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What internet speed is adequate?

post #1 of 18
5/11/12 at 9:48am
Thread Starter 
I think this is the right area to post this, if not please forgive me and move it to where it belongs.

I started my Amazon Prime trial yesterday and watched some episodes on my BD player (Sony S580). My current internet speed is basic DSL 768 Kb/s and my average download speed shown was 0.5 Mb/s. I was very surprised that it didn't skip/buffer for 4 episodes. The PQ and AQ of course suffered, I think VHS would have better quality. But it was watchable, people and cars were discernable albeit splotchy.

So I've been considering for a while to upgrade our DSL bandwidth. We were pretty unhappy when AT&T changed the price from $25 to $30 a couple months ago, so I've been thinking that for a little bit more per month I can have better internet speed. So I can upgrade to download speed to 1.5 Mb/s ($20/mo. intro price/$38/mo. reg.) , 3.0 Mb/s ($20/$43), and 6.0 Mb/s ($25/$48). So I was wondering what some of you folks on the forum would recommend for either bandwidth for streaming (not necessarily HD, my TV is only 32" 720p) or what a good price point for value. I was thinking 3.0 Mb/s was a good speed and price, but I don't have experience with streaming on anything faster. On a side note, I use a Netgear DGN2200 DSL Modem/Router for our home. It's max wi-fi speed 300 Mb/s, but I didn't know if the modem side had a limit. Do modems have a bandwidth speed limit?

Thanks in advance for your advice and suggestions.
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post #2 of 18
5/11/12 at 10:00am
Just for reference:

Vudu HDX: 4.5-10mbps
Vudu HD: 2.5-4.5mbps
Netflix HD:3.8mbps
Netflix: 1.5mbps
Vudu: 1.5mbps
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post #3 of 18
5/11/12 at 11:06am
When you are talking speeds that slow
Quote:


..1.5 Mb/s ($20/mo. intro price/$38/mo. reg.) , 3.0 Mb/s ($20/$43), and 6.0 Mb/s ($25/$48)...

Even just doubling from 1.5Mb/s to 3Mb/s can make a huge difference in quality.
If you want to be able to stream any HD you pretty much want to get the 6Mb/s tier. It's only a few dollars more than the 3Mb/s tier and should be well worth the $5 to double the download speed to 6Mb/s from 3Mb/s.
I wish my GF would dump her 1.25Mb/s DSL for a 6Mb/s tier. Then at least I could stream some HD content when at her house.
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post #4 of 18
5/11/12 at 11:50am
I agree with the others. Go wht the 6.0 mbps simply because you may not even get that speed depending on how far away from the switching station you are.
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post #5 of 18
5/11/12 at 1:35pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks everyone. I just got off the phone with AT&T and I only have 1.5 Mb/s available. :-( But the rep. that I spoke was able to give me a $10 reduction in monthly price (From what we pay right now) for a year. So at least 1.5 Mb/s will be better than 768 Kb/s but 3.0 and 6.0 are not available at our home. The rep. did say it's possible with AT&T's focus on their U-Verse and fiber optic installations that in the future it may be available.

At least I can have something better right now.

Thank you for you help, everyone, and when I am able to I will upgrade to 6.0 Mb/s
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post #6 of 18
5/11/12 at 5:10pm
Nobody read your 720P. At 720P I say 1.5 is good 'nuff, but by golly if you have to bring out VHS then something is wrong.
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post #7 of 18
5/11/12 at 5:24pm
Actually ATT has stopped any further expansion of UVerse at this point, with no further plans announced, when or if they will build the system out any further, if they do decide.
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post #8 of 18
5/11/12 at 6:09pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks for those two bits of information. The increased speed should take place by Tuesday (today is Friday) by 8:00 P.M. If 1.5 Mb/s is good enough for a 720p screen then I'm glad I was at least able to upgrade to something better. If I were to describe the current PQ at 0.5 Mb/s I would say it's like watching VHS or analog OTA signal zoomed to fit or a single layer DVD backup zoomed in. I don't mind for TV show episodes, but for movies I will probably want a better quality.
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post #9 of 18
5/11/12 at 6:50pm
ATT internet DSL or U-Verse sucks. I had them for 2 days, and I cancelled and got Comcast back again. I am paying about $60 dollars a month for it, but I get 30 mbps.

They tried to charge me $60 dollars because, I had their service for 2 days, which it didn't even work at all. After I called them back to cancel everything (including all my cell phone lines, which I've had for over 9 years), they decided not to charge me lol. They even gave me a $30 dollar credit on my cell phone bill for 1 yr.

I've got 4 more months for my contract to be over. After that I am cancelling ATT completely. I don't want to have anything with ATT.
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post #10 of 18
5/11/12 at 7:19pm
Thread Starter 
Yeah, I understand that. The closest to Comcast for me would be Mediacom, and I don't know if I want to deal with them - not that I'm thrilled with AT&T when it really bogs down. But I would have to pay for cable connection to be set up and by a modem and new router, so I didn't want to go that route at the moment.
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post #11 of 18
5/11/12 at 8:55pm
DSL is highly dependent on the quality of your local loop, so u really have to run a few speed tests. I actually like cable better but comcast wants u to buy their "package" which I have no use for.
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post #12 of 18
5/15/12 at 6:07pm
Thread Starter 
The bandwidth got increased to 1.5 Mb/s and the picture and audio are much better than before. It looks like DVD quality now. :-)
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post #13 of 18
5/16/12 at 6:33pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by anikun07 View Post

We were pretty unhappy when AT&T changed the price from $25 to $30 a couple months ago, so I've been thinking that for a little bit more per month I can have better internet speed.


