How to Find Out the Download Speed of a DSL Connection

By eHow Internet Editor

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DSL utilizes unused bandwidth on the existing phone lines keeping your phone free while you surf the Web. Download speed refers to the rate at which data can be downloaded from the Internet server to a host. It also includes the time taken to access a Web site. As you may have noticed the download speed of an Internet connection is usually different from its upload speed. This particularly happens in residential DSL connections. Here is how you can determine the download speed of a DSL connection.

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Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Step1

Look at the DSL speed as advertised by the service provider. Generally for residential Internet, this is a combination of two bandwidths. The first bandwidth represents download speed, while the second one indicates upload speed. In some cases typical of corporate connections both the speeds are identical, earning it the name symmetric DSL (SDSL).

Step2

Determine the actual download speed by downloading and installing Internet data transmission speed calculating software, which you can easily find online.

Step3

Download a large file and monitor the speed at which the download or upload occurs. The rate of transmission will vary. However, you can get a sense of the download speed of your DSL connection.

Tips & Warnings

Some commonly used speed testing applications are Network Magic and NetMeter.
DSL Internet connection speed depends on several factors including the quality of wiring, distance between customer site and the nearest central office of the service provider, condition of wireless connection and signal performance, distance between hosts and a wireless router, router configuration and insufficient processing power of the PCs especially if old models are used.
Though the actual speed is slower than the advertised numbers, several steps can be taken to optimize data transfer rates.
Understand the difference between bits, bytes, Kbps, KBps, Mbps, MBps, Gbps and GBps. These are all different units of bandwidth.
In comparison with wired networks, DSL speed is slower in wireless networks.
In wireless networks, type of security protocol used also affects the speed. WEP makes the network slower than WPA.