downloading?

butch9850

i just got my dell 1.6,256ddram,40gb pc
i connect at 50 using my 56k modem on an ordinary telephone line
it is very fast yes,surfing is no problem,it takes only a few seconds for each page
i downloaded a video clip in XP media player and it took ages
1.5MB took a few minutes?is this correct for a telephone line connection?
does anybody know how i can guess how long it would take for a CERTAIN SIZE FILE?
i heard of download accelerator?
also,,TURBO SURF?(you pay for this,but it says 220% improvement!)
especially since i am just on a phone line connecting at 50,would somebody advise me to download something like these?
OR can anybody explain what is the problem with my downloading?

PiE

.is this a joke?

...No theres nothing wrong with your downloading speeds. Thats 56k modems for you.

"Download Accelerators" are a load of old crock.

And this is soooo the wrong forum, try Technology->Nets/Comms

seamus

No doubt Dustaz will move this to Nets/Comms.......

Viewing files thru media player is always a pain in the ass, and takes ages. I'd recommend downloading whatever you're trying to view, and then opening it. It's quicker and it won't get erased when you clear out your temp. internet files. Download accelerators are only marginally better on a 56k line. They're really for high speed lines. The only one I've used is DAP, and it makes your connection 'quicker' by downloading from multiple sites in tandem. The benefit being, for example if you are on a 512k line, downloading a file from a site that has a max speed of say 112k, it finds mirror sites and downloads a certain amount of the file from each site, effectively speeding up the transfer from 112k to 512k (in theory). It works well on sites that only allow a certain amount of bandwidth per connection, initiating multiple connections to the site (and causing a pain in the arse for small sites).

So there ya go. Nothing can actually speed up your connection. Your (theoretical) max on dial-up is 56K and nothing can change that.

Times for downloading? Well try gauge an average. You connect at 50k. That's pretty damn good, be happy with that, so take your average speed to be around 45k, or 4.5KB/sec. That should give you a good indicator of how long it takes to d/l stuff. (eg 1MB @ 5KB/sec ~= 204 secs ~= 3 1/2 mins)

Cake Fiend

45kilobits/sec = 5.6kilobytes/sec

butch9850

so yes there is nothing wrong with my connection speeds,thanks
and who nows maybe i will download something that might speed up my downloads..just to try
thanks

seamus

Originally posted by Sico
45kilobits/sec = 5.6kilobytes/sec

I was going on what a lecturer told me, that for every byte sent there was 2 extra bits with it, making each 'internet' byte worth 10 bits, but seeing as I can't find anything to back him up, I will now accept the obvious truth.

Dustaz

Moved to Nets/comms.
Which is nice.

Cake Fiend

So's YORE MA

Gavin

Steady on there. I won't have that sort of thing on the Net/Comms board. His ma is mingin'


Gav

sceptre

No substantial benefit to using those programs unless you're running Windows 95 (Microsoft messed up the MTU settings for 95 by optimising them for a LAN but remembered to fix it for 98 and since)

If you do really feel the need, I'd recommend Accelerate 2k2 - one of the better ones, I think.