From kragen@dnaco.net Sat Sep  5 22:27:41 1998
Date: Sat, 5 Sep 1998 22:27:39 -0400 (EDT)
From: Kragen <kragen@dnaco.net>
To: Spencer Davis <spencer@fuse.net>
cc: "clug-user@clug.org" <clug-user@clug.org>
Subject: Re: benchmarking network preformance
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On Sat, 5 Sep 1998, Spencer Davis wrote:
> Hello,
> 	About how fast should someone with a 56.6 modem be able to download an
> ~1Meg file?

Well, if you were really getting 57.6kbps, you would be able to
download 5.76 kilobytes per second, so it should take about 178 seconds
-- or three minutes, minus two seconds -- to download a 1024K file.

I don't think that's legal in the US (53K is the max), and most of the
time, people don't even get that -- more like 40-50 kbps, from what
I've heard.  But it should still be less than six minutes.

And then there's protocol overhead, which is significant for IP (3% or
so) and other stuff (do 56K modems actually transmit start and stop
bits like 2400 baud modems did?  If not, you'd get up to 7.2 kilobytes
per second, cutting your theoretical minimum download time to 142
seconds, or 2 minutes, 22 seconds.  Do they compress data?  Well, maybe
you could get even better rates.).

The answer is: I don't know.  I have a 14.4kbps modem.  :)

> Also, as far as ISP's go, are there any local ones that support Linux
> expressly? I'm with FUSE and while it works fine, the tech support
> people seem to blanch when I ask them questions...

I am also interested in this question.

Kragen

-- 
<kragen@pobox.com>       Kragen Sitaker     <http://www.pobox.com/~kragen/>
I don't do .INI, .BAT, .DLL or .SYS files. I don't assign apps to files. I 
don't configure peripherals or networks before using them. I have a computer 
to do all that. I have a Macintosh, not a hobby. -- Fritz Anderson


