Cable Modem Speed Tests
You've tested your cable speed and the results read, for example, that your
modem loaded 322,649 bytes in 0.187 seconds, with a throughput (see above) of
13803 Kpbs. By contrast, your friend's 56K modem has a maximum download speed of
53 Kpbs.
But don't start crowing victory yet: someone else may have aced the cable modem
speed test, possibly even your grandfather. Comparing dialup to cable in a cable
modem test is like comparing apples to oranges. Depending on Net congestion for
your area, your computer speed and hardware, and whether or not you've done any
cable modem tweaks, you might be the slowest cable Internet in the west. But you
can improve your cable modem speed.
How a Cable Modem Speed Test Works:
About cable modem speed tests:
Testing your cable modem speed is actually simple thanks to the proliferation of
sites such as cable-modem.net. Cable-modem. net's cable modem speed test
downloads a harmless file from the Web site server to your computer and measures
how fast the file downloads, how many bytes per second your modem transfers,
then rates your throughput in terms of kilobytes per second (kbps). Your
throughput is the amount of data moved successfully from one place to another in
the time the test takes. This will vary from cable modem to cable modem, and
bear in mind that your connection speed may be affected by Net congestion.
If you do any cable modem tweaks to improve your speed, and there are many
methods out there, you can always do another cable modem test. You should test
your cable modem speed regularly anyway, and you might want to keep a log of
your cable modem speed test results.
Cable Modem Speed and Hardware Issues
Wiring issues, rather than hardware, may be the reason your cable modem speed
is, well, not up to speed. Check your wiring, have your cable company check the
wiring, and then run a cable modem test.
That said, if your USB port is being used by other devices (say a Zip drive or
an external CD burner), your CPU will have delays in processing input from your
USB, which can affect the cable modem speed. Consider unplugging peripherals
while you're doing cable modem tweaks and running cable modem speed tests.
Compare the results of the cable modem tests before and after you unplug.
If you use a PCI or NIC card, there's no delay since it's wired directly with
the CPU, in which case, as before, your problem is most likely the wiring.
Turn Off That Washing Machine
The phone's ringing, the oven's going off, and the clothes washer makes a funny
noise in the spin cycle. You may feel as if your cable modem speed of your brain
has slowed to dialup speed, and you're not the only one. Although fiber optic
and coaxial cable is shielded, noise, signals and vibrations from cable TV and
household appliances can penetrate, interfering with your cable internet speed.
All the cable modem tweaks you can perform won't work if the electricity from
your son's Xbox interferes.
Southern California Edison has a program called “Flex Your Power,” trying to get
people to use appliances at off-peak hours to save energy. You can use the same
strategy. Wash at night; use the Internet during the day or vice versa. When you
know you need speed, tell Junior to go to his friend's house to play his video
games or his electric guitar. Or do his homework, since other computers and
cable modems in the house can affect your computer's cable modem tests.
Unplug a few appliances, disconnect the phone (you want to anyway, right?), and
run the cable modem speed test again. You'll be surprised at the result.
Cable Modem Speed on Macintosh and Windows
Windows cable modem speed complaints are legend. But once you've run a cable
modem test on your Windows 95 computer, for example, and discovered you come out
the tortoise to your across the street neighbor's hare in the cable speed test,
you can actually correct the problem by performing cable modem tweaks and
upgrading your Winsock2 version. This will allow you to make the receive window,
a buffer that determines how much data the receiving computer is prepared to get
at one time, larger.
The Macintosh doesn't have a registry to edit, but don't let Mac users get
uppity. Macintosh cable modem speed isn't all it could be because it controls
communications through the Open Transport layer, which means it's preset to
handle dial-up modems and Ethernet connections. Since Mac users are undoubtedly
frustrated when the results of cable modem speed tests indicate they're not
downloading iTunes, games and graphics as blazingly fast as they want, OT
Advanced Tuner is highly recommended in addition to other Mac cable modem
tweaking programs.
Linux gets ignored, but it too can make cable modem speed slow. Fortunately,
with a text editor, Linux devotees can do cable modem tweaks to their hearts'
content.
Cable Modem Tweaks vs. Automation
Cable modem tweaks fine-tune your cable speed, and as with most improvement
projects, there are two routes you can take:
• Do-It-Yourself
• Let Someone Else Do It
As with remodeling your kitchen, working on your car or managing your health and
finances, there are pros and cons to going it alone versus letting someone else
muck around. So before you decide the results of that cable modem speed test
mean you need to be the Lone Ranger, a few considerations:
+ Pro DIY
--You have more control over editing yourr computer's registry
--There are no unfamiliar programs changiing your system except for any registry
editing tools you might use
--You know your computer system better thhan anyone
- Con DIY
--If you don't back up your computer's reegistry, you could be in trouble should
you accidentally punch the wrong key
--You have a learning curve and will needd to bone up on registry editing from
sites such as SpeedGuide.net
--A computer program (Broadband Wizard annd BlazeNet for Windows, OT Advanced
Tuner for Mac) to tweak your modem can easily undo any changes you make
Whatever route you choose, always run a cable modem test after you've finished
tweaking.