How fast is my internet connection?

I subscribe to 1 Mbps broadband package from Jaring. It's megabit per second (Mbps), not megabyte per second (MBps). Notice the small 'b' and the capital 'B'. So, do I really get what I am subscribed to?

ISPs always tell you that their services is on best-effort. Sounds like they are always doing their best to make sure that we (customer) get what we should get. OK. Sounds good enough.

My purpose of getting a broadband is to download. YES. Download. Data are available not only in form of text file only. Data type such as music and video are normally huge. And you really need a fast internet connection to download these files as soon as possible so that you can enjoy it.

And most of the time, I need to download certain programs for my work ASAP because I need them to do my work. My office internet connection is slower than my home internet connection because it's shared among all staffs. And there are internet policies that restrict my access to certain type of files and protocol. For example, .exe files and ftp are blocked at my workplace.

You might have heard somewhere that if you could get at least 75% from what you subscribe, you should be thankful. Let see... Do I really get that from my ISP?

For example, Bittorrent. The highest download rate that I normally get is around 90 KBps. Wait. That is measured in bytes! How do I know how much that is in bits?

One byte = 8 bits. So, 90 KBps = 90 * 8 Kbps = 720 Kbps. OK so far so good. Then how do you measure your internet speed with that?

I have simplified the calculation, so 720 / 1024 = 0.703125. Basically I got 70% of the speed that I should get. Happy? Yeah. Why? Compared to Streamyx 1 Mbps that my family subscribes to at my hometown, my Jaring is faster. Download rate that I normally get is at most 50 KBps. Slower than my Jaring. So far, I am satisfied with my Jaring.

The guy who went to my house to do the Streamyx installation at my parents' house said: "Kalau amik pakej 512 Kbps pun sebenarnya dah cukup laju".

Translation: "If you subscribe to 512 Kbps package it's fast enough for you".

I said: "Screw you!. Laju wak lu!"

Broadband is not only for surfing simple website that has only text. Nowadays, we have a lot of streaming website, like YouTube. For faster internet connection is needed. Even online gaming requires fast internet connection. We are left behind compared to South Korea, which has the highest broadband penetration. Hopefully the High Speed Broadband (HSBB) will benefit the people.

Bye. I need some sleep.