Thursday, June 29, 2006
How many kegabits?
Our company provides dialup. One nice thing about that is that you don't have multiple packages available in terms of the speed: everyone gets the same access. The thing about dialup service is that if a customer's computer is connecting at a slow speed, it's very rare that we can directly do anything about it.
Primarily, two things limit a connection speed: line quality and the modem driver. If a customer's got a phone line problem, like static or humming on the line, a splitter or something else weakening the signal, or they're just in a bad spot on the phone company's infrastructure, then that physical problem with the line needs to be addressed before their connection will ever improve. If the customer's modem is misbehaving, then reinstalling the modem driver will fix the problem. Theoretically, some modems might have compatibility issues with the server-side modems (i.e. the stuff on our end), but I'm not aware of anything like that. At this stage in the technology's life, it's not too likely.
A customer called and told me that her friend had called us about slow speeds, and her friend was walked through some steps that made her computer much faster. Now she connects at 11.5 kegabits! The customer wanted to do the same thing, since she's only connecting at 3.1 kegabits.
I don't really expect customers to know certain things. For example, I don't really expect them to know exactly what the unit of measurement on their connection speed is, and I wouldn't really explain what kilobits (or bits, since it appears both ways) are anyway. It's abstract enough that if the customer doesn't already know it's usually more hassle than it's worth to explain. I also don't really expect customers to know that sometimes Windows will report the modem's port speed as the connection speed. The port in which the modem is sitting will have its own speed setting, and that speed can erroneously be displayed sometimes. It's going to be faster than the actual connection speed. By default, it'll be twice as fast as the highest theoretical speed your dialup connection can attain.
See? I'm already bored typing that stuff out.
The customer who was calling was seeing her actual connection speed reported (31.2kbps) and her friend was probably seeing her port speed (115.2kbps). I can understand how that would be confusing, so I tried to explain that her friend's speed wasn't quite being reported accurately. The caller insisted that someone had walked her friend through security and spyware stuff, and everything ran much faster afterwards. That's certainly possible; spyware and other similar software won't slow down your actual connection speed, but it can use up the available speed for its own purposes. Removing the spyware will free up more of your bandwidth for you. I explained that to the customer as well.
"OK... obviously she talked to someone else who knew how to speed things up, because you're not answering my question."
The problem wasn't that I wasn't answering her question, it's that the caller didn't know what her information actually meant. If she's connecting at 31.2kbps, then it's likely she'd want to reinstall her modem drivers, although it's also possible she's got line noise. By default, her computer is going to connect as fast as it can. Anything we change will either not affect the speed or limit it further. I explained these things to her, but she still didn't believe me.
There are sometimes people who'll pick a fight without knowing enough about the fight. This caller did have a minor problem, and I explained how to correct it, but she didn't like my answer. That doesn't change the fact that it is the right answer. She argued without having the knowledge necessary to back up her points. Really, if you're measuring your connection speed in kegabytes, you shouldn't be arguing with the technician that he doesn't know his stuff.
Primarily, two things limit a connection speed: line quality and the modem driver. If a customer's got a phone line problem, like static or humming on the line, a splitter or something else weakening the signal, or they're just in a bad spot on the phone company's infrastructure, then that physical problem with the line needs to be addressed before their connection will ever improve. If the customer's modem is misbehaving, then reinstalling the modem driver will fix the problem. Theoretically, some modems might have compatibility issues with the server-side modems (i.e. the stuff on our end), but I'm not aware of anything like that. At this stage in the technology's life, it's not too likely.
A customer called and told me that her friend had called us about slow speeds, and her friend was walked through some steps that made her computer much faster. Now she connects at 11.5 kegabits! The customer wanted to do the same thing, since she's only connecting at 3.1 kegabits.
I don't really expect customers to know certain things. For example, I don't really expect them to know exactly what the unit of measurement on their connection speed is, and I wouldn't really explain what kilobits (or bits, since it appears both ways) are anyway. It's abstract enough that if the customer doesn't already know it's usually more hassle than it's worth to explain. I also don't really expect customers to know that sometimes Windows will report the modem's port speed as the connection speed. The port in which the modem is sitting will have its own speed setting, and that speed can erroneously be displayed sometimes. It's going to be faster than the actual connection speed. By default, it'll be twice as fast as the highest theoretical speed your dialup connection can attain.
See? I'm already bored typing that stuff out.
The customer who was calling was seeing her actual connection speed reported (31.2kbps) and her friend was probably seeing her port speed (115.2kbps). I can understand how that would be confusing, so I tried to explain that her friend's speed wasn't quite being reported accurately. The caller insisted that someone had walked her friend through security and spyware stuff, and everything ran much faster afterwards. That's certainly possible; spyware and other similar software won't slow down your actual connection speed, but it can use up the available speed for its own purposes. Removing the spyware will free up more of your bandwidth for you. I explained that to the customer as well.
"OK... obviously she talked to someone else who knew how to speed things up, because you're not answering my question."
The problem wasn't that I wasn't answering her question, it's that the caller didn't know what her information actually meant. If she's connecting at 31.2kbps, then it's likely she'd want to reinstall her modem drivers, although it's also possible she's got line noise. By default, her computer is going to connect as fast as it can. Anything we change will either not affect the speed or limit it further. I explained these things to her, but she still didn't believe me.
There are sometimes people who'll pick a fight without knowing enough about the fight. This caller did have a minor problem, and I explained how to correct it, but she didn't like my answer. That doesn't change the fact that it is the right answer. She argued without having the knowledge necessary to back up her points. Really, if you're measuring your connection speed in kegabytes, you shouldn't be arguing with the technician that he doesn't know his stuff.
# posted by Terry @ 12:48 PM 
