# Internet Connection Speed

**URL:** <https://forum.kirupa.com/t/internet-connection-speed/61417>\
**Category:** random\
**Created:** [August 18, 2004, 12:53pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/internet-connection-speed/61417 "2004-08-18T12:53:56Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![NeoDreamer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ccd318/32.png) [@NeoDreamer](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/NeoDreamer)\
**Post date:** [August 18, 2004, 12:53pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/internet-connection-speed/61417/1 "2004-08-18T12:53:56Z")

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When I have a local area connection, a computer icon appears to the left of the clock in Windows 2000. If you hover over the computer icon, you can see the speed of the Internet connection. At different locations, I see different speeds (10 MBPS or 100 MBPS). My question is what does this MBPS really mean? Surely you can’t download at a whopping speed of 100 MB per second, right?

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**Author:** ![system](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/kirupa/original/3X/6/2/621e5c11736f46532526e61be85940af4230f3e5.png) [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)\
**Post date:** [August 18, 2004, 1:03pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/internet-connection-speed/61417/2 "2004-08-18T13:03:10Z")

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No you can’t download at a speed of 100MB/s, but your ethernet card sure can handle 100Mb/s (ie transfer files over LAN) 🙂  
\*note the difference between B and b - B is for bytes, b is for bit (8 bit = 1 byte)

well that’s what i think, anyway.

[edit]whoa wait a minute…hm…doesn’t that mean only 12.5MB/s ? weird. well my network this is showing 100.0Mbps too, so that’s normal.

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**Author:** ![system](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/kirupa/original/3X/6/2/621e5c11736f46532526e61be85940af4230f3e5.png) [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)\
**Post date:** [August 18, 2004, 1:05pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/internet-connection-speed/61417/3 "2004-08-18T13:05:57Z")

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Maybe I have mistaken. Now that I think of it, it was Mbps. How do you convert that to MBps?

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**Author:** ![system](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/kirupa/original/3X/6/2/621e5c11736f46532526e61be85940af4230f3e5.png) [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)\
**Post date:** [August 18, 2004, 1:07pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/internet-connection-speed/61417/4 "2004-08-18T13:07:41Z")

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_seems like you posted while i was editing_

take 100 divided by 8, you get 12.5MBps 🙂

hm despite what is said in your footer, here’s a link for you 😉  
[http://www.google.com/search?q=bit+byte+conversion&sourceid=firefox&start=0&start=0&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8](http://www.google.com/search?q=bit+byte+conversion&sourceid=firefox&start=0&start=0&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8)  
(the top result is pretty useful)

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**Author:** ![system](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/kirupa/original/3X/6/2/621e5c11736f46532526e61be85940af4230f3e5.png) [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)\
**Post date:** [August 18, 2004, 1:08pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/internet-connection-speed/61417/5 "2004-08-18T13:08:53Z")

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MB is MegaByte, Mb is MegaBit 😉

One byte is 8 bits, so to go from Mb to MB divide by 8.

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**Author:** ![system](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/kirupa/original/3X/6/2/621e5c11736f46532526e61be85940af4230f3e5.png) [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)\
**Post date:** [August 18, 2004, 1:11pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/internet-connection-speed/61417/6 "2004-08-18T13:11:00Z")

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> [@hsadan](#):
>
> hm despite what is said in your footer, here’s a link for you 😉

It’s OK. Posting a link (like you did) is useful but saying “google it” isn’t.

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**Author:** ![system](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/kirupa/original/3X/6/2/621e5c11736f46532526e61be85940af4230f3e5.png) [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)\
**Post date:** [August 18, 2004, 1:11pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/internet-connection-speed/61417/7 "2004-08-18T13:11:53Z")

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> [@NeoDreamer](#):
>
> It’s OK. Posting a link (like you did) is useful but saying “google it” isn’t.

hah ok.

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**Author:** ![system](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/kirupa/original/3X/6/2/621e5c11736f46532526e61be85940af4230f3e5.png) [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)\
**Post date:** [August 18, 2004, 1:12pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/internet-connection-speed/61417/8 "2004-08-18T13:12:58Z")

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> [@hsadan](#):
>
> No you can’t download at a speed of 100MB/s, but your ethernet card sure can handle 100Mb/s (ie transfer files over LAN) 🙂  
> \*note the difference between B and b - B is for bytes, b is for bit (8 bit = 1 byte)
> 
> well that’s what i think, anyway.
> 
> [edit]whoa wait a minute…hm…doesn’t that mean only 12.5MB/s ? weird. well my network this is showing 100.0Mbps too, so that’s normal.

What’s the difference between LAN and regular Internet? So you say my LAN goes at 12.5 MBps. So how do you figure out the top Internet speed?

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**Author:** ![system](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/kirupa/original/3X/6/2/621e5c11736f46532526e61be85940af4230f3e5.png) [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)\
**Post date:** [August 18, 2004, 1:14pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/internet-connection-speed/61417/9 "2004-08-18T13:14:13Z")

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The LAN connection speed is entirely different than the internet speed you get. LAN is a local network, so obviously the speed is way higher than the speed at which you connect to the internet. To know your internet speed, contact your ISP. They’ll surely be able to tell you.

