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Talk to me about Internet speeds

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Fleet_of_Foot

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So we're thinking of cancelling cable and going the Hulu/Netflix route.

We get our Internet through Time Warner and I'm trying to figure out what speed we need, and also how they control it.

About a year ago I was in their office and they offered to upgrade me from "Standard" to "Turbo" Road Runner for some tiny fee. I said great. The lady clicked a button on her computer and said "Ok, now you have it." I couldn't believe it was that easy. I went home and reset my router (not sure why, just seemed logical) and to this day I can't tell a difference. Our Internet speed has never seemed crazy fast.

So now that we're cancelling cable and just having Internet, I need to decide which speed to get from them. According to their website, my "Turbo" is up to 20Mbps down. That doesn't sound like a lot. And when we streamed a movie from Amazon over my PS3 last week, we only got the best SD version, not HD. When I use Netflix, I get HD no problem.

Anyway, I just want to know what speed I really need, and how I'll be able to tell if Time Warner actually gives it to me. I don't trust them at all. The next step up is "Extreme," which is 30Mbps. That's 59.99 and that's as high as I'll go. If I'm cancelling cable, I want to be able to stream in HD.

I should say, everything in our house is wireless. PS3, 360, iPad, SmartTV, iPhones, etc.

Bonus question: I'd like to choose Amazon streaming over Netflix (because of the Prime shipping) but I'm not sure how their content compares. I'm not paying for both. Can anyone comment on that?
 
time warner gave all their users a free speed upgrade recently. i have the regular internet and i'm getting 25mb down. i would just go with regular as that is all you need.
 
To stream HD you really only need about 5Mbps. Amazon's streaming isn't up to Netflix's snuff yet, which is why you were getting stuck with SD. There could be other issues such as QOS and routing as well which could explain.
 
I've got FiOS at my house and LTE on my phone.

Come at me bro!




Fleet_of_Foot said:
So we're thinking of cancelling cable and going the Hulu/Netflix route.

We get our Internet through Time Warner and I'm trying to figure out what speed we need, and also how they control it.

About a year ago I was in their office and they offered to upgrade me from "Standard" to "Turbo" Road Runner for some tiny fee. I said great. The lady clicked a button on her computer and said "Ok, now you have it." I couldn't believe it was that easy. I went home and reset my router (not sure why, just seemed logical) and to this day I can't tell a difference. Our Internet speed has never seemed crazy fast.

So now that we're cancelling cable and just having Internet, I need to decide which speed to get from them. According to their website, my "Turbo" is up to 20Mbps down. That doesn't sound like a lot. And when we streamed a movie from Amazon over my PS3 last week, we only got the best SD version, not HD. When I use Netflix, I get HD no problem.

Anyway, I just want to know what speed I really need, and how I'll be able to tell if Time Warner actually gives it to me. I don't trust them at all. The next step up is "Extreme," which is 30Mbps. That's 59.99 and that's as high as I'll go. If I'm cancelling cable, I want to be able to stream in HD.

I should say, everything in our house is wireless. PS3, 360, iPad, SmartTV, iPhones, etc.

Bonus question: I'd like to choose Amazon streaming over Netflix (because of the Prime shipping) but I'm not sure how their content compares. I'm not paying for both. Can anyone comment on that?
Click to expand...

You're over thinking this IMO. You are allowed to change your speed whenever you want ... so I'd recommend going with 'Turbo' (20Mbs) and see if that is sufficient for your needs. If not, just upgrade it.

Assuming they are being accurate in their numbers, 'Turbo' should be plenty. You can probably even get away with that for Vudu HDX.
 
Valkyr Junkie said:
To stream HD you really only need about 5Mbps. Amazon's streaming isn't up to Netflix's snuff yet, which is why you were getting stuck with SD. There could be other issues such as QOS and routing as well which could explain.
Click to expand...

Very interesting. So maybe I stick with "Turbo" and also stick with Netflix. Damn I was looking for an excuse for free 2-day shipping but I'm not dealing with SD video.
 
20Mbps should get you HD quality easily....<.<

Run speedtest.net and see what you ACTUALLY get, if its ADSL you are not getting the speeds they say but thats how it is. Not even fiber gets you the advertised 100%
 
Amazon and Netflix libraries are mostly the same. Netflix might have more content, but that is to be expected. Amazon's streaming devices are limited, as opposed to Netflix, which is on everything, but refrigerators these days.

One other thing, Netflix will be the only service to carry Arrested Development(along with House of Cards) when it premieres. So if you are a fan, that might affect your decision.

Amazon's streaming quality can be terrible at times. And I don't like streaming from their site, it can get pretty bad.
 
Fleet_of_Foot said:
About a year ago I was in their office and they offered to upgrade me from "Standard" to "Turbo" Road Runner for some tiny fee. I said great. The lady clicked a button on her computer and said "Ok, now you have it." I couldn't believe it was that easy. I went home and reset my router (not sure why, just seemed logical) and to this day I can't tell a difference. Our Internet speed has never seemed crazy fast.
Click to expand...

