Facts and Myths about internet speed and Hardware
Posted: Mon Mar 13, 2006 4:33 pm
Summary
Optimum Online is offering faster speed to compete with FIOS. They were offering up to 15MB download and 2MB upload. For the last few years I have been a stable 10MB download and 1MB upload. I wanted more speed, lets face it who doesn’t? Below are the results I got and you can see that upgrading all your hardware is not necessary to achieve optimal speeds.
Equipment
Original with 10MB WAN Ports
Speed Tests
Speed tests were performed 3 times at each interval http://www.speakeasy.net/ using the NY server for all images, but tested to DC and GA just for comparison.
Results
After calling Cablevision and having a tech give me a slight run around I get home and run a speed test. All of a sudden my bandwidth which has been exactly the same for over 3 years is a little faster.
03/10/06 8:00pm Motorola SB4100 and Linksys WRT54G
03/11/06 11:08am Motorola SB4100 and Linksys WRT54G
Keeping the Motorla SB4100 I switched over to the Linksys WRT54GX “SRX” wireless router with a 10/100 WAN port. This gave me some increased speed, but the results are odd (when compaired to my final results). So don’t run out and buy one just yet…
03/11/06 11:31am Motorola SB4100 and Linksys WRT54GX “SRX”
03/11/06 11:40am Motorola SB4100 and Linksys WRT54GX “SRX”
So at this point I hopped in my car and went to my local Cablevision walk up center, which can be found on their website. I walked in with my old SB4100 I purchased on eBay and a cable bill. I was allowed to keep my SB4100 modem after telling them I purchased from an online vendor and returned my craptacular “sharkfin” modem. After 5 minutes I was on my way home with my new Motorla SBv5120. Then next results will be with the New SBv5120 and the New WRT54GX “SRX”. Both devices now have a 10/100 WAN port.
Note:
You will see a 3MB jump in the download speed, but not much improvement on the Upload. Something you cannot see from the images that I feel is important to mention. The time it takes the needle to jump from 0 – max took about 2 seconds with the Motorola SB4100 and about 3 seconds to reach 10MB, with the new modem it instantly maxed out and took less than 1 second to reach 13MB.
03/11/06 12:48pm Motorola SBv5120 and Linksys WRT54GX “SRX”
Now this is where you would think I stopped… But I had one last thing to check, why should I go out and buy a new wireless router when I have one that’s implemented and working great. One reason is that the WAN port is 10MB and would probably bee a bottleneck, but after you see the next image you will see that it’s not… WTF?
03/11/06 12:48pm New Motorola SBv5120 and Old Linksys WRT54G
Conclusion
First thing I have to say is your speeds may vary due to:
As well as a few other variables… As you can see after a simple FREE upgrade I am getting almost exactly what they are promising me (15MB download and 2MB upload) I am keeping my old WRT54G router for now because I saw no increased performance in bandwidth or with my wireless signal. I understand I need to have the wireless cards for my PCs to enjoy the full potential of the SRX, but at this time it’s not worth the cash.
Optimum Online is offering faster speed to compete with FIOS. They were offering up to 15MB download and 2MB upload. For the last few years I have been a stable 10MB download and 1MB upload. I wanted more speed, lets face it who doesn’t? Below are the results I got and you can see that upgrading all your hardware is not necessary to achieve optimal speeds.
Equipment
Original with 10MB WAN Ports
- Motorla SB4100 Modem (with firmware update for more bandwidth)
- Linksys WRT54G
- Motorla SBv5120
- Linksys WRT54GX SRX
Speed Tests
Speed tests were performed 3 times at each interval http://www.speakeasy.net/ using the NY server for all images, but tested to DC and GA just for comparison.
Results
After calling Cablevision and having a tech give me a slight run around I get home and run a speed test. All of a sudden my bandwidth which has been exactly the same for over 3 years is a little faster.
03/10/06 8:00pm Motorola SB4100 and Linksys WRT54G
03/11/06 11:08am Motorola SB4100 and Linksys WRT54G
Keeping the Motorla SB4100 I switched over to the Linksys WRT54GX “SRX” wireless router with a 10/100 WAN port. This gave me some increased speed, but the results are odd (when compaired to my final results). So don’t run out and buy one just yet…
03/11/06 11:31am Motorola SB4100 and Linksys WRT54GX “SRX”
03/11/06 11:40am Motorola SB4100 and Linksys WRT54GX “SRX”
So at this point I hopped in my car and went to my local Cablevision walk up center, which can be found on their website. I walked in with my old SB4100 I purchased on eBay and a cable bill. I was allowed to keep my SB4100 modem after telling them I purchased from an online vendor and returned my craptacular “sharkfin” modem. After 5 minutes I was on my way home with my new Motorla SBv5120. Then next results will be with the New SBv5120 and the New WRT54GX “SRX”. Both devices now have a 10/100 WAN port.
Note:
You will see a 3MB jump in the download speed, but not much improvement on the Upload. Something you cannot see from the images that I feel is important to mention. The time it takes the needle to jump from 0 – max took about 2 seconds with the Motorola SB4100 and about 3 seconds to reach 10MB, with the new modem it instantly maxed out and took less than 1 second to reach 13MB.
03/11/06 12:48pm Motorola SBv5120 and Linksys WRT54GX “SRX”
Now this is where you would think I stopped… But I had one last thing to check, why should I go out and buy a new wireless router when I have one that’s implemented and working great. One reason is that the WAN port is 10MB and would probably bee a bottleneck, but after you see the next image you will see that it’s not… WTF?
03/11/06 12:48pm New Motorola SBv5120 and Old Linksys WRT54G
Conclusion
First thing I have to say is your speeds may vary due to:
- How many people are on your node
- The quality of your service
- Type of coax cable and connectors you are using
- How many splitters are inline before the modem
As well as a few other variables… As you can see after a simple FREE upgrade I am getting almost exactly what they are promising me (15MB download and 2MB upload) I am keeping my old WRT54G router for now because I saw no increased performance in bandwidth or with my wireless signal. I understand I need to have the wireless cards for my PCs to enjoy the full potential of the SRX, but at this time it’s not worth the cash.
