Bandwith Usage

[NovelT7]

http://wildblueworld.com/forum/member.php?u=6966This year 2011 less 45 y.o. is 1966, the Seventies began four years later and two years after Englebart of SRI presented his paper at the Moscone Center in San Francisco.

I'll go along with this...

First of all yes I'm 45.

So in your broad expanse of knowledge you are implying that as a kid it is impossible for me to learn and program computers?

For your information I and a couple of my friends were the "nerds" of our time. I started messing with computers in the age of Atari shortly after Pong. My friend's older brother had some little device that we would program really simple things on. I think it was a Texas Instruments thing. It wasn't mine else I could give you the exact name, manufacturer, model number because I rarely throw stuff away. I'd still have my Atari VCS if my brother hadn't sold it.

I programmed a Math game for my nephew when I was 14 or 15. It was like Pac-Man. The screen would display an equation and you would drive a car around the maze being chased by 4 ghosts. The correct answer was in one of the four corners. You'd advance a level reaching the correct answer. The chase algorithm was pretty simple. I had one randomly wander. One directly pursued. One would pursue and then change direction and the other would pursue, but at a slower pace. My nephew enjoyed it. He was 3 at the time and I'd say it helped his love for math ebcause he went UT-Austin for engineering.

When I as 13 or 14 I sent Atari a well drawn out plan for Star Wars game based on the vector graphics that they used for Asteroids. They replied stating the normal liability release stuff and about a year or so later they released exactly what I described. Now if I had been interested in legal matters as much as I was computers then I for sure had a basis for a suit.

So for the record my interests began with Pong which was around 1972. Yes I was 6 years old. Did I progam then? No, but my interest began at that time because I wanted to know how those things worked then during elementary I was more interested in Science and Math. Cleraly remember an article about "laser discs" and how they were the future. That the government was experimenting with them to store data. This was 1974 I believe. 3rd grade weekly reader that was passed out at school. Messed around with my friends TI device mid to late 70s. Then had my Atari VCS 1977. Had an Atari 400 then an Atari 800XL and my last Atari was the 130XE so yes during the 70s I was programming.

So yes from 1970 to 1979 I went from 4 to 13 and after the age of 6 was when my interest in computers and programming began and grew. So yes the 70s.

[NovelT7]

That's an interesting resume'...then you probably used some of the programs I developed, refined and released to the public domain for BBS operations in the 70's, 80's and early 90's.

I was one of the pioneers of BBS systems that used CP/M and I wrote much of the software needed to run these BBS systems...all my programs were written in 8080/Z80 assembly language, with a little MBasic mixed in.

As a Sysop I also ran my own BBS (Potpourri) from my home in Silicon Valley (Sunnyvale, Ca.) to allow free distribution of software I developed and improved on over the years. I was the first sysop to operate a 4-node BBS system using a PII computer (DOS) and running DesQview to multitask the 4 nodes of modems and BBS software....had 5 phone lines installed, 4 for the BBS and one for us to use as a house phone.

I had the privilege of knowing and working with other early pioneers like Ward Christensen and Irv Hoff.

The programs called BYE, Xmodem (BBS host), Modem7 (BBS client), Kmodem, CCP, SD (sorted directory) and several other BBS utilities were part of my contributions to the public domain..if you used computers back then, and accessed any BBS with a modem, then you were using some of the software I developed.

As a retired aerospace systems test engineer I still dabble with software development and have never lost my interest in telecommunications software.

At any rate, please accept the fact that you can not correlate amounts of download bytes with the amount of upload bytes...they are not proportional.

From month to month, my download usage varies from being at 20% usage to 80% usage, depending on my activity...my upload usage has never been above 10%...and varies by only 1 or 2% each month.

By the way did you open up your network connections and see that the sent continues to chug even when there is nothing technically being downloaded or uploaded?

From your response that would be a no.

By the way last night I downloaded a PDF file that was 500K in size and my download showed about 120kbps and the entire time my upload would float around 2.5 kbps so "proportionally" that is 2%. So yes they are related, but of course if I were to upload an actual file then the numbers would differ and the proportionality would be unproportional.

I don't think you understand what I am saying. I am using my computer in normal operations. I am watching about the same amount of video as I was before. Previously I've downloaded trailers from the Quicktime site that were 70MBs to 120MBs in size and not once did I ever come close to the limit and yet from April 21 to May 6 when I did not download anything that size, hardly used my computer and at the same time (do the math!) not only did the wind keep me out of service, but Wildblue, the company itself, was having system problems with the Laredo area and yet I go over 17,000MBs.

That's why I say even by using the numbers I provided you if I am using the compuer in that way and the upload and download are hovering at those numbers then there is no way that my download is 17,000MBs and my upload under 2,000MBs.

I don't have any viruses. My computer has been off. Several days without a satellite connection and yet I have astronomical numbers.

In the past my usage would be about 30% of the limit so 5,100MBs and my upload around 9% so about 450MBs just doing the math the percentage of one from the other is 8%. Now if you look at the data I provided it has hovered around 20% I am trying to recreate some kind of use to hit the freaking 1,300MBs per day I would need to hit the mark and I am not even close. Right now my download is 21MBs and my upload is 2MBs so that's 9% and as I said before that makes sense. That's what it was before.

Yet now it's 120% and 9% and that isn't possible.

When you access anything, any exchange of data there is a send and receive. It is not an initial request and a download begins and that's it. Your computer continually sends during the transmission. The send receive continues the entire length of the transfer. How about this for every packet of the download there is a packet sent as a request for the next packet. In other words your computer sends a certain size message and the other computer sends the next set of data. Your computer sends the next request, enxt section of data that goes on the entire time. So it is a ratio for every section of data there is a request made by your computer.

That send is an upload and it is a percentage or mathematically can be a percentage of the download.

