Bandwidth

[leco]

Training days next week are at an hotel "They say their bandwidth is 11MB" I've just been informed. Teachers will be taking wireless laptops and working online, uploading videos to the VLE.

 

I'm assuming that the hotel wifi will just connect. Will this bandwidth be sufficient for the 15 or so machines? Sorry for the idiot questions, not had to think about it before let alone do it.

[localzuk]

11MB connection for 15 laptops uploading video? No, it won't handle it. Also, is that 11MB both directions or just download? Most places like hotels have an asynchronous connection so will have a pathetic upload speed (most likely about 1Mbit)...

[leco]

What about just using a web site - like Edugeek - will they all get on at the same time or not?

[localzuk]

What about just using a web site - like Edugeek - will they all get on at the same time or not?

 

They'll be fine for downloading stuff. We have a 10Mb net connection here - and an average of 120 people using it at once for normal browsing.

[steveg]

We've only got a 2 meg connection here, and it often gets a hammering from 50 - 150 users at the same time, and always seems to work, so you should be fine.

 

Steve

[leco]

Part of the training is for some online APP stuff (Classroom Monitor) which the head is keen for teachers to start using. That'd just be like typing in here I guess. But I'm thinking that videos are kinda big so trying to get them into the VLE may be a problem do you think?

[SYNACK]

They should upload fine if they are small, they will just take ages and bog down the connection for everybody, as said above it is probably a non-symetric link so you will be looking at 1mbit/s upload speed - 1 megabit = 0.125 megabytes per second flat out so you are probably looking at a max of 100kb/s if noone else is uploading.

 

This would mean that it would take about 10 seconds a megabyte so your videos would want to be well compressed and short. They would also want to leave plenty of time to upload them and only have one person at a time doing it. Your standard 20mb video is going to take 3m:20s minimum to upload probably double that so I would sugest that they started an upload just before a tea break or something.

[leco]

Thanks, I'll pass that on to the head. I won't be there for that bit anyway. I'm only going at the start of day one to make sure all the laptops can get ClassRoom Monitor. Guess I'll have to turn my phone off on day two.

[tonyd]

11Mb broadband? This sounds like an odd number, if you'll excuse the pun, 10Mb, 8Mb these are normal broadband speeds, but the only time I recall seeing 11Mb is in relation to Wi-Fi, back in the old 802.1b days... Anyway, as long as the video is being uploaded in a sensible format (i.e. not VOB files), and as reasonable clip sizes (a few minuites not hours), then you should be fine.

[leco]

I too thought it an odd figure, but then I don't know a lot about it. It'll either work or it won't.

[localzuk]

11Mbit is probably what the building is capable of receiving of a 20Mbit or 16Mbit ADSL2+ connection. Nothing particularly odd about it

[powdarrmonkey]

I'd have thought the wireless at the hotel is rated to 802.11b, 11Mb/s. So your actual useful throughput will be in the region of 3 or 4, and then you have no idea what the external connection is or how many other guests will be idly watching YouTube or iPlayer through it... I think you're probably asking for trouble.

[leco]

Apparently the hotel has been chosen because SMT have their management days there. I think the head has been told that it will work, but just how much the people at the hotel actually know about it is possibly less than I do. We'll see - I am tasked with making the laptops ready for it so I'll just get on and do so. Offline folders etc.

 

I'll probably be back on next week wailing about how I got on (or didn't).

[Michael]

Unless 'by chance' they have ADSL2 and it synchronises at 11Mbps, I would be inclined to say their wireless is 11Mbps, not their actual internet connection.

[theriver]

Is it worth seeing if they'll let you pop over and road test the connection?

 

Much better to find out before the event :-)

[Mr.Ben]

11Mb?, sounds like heaven!, we share a 2Mb pipe with 5 other schools due to the poor layout of our infrastructure. 2 people watching YouTube and it's all over!

 

I had to downlaod office sp2 the other day and it took 8 hours!

[Michael]

Alternatively if you know the postcode, put it into samknows. It narrows down what services are available to them.

[leco]

Is it worth seeing if they'll let you pop over and road test the connection?

 

Much better to find out before the event :-)

 

The thought had crossed my mind, especially since I don't actually know where the place is. Might suggest that to a colleague tomorrow (the person who will be attempting the video stuff).

 

Thanks good thinking.