Upgrade my Bandwidth??

[jdsmoooth]

I live in what I consider the Adirondacks. When I purchased my house I thought seclusion was the American Dream. Now I'd just like to be able to walk to a Coffee Shop. Anyway...

There is only one legitimate cable and internet provider and we get charged out the wazoo for service. I currently pay $59 for 15mbps down. I can go to 30mbps for $89.

Will this really improve my streaming experience? Thanks

 

[waw74]

where are you streaming from?

you shouldn't have many problems at 15Mb/s but that's if you're really getting that speed.
go to http://www.speedtest.net/ and check your connection.

I live in Brooklyn, and just did one, and got about 22 down. i rarely have any problems.

also if you're on cable, it will depend on your neighbors (everyone sharing the line) so your bandwidth will vary over the course of the day, pretty slow in the evenings, but fast in the early morning.

 

[jdsmoooth]

where are you streaming from?

you shouldn't have many problems at 15Mb/s but that's if you're really getting that speed.
go to http://www.speedtest.net/ and check your connection.

I actually get between 13 and 15. I think I'm the only real nerd around where I live. I don't have many neighbors either.

 

[DeaconGraves]

What's your current streaming experience like? I have a 15 down connection like you and have no problems with netflix or other video sites.

I agree with the poster above me and run a speedtest check. Make sure you're getting what you pay for before you decide to upgrade.

 

[jdsmoooth]

What's your current streaming experience like?

Actually, pretty good. I'm wondering if I increase my bandwidth if the quality of the stream will increase?

 

[DeaconGraves]

Actually, pretty good. I'm wondering if I increase my bandwidth if the quality of the stream will increase?

Well, it can only increase so much. If you're getting an HD signal from netflix or hulu, the upgrade isn't going to make much difference.

If you do a lot of downloading, on the other hand, then the increase will be significant.

 

[xlii]

One thing I did that increased my download speed by a factor of six was to replace my 11 year old cable modem with a docsis 3.0 modem. I'm on Comcast. I went from 5 mbs to 30 - 50 mbs.

While you are paying for 15mbs you should go to www.speedtest.net and run a test to see what you are really getting. You might already have a modern modem and my fix will not help you.