What speeds should I expect to get??

[JAGeorge72]

I have Charter Pipeline's 256k service. What transfer rate should I get on downloads?

.....and, is the minimum speed a cable modem operates at 384k?
If that's true, why is it called 256k?

Thanks for any help.

[Kip Patterson]

The speed of any cable modem is regulated by a configuration file downloaded to the modem by your ISP.

The minimum speed of 384k is just an urban legend.

You didn't ask, but others may be watching - you can't change the configuration file of your modem to increase its speed.

Kip

[JAGeorge72]

Okay..........so what percentage of the 256k should I expect to get? I know it will vary, but on different speed tests, I'm getting anywhere from 155 kilobits to 195 kilobits down.

That seems very slow to me.

What percentage of the advertised speed do most people consider acceptable?

[YARDofSTUF]

wow 256 is slow for cable hope ur bill is less than mine, that may be the best u'll get, u lsoe a bit in transmission and the test arent always accurate.

[cyberskye]

If you are getting 80-90% of your rated speeds you have no business complaining . You have protocol overhead, network congestion at peak times during the day, etc, that might explain the variation in your test results.

As to what the lowest acceptable? I'd say that depends on your options for broadband. 150k beats 56k with a stick. Maybe some of the other broadband options offer free 'trials'...

I just moved a few miles up the street last month. I have comcast@home and Megapath/Covad SDSL (for teleworking/public serving) @ 384k/384. At lunch time yesterday I tested at DSLReports at ~3000k down and just over 1100k up. At dinner it was around 2000k/800k. Where I lived before (less than 2 miles away) I was at 1500/128 capped (though fairly consistant speeds throughout the day). One would imagine that the whole area would be DOCSIS/capped; or not. I would image this piecemeal approach to be more expensive to maintain. On the DSL link, which has fairly consistant speeds throughout the day, webpages start loading faster - though it takes longer to complete than the cable for complex pages. Same with downloads.

Skye

[JAGeorge72]

I get these bad speeds very late at night too.

I used to get in the 290 - 310 range on these same speed tests. They now offer 512 service for $40.00/mo, and 768 service for $59.90!! Ouch.

I'm not about to upgrade to the next plan if they can barely provide 1/2 the speed they should be with 256.

I looked into DSL thru Verizon .....they offer 768 down, 128 up for $49.95/mo. That's a little to steep for me at this point.
They said I am 16,200 feet from the office. Is that too far? How much does that matter?

[jarablue]

Jesus does Charter have it's head up it's ass? How the hell can they offer 256? That isn't even worth anything. I really hope they get with the program. I have charter and it has been pretty good. I always here how sucky they are in other states but man that is more then I pay for 1.5 down and they offer it for 768? Sheesh!