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**Author:** ![system](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/kirupa/original/3X/6/2/621e5c11736f46532526e61be85940af4230f3e5.png) [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)\
**Post date:** [August 18, 2004, 1:21pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/internet-connection-speed/61417/10 "2004-08-18T13:21:52Z")

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oops um, another google (firefox just makes googling easy, especially with tabbed-browsing)  
[http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&q=bandwidth+test&btnG=Search](http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&q=bandwidth+test&btnG=Search)

you don’t really have to contact your ISP. there are many bandwidth tests out there 🙂  
I tested one of them last time, it worked pretty good and showed a rather accurate report of my bandwidth. lost the link, though.

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**Author:** ![system](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/kirupa/original/3X/6/2/621e5c11736f46532526e61be85940af4230f3e5.png) [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)\
**Post date:** [August 18, 2004, 1:23pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/internet-connection-speed/61417/11 "2004-08-18T13:23:53Z")

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Yeah, but most of those bandwith tests are based on the speed at which you download a file from their servers. That’s not always very accurate. Your ISP has the accurate info.

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**Author:** ![system](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/kirupa/original/3X/6/2/621e5c11736f46532526e61be85940af4230f3e5.png) [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)\
**Post date:** [August 18, 2004, 1:26pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/internet-connection-speed/61417/12 "2004-08-18T13:26:10Z")

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Im sure if its a LAN Connection that the modem would have it on the front. It should be 100mbps.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![system](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/kirupa/original/3X/6/2/621e5c11736f46532526e61be85940af4230f3e5.png) [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)\
**Post date:** [August 18, 2004, 4:24pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/internet-connection-speed/61417/13 "2004-08-18T16:24:38Z")

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Goto [www.broadbandreports.com](http://www.broadbandreports.com) and find a speed test closest to you.

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**Author:** ![system](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/kirupa/original/3X/6/2/621e5c11736f46532526e61be85940af4230f3e5.png) [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)\
**Post date:** [August 18, 2004, 4:33pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/internet-connection-speed/61417/14 "2004-08-18T16:33:53Z")

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i have 56k thats going at 52k

wahoo?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![system](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/kirupa/original/3X/6/2/621e5c11736f46532526e61be85940af4230f3e5.png) [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)\
**Post date:** [August 19, 2004, 9:23am UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/internet-connection-speed/61417/15 "2004-08-19T09:23:01Z")

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wahoo, indeed! my 56k used to go at 48k only ☹

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**Author:** ![system](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/kirupa/original/3X/6/2/621e5c11736f46532526e61be85940af4230f3e5.png) [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)\
**Post date:** [August 19, 2004, 9:33am UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/internet-connection-speed/61417/16 "2004-08-19T09:33:16Z")

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Yeah - 56k is the theoretical maximum. You’ll rarely ever make it to that speed.

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**Author:** ![system](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/kirupa/original/3X/6/2/621e5c11736f46532526e61be85940af4230f3e5.png) [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)\
**Post date:** [August 19, 2004, 9:43am UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/internet-connection-speed/61417/17 "2004-08-19T09:43:56Z")

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I have only just a few hours been liberated from th eevel villian that is dialup aol!!!  
_it was not my choice to be on dialup… or aol (the devil)… merely the environment i was forced into_ bu tno longer… i am free! I am happily runited with my friend cable modem.

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**Author:** ![system](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/kirupa/original/3X/6/2/621e5c11736f46532526e61be85940af4230f3e5.png) [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)\
**Post date:** [August 19, 2004, 10:36am UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/internet-connection-speed/61417/18 "2004-08-19T10:36:27Z")

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the problem is i cant get cable on the second floor of my house and i cant get earthlink, att, or verizon dsl. i can only get sprint, but my mom hates sprint ☹

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**Author:** ![system](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/kirupa/original/3X/6/2/621e5c11736f46532526e61be85940af4230f3e5.png) [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)\
**Post date:** [August 19, 2004, 12:33pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/internet-connection-speed/61417/19 "2004-08-19T12:33:33Z")

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Why not get yourself a both wireless and cabled router, plug a wifi card in your comp upstairs and connect the computer downstairs using a regular UTP cable ? Works wonderfully.

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**Author:** ![system](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/kirupa/original/3X/6/2/621e5c11736f46532526e61be85940af4230f3e5.png) [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)\
**Post date:** [August 19, 2004, 2:52pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/internet-connection-speed/61417/20 "2004-08-19T14:52:28Z")

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like has been said the higher speeds of 10MBps per second and 100MBps are speeds to your local network only…those are speeds from say your living room computer to your bedroom computer…

now your connection to the outside world is a different story…that can only be measured my your ISP technically…however there is a free test on the internet, that I have used often that is quite accurate in detecting my actual speed…

> **[Speed Test Results Explained: Download, Upload, Ping Result](http://www.bandwidthplace.com/speedtest/)**
>
> Interpreting Internet speed test results upload/download, and effects on Audido/Video streaming. Test an ISP or mobile carrier, desktop, laptop or smartphone.

here are some links to help explain the speeds:  
[http://www.homenethelp.com/web/explain/about-network-speeds.asp](http://www.homenethelp.com/web/explain/about-network-speeds.asp)  
[http://www.linksys.com/edu/glossary.asp](http://www.linksys.com/edu/glossary.asp)
