'Turbocharge' Your Internet Access- for a fee, of course

[ATB]

So I get this in my email box:



For 10.00 more per month, my already quite fast connection can get MUCH MUCH FASTAR.

My question is, how does this work.

All things being equal (teh pipes!), do they just assign me more bandwidth or assign my account higher priority...how does it work? How would my speeds get faster than they already are? 

Of course, they don't have to actually 'do' anything for that 10.00 but how do they make it happen?

I'm thinking about testing this out for giggles, but I no comprehendo.

[drifter]

They send a tech to the DSLAM you are hooked up to and he turns a dial.

[ATB]

They send a tech to the DSLAM you are hooked up to and he turns a dial.

And that dial does what. And what's a DSLAM?  DUMB IT DOWN YOU EVIL GENIUS!

Btw- My DL is 4912 and up is 362 as per the Speedtest.

[Knightshade Dragon]

Well, if your plan was less than 8mb, then yes, they just assign you a new plan which gives you access to a higher bandwidth cap.

DSLAM is Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer and would apply to DSL modems, not Cablemodems.  In this case, the TFTP (Trivial File Transfer Protocol ) file in the cable modem would change and with it, your ability to access higher bandwidth.  No dials.

It is doubtful that you'd notice any more speed by the way...only on sustained transfers, and then you are limited by the other end of the connection - the server sending.

[ATB]

It is doubtful that you'd notice any more speed by the way...only on sustained transfers, and then you are limited by the other end of the connection - the server sending.

What about say, for hosting MP games on XBL?  Or playing them for that matter.

[drifter]

DSLAM would be DSL right; thanks Knightshade I should read the details better, I blame the percocet I am on right now.

Playing a game does not use a lot of bandwidth you are more dependent on latency there (ping).

If you host games (gameserver sort of thing) then you may want more bandwidth for the uploading.

Basically though if your internet is fine for you now there probably isnt a need for you to upgrade.

[Arkon]

One thing to note... the grammer of "up to".  If your upstream increased to the threshold listed it would help when you hosted XBL games.  That is about it.

[Knightshade Dragon]

One thing to note... the grammer of "up to".  If your upstream increased to the threshold listed it would help when you hosted XBL games.  That is about it.

Correct - the upload is what matters for hosting games on XBL.  362 up is a little light for hosting more than probably 8 players (depending on the game)

[WarPig]

Well, if your plan was less than 8mb, then yes, they just assign you a new plan which gives you access to a higher bandwidth cap.

DSLAM is Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer and would apply to DSL modems, not Cablemodems.  In this case, the TFTP (Trivial File Transfer Protocol ) file in the cable modem would change and with it, your ability to access higher bandwidth.  No dials.

It is doubtful that you'd notice any more speed by the way...only on sustained transfers, and then you are limited by the other end of the connection - the server sending.

Memories...of the way things used to be...misty water-colored memories...of the way we were...

[unbreakable]

I always assumed they were offering some kind of (extra) data compression, but I'm not a big fan of DSL anymore.

I remember cable started bumping up speeds as they improved their network, which was pretty cool.  But DSL has some pretty strict requirements, as well as difficulty in increasing speed beyond a certain point (especially since DSL now shares the same line with the required voice service).

[ATB]

I'm gonna go ahead and give it a try. Internets is a business expense anyway.  Now I can download work even fastar!

[ATB]

7852 Down 490 up.

I'll take it!