Variability in speed

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leolaser

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I am on the Speed 500 plus plan in Bangalore - with 256kbps / 1GB per month. The speed that I get on average ranges from 23-28 kBps which is not so good but not so bad.But I have another unique observation - if I check thru DU Meter, the speed varies from 30kbps to 300kbps and follows a see-saw curve - i.e. it rises to around 300kbps and falls to 30-40kbps and then again rises. This cycle goes on every 3-5 seconds.Other times the variation may be less but the end result is that the variation is exists in speed and consquently I do not get good quality on skype, dialpad or other conference calls resulting in poor voice quality and/or disconnections.The airtel engineers have tried to change the copper, modem, splitter with no result and now are not responding at all.Is this expected for Airtel (I have used MTNL and know that it is not a feature of braoadband)... should I live with it?Help and opinions Requested.
 
This is a knowm issue with Airtel BB and this problem refrains me from getting Airtel BB at my Home. This is bcoz I need broadband for watching streaming video, making PC tp Phone calls and video chats.Even if an ISP can guarantee me 25 KBps constant ....I will love to get it but most ISPs speed fluctuate badlySimilar prom is with Sify's 256 kbps packs.....if u use download mangers with multiple connections u can get 256 kbps constant but if u use a single conn as in a live streaming video or VOIP u cannot get decent quality.I think MTNL gives constant rates ....but better ask MTNL users
 
It's simple not just with AT BB it's there with every one unless you have a very very very dedicatedly good ISPIt's something like a water pipe thru which water is flowing out with trapped air bubles.....u c in this case the flow of water will be varying in the same see saw manner........Now try this close the tap a bit just a bit to attain a consisten flow...........This can be done in BB to if your Downloader allows you to restric speeds you can attain the beast possible speed and at that speed the graph is a constand st line...........
 
Originally posted by anirudhashish@Apr 2 2006, 06:56 PM
It's simple not just with AT BB it's there with every one unless you have a very very very dedicatedly good ISP

It's something like a water pipe thru which water is flowing out with trapped air bubles.....u c in this case the flow of water will be varying in the same see saw manner........Now try this close the tap a bit just a bit to attain a consisten flow...........
This can be done in BB to if your Downloader allows you to restric speeds you can attain the beast possible speed and at that speed the graph is a constand st line...........
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i am at chennai and using the same scheme. but i did not notice this problem.
especially i listen to "live365.com" internet radio streaming music. it varies from 56kbps to 128kbps streaming. even at 198 kbps the music is clear. very rarely the quality gets affected. but in general it is good. 🙂

i have tried hathway unlimited 250kbps cable through ethr.card connection.
i had this problem. they used to tell that they are the only isps who gives 300 kbps for 250kbps. but the truth is that they used to buffer the stream and send in
surges, which used to touch even 400 kbps and sink to 56kbps within few mins.

but no one has so far received video as streaming live using the broadband connection. may be in software companies who have T1 and T2 connections, could receive it.

for a streaming video you need to have effective speed of minimum rock steady
37 to 40 KBs speed. which at present no ISP is capable of supplying. But I am confident at this rate of chanages taking place in India, may be within a year it could happen, viz. all will have realy connection/ actual speed of 512kbps. 🙄
 
You need some way to record your streams, and watch later. I don't usually use much streaming stuff cos i usually download most of the time.I have managed to have a video chat using yahoo on a 48kbs connection for an hr without too much prob, that was one way video only, that sort of stuff is supposed to work over dial-up. IF you want better quality with skype, etc you wil have to use an encoder/decoder that does not hog so much..
 
I was able to see streaming videos on MTNL @ 212/224 kbps without any jerks. Airtel is another story. Even with just net radio,I have to skip through some servers on shoutcast before i find one where the audio doesn't skip which is majorly annoying. On MTNL it used to play flawlessly irrespective of any station/server i tuned into.
 

The reason why streaming audio or video at higher bit rate gives problem in airtel is becoz of the 1:2 contention ratio in the unlimited plans. It is quite clearly mentioned in the airtel tarrif plans.So with Airtel if u have a 256kbps unlimited with u can view/listen to streaming content with max bit rate of 256/2=128kbps without buffering. Similarly on 128kbps plan u can view/listen to streaming content wiht max bit rate 128/2=64kbps.Its better with Mtnl coz Mtnl is not providing any unlimited plans as of yet. Let them come out with an unlimited plan and then compare Mtnl with Airtel(unlimited plans of bsnl/mtnl will surely have some contention)!!!
 
I'm sceptical that if MTNL offers an unlimited that the contention ratio won't be similar to Airtel's. Not at those prices, if you want 0 contention then ur looking at a business connection...at maybe more (does anyone know details?)
 
I had (and still have for my parents) a MTNL 256 Triband connection in Delhi and the speeds that I get are 29-31.25 KBps depending on the time of the day but are rock steady (as measured thru DU Meter graph).The Airtel connection that I have in Bangalore has a see-saw graph in DU Meter with speed varying from 40-280 kbps. This means I get disconnections and poor quality on Dialpad and Skype and also wait times on live-streaming (problems that are non-existent in MTNL).I stay in Bangalore.My question is...Should I shift to BSNL from Airtel... or can Airtel correct this problem? I have been complaining to them for the past 1.5 months without a solution.Thnx
 
Yeah, this is a problem I have wondered about too - this see-sawing really messes up browsing as well as downloads. At night. sometimes it see-saws between 5 KB/s and 50 KB/s!!anyway, all-in-all what this means is that Airtel is becoming worse and worse (though their plans are still better than most if not all the other ISPs). I started out with Airtel about 1.5 years ago with the 128 kbps unlimited package. Now I have the 256 kbps unlimited package - but the improvement in speeds has only been marginal and not double as it should have been. My guess is that it is probably low-quality/ badly configured equipment or software on their end that's creating this problem.I don't even try watching streaming video during the day - at night if I am lucky I can see 2 minute clips without any buffering breaks.You should shift to BSNL as long as you can work within the download limit for the month. People who I know who have MTNL/BSNL seem to have really good feedback on using Skype on it.
 

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