New to DSL.

What should I expect?

[Broadway]

I just got DSL from my local telephone company. The say it should be 1500kbps download and 512kbps upload.

During the day I have run testing and consitently I get about 1000kbps download and 480kbps upload. I would have thought that I would get better, but I don't know what is realistic to expect.

I installed a Category 5e wire that runs directly from the phone company's network box on the side of my house to my DSL modem. There is no telephone on this line, just the modem.

Around 5PM on into the evening my DSL service slows down drastically. I just tested it as being 130kbps download and 300kbps upload.

So what is going on? Is this just caused by normal web traffic and has nothing to do with my telephone company's DSL service? Or is this something direcly related to the telephone company such as they have oversold this service and cannot handle all of the traffic there customers create?

[aspdaddy]

So what is going on

Contention. Unless of course you bought an uncontended product.

Is this SDSL, or unbundled ADSL?

[Broadway]

Both the repair men who came to my house and also the telephone support people all state that my bandwidth is not shared.

The second repair man who came to check things out said that the line in my neighborhood was running at 97% of capacity. He said this meant that when all of us in the neighborhood were online at the same time there were some traffic considerations?

He said he switched some things around up on the pole? so the total DSL traffic in the neighborhood is now only 67% of the line's capacity. Thus allowing me to get access to my full bandwidth.

Whatever he did worked. The transfer rate tests I run report 1492kbps download and 488kbps upload. The plan I bought say 1.5M/512.

If anyone out there is having DSL trouble don't overlook the fact that you can plug your modem's telephone line directly into your network box (although I then had to run the line in a window). This way you can prove to the telephone people that your problems have absolutely nothing to do with your indoor wiring.

[py9jmas]

What rates are you measuring? Remember there are many layers to network stacks:
In the UK, we use PPPoA. So we have:
ATM
containing PPP
containing IP
containing TCP
containing HTTP
containing Useful Data (tm).
Each layer adds overhead and header information. If your measuring the bottom level, ie how long does it take to download x bytes off a webserver, you're always going to get a lower number than your ISP, who'll use the top level.

[aspdaddy]

I'v not come across that before, my bandwidth monitoring tells me the same as the contract.

Broadway - dont rely on what repair men tell you, your SLA defines the connection speeds/contentions.My guess it is contended and they just manage the customers based on who shouts louddest.