index.html):D

[joecool169]

When you download a file, the little window that reports speed is reporting the rate at which data is transferred from the TCP/IP buffer in your computer (corresponds to your RWIN). It is NOT the speed at which data is transferred over the modem. - Kip Patterson

He was speaking of dial-up but it seems to me the same would apply------if I'm wrong just correct me:)

[SnotRocket]

I see....I am using NetPerSec to monitor the speeds. Is this the case with it also? If so, how would you monitor throughput directly from the modem?

Best,
Snot

[mnosteele52]

Cox's caps are 3000/256;).

[SnotRocket]

Cox does not offer the 3000 cap to residental in San angelo, Texas. You can only get 1000/128...unless you are willing to pay 200 a month on a business account.

Best,
Snot

[Lobo]

Well, get 2nd job, hehehehe:)

[Lobo]

Maybe some help:

http://www.pcworld.com/features/article/0,aid,73865,pg,7,00.asp

[neo86]

My theory is that when you open a connection to a server you get a burst of data because that's exactly what it is.

ISP's allow an unlimited burst when a connection is established.
Then it's capped... :(

I checked in my cable modem configuration file and it says

"Maximum Downstream Channel Burst-Unlimited"

Off corse mee stoopid. Maybee mee rong. :)

[SnotRocket]

ahhh....haaa

Finally some information that makes sense.....thanks for that tidbit. so I gather the cap occurs after you start throughput.

Best,

Snot

[Lobo]

After burst, which is computer catching up to download:)