Is there really any noticeable difference in performance between U-Verse's 6.0-Mbps and Charter Cable's 30.0-Mbps? Or the performance difference is barely noticeable and negligible?
Is there really a real world big performance difference between 6.0-Mbps and 30.0-Mbps?
- Thread starter Celestine
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As far as web browsing you most likely won't see any difference.Streaming you will see some improvement,not in all cases though.The faster speeds are mainly for large file d/loading and online gaming.If your not into that,then no need for 30 down.
One of the most germane questions, yet to be asked is how many simultaneous users? That can bring the speed down for each user pretty quickly.
There are other considerations as well.
The difference between 30 and 15 was quite noticeable to me when I was visiting my parents -- once you get the higher speed for more than a couple of days, it becomes "the norm" and you won't want to go back to slower.
There are other considerations as well.
The difference between 30 and 15 was quite noticeable to me when I was visiting my parents -- once you get the higher speed for more than a couple of days, it becomes "the norm" and you won't want to go back to slower.
Charter has 100 in many areas now, need wired gigabit connection to computer to take full advantage of it.
I think its hard to see a difference unless you download a lot or have lots of users on the same line. Even a 10015 MB connection would support a few users streaming in most cases. That would be enough for the majority.
Just be sure there are not 4 smart tv's in the house trying to stream HDX from VuDu at the same time. Lol.
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Most webservers are locked down so you probably wont see a difference after your at a certain speed on regular websites. But in streaming it makes a huge difference.
That, IMO, is the only legitimate reason for needing these higher speeds. Even then, I don't buy the whole worst-case scenario method to determine what may be needed, i.e. how many PCs, how many streaming devices, how many tablets/smartphones, etc and add them up to come up with a needed speed. We have a dozen of those different devices but more than 2-3 are never connected (streaming) at the same time. Pffft, there's (5) people in the house (or four if you don't count the 3-1/2 year old) so we'll never exceed (4) devices. FWIW, we have 6Mb DSL and the only streaming we ever have an issue with is Dish.
I don't really notice a difference between the Charter 30Mb cable I have at home and the AT&T 6Mb we have at the office for normal web browsing and email. I have streamed Netflix and MLB.tv a few times on a spare office computer and I do still get both services highest quality streams even on the slower 6Mb service. Of course, that can change based on how many people are actively using the internet at any given time. At home with the 30 Mb connection I am able to have multiple Netflix streams at the highest quality in different rooms at the same time. I'm sure I couldn't do that at work.
If you are into online gaming 6Mb is enough download speed to run most games reliably as long as you aren't trying to host the match. You would be surprised at how little speed you actually need to play most games online. Before all the streaming video services became so popular Xbox Live used to list 1.5Mb as the recommended minimum download speed. They now recommend a minimum of 4Mb. Your ping and packet loss is more important for online gaming than raw download speed. Where you will really notice the difference is game downloads if you choose to buy them online. The difference in 30Mb and 6Mb can make a drastic difference in time when you are trying to download a 15GB game.
I'm still not recommending you downgrade unless you are going to see a significant cost savings. More speed is always better but you will still be able to take advantage of most things the internet has to offer including streaming and gaming with the 6Mb service.
If you are into online gaming 6Mb is enough download speed to run most games reliably as long as you aren't trying to host the match. You would be surprised at how little speed you actually need to play most games online. Before all the streaming video services became so popular Xbox Live used to list 1.5Mb as the recommended minimum download speed. They now recommend a minimum of 4Mb. Your ping and packet loss is more important for online gaming than raw download speed. Where you will really notice the difference is game downloads if you choose to buy them online. The difference in 30Mb and 6Mb can make a drastic difference in time when you are trying to download a 15GB game.
I'm still not recommending you downgrade unless you are going to see a significant cost savings. More speed is always better but you will still be able to take advantage of most things the internet has to offer including streaming and gaming with the 6Mb service.
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I didn't think that online gaming speed requirements were ever that substantial but many want you to believe otherwise. As you point out, and as I understood it, latency is what you don't want ! Low latency and high speed do not go hand-in-hand either.
Just last month we went from 6mb DSL to 30 mb Cable with a family of 4 active users it made a big improvement and streaming with Netflix, Roku and dish are much improved. When I tested the DSL I would only get about 2-3mb now with the cable I typically test 25-32mb
There will however be a detectable difference if you frequently use SSL and/or VPN and/or VoIP
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I just went from 30mb to 60mb service at my house (And within the next few weeks COX will be increasing the speeds to 100 MB/s) and notice no difference in speed when browsing most website. However in downloading a few things I could see the speed. 
Can't argue with 30 to 60, but the question is 6 to 30. At that level a difference in SSL/VPN/VoIP response can still be detected
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My answer is there can be a difference.
How many people using it in the household at the same time, and what are they doing.
Are you using VOIP
How fast is the site/server you are accessing online
The quality of the connection can be more important than the speed. Dropouts will make VOIP and streaming worse, with no speed increase having no dropouts will greatly improve both.
Often 6 will be sufficient, but combinations of the factors above may make a faster service needed.
How many people using it in the household at the same time, and what are they doing.
Are you using VOIP
How fast is the site/server you are accessing online
The quality of the connection can be more important than the speed. Dropouts will make VOIP and streaming worse, with no speed increase having no dropouts will greatly improve both.
Often 6 will be sufficient, but combinations of the factors above may make a faster service needed.
I can't compare 6 to 30, but I've got 20M cable at home and 3M T1 at work, believe me there is a difference!
