What sites or services do you use that fully utilize your fast connection? I just upgraded to 50Mbps, but most downloads seem to cap at around 2Mbps. Obviously streaming video is bufferless and awesome now, but I'm just curious how else I can get the most out of my connection.

And yes, I did a speedtest on it, it's reporting 55 down and 35 up.

It is not that your downloads are capped at 2mbps, it is that the servers you are downloading from are limited to uploading at 2mbps.

Have you tried downloading a test file (Non-pirated content)from a torrent, or a newsgroup to test your actual download speeds?

Torrent (ubuntu distro) capped at about 2 as well. I thought for sure that would max out my connection.

Agree with sling blade - you can now ask for (and handle) much faster connections, but you're dependent on the server's speed as well. Even with 12 down, I often see downloads (from webservers) in the 250-300K range, which is well below my potential speeds.

The biggest thing that makes me jelous of your connection is your upload speed. If you had things like Plex (media server similar to XBMC), Slingbox, etc. - anything that shares your local media/tv over the web, essentially, you will see tremendous quality since you can "push" data out so fast. The best I can get at my house is 1.5, which means my slingbox video is "meh", even though I can download PLENTY fast - it is the fact that my home connection can't push up content fast enough to get super crisp quality.

I use XBMC...does that support what you're talking about?

try downloading a nzb. I can push 7mb/s with my 15mb/2up

The biggest thing to do with speeds like that (I have 80 down and 60 up - downtown Houston) is sourcing all of your media from Usenet. I won't get into the philosophy or politics of downloading copyrighted materials here, but if you're cool with it, IT'S AWESOME.

I have everything set up to monitor the servers for my tv shows as soon as new episodes air, download them, send them to my media server, and sort them automatically. All of my Sunday HBO/Showtime/etc. shows downloaded last night before I even went to bed. It's not even that hard to set up.

Since you're already using XBMC, the rest is cake. Just check out SabNZBd+ and SickBeard.

I haven't tried streaming out to the world yet, but I may give Plex a try in the near future since I have 4G now. The biggest holdup there is that you can't really stream straight from a low power NAS if you're doing any transcoding.

nm.

[This message has been edited by Oahu_Gigem (edited 10/10/2012 7:34a).]

35/35 FIOS - used to VPN into work and Remote Desktop to a box at my desk - no lag.

also, make sure you're not mixing megabits/s and megabytes/s. There's an 8 fold difference there

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Ain't cutting cable, so that's out. FiOS was 99 for phone/internet/cable, or 89 for just internet. I'll gladly pay $10/month for full HD and DVR convenience.

edit: yes, I know how to do the math. I'm speedtesting at 50mbps but only downloading at 2mb/s when that should be 5.

[This message has been edited by Jorts McGee (edited 10/10/2012 1:47p).]

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Stasco,

I'm really interested in seeing how you do that automatically. Could you email me at my TexAgs username at gmail?

txam, sent. Let me know if nothing comes through.

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you DO realize that "mbps" = mega BITS per second, and mb/s = mega BYTES per second, right? DURP DURP.

Stas, what do you do? For a living?

http://www.totalhtpc.com/the-complete-guide-for-setting-up-sabnzbd-sick-beard-couchpotato-and-headphones/