Downloading too fast

[Saulkar]

I don't see the issue. You sait your limit is 5mb/s ans Steam is going at 1.2mb/s

If I know anything about which number is bigger than the other then I don't see a problem.

I have a 5 megabit not megabyte connection.

A byte is 8 bits
1024 bytes is a kilobyte
1024 kilobytes is a megabyte
A 5 megabit conection maxes out at 625-630 kilobytes persecond (divide 5120 by 8 to get that number)
I am downloading 1.2 megabytes per second which is consistent with a 10 megabit internet connection.

 

[Saulkar]

Well if you're supposed to get 5mb then that's not out of place is it? Maybe it's just the time of download. As the first post said though, Steam does seem to get as much as it can.

This is a copy and paste of something I said to someone else as I only think I understand what you are saying.

I have a 5 megabit not megabyte connection.

A byte is 8 bits
1024 bytes is a kilobyte
1024 kilobytes is a megabyte
A 5 megabit conection maxes out at 625-630 kilobytes persecond (divide 5120 by 8 to get that number)
I am downloading 1.2 megabytes per second which is consistent with a 10 megabit internet connection.

 

[Yopaz]

A friend of mine got the same "problem". Not sure what he's supposed to get, but what he gets is much higher. Both upload and download speed is much higher than what he's paying for.
I for one got almost no speed at all so I kinda hate you, no offense.

Edit: I must add I am getting annoyed at those who can't seem to understand that 5mb doesn't mean you can download 5 mega bytes per second.

 

[Saulkar]

Well if you're supposed to get 5mb then that's not out of place is it? Maybe it's just the time of download. As the first post said though, Steam does seem to get as much as it can.

This is a copy and paste of something I said to someone else as I only think I understand what you are saying.

I have a 5 megabit not megabyte connection.

A byte is 8 bits
1024 bytes is a kilobyte
1024 kilobytes is a megabyte
A 5 megabit conection maxes out at 625-630 kilobytes persecond (divide 5120 by 8 to get that number)
I am downloading 1.2 megabytes per second which is consistent with a 10 megabit internet connection.

maybe you're close to the ISPs router, bundled with good servers on steam's end?

I am 3 blocks down and 2 blocks to the right from the router.

 

[thenumberthirteen]

I don't see the issue. You sait your limit is 5mb/s ans Steam is going at 1.2mb/s

If I know anything about which number is bigger than the other then I don't see a problem.

I have a 5 megabit not megabyte connection.

A byte is 8 bits
1024 bytes is a kilobyte
1024 kilobytes is a megabyte
A 5 megabit conection maxes out at 625-630 kilobytes persecond (divide 5120 by 8 to get that number)
I am downloading 1.2 megabytes per second which is consistent with a 10 megabit internet connection.

Of course. I haven't finished my Morning tea (it's lunch time, but who cares it's a Sunday). I'd suggest you phone up your ISP and complain. Obviously Steam is taking up too much of their bandwidth and should be stopped.

Here's a possible explanation (may/may not be the case). Steam is hella popular with PC gamers, and games (therefore Steam Downloads) are getting bigger. Valve may have struck a deal with ISPs so they don't curtail Steam downloads. Why would they do this? Because if a PC gamer sees how easy it is to use Steam and get super fast game downloads then they'll want to use it. This means buying an "Unlimited download" package from the ISP since you can reach a 2gb monthly download limit with a single game. It's good for Valve, and good for the ISP.

I know services like OnLive do this, but I'm not 100% about Steam.

 

[Legendsmith]

I got that too, somehow Steam manages to pull quite a bit more of juice from my ISP than regular downloads do.

Beats me how Steam does it, but I'm not one to complain.

When downloading Steam doesn't just get everything from one server, it gets content from a whole lot of different server in your region.

 

[Yggdraz0r]

Well my BitTorrent program downloads with 1.1Mb/s max, but so did Steam.

And firefox is everywhere between 20kb/s to 200kb/s... so yeah im rather confused aswell.



Steam is just awesome then I take it?

 

[ParkourMcGhee]

Ditto here guys, I always have epic steam downloads - sometimes gamespy.

Never anything else.

Also teh suck that my house is a huge area of fiberoptic cabling minus my street, and the council housing nearby V_V

 

[Femaref]

Well my BitTorrent program downloads with 1.1Mb/s max, but so did Steam.

And firefox is everywhere between 20kb/s to 200kb/s... so yeah im rather confused aswell.



Steam is just awesome then I take it?

Most servers limit their uploadspeed to a specific client (connection). if you use multiple connections to one server, you will get better speeds. That's why there are download managers like flashget etc.

 

[Naama]

- Steam having a built in data compressor that manages to shrink everything by 50%, and in return they display a higher transfer speed

This is most likely it. The speed given by Steam's download manager measures the DL speed in decompressed bytes.

 

[Tharwen]

It's probably an issue with units these speeds are displayed in. For those who would like to know:

b = 1 bit
B = 1 byte = 8 bits

So:

Kbps = 1000 bits per second
KBps = 1000 bytes per second = 8000 bits per second

Basically, any speed displayed in Bps will look 8 times as fast as one displayed in bps. It's confusing and ISPs use it all the time to make it look like you're getting more than you actually are.

I think you missed the fact that all units were in bytes not bits, and that I had timed how fast applications take to download, and steam used to download at 630 kps thus another confirmation of unit. Also another fun thing I did is I am downloading Halflife 2 episode 2 right now. I started a download on Firefox at the same time. The Firefox download is peaking at 625-630 kilobytes per second while at the same time the steam download dropped from 1.2 megabytes per second to 610 kilo"bytes" per second. Also letting the steam download continue and stopping the other one, I started 2 1080p movies on youtube at the same time and the steam download is maxing out at 630 kilobytes per second. Despite steam downloading at my max speed both videos load faster than they play. Explain that oddball I am having.

OK, I was just making sure. Too many people post this sort of thing without checking what units they're using. However, in your case it seems you have acquired a truly *special* network connection. Well done!