An important lesson regarding internet speed

[CK SatGuy]

Logically, I should post this in the internet fourm, but since nobody really goes there, I'm posting this in the Dish fourm so it gets more attention. Hey, since some people use VOD, this info could help those Dish Subs (and Directv Subs) Anyway, I'd figure I should post some info about internet speed since most people wonder "how fast should my internet be?" or "why is this movie taking so long to download?" Some may already know this info, others might not, but either way, you might want to copy/paste/print this post for reference. Here we go.

1. First off, internet speed is measured in Mbps (Megabits per second) NOT Megabytes per second (MB/s)

2. 1 Mbps = 125 KB/s (Kilobytes per second) 8 Mbps = 1000 KB/s = 1 MB/s

Now say, for example, that your speed is at 3 Mbps which = 375 KB/s and you want to download a HD movie. The size of the movie is 5000 MB. Multiply by 1000 = 5,000,000 KB.
To estimate the time, divide 5,000,000 KB / 375 (KB/s)=13,333 seconds. Divide that by 60 seconds = 222 minutes which = 3 hours and 42 minutes. That's a long time to wait for a movie to download.
Now we all know the faster the speed the better but I would recommend at least 8 Mbps if possible that way, in this case, if the movie is 5000 MB, you would only have to wait 5000 seconds = 83 Minutes.

That's all for today's lesson. Thanks for reading. Hopefully you didn't get a headache.

 

[shortspark]

We have been talking at the thread I created re MAXGO. I responded to you there and then I posted just now when I got my speed to 3mb. Please look at that recent post and let me know what you think. I'm watching the movies just fine on my PC hardwired to the router but I can't with my laptop connected wireless. I tried to play the movies from my laptop to the projector but they are not watchable. I think my network speed can't use the increase I got with the 3mb. What do you think?

 

[CK SatGuy]

Shortspark, I posted an answer to your post in the MaxGo thread.

 

[DishSubLA]

Just because one has high bandwidth doesn't mean that the server is going to use all that bandwidth so one person doesn't hog the server's bandwidth that will shut out others trying to access it, as well. This way, most people will be "happy" getting some kind of download instead of being shut out and getting nothing at all. In fact, most servers are set to use less, so one is rarely realizing the benefit of the increased bandwidth at 100%.

Furthermore, the device requesting the download may itself be set, via software, to check your bandwidth, then only to use part of it for downloads so that others/devices accessing from your network, PC's, etc. don't all choke to a standstill and cause a frustrating experience when someone else is web surfing. So, it can take longer, even a lot longer than 3 hours for that HD movie to download, depending upon the movie itself: 720P, 1081i, or 1080P?

And finally, ones download experience is very much determined by your router/switch. Some really cheap ones out there are the major choke point and the problem of slow downloads.

Unfortunate, nothing is really simple anymore.