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How Much Ya Bench? Compare Your Internet Speed and Price!

by Flexo on August 1, 2006

in Internet

speed.gifHere are my internet access speed statistics from home. That’s almost 12 Mbps for downloading and 702 kbps for uploading. I pay $29.99 through Comcast Online in central New Jersey, which I think was the promotional rate for their 6 Mbps. Somehow due to the customer service representative’s confusion, they gave me the the fast speed and the low priced promotion at the time. The regular price is currently $42.95. They advertise their top speed as 8 Mbps, but I’ve been busting through that barrier for months.

Take the speed test from Speakeasy, choose your closest benchmark server, and post your results and price. I’m curious to see what prices people pay for what kind of internet access. Also mention if it’s a “promotional” rate.

For what it’s worth, I used to run a bulletin board system (BBS) over a 1200 baud (bps) modem before eventually upgrading to 14.4 kbps and later 57.6 kbps. My connection speed is now 10,463 times faster than the speed at which I first discovered the internet.

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About the Author

Flexo, the owner and creator of Consumerism Commentary, has been blogging and writing for the internet since 1995 and has been building online communities since 1991. Find out more about him and follow him on Twitter.

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  • brett
    4785 download
    471 upload

    i pay $10 per month, but it's part of a condo community that has a single large account.

    if i were living on my own, i think it would be around $30 per month (but who knows with my own dedicated line the speeds might be different as well).
  • Cap
    4900 downstream and 480 upload

    flippin' $55 a month for time warner road runner cable. ouch. It was around 3mbit before. then they upped it to 6mbit, decided it was too much, now it's around 4-5mbit.

    and wow, 12mbps. thats insane for $30 a month. sheesh!
  • CW
    not sure if time of day effects my speed, but as of 6pm (close to peak time, I'd imagine): 6900 downstream / 500 upload. This costs $42 w/ Cox Communications (Phx Metro area), normal price. . . I should try to call up a CSR and ask for a teaser rate, but it's been my experience that Cox is pretty firm as far as saying "no" to such requests. Perhaps others have had better luck, though. Qwest (our "wonderful" phone monopoly) offers DSL for around $30 (teaser rate), high $30's for the normal price. Obviously, if you bundle w/ either company you can get cheaper rates, but my situation does not allow for such. I hate you and your excellent speed vs. very reasonable costs. Enjoy ^_^
  • 725 kbps download, 125 kbps upload, averaged.
    $15 a month. Verizon DSL, non-promotional rate.
    Cox here is 4 mbps,approx $50 a month (non promotional) and $31.95 for first two months! University town, internet services suck big time here.
    I really hate Cox, because it takes efforts to find out what is their "non-promotional" rate.
  • Btw, when I try to leave a comment here using Firefox (1.5.05) I get an error "Error: This file cannot be used on its own". Just FYI in case other users might be having a similar problem.
  • Jbo
    Golbguru I'm using the exact same firefox you are and not having any problems posting. Could be one of your extentions.

    I've lowered my VOIP bill quiet a bit, but haven't been able lower my internet bill. I did build a directional antenna to that could pick up a signal almost 2 miles away and I was leeching off of a cafe's connection, but with VOIP and not having a constant connection, I had to start paying for broadband :(
  • I get between 6-8mb down and 340K up. I pay $29.99 through Comcast. Their normal rate is $45.95 but I keep calling them every 6 months and tell them that I'm just too tempted to leave for DSL. They usually lower it for another 6 months.
  • Dallyn
    15.1 MB download, 1.8 MB upload with FIOS Verizon at 35.95/month
  • dhanda
    I pay $26.50/mo for 256k down, 128k up dsl from Centurytel. I know this is high, but I have no other choice in my rural area except dialup or expensive satellite service. Centurytel wants $39.95 for 1.5M and $59.95 for 3M.
  • I remember when I spent bucks on a hardware 56k modem to eek out a little more speed.
  • BostonFrank
    My speed from Comcast: Download Speed: 16280 kbps (2035 KB/sec transfer rate)
    Upload Speed: 2706 kbps (338.3 KB/sec transfer rate) on Speakeasy right now at around 4:15 PM EST Sat, Aug 11. That is consistent with my tests on speednet at all different days and times. It is part of the $99 for 3 (internet, phone, cable) special. It is running out and I was switching to FIOS but isnt this as fast? I get confused!
  • BostonFrank
    Last Result:
    Download Speed: 19192 kbps (2399 KB/sec transfer rate)
    Upload Speed: 2776 kbps (347 KB/sec transfer rate)

    Retested this time using Washington DC--my first time was NYC. I live in Boston area where FIOS is available? Is not my Comcast speed comparable to what I would get with FIOS mid tier? Someone tell me soon as i have FIOS install on Aug 17 and maybe I should just stay with Comcast?
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