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mac000

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Sep 6, 2005
679
0
so im a new qwest dsl user and we were told we have their 7 mbps package, but when i run a speed test at speedtest.net the max DL i get is 3677 kbps... whats going on here?
 

Rapmastac1

macrumors 65816
Aug 5, 2006
1,120
47
In the Depths of the SLC!
I have Qwest and going strong for two years. You should be getting more speed. I have a 5MBPS connection and my tests usually gives me about 3.5MBPS. You will never attain your maximum speed. Call and ask and make sure you are on the 7 plan and tell them none of your speed tests show that correctly.
 

ucfgrad93

macrumors Core
Aug 17, 2007
19,537
10,823
Colorado
I use Qwest and just tested it. I got 6039 kb/s download and 703 kb/s upload. Overall, I'm happy with my DSL service.
 

Afini

macrumors member
Sep 9, 2008
63
0
Portland, OR
My only problem with Qwest DSL is I never seem to get a ping below 250. Thats great compared to some people, but the few times i've played games with a poing of 100 or less spoiled me. :D

Never had a problem with my download speeds though! I'm on the 7mbps plan as well.
 

mac000

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Sep 6, 2005
679
0
what does it mean when i have a download speed of 3941 kbs and upload of 733kbs , but a line speed of 768k??
 

hexonxonx

macrumors 601
Jul 4, 2007
4,610
1
Denver Colorado
I used Qwset DSL for two years at my house. They kept promissing that they would one day upgrade in my area to the fastest speeds. After two years they still hadn not and I still had 1.5 MB downloads. I cancelled and went to Comcast. I had everythin through them, landline, DSL, Direct TV and paid over $200 a month and now they get nothing from me.

Previous to me owning my own home, I lived in an apartment. There I had Qwest DSL and was able to get the fast DSL speed. It often tested out at 5+ MB downloads.

All I did was move 11 miles and I could not get the fastest DSL speeds. :mad:

I'm very happy with Comcast now, I can download a movie in iTunes in 17 minutes and an album in less then 2.
 

echeck

macrumors 68000
Apr 20, 2004
1,831
21
Boise, Idaho
I switched to Qwest DSL last Wednesday and it has been the absolute worst internet service I have ever had! :mad::mad:

I used to have cable internet and never had a single problem. Always had all my bandwidth, and never any outages. Now I decided to upgrade to the 7mbps package thinking it would be awesome to watch movies on iTunes and Netflix Instant View. Wow, was I wrong.

Now not only am I paying 50 bucks a month for "up to" 7mbps, it goes out ALL the time!

I just spent nearly an hour with Qwest tech support where they had me power cycle my modem about six times and reset it twice, and about 45 minutes on hold. Only to be told that everything is fine. THEN WHY AM I ONLY GETTING HALF OF WHAT I'M PAYING FOR?!?!

If you can't tell I'm a little frustrated here.

So as I've never had DSL before I'm curious; is it normal to only get a portion of your speed and to have constant outages? I always thought DSL was supposed to be better and faster than cable.

Is there something I can do to help alleviate these problems?

Thanks!
 

dejo

Moderator emeritus
Sep 2, 2004
15,982
452
The Centennial State
what does it mean when i have a download speed of 3941 kbs and upload of 733kbs , but a line speed of 768k??
It's means your upload speed is almost hitting the maximum (768k) but you are quite far off from your maximum download speed (which I believe is 7meg or 7000k, as stated in your original post). The key here is that Qwest is quoting maximum speeds, not average speeds. Normally you will never see these maximum speeds due to the vagaries of the rest of the internet.
 

echeck

macrumors 68000
Apr 20, 2004
1,831
21
Boise, Idaho
The key here is that Qwest is quoting maximum speeds, not average speeds. Normally you will never see these maximum speeds due to the vagaries of the rest of the internet.

So when the Qwest salesman told me I would be getting 7mbit with my 7mbit package he was lying? So in reality when I'm paying 50 bucks a month for the "7mbit package" I'm actually only getting about 3mbit?

Awesome.
 

yg17

macrumors Pentium
Aug 1, 2004
15,027
3,002
St. Louis, MO
So when the Qwest salesman told me I would be getting 7mbit with my 7mbit package he was lying? So in reality when I'm paying 50 bucks a month for the "7mbit package" I'm actually only getting about 3mbit?

Awesome.


They say up to 7mbps so when someone gets 6,999kbps on a speed test, they don't call up to complain. But if they say up to 7 then you really should be getting somewhere close to that. I personally believe that anything under 80% of your advertised download speed (and consistently. There will be times it drops under that, but if it's always under that, then there's a problem) is worth getting worked up over, so in your case, anything under 5.6mbps I'd complain about. I have AT&T U-Verse and pay for 10mbps. As long as I'm getting above 8mbps, I'm happy. I usually get somewhere between 9 and 9.5mbps.

Unlike cable and fiber, DSL is heavily reliant on distance, and assuming your account has been provisioned correctly for 7mbps (call Qwest to verify that), then you may be too far from the central office for 7mbps. They probably should've never sold you 7mbps in the first place, and if that's the case, you can likely download to the next lowest package (5mbps maybe?) without any actual decrease in speed. Or, like I said, it could be a case of you being able to get 7mbps, but someone fat fingered something in their system and your account is provisioned for less.
 

SpaceKitty

macrumors 68040
Nov 9, 2008
3,204
1
Fort Collins Colorado
This is our latest speed test with the highest speed service that Qwest offers:

406720959.png


Sometimes it's even faster but I'm happy with it. We've never had an outage in over four months of having this.
 

fireshot91

macrumors 601
Jul 31, 2008
4,721
1
Northern VA
My only problem with Qwest DSL is I never seem to get a ping below 250. Thats great compared to some people, but the few times i've played games with a poing of 100 or less spoiled me. :D

Never had a problem with my download speeds though! I'm on the 7mbps plan as well.

:D

 
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