Oh and if you did design or program software for BBS then yes I did use it. Those were wonderful times, back when the "internet" was free to some extent. Granted phone calls were the expense, but fun times. I programmed my Atari to dial into boards. It was pretty easy. My friends freaked out that I used my computer to dial the phone. Now that's so common...

I forget what board I would log into. Somewhere in Oregon. Ah but my favorite data transfer was this guy had Zaxxon for the Atari and I dialed into his computer and saved it to my tape. (kids thse days have no idea) played that game for hours.

[NovelT7]

Now this is what I'm talking about!

I think I've been restored or at least the restriction has been lifted. Whatver the case I hope it's been fixed and now I can fully enjoy this service once again.

Plus just in case it was on my end I can now truly see the data rate or at least judge better as to what was happening. I will be calling in the morning to verify.

I had closed my browser to do some other work and then needed to get some other information and when I opened up the browser not only did the initial page load quickly I saw my meter running at 1.4mbps! Nice.

Hopefully I can glean some info from customer service unless someone beats me to it, but I'll post what I find out.

[wm4bama]

By the way did you open up your network connections and see that the sent continues to chug even when there is nothing technically being downloaded or uploaded?

From your response that would be a no.

Again, don't confuse the continuous modem-to-satellite chirping that goes on, even when your computer is turned off.

The WB modem maintains satellite lock by sending and receiving small bits of information just to maintain a communications link with the satellite (I'm here-can you hear me type of communications) and determines how much power to send to your Tria to maintain this connection. With rain, snow, or heavy cloud cover the modem will increase power until it gets a good satellite connection, or reaches maximum power....this is not part of your download/upload usage...but you will see it if you monitor traffic locally.

This "chirping" goes on 24/7 unless your remove power to your modem..

[Doug Huffman]

B]this is not part of your download/upload usage[/B]

??IIRC that has been exactly contradicted here by a self-proclaimed authority and not contradicted/corrected by Wildblue that I recall. Please cite an authoritative source.

[wm4bama]

??IIRC that has been exactly contradicted here by a self-proclaimed authority and not contradicted/corrected by Wildblue that I recall. Please cite an authoritative source.

Doug, it may be best to let a moderator answer this...but it is my understanding from PM's with one mod that the "chirps" are not counted against Fap because they do not go through the software that accumulates individual totals...that this software is in the loop only when their server(s) send or fetch data over the internet...the "chirps" are originated at the gateway and do not access the internet backbone to be counted as Fap accumulation..

I'm sure if this is incorrect that a mod will jump in and correct it...

[Doug Huffman]

We can only hope. Thanks.

[NovelT7]

Again, don't confuse the continuous modem-to-satellite chirping that goes on, even when your computer is turned off.

The WB modem maintains satellite lock by sending and receiving small bits of information just to maintain a communications link with the satellite (I'm here-can you hear me type of communications) and determines how much power to send to your Tria to maintain this connection. With rain, snow, or heavy cloud cover the modem will increase power until it gets a good satellite connection, or reaches maximum power....this is not part of your download/upload usage...but you will see it if you monitor traffic locally.

This "chirping" goes on 24/7 unless your remove power to your modem..

Oh no it's not that as I said even when not accessing anything the network connections shows a consistent send albeit minute, but still it occurs.

As for my message above...

First I was wrong about my wonderful bandwidth usage last night, early morning, was a random glitch for when I got back this morning I was back to the restriction so I called and asked for the 40% rollback.

One thing that looks like it adds significantly to my download is the Norton update. I'll see if I can schedule that. Then there's the Microsoft update, but those two don't account for 17,000MBs so I'll continue my investigation.

But I do know one thing that has added to the totals is this site that I did admit I watched streaming video from seems I was a off about the amount streamed. I thought it was 213K, but it's 1.5mbps so if I had stayed on for a consistently long period of time that would do it, but I wasn't on so while it could add up it wasn't that. Plus I figured out how to narrow it's stream back to half of what it is. I'll see in a couple of days how well that works.

Now as for Wildblue's end of things. The rep I spoke to said my highest usage was May 6th. Well that's the day I got the notice I was under the restriction. I find that very odd because I didn't receive a warning message which would have been nice. Plus during the entire week I was trying to access my account online to reset my payment and things and couldn't log on. I called several days and would get the hold message and then it would disconnect. That happened for a few days well before the restriction so it's not like I wasn't making any effort. Then after the restriction I finally got in contact with someone, explained my situation and they worked with me.

So I am satisfied, granted I was satisfied before because the Wildblue reps have always been courteous and helpful.

Hopefully this brown-nosing gets me a free month

i kid, i kid.

Just for the sake of flashbacks do you remember the magazine Compute!

[wm4bama]

Oh no it's not that as I said even when not accessing anything the network connections shows a consistent send albeit minute, but still it occurs.

Yes, that's the modem-to-satellite handshaking "chirping"...if you have your computer on your network monitor will show that activity...but it's the same activity that goes on when your computer is off.

I have a router in between my modem and computer, the router sees the "chirping" but does not pass it on to my computer..without a router I can see the "chirping" show up in my network icon (network monitor) with slow, random green blinking (the small monitors near the clock).

Don't worry about that...it's a normal function that takes place in order for your modem to maintain your internet connection with the satellite.

[NovelT7]

WEll for the sake of all sakeness I would hope that Wildblue adjusts the restriction level for the level of actual use now. Again Wildblue and Youtube started at the same time and now Youtube is one of the top accessed sites.

Plus most sites you visit have some form of embedded video or flash animations.

Websites are all going to be in 3-D some time and Wildblue will still have a 17G limit.

Now if the infrastructure can't support it then I undertand, but I think they should up their game and at least try to stay ahead of the competition. This say goodbye to dial-up is old.