Hope this is not considered a threadjack, but I recently received notice from my ISP (Verizon) that the current rate I pay for their lowest-tier DSL bandwidth (768kbps/128kbps) will be increasing from $21.99/mo to $24.99/mo. Here is an excerpt from the email they sent out a few weeks ago:


Date: April 24, 2012
Quote:
Dear Verizon Customer:

We are writing to let you know that your current Verizon High Speed Internet pricing plan expires soon. Your base monthly rate is scheduled to increase to $24.99 (not including additional services, equipment fees, taxes or surcharges) and will be reflected on your bill within the next two months. The new rate will remain in effect for one year.

If you would like to keep your current service as is, no action is required. Or, if you have recently upgraded to a new plan, you may disregard this letter.


I've been a Verizon customer for probably 7 or 8 years now. I originally signed up for the low-tier speed at a special introductory rate of $14.99/mo., and have seen gradual upward price bumps to $17.99/mo, then $21.99/mo... and now it's going to be $24.99/mo.

So I, like the OP, was wondering what my options would be if I were to go for a speed upgrade.

To obtain pricing on their various DSL plans, you go to the Verizon Online website. Next, you enter your residential address and/or phone number, and then the site returns what DSL speeds are available in your area. I've done this several times over the years to occasionally gauge the cost to upgrade my service.

Well, when I went online to Verizon's site *after* receiving that email, the site tells me that DSL is not available in my area... but I am eligible to go to FIOS.

In past instances of price checking, I remember that a DSL speed range of around 4-7Mbps was available to me, but the highest speed (7-15Mbps) was not.

Clearly, Verizon is trying to force me to go with the more expensive FIOS option by taking away the DSL option(s) that used to exist on their website.

What if I simply want to upgrade my DSL speed? Does anyone here know if Verizon has a "retentions" dept. or personnel that can help current (not new) customers with revising their DSL plan without being forced to upgrade to FIOS?

Thanks in advance for any help or suggestions.
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post #14 of 18
5/16/12 at 7:52pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Vlad Theimpaler View Post

Clearly, Verizon is trying to force me to go with the more expensive FIOS option by taking away the DSL option(s) that used to exist on their website.

What if I simply want to upgrade my DSL speed? Does anyone here know if Verizon has a "retentions" dept. or personnel that can help current (not new) customers with revising their DSL plan without being forced to upgrade to FIOS?

Thanks in advance for any help or suggestions.

Verizon can not force you to do anything. You can pay for their services or move on. But, what Verizon wants to do is get away from copper period. that's most likely why there is no option to upgrade DSL. And once/if you upgrade to FIOS you wont be able to go back to DSL. Copper is just more costly to maintain and they want you off of it.
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post #15 of 18
5/16/12 at 8:40pm
How do you guys check the internet speed/bandwith as i have att as well.
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post #16 of 18
5/16/12 at 8:45pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Vlad Theimpaler View Post

Hope this is not considered a threadjack, but I recently received notice from my ISP (Verizon) that the current rate I pay for their lowest-tier DSL bandwidth (768kbps/128kbps) will be increasing from $21.99/mo to $24.99/mo. Here is an excerpt from the email they sent out a few weeks ago:


Date: April 24, 2012



I've been a Verizon customer for probably 7 or 8 years now. I originally signed up for the low-tier speed at a special introductory rate of $14.99/mo., and have seen gradual upward price bumps to $17.99/mo, then $21.99/mo... and now it's going to be $24.99/mo.

So I, like the OP, was wondering what my options would be if I were to go for a speed upgrade.

To obtain pricing on their various DSL plans, you go to the Verizon Online website. Next, you enter your residential address and/or phone number, and then the site returns what DSL speeds are available in your area. I've done this several times over the years to occasionally gauge the cost to upgrade my service.

Well, when I went online to Verizon's site *after* receiving that email, the site tells me that DSL is not available in my area... but I am eligible to go to FIOS.

In past instances of price checking, I remember that a DSL speed range of around 4-7Mbps was available to me, but the highest speed (7-15Mbps) was not.

Clearly, Verizon is trying to force me to go with the more expensive FIOS option by taking away the DSL option(s) that used to exist on their website.

What if I simply want to upgrade my DSL speed? Does anyone here know if Verizon has a "retentions" dept. or personnel that can help current (not new) customers with revising their DSL plan without being forced to upgrade to FIOS?

Thanks in advance for any help or suggestions.

If you get the other services it's certainly cheaper. Before I signed a new contarct my 35/35 internet was on $30 a month after discounts. Now three of my four Verizon services are bundled for only $110 a month. 35/35 interent, digital voice, and the top tier TV, Ultimate HD. Then my cellular is tacked on for an additional $10 off for the one bill discount.
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post #17 of 18
5/17/12 at 6:42am
Thread Starter 
That's true, savings multiple subscriptions to save a little on each when bundled together. But in out case we don't want a phone line or tv subscription so it would cost more than we want to pay. When i called AT&T I just found a contact number online for making changes to a current plan. To check bandwidtdth close any running ports and go to speedtest to see what your speed is. Otherwise heck your billing statement or account info to see what you're paying for.
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post #18 of 18
6/9/12 at 5:53am
Quote:
Originally Posted by rocky1 View Post

How do you guys check the internet speed/bandwith as i have att as well.
http://www.speedtest.net/
http://testmy.net/
http://www.att.com/speedtest/
http://speedtest.no.cox.net/
http://www.youtube.com/my_speed
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