# Cable internet, what speeds do you get? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 21, 2005, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cable-internet-what-speeds-do-you-get/327329 "2005-10-21T20:37:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![KlondikeGeoff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3e96dc/32.png) [@KlondikeGeoff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KlondikeGeoff)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2005, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cable-internet-what-speeds-do-you-get/327329/1 "2005-10-21T20:37:47Z")
I finally signed up for cable broadband internet access, and everything works fine. Certainly is faster than dialup, but I’m surprised don’t get better. Checked with Pitstop for download speed, and it’s been running between 430 and 460 kb/sec. I called Cox and they said 512 would be the maximum. I thought cable would be faster than that. I should not complain as getting about 10 times faster than dialup, but wonder now if DSL might not be better. Am using ZoneAlarm and router for hardware firewall, but even without them, about the same. Oh yeah, Win98SE and external modem. What kinds of speeds do other cable users get? Anything can do to tweak things to make it faster? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2005, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cable-internet-what-speeds-do-you-get/327329/2 "2005-10-21T20:51:15Z")
I went [here](http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/) (site uses Flash) and got these numbers: Download: 6141 Kbps Upload: 357 Kbps ---
**Author:** ![RogueRacer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7ab992/32.png) [@RogueRacer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RogueRacer)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2005, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cable-internet-what-speeds-do-you-get/327329/3 "2005-10-21T20:52:28Z")
We have the top tier service from our cable company. Our cable is 3M download, 256k upload. On a good download site, I can get the 3K download speed. It all depends on your service. There is DSL out there that is only 128kb. You get what you pay for. ---
**Author:** ![MyNameIsEarl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@MyNameIsEarl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyNameIsEarl)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2005, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cable-internet-what-speeds-do-you-get/327329/4 "2005-10-21T20:53:58Z")
I get around 5Mbps (5000kbps) down and 384 kbps up with Time Warner (basic package; their “premium” package is 8Mbps down and 768 kbps month for $25 more a month, which (IMHO) isn’t worth it). Are we sure that you’re talking about kiloBITs and not kiloBYTEs? ---
**Author:** ![gardentraveler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gardentraveler/32/3576_2.png) [@gardentraveler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gardentraveler)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2005, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cable-internet-what-speeds-do-you-get/327329/5 "2005-10-21T22:16:34Z")
4483 kbps down/462 kbps up just now using the site Mr. Blue Sky linked to. I’m running WinME with Sygate as a firewall. I’ve got the basic Roadrunner package that TimeWarner offers here in Columbus. It would probably help you most to talk to other local cable and DSL users if you can… GT ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2005, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cable-internet-what-speeds-do-you-get/327329/6 "2005-10-21T22:32:23Z")
> [@Mr. Blue Sky](#): > > I went [here](http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/) (site uses Flash) and got these numbers: > > Download: 6141 Kbps > Upload: 357 Kbps Similar for me: 6122/341 ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2005, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cable-internet-what-speeds-do-you-get/327329/7 "2005-10-21T22:34:18Z")
> [@KlondikeGeoff](#): > > Checked with Pitstop for download speed, and it’s been running between 430 and 460 kb/sec. I called Cox and they said 512 would be the maximum. I thought cable would be faster than that. I just checked through PC Pitstop, and it clocked me in at 5400 kbps. So, yeah, 430 seems awfully slow to me, but check what plans your service provider offers. ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2005, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cable-internet-what-speeds-do-you-get/327329/8 "2005-10-21T23:05:51Z")
I have Comcast, I got 6384 download and 348k upload. ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2005, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cable-internet-what-speeds-do-you-get/327329/9 "2005-10-21T23:07:21Z")
That should be 6384k download. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2005, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cable-internet-what-speeds-do-you-get/327329/10 "2005-10-21T23:17:06Z")
Time Warner just announced a 7 Mbps download. Speakeasy lists 6700k (837.5 KB/sec transfer rate). But Pitstop only 3966k. I’ve never seen four digits in any real download tansfer rate numbers of a real file, though. ---
**Author:** ![groman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@groman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/groman)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2005, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cable-internet-what-speeds-do-you-get/327329/11 "2005-10-22T00:33:01Z")
> [@Exapno Mapcase](#): > > I’ve never seen four digits in any real download tansfer rate numbers of a real file, though. Notice how the speed is in kilobits per second and file downloads are usually measures in kilobytes per second, therefore your 6000 kbps connection will have a maximum file download rate of 750 KB/s (6000/8) subtracting protocol overhead. To get 4 digit download rate you would have to have an 8000 kbps connection or most likely 10000 kbps. ---