They are just throttling the potential connection your current area has.

20Mb/s is enough to stream HD content from either service. Upload always sucks from providers.

There are many tools online, such as speedtest.net, that will evaluate your DL/UL.
 
Fleet_of_Foot said:
Very interesting. So maybe I stick with "Turbo" and also stick with Netflix. Damn I was looking for an excuse for free 2-day shipping but I'm not dealing with SD video.
Click to expand...

Yea, 20Mbps "dosent sound like a lot", but its good enough for HD video and gaming. At the same time even.

Try Youtube in 1080p or trailers.apple.com in 1080p and see how it goes

Or hell even youtubes 4k stuff
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5BF9E09ECEC8F88F

But run speedtest.net
 
GK86 said:
Amazon and Netflix libraries are mostly the same. Netflix might have more content, but that is to be expected. Amazon's streaming devices are limited, as opposed to Netflix, which is on everything, but refrigerators these days.

One other thing, Netflix will be the only service to carry Arrested Development(along with House of Cards) when it premieres. So if you are a fan, that might affect your decision.

Amazon's streaming quality can be terrible at times. And I don't like streaming from their site, it can get pretty bad.
Click to expand...

The only movie I noticed amazon has that netflix doesn't was Blazing Saddles.
 
20 down is more than enough for HD streaming. The issue isn't with the speed you are paying for, but it sounds more like Time Warner being a shitty ISP by not giving you the full speed you are entitled to.

Netflix Super HD only requires 5-7mbps connection.
 
I can safely say that a 10mbit connection is enough for HD streaming. (I pay 50 cents a month for 10/10, suckers.)
 
lunchtoast said:
The only movie I noticed amazon has that netflix doesn't was Blazing Saddles.
Click to expand...

At a quick glance:

Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls
The Goonies
Friday
Ocean's Eleven
Into the Wild
Green Lantern

First 5 pages of Amazon's search.

I know they want to give an incentive for people to sign up for Prime, but I would probably put down money if they offered their streaming for $8/monthly. And I love Netflix.
 
20mbps works out to a gigabyte every seven minutes or so (roughly. I have 23mbps and I suck down a gig in about 5-6, so I estimated for 20). It's plenty for HD video.

Just make sure you don't choke the HD video with bittorrent or something else along those lines.
 
I had a 10M connection at my old flat and I could run a 1080p youtube and a 720p youtube side by side and still have speed left over.
 
basically everyone today is getting hosed with a "standard" speed, I even got an offer from FioS in the mail. triple play the ususal...fiber optics ... in little print at the bottom of the add " connection speed of 15/5 mb"

excuse me? in 2013 thats the fucking speed? So fucking disappoint. Basically youre going to have to call them up and set up a higher price tier , try and get atleast 3MBs down, thats still sub 30mbs connection. If Telecoms cant fucking hack it they shouldve stayed regulated and let the god damn tax dollars build a network that could've , this is pitiful.
 
DonasaurusRex said:
basically everyone today is getting hosed with a "standard" speed, I even got an offer from FioS in the mail. triple play the ususal...fiber optics ... in little print at the bottom of the add " connection speed of 15/5 mb"

excuse me? in 2013 thats the fucking speed? So fucking disappoint. Basically youre going to have to call them up and set up a higher price tier , try and get atleast 3MBs down, thats still sub 30mbs connection. If Telecoms cant fucking hack it they shouldve stayed regulated and let the god damn tax dollars build a network that could've , this is pitiful.
Click to expand...

15/5 is more than what 99.99% of the populace needs for their purposes online.
 
mackattk said:
True, but for 5% of the time someone needs to download a large file, it sure is nice to be able to download it in 2-3 minutes rather than 30.
Click to expand...

Definitely, which is why a lot of ISPs like Comcast offer 'Burst' which basically gives you a 30-50Mbps connection for about a minute or two, which will allow just about anything smaller than a few GB to be downloaded in minutes.

For faster speeds for anything larger, power users end up having to pay a premium.
 
Valkyr Junkie said:
15/5 is more than what 99.99% of the populace needs for their purposes online.
Click to expand...

fuck that files are getting larger not smaller, i just had to DL a 22GB file yesterday, on top of that just about any gadget i have can connect to my router, guests connect to your router, brother has an xbox, tablet, smart tv. Nah 15/5 is trash.

avg should be 30mb by now, would gladly pay for something in the 50 - 100 mb range, higher tier.
 
Your current speed should be fine, just run a speedtest.net test to see what your really getting. As far as amazon and Netflix go, I have both but I pay amazon for prime shipping and just think of the videos as a bonus.
 
Valkyr Junkie said:
Definitely, which is why a lot of ISPs like Comcast offer 'Burst' which basically gives you a 30-50Mbps connection for about a minute or two, which will allow just about anything smaller than a few GB to be downloaded in minutes.

For faster speeds for anything larger, power users end up having to pay a premium.
Click to expand...

