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I've got a question bout the broadband here in dubai. i've read other posts and know that the speeds can't be trusted.

but are the ISP's capping the download speeds or are the routers coming preconfigured to cap the speeds? i've been running bandwidth packet tests and it's showing between 800-1.4 megs per second, but the max download speed i've gotten is 60 kbs thru a website and 140 kbs thru torrents. how come i can't get access to the full pipe that's showing on the bandwidth tests?

i've got the 1 mbps connection from Du if that makes a difference.

there is something going on, i'm experiencing similar slowdown issues and more so over the last week. I've heard similar complaints from others.

Very frustrating as you pay too much to begin with and even then you can't fully utalize what you do pay for.

I’m on 1mb from DU as well.

Remote bandwidth test sometimes is not reliable because it depends on the server location where you have the test on.

Just watch the maximum speed you can get when downloading many files & torrents, e.g. using DU Meter.

I use external USB DSL modem (not router) where I can get only 50-70% of my 512 Kbps (Etisalat). I believe it's normal for home connection considering that you always have sharing ratio. Except maybe corporate account which can be 1:1.

where can i get the Du meter from to test my speeds?

and with the 1 mbps connection what's the highest downloads speeds i should be seeing on torrents or websites? maybe i'm confused.

nuzbim wrote:where can i get the Du meter from to test my speeds?

and with the 1 mbps connection what's the highest downloads speeds i should be seeing on torrents or websites? maybe i'm confused.

www.dumeter.com
and it's not du as UAE telecom provider. it's Dial Up Meter. with this you can even have statistics how much data you downloaded and uploaded per day/week/month.

I'd say roughly 50-80% or up to 100 KBps.

why wouldn't i be getting 1540 kBps since i've got a full 1 mbps connection?

there's 1540 kBps in the full meg, so my download speeds should be in the 1100-1540 range shouldn't it?

nuzbim wrote:why wouldn't i be getting 1540 kBps since i've got a full 1 mbps connection?
there's 1540 kBps in the full meg, so my download speeds should be in the 1100-1540 range shouldn't it?

1540 KBps = (1540x8) 12320 Kbps = (12320/1024) 12 Mbps.
Are you sure?

Data Communications ( 10^x )
bits 1540000 b
kilobits 1540 Kb
megabits 1.54 Mb
gigabits 0.00154 Gb
terabits 0.00000154 Tb

nuzbim wrote:Data Communications ( 10^x )
bits 1540000 b
kilobits 1540 Kb
megabits 1.54 Mb
gigabits 0.00154 Gb
terabits 0.00000154 Tb

Coming from software background, I never knew this 1540 calc.

I thought 1 Byte = 8 bits and 1 Kbits = 1024 bits. And assume the ISP Internet connection package follow this calc. If it follow yours, then it becomes worse, far less than 50-80%.

xty wrote:

nuzbim wrote:Data Communications ( 10^x )
bits 1540000 b
kilobits 1540 Kb
megabits 1.54 Mb
gigabits 0.00154 Gb
terabits 0.00000154 Tb

Coming from software background, I never knew this 1540 calc.

I thought 1 Byte = 8 bits and 1 Kbits = 1024 bits. And assume the ISP Internet connection package follow this calc. If it follow yours, then it becomes worse, far less than 50-80%.

Bits and Bytes - slight difference.

There are 8 bits to a byte and so on, but to make it easy:

http://web.forret.com/tools/bandwidth.a ... &unit=Mbps

The theoretical maximum on a 1 Mbps connection is 125 Kilobytes Per Second.

With respect to Du, the bandwidth is limited at the router using a throttling mechanism, which is why occasionally it bursts over 125 because in order for the throttling to occur, it must exceed the set limit (too much overhead to inspect traffic continuously, hence only traffic exceeding the definied limits gets throttled) - but of course it has already exceeded when throttled which is why you get spikes.

I've downloaded small files at 200+ Kilobytes per second because they came and went before the throttling had a chance.

This differs from ADSL which when handshaking agrees on a maximum with the modem and D-SLAM, and hardware limits the bandwidth to this.

I had loads of issues with a Siemens modem that itisalot gave me.

I re flashed it and witnessed a big improvement right away, so they may well cap certain protocols in the firmware.

how did you re-flash it?

i had manually install the mac address, since Du wasn't givin me the info when i bought the wireless router. they said they will soon come out with their own "approved" of router and anything i use is illegal.

jabbajabba wrote:I had loads of issues with a Siemens modem that itisalot gave me.

I re flashed it and witnessed a big improvement right away, so they may well cap certain protocols in the firmware.

can you elaborate on that please..

jabbajabba wrote:I had loads of issues with a Siemens modem that itisalot gave me.

I re flashed it and witnessed a big improvement right away, so they may well cap certain protocols in the firmware.

Were you one of the customers who called my home phone number (39605xx)
Believe me, for the first 6 months (last year) after getting my new landline phone number, almost everyday I got calls from everyone asking for Siemens customer service and the problems with the modem. By that, I know that I would never use Siemens modem

the question i have is i left the US where i had a 1 mbps connection. i usually got 200-400 ks per downloads. here the max i've gotten is 110-130 k, i wanted to know why that is?

nuzbim wrote:the question i have is i left the US where i had a 1 mbps connection. i usually got 200-400 ks per downloads. here the max i've gotten is 110-130 k, i wanted to know why that is?