**Author:** ![Fridgemagnet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/22d042/32.png) [@Fridgemagnet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fridgemagnet)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2005, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cable-internet-what-speeds-do-you-get/327329/12 "2005-10-22T00:48:56Z")
I’m a little jealous of all the big numbers being bandied around here. I’ve got a 1Mbps cable connection, which is reasonably fast in the UK. Most packages bandied about as “broadband” are just ADSL over a phone wire, with variable contention ratios to look out for. Still, it’s only £10 ($15) a month, which is a quarter of the price of my previous monthly dialup bill. On the New York server I get 925/87 kbps download/upload. Speed tests on UK servers give me just over 1Mbps download/unspecified upload. ---
**Author:** ![cstamets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/958977/32.png) [@cstamets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cstamets)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2005, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cable-internet-what-speeds-do-you-get/327329/13 "2005-10-22T00:54:44Z")
I’d like to take a minute to suggest going to [http://www.broadbandreports.com](http://www.broadbandreports.com) and running their Tweak Test. Making the suggested tweak (only had one suggestion for me - changing the RWIN) made a huge difference. ---
**Author:** ![groman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@groman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/groman)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2005, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cable-internet-what-speeds-do-you-get/327329/14 "2005-10-22T00:55:56Z")
> [@Fridgemagnet](#): > > Most packages bandied about as “broadband” are just ADSL over a phone wire, with variable contention ratios to look out for. I don’t know what you mean by “variable contention ratios” but ADSL in US is certainly broadband. In my area I can get 6mbps Down/768kbps Up ADSL for about $60 a month. ---
**Author:** ![Seven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Seven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seven)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2005, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cable-internet-what-speeds-do-you-get/327329/15 "2005-10-22T01:05:01Z")
> [@Mr. Blue Sky](#): > > I went [here](http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/) (site uses Flash) and got these numbers: > > Download: 6141 Kbps > Upload: 357 Kbps Using that test… Download Speed: 4524 kbps (565.5 KB/sec transfer rate) Upload Speed: 348 kbps (43.5 KB/sec transfer rate) ---
**Author:** ![groman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@groman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/groman)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2005, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cable-internet-what-speeds-do-you-get/327329/16 "2005-10-22T01:07:17Z")
Oh and just for fun Last Result: Download Speed: 21901 kbps (2737.6 KB/sec transfer rate) Upload Speed: 3478 kbps (434.8 KB/sec transfer rate) Not cable though 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2005, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cable-internet-what-speeds-do-you-get/327329/17 "2005-10-22T01:39:52Z")
My cable connection sucks…for cable…1101 kbps down, 378 kbps up…but it only costs me $25/month as part of my electric/water/sewer/trash/cableTV&internet service that is all billed through one utility company. ---
**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2005, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cable-internet-what-speeds-do-you-get/327329/18 "2005-10-22T02:51:21Z")
> [@Fridgemagnet](#): > > I’m a little jealous of all the big numbers being bandied around here. So am I. My service is advertised as 4 Mbps down, 384 kbps up, and I can achieve 3.5+ Mbps when I’m downloading from Giganews or some other fast server. But still, the US [isn’t exactly a world leader](http://politics.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/10/18/1931258&tid=230&tid=187&tid=219) in broadband. Even when you control for population density, Canadian and European customers get more speed (and often a **lot** more upload speed) for less than we’re paying. ---
**Author:** ![flex727](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/258eb7/32.png) [@flex727](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flex727)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2005, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cable-internet-what-speeds-do-you-get/327329/19 "2005-10-22T14:18:51Z")
> [@Mr. Blue Sky](#): > > I went [here](http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/) (site uses Flash) and got these numbers: > > Download: 6141 Kbps > Upload: 357 Kbps Wow, cool graphics at that site! I get 6154 Kbps / 349 Kbps with my Comcast cable here in Allen, TX. Also, gotta second the comment by **groman** to the OP, be careful you’re not confusing bits and bytes. I typically get DL speeds of 400-500 K **B** ps with my 6000 K **b** ps cable internet. ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2005, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cable-internet-what-speeds-do-you-get/327329/20 "2005-10-22T14:52:28Z")
4618 Kbps down 355Kbps up speakeasy 4468 Kbps down 235Kbps up dsl reports (broadband reports) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cable-internet-what-speeds-do-you-get/327329.md?page=2)