Forgot about that, but IIRC comcast's version is only the first 20mb of a file. This only saves ~8-10 seconds on downloading a large file on a 15mbps connection. It would be great of the burst downloading kept up with download speeds, but it seems to be more like a relic of the past. I am not sure if other providers have different systems.

More and more people are using bandwith and the bandwith requirements keep rising, so with a family of four, 15mbps may not be fast enough.
 
DonasaurusRex said:
fuck that files are getting larger not smaller, i just had to DL a 22GB file yesterday, on top of that just about any gadget i have can connect to my router, guests connect to your router, brother has an xbox, tablet, smart tv. Nah 15/5 is trash.

avg should be 30mb by now, would gladly pay for something in the 50 - 100 mb range, higher tier.
Click to expand...

By chance was this 22GB file a 'legitimate' file? As for those other devices you listed, they're all still low b/w usage under just about any normal circumstances. Your Xbox uses next to no bandwidth while playing on XBL, only uses 1-5Mbps of bandwidth while streaming video, and only will use more than that when downloading a full game for however long that may be. Tablets and Smart TVs use next to no bandwidth under regular usage unless they're streaming a video also. Consider that a lot of large companies only have network pipes in the 50-100Mbps range, and may have at least several hundred users performing standard Internet browsing at the same time with no bottlenecking.

mackattk said:
Forgot about that, but IIRC comcast's version is only the first 20mb of a file. This only saves ~8-10 seconds on downloading a large file on a 15mbps connection. It would be great of the burst downloading kept up with download speeds, but it seems to be more like a relic of the past. I am not sure if other providers have different systems.

More and more people are using bandwith and the bandwith requirements keep rising, so with a family of four, 15mbps may not be fast enough.
Click to expand...

Fortunately for me, Comcast's 'Burst' seems to last a long longer than it did in the past; it lasts at least a few minutes now.
 
I get 36/6 and only have internet. I watch movies and tv shows over Netflix and TV antenna. However, Comcast has been throttling my Netflix usage. :(
 
Valkyr Junkie said:
By chance was this 22GB file a 'legitimate' file? As for those other devices you listed, they're all still low b/w usage under just about any normal circumstances. Your Xbox uses next to no bandwidth while playing on XBL, only uses 1-5Mbps of bandwidth while streaming video, and only will use more than that when downloading a full game for however long that may be. Tablets and Smart TVs use next to no bandwidth under regular usage unless they're streaming a video also. Consider that a lot of large companies only have network pipes in the 50-100Mbps range, and may have at least several hundred users performing standard Internet browsing at the same time with no bottlenecking.



Fortunately for me, Comcast's 'Burst' seems to last a long longer than it did in the past; it lasts at least a few minutes now.
Click to expand...

yeah it was legitimate, and not uncommon after a steam sale games cant stay back logged forever. And i dont give a shit what large companies have they shouldnt have bitched about deregulating telecom then, the people were going to pay for the replacement for phone and in many cases cable, THE PEOPLE , shit went de regulated and it was like that episode of the simpsons and the trillion dollar bill "what money?". For a seamless connected experience people are going to need more than 15/5 , i can use that up using skype + youtube uploads. The avg should really be in the 30 -40 mb range by now. Network bandwidth is the new system/ hdd memory "who will ever need more than 512mb of ram?" , "no ones ever going to need more than a gig of hdd space!". Yeah yeah , I wish google the best at least they get it, geezus.
 
If you are using all those devices at once you are going to experience slowdown with a 20mb connection.


Which is more like 12-15 megabits due to overhead and other factors.
 
I stream Netflix off a 2.5MBish wireless docomo modem connection to my PC via VPN and get medium to high quality SD. Only gotten HD with South Park for some reason.

So ya, it doesn't take a lot.
 
The biggest advantage to upgrading to extreme is your UL speed gets a significant boost up to 5mbit. Turbo UL speed isn't even 1mbit

But other than that unless you are downloading huge files then I doubt you will notice any difference between 20 - 30mbit download, both should be plenty to start a HD stream almost immediately assuming the server can max out your connection
 
When looking for an ISP, you need to research the following

  • Customer service
  • What is the upload speed?
  • Do they throttle speeds at peak times?
  • Do they throttle speeds for P2P traffic (if you download torrents)?
  • Monthly usage limits? HD streaming will eat up several GB's per hour
  • Reliability
  • Average connection speeds in your area
 
I shouted at my ISP so much they decided to not only pay for my internet for the year, but give me £10 back at the end of my contract. It's only 10mb but I'm not gonna complain for a second.It can handle HD relatively well and does SD pretty much as you want it.
 
I need an answer to this same question and didn't want to make a new topic. Will 25Mbps be enough for me and 1 roommate if we both use the internet heavily? I download plenty of games via stream, play XBL, and hope to do livestreams of games; he plays LoL and watches videos.

It's only a $10/mo. increase for 50Mbps so I don't mind, but he's trying to cut every corner possible on costs. If it's not worth it I'll concede, but I NEED quality internet.
 
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