ADSL broadband... How it performs...

Deneb

Like people everywhere I’m wadin’ thru’ the finer points of getting broadband on an ADSL connection. I’m one of the lucky few that can actually get broadband on their phone line. From what I’ve read though, I understand that you don’t really get a 1Meg connection speed on a 1Meg package. So to decide whether to purchase both a shiny new computer costing loads of baloopas and a six-month ADSL contract I need to know what typical download speeds I can expect from an ADSL connection.

My existing PC is several years old, doesn’t go anywhere fast, and probably won’t support broadband. But apart from that it’s got all the software on that I need, as long as I go to an internet cafe. So if the ADSL service would be mediocre or just so-so, I won’t buy a shiny new PC or the ADSL 6-month contract. I’ll need to save all my baloopas for buying time at the internet café, and I might purchase an improved-twice-as-new-twice-as-shiny-loadza-xtraGHz-loadza-xtraRAM-Office2007-Windows-Vista-PC for the same amount of baloopas sometime in the future instead.

So can some good folk please let me know…

What actual-real-world download connection speeds am I likely to experience if I subscribe to Eircom’s or BT’s 1Meg download packages?

Is there any way to establish the likely connection speed before I sign up into a six-month ADSL package?

How do real download speeds compare between the 1Meg, 2Meg and 3Meg packages? Are they simply 2x and 3x as fast?


Thanks for reading...

jor el

Deneb wrote:

What actual-real-world download connection speeds am I likely to experience if I subscribe to Eircom’s or BT’s 1Meg download packages?

Pretty much 1Mbps, if not around 950kbps. There'll be some overhead loss but not much. You also won't need a great spec PC to handle it either as the download speed won't be limited by the PC, unless it's really old (like a 386 or something).

As for 2, and 3M they'll depend on your line quality. If you have a poor line you may not be able to get the 2 or 3M speeds in which case they should inform you of this and not sell it to you.

If your dial-up speeds are poor, like 20kbps or so, then you may not be able to get DSL as the line could be of very poor quality. If it's decent (40k+) then you have a better chance, though there is no guarantee of anything where Eircom is concerned, just indications.

Deneb

Thanks Jor El. I didn't realise the connection speed would be that good.