ibb new products

rob1891

Irishbroadband have updated their product line up but I am still paying (according to the invoice) for the old 512Kb & 1:8 connection. Same priced product is now 1Mb & 1:20.

Do you think I should stick to the lower contention or demand to be moved to this higher speed product? I never get 64KB/sec maximum on 1:8, so what are the chances I'd get any speed increase going to 1:20?


Rob

64KB/8 = 8KB/sec min.
128KB/20 = 6.4KB/sec min.

Mutant_Fruit

rob1891 wrote:

64KB/8 = 8KB/sec min.
128KB/20 = 6.4KB/sec min.

You should have written 64KiB/8 = 8KiB etc. They're the new units to stop the confusion between kb (kilobits) and kB (kilobytes). (KiB = Kilobyte)

As you can see, the min speed is not that much different at all. 8kb is just as bad as 6.4, but the max speed is twice what you are getting. I've changed to the 1meg service, and all i can say is ive only experienced faster speeds. Its worth changing.

Creamy Goodness

mutant i'm soon to be on the same package as you, but can i ask at what speed do you download on average? (KB/sec)

Esel

Mutant_Fruit wrote:

You should have written 64KiB/8 = 8KiB etc. They're the new units to stop the confusion between kb (kilobits) and kB (kilobytes). (KiB = Kilobyte)

What? b = bit B = byte. This standard has applied for yonks. Where is the confusion? And why the need for the i anyway? Sounds like major twaddle to me. Cites and I may eat my headwear.

Not that I really give a kib.

Mutant_Fruit

esel wrote:

What? b = bit B = byte. This standard has applied for yonks. Where is the confusion? And why the need for the i anyway? Sounds like major twaddle to me. Cites and I may eat my headwear.

Not that I really give a kib.

Yeah, but there are tons of people who don't know the difference

As for speeds, take a look at screenshot one. And i occasionally spike up to the speeds shown in screenshot 2.

Esel

lol at shot 2, but still can't see the problem using b for bit and B for byte.
The people who don't know should learn!

Creamy Goodness

mutant is that du meter you using for stopwatch?

just curious

Mutant_Fruit

I was using BWMeter which has a bug, and it miscounts horribly when you pull the window "off the screen" if you know what i mean

rob1891

Mutant_Fruit wrote:

You should have written 64KiB/8 = 8KiB etc. They're the new units to stop the confusion between kb (kilobits) and kB (kilobytes). (KiB = Kilobyte)

As you can see, the min speed is not that much different at all. 8kb is just as bad as 6.4, but the max speed is twice what you are getting. I've changed to the 1meg service, and all i can say is ive only experienced faster speeds. Its worth changing.

Thanks for the info, I shall try and contact them (half the battle) and get our service changed over.

Syth

esel wrote:

What? b = bit B = byte. This standard has applied for yonks. Where is the confusion? And why the need for the i anyway? Sounds like major twaddle to me. Cites and I may eat my headwear.

Not that I really give a kib.

You're right, b=bit and B=byte, however the K vs Ki is because of the binary way of doing things. km = kilometre = 10^3 metres, but kB (or KB) = kilobyte = 2^10 bytes = 1024 bytes. That can cause confusion, thus people can up with kibibytes = KiB = 2^10 bytes = 1024 bytes. There is also mebi, gibi.

For more into see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binary_prefix

Ripwave

Syth wrote:

You're right, b=bit and B=byte, however the K vs Ki is because of the binary way of doing things. km = kilometre = 10^3 metres, but kB (or KB) = kilobyte = 2^10 bytes = 1024 bytes. That can cause confusion, thus people can up with kibibytes = KiB = 2^10 bytes = 1024 bytes. There is also mebi, gibi.

So they're not "the new units to stop the confusion between kb (kilobits) and kB (kilobytes)", then?

gsand

Any1 else got any feedback on the 1meg option...

Thinking of changing myself but I dont want to end up with a poor 1meg as my 512k 8:1 is quite good atm

Mutant_Fruit

Ripwave wrote:

So they're not "the new units to stop the confusion between kb (kilobits) and kB (kilobytes)", then?

The International Electrotechnical Commission has defined the kilobyte as 1000 bytes, and have 1024 bytes called a kibibyte (KiB) -- a term which very few have adopted.

So yes, technically they aren't the replacements, but they are still the correct units to be using. We download files in Kibibytes, not kilobytes. :rolleyes:

EDIT: I don't want to post again, tis just polluting the thread, so i'll edit this in response to the post below. People download files, and say they are getting the files at 60kB/sec, when they generally mean 60KiB/sec. Thats what i meant by my comment above. Files are measured in "1024" byte segments, and KiB measures in "1024" byte segments. Damn, i'm confusing myself now, but you get the picture.

Zab

Actually, bandwidth is usually measured in kilobits per second, not kibibits per second. For instance, fast ethernet (100Mbps) runs at 100,000,000 bits per second, not 104,857,600 bits per second.

Ripwave

Mutant_Fruit wrote:

So yes, technically they aren't the replacements, but they are still the correct units to be using. We download files in Kibibytes, not kilobytes. :rolleyes:

The confusion is between "bits" and "bytes" - the introduction of the Ki terms simply adds more confusion, not less.

Given that the TCP/IP overhead swamps the difference between Ki units and K units anyway, comparing the difference beween DSL downloads in KiB versus KB is definitely in the "angels dancing on the head of a pin" category.

Esel

Mutant_Fruit wrote:

So yes, technically they aren't the replacements, but they are still the correct units to be using. We download files in Kibibytes, not kilobytes. :rolleyes:

EDIT: I don't want to post again, tis just polluting the thread, so i'll edit this in response to the post below. People download files, and say they are getting the files at 60kB/sec, when they generally mean 60KiB/sec. Thats what i meant by my comment above. Files are measured in "1024" byte segments, and KiB measures in "1024" byte segments. Damn, i'm confusing myself now, but you get the picture.

Per Wikipedia (cited above - very interesting, thanks) telecomms use 10^3 not 2^10, so Kb or KB *is* correct here, when talking about bandwith, transmission speeds etc. The use of 'i' or 'bi' is to denote binary powers, and has nothing to do with bits or Bytes per se.

rob1891

Well KB or KiB, I called them today and she said there wasn't any point as there would be no real speed increase! I wasn't prepared for convincing the lady that she should change me over and my sentences were coming out backwards so we just had a chat about the service and I left it at that. I'll call another time when I'm in a more coherent state and see if they'll change me over.

Rob