Rogers Internet download speed increase

Just picked up a Linksys e-2500 at Staples. It was $20 off and with a price match I could have picked it up at BestBuy for $2 less. Didn't think it was worth the hassle. They also had an e-3200 for just $13 more (it was an open box plus clearance priced another 25% off). Was a bit tempted but I think the main difference was it had a USB port and was "HD/3D ready" -- whatever that heck that means. I'm not sure how I feel about the USB port. I *think* it is for sharing content, including multimedia but, frankly, I much prefer to stick the USB right into my PS3 (for videos) or other PC (for "sharing"). And like I said, I'm not sure what 3D/HD was for but I think it was for prioritizing video traffic on the W-LAN. But, again, I prefer sticking the content on a USB stick.

A bit surprised that there aren't any stats, or at least I couldn't find any. I thought it would give me per-device stats. Even my old D-Link had rudimentary stats.

Well, sitting here on the front porch, getting 2.436 on the deslreports.com speed test. Not good, but I could barely get a connection with the old router, and as for the speed itself, an earlier test upstairs, at the router itself (wired up to the cable modem) I was only getting 4-5. I guess on a hot day a lot of the neighborhood teens are probably online. Dang shared hub.

What does Rogers' speed check say?

http://www.rogers.com/speedcheck

shabbs wrote:What does Rogers' speed check say?

http://www.rogers.com/speedcheck

You have to understand, it's a different time of the day. Right now, inside (main floor -- router is upstairs) the Rogers speed test shows 8.36 while DSLreports shows 4.319. That's to the server in NJ; it was only 1.536 to LA -- so there is definitely something to be said about location.

That said, I am not at all surprised that Rogers' test is showing me a much higher number.

wprager wrote:
Well, last night I double-clicked, then I pressed and held until they started wiggling, and then I started closing the apps. Took me about 5 minutes. Every app that he's ever started was still running. I was actually counting how many he had but I lost my count somewhere around 60. He had over 60 apps running.

Are you sure you didn't DELETE all his apps? That sounds to me like how you delete them....

I really hope, for comedy's sake, that you deleted them all.

Tried again just now. Rogers speed test shows me 13.7 Mbps; Primus was 10.09 and Shaw was 4.14. Speedtest.net lets me choose the destination -- testing to a Kanata location (hosted by SSI Micro) gave me 9.44 while selecting Kingston dropped it down to 6.57.

I don't know where Rogers tests my connection to -- maybe the curbside box. When it's so consistently and blatantly higher than any other test I can find, what use is it, really?

tim1_2 wrote:

wprager wrote:
Well, last night I double-clicked, then I pressed and held until they started wiggling, and then I started closing the apps. Took me about 5 minutes. Every app that he's ever started was still running. I was actually counting how many he had but I lost my count somewhere around 60. He had over 60 apps running.

Are you sure you didn't DELETE all his apps? That sounds to me like how you delete them....

I really hope, for comedy's sake, that you deleted them all.

Not to worry - they don't get deleted when you do it that way. It just closes them down.

wprager wrote:

shabbs wrote:What does Rogers' speed check say?

http://www.rogers.com/speedcheck

You have to understand, it's a different time of the day. Right now, inside (main floor -- router is upstairs) the Rogers speed test shows 8.36 while DSLreports shows 4.319. That's to the server in NJ; it was only 1.536 to LA -- so there is definitely something to be said about location.

That said, I am not at all surprised that Rogers' test is showing me a much higher number.

Well, the speed they're selling you is from your house to their network, not some server out in LA, with who knows how many hops in between slowing it down. I've found the speedtests on dslreports to be very wide ranging.

They are selling me internet access. The charge me based on some claimed number which is impossible to measure properly. I tried *several* different engines to test my access speed and each and every one showed me a value that was lower -- in some cases *significantly lower* -- than what is claimed by Rogers.

I'm not suggesting they are lying; I'm suggesting such an application -- because of the glaring conflict of interest -- is useless at best.

Just noticed something about SpeedTest.net that I didn't earlier at home. You can just click to begin test right away without selecting the destination location. It then picks the "best" location based on ping results. Should have used that before.

wprager wrote:They are selling me internet access. The charge me based on some claimed number which is impossible to measure properly. I tried *several* different engines to test my access speed and each and every one showed me a value that was lower -- in some cases *significantly lower* -- than what is claimed by Rogers.

I'm not suggesting they are lying; I'm suggesting such an application -- because of the glaring conflict of interest -- is useless at best.

Suggest you read the fine print. They always say "up to" and will never guarantee anything, let alone the speed to some other system they don't have under their control. The only true test of your connection speed is from within Rogers' own network. Once it leaves Rogers' network, anything can happen to affect your speed.

My tests with speedtest.net and Rogers' speed test have been pretty consistent with what I'm paying for. If I'm downloading a huge file from Microsoft (ie: several gigs), I usually max out the speed due to their big download server farm.