Thread: How to get the most out of your internet connection?

Just wondering if anyone has tips or tricks on how to maximize their internet connection and get the most out of it? All comments and suggestions are welcome.

I thought my connection was 25/25 but I was wrong. My FiOS router crashed yesterday so I called them, I told them about the crash but I also mentioned that my interenet has been dropping a lot. I'll be downloading 10 torrents or seeding them and all of sudden my interet will say "Limited Internet Connection" and I can't do anything. I then restart my PC and it works again? This has been going on a for a while now. When I talked to Verzion FiOS yesterday they said that I have a 35/35mbps connection. But I'm not getting near the 35mbps or 4.3MB/s. The highest I've seen lately using uTorrent has been around 2.9MB/s. I don't whats wrong with my connection, when I talked to them they said my connection is very strong. I also told them that both my PC and Laptop access the internet using a Cisco Valet - Connector Wireless USB Adapter. So I don't if that is why I'm not getting the full potential of what I'm paying for or what the issue is?



Thanks guys...
- droidlover

Hi droidlover,

have you done a speedtest yet and tried downloading files from a ftp. It would be interesting to know if the results in d/l-speed are the same.
In that case it either has to do with your provider or hardware.

Another option after ruling your torrent software out could be accessing the net via LAN connection. WiFi can always cause bandwidth issues and therefore trying to max your connection via lan first would point to a provider issue.

regards,

zealot

I think that wifi will almost always be slower! If you want full speed I would recommend using a wired connection, even if your wifi is full speed at one time of day based on outside interference (what your neighbors are doing) your speed can vary.

Doing a speed test is a great start! If you can't get close to 35Mbps on the speed test I doubt a torrent will hit that speed. As well, be carefull about FTP speed testing as mentioned above, it has a lot of factors which can slow it down, more than a speedtest.net test.

Originally Posted by zealot

Hi droidlover,

have you done a speedtest yet and tried downloading files from a ftp. It would be interesting to know if the results in d/l-speed are the same.
In that case it either has to do with your provider or hardware.

Another option after ruling your torrent software out could be accessing the net via LAN connection. WiFi can always cause bandwidth issues and therefore trying to max your connection via lan first would point to a provider issue.

regards,

zealot

I've done a bunch of Speetest.net tests but nothing on a FTP, I dont know how to do that.

---------- Post added at 07:31 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:30 PM ----------

Originally Posted by Canadian

I think that wifi will almost always be slower! If you want full speed I would recommend using a wired connection, even if your wifi is full speed at one time of day based on outside interference (what your neighbors are doing) your speed can vary.

Doing a speed test is a great start! If you can't get close to 35Mbps on the speed test I doubt a torrent will hit that speed. As well, be carefull about FTP speed testing as mentioned above, it has a lot of factors which can slow it down, more than a speedtest.net test.

What do you recommended me to do?

It might not be you at all. It could possibly be the outside infrastructure. Perhaps the tech who set up your connection didn't properly splice the fiber and the service has been degrading ever since the initial install.

I'm not exactly sure where you live, but if you have access to the NIB, the little gray box outside your home, open that up and check the splice. Check for kinks in the composite-fiber lines and loose connectors. If anything seems out of wack, it was probably a shoddy job to begin with.

Call your service provider to have a look at that.

Oh and if something happens to go wrong on the outside plant, you won't get billed for a service call.

Does Verizon throttle torrent connections? There are some internet providers that provide such a speed, yet throttle it when it comes to downloading/seeding files off of the torrent.

Does your speedtest match what your connection gives you? What about if you regularly download off of HTTP?

If you have a seedbox, you can try to DL your files through FTP and give us a feedback on the speed.

Before you jump to the conclusion that it's the ISP, connect via a wired connection to your router and do a speedtest. If everything looks like you're getting 35mb/s on the speedtest (both wired and wireless), then I doubt it's Verizon's fault. If, however, you get less than the 35 on the wired speedtest, something may be wrong with your router or with the installation to your house.

Originally Posted by Vogue

Does Verizon throttle torrent connections? There are some internet providers that provide such a speed, yet throttle it when it comes to downloading/seeding files off of the torrent.

Does your speedtest match what your connection gives you? What about if you regularly download off of HTTP?

If you have a seedbox, you can try to DL your files through FTP and give us a feedback on the speed.

I have no clue if they throttle or cap torrent connection, I would love to know though. My internet package is 35/35mbps so I should get around 4.38MB/s up and down. I downloaded a large file from CNET and other sites like that, the fastest I got was around 2.9MB/s.

---------- Post added at 12:38 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:33 AM ----------

Originally Posted by EnderWiggin

Before you jump to the conclusion that it's the ISP, connect via a wired connection to your router and do a speedtest. If everything looks like you're getting 35mb/s on the speedtest (both wired and wireless), then I doubt it's Verizon's fault. If, however, you get less than the 35 on the wired speedtest, something may be wrong with your router or with the installation to your house.

The router is in my sons' room and there are 3 computer connected to it wireless (2 PC and a laptop). The problem is the router is upstairs and the PCs are downstairs. I don't know how I would get an Ethernet cable to extend the far? When I called Verizon they said my connection was "strong" but they could just be telling me what I want to hear, so who knows. I need to figure a way to get my PC wired up to my router. Like you said If I don't get close to 35mbps if I'm hardwired than something is wrong.

Originally Posted by droidlover

The router is in my sons' room and there are 3 computer connected to it wireless (2 PC and a laptop). The problem is the router is upstairs and the PCs are downstairs. I don't know how I would get an Ethernet cable to extend the far? When I called Verizon they said my connection was "strong" but they could just be telling me what I want to hear, so who knows. I need to figure a way to get my PC wired up to my router. Like you said If I don't get close to 35mbps if I'm hardwired than something is wrong.

If you have a single ethernet cable and an ethernet port on your laptop, you should be able to connect directly to the router. You can then run your speedtest directly.