Even though I'm allowing SL to use up to 100KB/s, it only uses around 10-30KB/s.

[PattPatt]

Even though I'm allowing SL to use up to 100KB/s, it only uses around 10-30KB/s, despite there being plenty of things left to download where I'm around.

 

I am monitoring the whole bandwidth on my network card and router, so I am sure there aren't any other programs being used that might be taking away the bandwidth. 

 

 

Hello again all!! Sorry for the late reply.. was trying to figure out how to reply to you guys, and after asking Peggy it turns out I can only edit this answer. (Thank you again Peggy for the long and detailed reply in PM!!)

 

As I told Peggy, I meant around 100kilobytes/s which is around 1000kbps (which is my maximum speed). I gave SL 800kbps as you told me, but it still peeks at only 200kbps, despite most of the things on the map still unloaded..

[LoveAngeL Lyre]

Hello PattPatt and welcome to SL Forums. If you have fast internet connection and no packet loss so far, increase your maximum bandwith (it sets the maximum rate that the Viewer can download contnet) under Preferences --> Setup (in Viewer 3). Default is 500kbps. For example i have set it this moment to 5,000kbps. Generally experiment with this setting till to find the best value for your system.

[Rolig Loon]

The Maximum Bandwidth setting in Preferences >> Graphics is a bit misleading.  Increasing its value does not necessarily buy you greater bandwidth.  All it is doing is telling your viewer how much of your available bandwidth may be used for basic functions of SL (communication, textures, movement, environment variables, etc.).  If you have 2,000 Kbps available, increasing the Maximum Bandwidth setting beyond that will not give you greater bandwidth.  In fact, it can cause trouble with other systems that depend on bandwidth, primarily voice and stream media.  If you have 2,000 Kbps available and  all of it is being used for basic functions, there is nothing left for voice and streaming media, neither of which is included in the "maximum" parameter.  The best advice, therefore, is to set Maximum Bandwidth to 80% of your available upload bandwidth. 

 

[Peggy Paperdoll]

A 100 kbps is pretty low.  You want to set your bandwidth in preferences to a level that allows you to recieve the maximum the servers will send to your client but not more than what your Internet connection and/or computer can handle.  Go to http://www.speedtest.net/ and run a couple tests each to San Francisco, CA and Dallas, TX.  That would give you an idea of how much download bandwidth you can expect from the two locations for the SL servers.  You want to set your bandwidth to about 75 - 80% of your tested speed....not more than that.  Say you test to both locations at an average of 1000 kbps, you would want to set your preference bandwidth to no more than 800 kbps.  You want some overhead so that your bandwidth does not exceed what your connection and computer can handle.........you'll pick up packet loss if it does and things really get weird and slow if you have more than about 2% packet loss in your connection.

 

An observation that I've been observing for years.  Setting your bandwidth to more than what the LL servers will send is doing nothing but leading you to believe there are problems when there are none.  As long as your connection and computer can handle what's coming in you are fine.  Of course you want the most you can get but you'll never get more than what the servers will send you.  And my observations have shown that to be something less than about 1200 kbps.  I don't believe LL has a set cap on what it will send any viewer but it seems the pipeline is just about maxed out with 1500 kbps.........setting your bandwidth to anything above that is not doing you a bit of good.  I have mine set at 2000 kbps but I usually keep it at 1500..........there is no increase in my downloaded bandwidth between the two settings.  I've run my bandwidth up to 5000 kbps and still see no improvement.  My tested speed to San Francisco and Dallas consistantly test out at 25,000 kbps download........the only bottleneck is the servers and how much they will send at a time to any viewer connected to the servers.

[Darren Scorpio]

To add to what Rolig said. Please also keep in mind that because you are letting your viewer use 100KB/s it does not mean it will use it, in fact 10-30KB/s seems about right if you are in a sim that you frequently visit (its data is already cached in your HD) and there are not many avatars on site. Bandwidth usage depends on how much data the viewer needs to download. 

 

EDIT: Yes as Peggy has pointed out 100KB is too low maybe you meant 1,000KBps

[Charolotte Caxton]

I did the speedtest and I got 1.44 mbps, is that 1440 kbps?

[Rolig Loon]

Yes. That's pretty normal. So, set your Maximum Bandwidth to about 1120 kbps

[Darren Scorpio]

@Charlotte. Yes that is correct.

 

P.S. Why can I not see your post? I got it on my email though. Has LL not fixed this questions & answers thing yet? 

[Peggy Paperdoll]

You can't see Charolott's post because she posted on the "permalink" under my post. You just have to search when you see someone has posted but it doesn't show up on thread itself. Not a particularly best way but it's the blog software mimicking a forum software package. I doubt LL has any intentions of "fixing" it.

[Charolotte Caxton]

Cool,I've been keeping it at 800 - 1200 anyways, yay math!

[Rolig Loon]

They probably can't. It's a pretty dumb software package for this use, although an improvement over the previous couple.

[Darren Scorpio]

I see now. Well, it should only take 1 minute or less to change the word "Permalink" to "Comments".

[Charolotte Caxton]

The Lithium software is a mind puzzle designed to enhance cognitive reasoning skills through cumbersome search and hide tactics involving the ... um, I'm lost, I don't think I've mastered this yet

 

Look at all these pretty colors! http://www.lithium.com/

[Rolig Loon]

Ooo! Shiny things.

 

@Darren -- It's not as simple as changing the word "Permalnk" (a totally arcane word) to "Comments" (a more understandable one). If you have no idea that a comment might be buried here, you won't even think to click on the word. I'm certainly not going to waste MY time licking on every Permalink or Comment to see what's underneath. We ask OPs to add information by clicking on the Options >> EDIT link instead, but then this stupid software doesn't notify us when they do, so an OP's updated question often gets ignored. <grumble>

[Charolotte Caxton]

Comments would be a lot better, though, cause that's how most blogs work, and this is essentially a blog layout anyways, right? Btw no need to lick the software! lol