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Just signed up for a 1Mbps Streamyx broadband connection for our new home around the Mines area. I also have a 512Kbps connection for my current home, which is located in an area with a higher population density. Out of curiosity, I checked the connection speeds using TMNet’s Speed Test server (Note it’s just for local connection speed. International connections will return varying results).

The speed test for my old 512kbps connection was crawling along at 250/250kbps upload/download speed or roughly 50%/70% the subscription speed. Frankly speaking, I wasn’t that much surprised by the bad connection. TMNet swears by their ‘best effort’ policy whereby they try to provide up to 70% of the bandwidth capacity of your subscription. While 250kbps download wasn’t something to dance about, it wasn’t too bad since I don’t do any heavy streaming such as torrents. Besides, we already know that torrent bandwidth is capped.

However, the yield from same test on the new 1Mbps line DID surprise me. Check out my nearly 2Mbps connection! That goes to show that the infrastructure for high density areas are no where near enough to support the subscribed users. Your local connection speed and bandwidth (to local servers) are directly proportional to user density in the area where you live. Ever have days when you can’t log in to your account? That’s a clear sign that the service has reached its capacity for concurrent users in the area. Unfortunate but true.

Having said all that, the connection speed going outwards into international zones is a whole different ballgame. The speeds are subject to influence from numerous factors such as the pipeline leading in and out of a country, usage density, capping, etc. If you’re ever interested in testing your incoming/outgoing connection speeds to international sites, point your browser to BroadbandReports.com’s Speed Test page and try some of the listed servers. You’ll be surprised.

For the time being, I’ll ignore international connection speeds and fool myself into believing that I’m running on a 2Mbps Streamyx line. Yay to ignorance.