OT: tech question

[tbonezone]

i use a high speed cable modem internet provider (coughrrcough) on my mac. is there any way to check how fast data is actually streaming thru that modem at any time? somedays it just seems slow as hell. is there a device i can put in line or a place on screen to see how fast i'm actually being fed?
and also is there a minimum speed/bit requirement for hd resolution. i hate to think i'm paying for something i'm not getting. thanks.

 

[arbitragegls]

morning tbonezone...try the following url...
my computer with xfinity shows: 9.59 download and 4.56 upload
(these scores are okay...in south fl and lots of people pinging etc so speed can be slow--also scores vary throughout day depending on # users of network and broadband and weather...)

http://www.internetfrog.com/mypc/speedtest/
(use browser if does not work)

..also SUathletics.com all access video sucks overall...

 

[upperdeck]

you aren't paying for bandwidth you are paying for access to bandwidth. you pay for the top speed you might be able to get if noone else is using the network. you also have multiple pts of contention. for all access you have to remember the feed needs to get sent out from someplace as well as return to you. SU is using a service provider and who knows where the conversion from TV signal to internet is taking place. there is also a bottleneck with the servers. if you have 10 people watching HD signals that requires X amount of bandwidth leaving the server.. in the case of all -access it could hundreds, then add to that the communication issues with many people having shaky connections and you can bog down a server just trying to keep all the connections going. there are millions of packets buffering around, its hard to believe it really even works.

most providers offer a tool to check the connection speed. on windows boxes you often need to run the network adapters.. not sure how that works on macs anymore.

 

[tbonezone]

both helpful replies.but i remember crawling (most of the trip was under the building on our bellies like reptyles) a timewarner tech thru our service at work several years back and him taking reading at various junctions. we ended up eliminating some splices and shortening up a few runs .i don't know what he used to measure the bandwidth and i'm pretty sure my own fluke doesn't read bps.(i emailed them this morning tho).
an online downloadable app doesn't really help me those times when i can't even log on. and i'm not interested in running like a rabbit at 2am and tooling like a tortoise at 10am. i'd like to see the feed speed real time when i've got trouble so i've got some real ammo when i make my call to twc. and it's always been my understanding that bandwidth affects picture quality on hdtv as well.and if they can't provide that during prime time viewing it should be public knowledge.esp. when there's no competition currently.

 

[orangecuse]

Try these links...

http://www.timewarnercable.com/East/learn/hso/speedtest.html

http://www.speedtest.net/about.php

 

[HoustonCuse]

both helpful replies.but i remember crawling (most of the trip was under the building on our bellies like reptyles) a timewarner tech thru our service at work several years back and him taking reading at various junctions. we ended up eliminating some splices and shortening up a few runs .i don't know what he used to measure the bandwidth and i'm pretty sure my own fluke doesn't read bps.(i emailed them this morning tho)..

I think they are testing signal strength when they do this. I am not an expert though, so I could be wrong about that.

With my own cable provider, I have issues of low speed and drop outs over the years that have been related to:
- They had a piece of equipment somewhere on the network that would reset every day at a certain time and it would take up to an hour for them to bring it back online (went on for two weeks before they clued into it)
- The buried cable the goes from the outdoor cable junction box to my house had some damage (they found this with signal strength monitoring like you mention).
-Something wrong inside the outdoor cable junction box.

Currently I noticed that the buried cable from the junction box to my house is exposed for about 2 inches of its run and this two inches is on the edge of a flower bed where the lawn guys use an edger. Only a matter of time before it gets chopped up.

I had a tech tell me one time that they had a customer who had drop outs in his service and they came out dozens of times and could never find anything wrong. Finally they somehow realized that a cop was parking under their lines and trying to catch speeders. His radar gun was interfering with the signal on the lines (EMI I assume). So whenever Barnie Fife was in his little hidey-hole this guy lost internet access. The provider had no way to fix this other than ask the cop if he would move to a different hiding spot. He refused so the guy was SOL...