Surprising in US you get only 20-40%. Really?
Because here I'm getting 50-80% out of my 512 Kbps, so in US must be better or at least the similar percentage.

what i meant is i'd have 3 downloads goin at the same time at 200-400 kbps for a total of 600-1200.

here i've got the 1 mbps pipe but the max i've gotten is 140-160, which means i'm gettin only 10-16%, or am i misunderstanding how it works here, since the Du people were not helpful

nuzbim wrote:what i meant is i'd have 3 downloads goin at the same time at 200-400 kbps for a total of 600-1200.

here i've got the 1 mbps pipe but the max i've gotten is 140-160, which means i'm gettin only 10-16%, or am i misunderstanding how it works here, since the Du people were not helpful

You've got it totally mixed up.

It is a 1 megaBIT pip, not a 1 megaBYTE pipel.

The quick and dirty way is to divide by 8 - 128k maximum.

Anything above that is just spiking - you cannot sustain 140-160 on Du with a 1 meg connection. You're going as fast as it goes.

thanks guess that clears it up, since when i signed up to Du they said it was a 1 megabyte connection and not megabit.

damn i miss my 100 mpbs connection i had in the states. i had fiber run directly to the house for 60 bucks a month US.

nuzbim wrote:thanks guess that clears it up, since when i signed up to Du they said it was a 1 megabyte connection and not megabit.

damn i miss my 100 mpbs connection i had in the states. i had fiber run directly to the house for 60 bucks a month US.

Tell me about it, I had a 22 mbps connection in Australia for the same.

There's no reason why they can't do that here, they just don't.

yep its just sad that they won't allow better speeds. i'm sick of havin to wait for downloads.

guess i'm just spoiled

i have 512kbps connection from al shameil and i get 60kBps download speed

cheap_Deal wrote:i have 512kbps connection from al shameil and i get 60kBps download speed

512/8 = 64k

ya its annoying why they wont install higher speeds here in UAE. especially when they charge the customers so high for slow services. i got a 2mb connection at home at around 340dhs/month and i cant even play online games properly because of the lag.

compare this to other countries, and the rates is just sky high.

xero_ wrote:ya its annoying why they wont install higher speeds here in UAE. especially when they charge the customers so high for slow services. i got a 2mb connection at home at around 340dhs/month and i cant even play online games properly because of the lag.
compare this to other countries, and the rates is just sky high.

It's not a matter of higher speed. It's sharing ratio that matters. It's pretty useless even you got 8Mbps connection if shared among 100 accounts in your neighborhood.

Though other countries may charge less, I still consider thankful for Dubai's. In my home country, I could have spent equiv US$500 to have 512Kbps connection with unlimited traffic. Surprisingly sad, but true.

what country would that be? if you dont mind me askin

xty_ wrote:It's not a matter of higher speed. It's sharing ratio that matters. It's pretty useless even you got 8Mbps connection if shared among 100 accounts in your neighborhood.

Though other countries may charge less, I still consider thankful for Dubai's. In my home country, I could have spent equiv US$500 to have 512Kbps connection with unlimited traffic. Surprisingly sad, but true.

i dont share it, i use it all for myself and its stillll so slooooww. the fastest etisalat service is the business one. i think they have upto 6mbps not sure if they got 8mb now. but its so expensive, around 600dhs+.

nuzbim wrote:what country would that be? if you dont mind me askin

Indonesia

xero_ wrote:

xty_ wrote:It's not a matter of higher speed. It's sharing ratio that matters. It's pretty useless even you got 8Mbps connection if shared among 100 accounts in your neighborhood.

i dont share it, i use it all for myself and its stillll so slooooww. the fastest etisalat service is the business one. i think they have upto 6mbps not sure if they got 8mb now. but its so expensive, around 600dhs+.

Even if you don't share, actually the bandwidth is commonly shared among the customers within the same building/area (connected to the same DSLAM/distribution point). It's common for any ISP in any country if you're having only home/personal account. Sometimes 1:4, 1:10, etc. The smaller the better. But there's nothing you can do but accepting whatever you got.

Corporate/business account may give you better speed because commonly the sharing ratio can be kept/guaranteed small or even 1:1 (as in leased line, means you get 100% of your bandwidth reserved for only you). That if the ISP is playing fair.

xty wrote:

xero_ wrote:

xty_ wrote:It's not a matter of higher speed. It's sharing ratio that matters. It's pretty useless even you got 8Mbps connection if shared among 100 accounts in your neighborhood.

i dont share it, i use it all for myself and its stillll so slooooww. the fastest etisalat service is the business one. i think they have upto 6mbps not sure if they got 8mb now. but its so expensive, around 600dhs+.

Even if you don't share, actually the bandwidth is commonly shared among the customers within the same building/area (connected to the same DSLAM/distribution point). It's common for any ISP in any country if you're having only home/personal account. Sometimes 1:4, 1:10, etc. The smaller the better. But there's nothing you can do but accepting whatever you got.

Corporate/business account may give you better speed because commonly the sharing ratio can be kept/guaranteed small or even 1:1 (as in leased line, means you get 100% of your bandwidth reserved for only you). That if the ISP is playing fair.

etisalat playing fair....

all i could say is