Whats a good way to test actual modem performance?
(FTP downloads) If done correctly, file downloads are a good way to test modem performance. The trick is to make sure you’re really testing the modem’s raw transfer rate, and not some other factor that you’re not aware of. Here are some guidelines for download testing: 1. USE AN FTP PROGRAM Web browsers often lie about download rates. FTP is more reliable. Note that some FTP programs reports download speeds in Kilobits per second (Kbps), while others use Kilobytes per second (KBps). To convert, multiply Kilobytes per second by 10 (eight bits plus the start bit and stop bit). (V.42 error correction strips out the start bit and stop bit, but adds other overhead, so multiplying by nine may be more accurate.) A valid alternative to FTP is a terminal program that supports Zmodem. 2. DOWNLOAD A PRE-COMPRESSED .ZIP OR .SIT FILE If the file you download isn’t compressed, hardware data compression in the modem will kick in, leading to erroneous results. Different file types compress to differen
