I have a 512/1mb line that downloads no more than 120kbps

[mrykza]

Hi guys,

I have a 512kbps/1mb line from telkom, the doAdvanced package which is;

DSL line(1)

DSL (up to 1024 kbps based on broadband technology)

Telkom Internet Account with

10 GB of monthly data usage
20 GB of monthly promotional free local only data usage

When I download torrents or any file from a website, i don't ever get more than 120kbps download speed - I'm not so clued up but I mean I think that's kind of slow? i did the speed test here and I got these results;

South African test

our Latest Results

Test conducted on Thursday, June 21, 2012 10:18:49 PM

Download Speed: 903 kbps (112.9 KB/sec transfer rate)

Upload Speed: 425 kbps (53.1 KB/sec transfer rate)

Latency: 54 ms
----

International test:


Your Latest Results

Test conducted on Thursday, June 21, 2012 10:19:57 PM

Download Speed: 865 kbps (108.1 KB/sec transfer rate)

Upload Speed: 401 kbps (50.1 KB/sec transfer rate)

Latency: 238 ms

Could somebody please advise me as to whether this is normal?

Much appreciated guys.

[PostmanPot]

Looks normal going by download/upload speeds.

[mrykza]

Yeah but is a 512/1mb line meant to give that as a maximum speed?

[PostmanPot]

Yeah but is a 512/1mb line meant to give that as a maximum speed?

Nope, "up to". And it's megabit (Mbit), not megabyte (MB) which you might be thinking. You download at about 1/10th of a MB per sec. A 10Mbit line would achieve 1MB per sec.

[mercury12]

Nope, "up to". And it's megabit (Mbit), not megabyte (MB) which you might be thinking. You download at about 1/10th of a MB per sec. A 10Mbit line would achieve 1MB per sec.

Yep. 1 byte = 8 bit. Bytes and bits are different units

[Wakizy]

512/1mb is theoretical. This is the maximum speed telkom are allowed to advertise to you. It is impossible to reach those speeds with your package.

[PostmanPot]

512/1mb is theoretical. This is the maximum speed telkom are allowed to advertise to you. It is impossible to reach those speeds with your package.

Not too far off though since 1Mbit = 125KB/sec.

[mrykza]

Thank you all for your reply.

So if I just used the 1MB line from Telkom and used an isp like let's say, cybersmart which seems to have the highest download speed? would that increase my download speed?

[Messugga]

Thank you all for your reply.

So if I just used the 1MB line from Telkom and used an isp like let's say, cybersmart which seems to have the highest download speed? would that increase my download speed?

No, you're mixing up your units. 1MByte is equal to 8Mbits. You have a 1mbps line meaning 1megabits per second. That's about 125 kilobytes per second. If you download at 120KB/s you're actually getting a really good speed for your line. If you want to go faster, you will have to upgrade your ADSL line speed to 4 or 10mbps if available in your area.

[Pada]

On a 1Mbps ADSL connection you won't really get more than 112KB/s (900kbps) of actual throughput.

[PostmanPot]

Thank you all for your reply.

So if I just used the 1MB line from Telkom and used an isp like let's say, cybersmart which seems to have the highest download speed? would that increase my download speed?

/sarcasm

You would need to make sure your exchange is 1MB enabled in order to upgrade from your 1Mbit line to Telkom's 'up to' 1MB AKA 8Mbit line (let's say 10Mbit because it's the name of their offering, and multiplying/dividing by 10 is easier than 8).

It's important to use the correct units of measurement so as to not confuse yourself and others.

To answer your question, you probably won't get a higher throughput by changing ISPs, you'll need a line upgrade.

[akescpt]

120 is faster than usual. I usually got 105!