is 1500kbs max download speed?

Just wondering when I was looking through the options it says that the max download speed is 1500kbs? I was wondering why they have such a cap? Im currently on a 50MB package with download speeds of around 6mbps on a good server. Surely if this max was increased it could help combat the load up lag and lag in general.

I dont really understand the system or its limits, but just curious? many thanks.

Once a long time ago I read in the knowledge base that the max bandwidth was indeed restricted to 1500 kbps. I sort of got myself in a pickle a while back (maybe a couple weeks) stating that as a fact since a few of the third party viewers have slider adjustments up to 8000 kbps. So I did a search and failed to find what I read..............I even went to an office hours one day and asked a Linden. The Lindens at the office hours didn't know for sure either but doubted it had changed.........but they still could not verify the speed cap. I've opened the bandwidth up to over 5000 using the Emerald viewer and watched my bandwidth meter at various locations around my continent (Heterocera)...........some very active, some relatively quiet. I never saw any spike above 1300 kbps for the hour or so that I played around with it. So, I'll say that the 1500 APPEARS to be just about the limit..........but we have a lot of people who claim higher (I have a problem believing that but I can't argue). My download speed tests consistantly at 19 to 20 mbps at both Speakeasy and Speedtest.net. I have an advertised download speed of 25 mbps. My connection can certainly handle 8 mbps if it were available.

But that is beside the point where SL is concerned. You need to understand that everything you see and experience in SL is sent to you from LL's servers in located in either San Francisco, CA or Dallas, TX. If they allowed, say 5 mbps bandwidth for every viewer that could handle it their pipeline would have to be enormous............and so expensive there would be no such thing as a free account and premium would probably be 5 times what it is now. Just to pay for that bandwidth. There's the hardware to think about too to push that much out. Using SL for a combat game is probably not going to satisfy you........it's just not practical for games requiring high frame rates. That's why SL is not promoted as a game. It's not geared for games. You won't get the performance for a game.

Not to mention so many other factors that SL does that games do not and vice versa. Just the nature of the beast.

You can set it higher using the debug setting ThrottleBandwidthKBPS* or alternate viewers like Emerald. How much throughput you actually get will vary. I have seen sustained transfers between 2000 and 2500K and higher for very short bursts. This was with long draw distances of 256 and 512M. With shorter draw distances, the throughput seems to be lower. If you use a 128M draw distance, I believe 1500K is probably as good as it's going to get.

Of course, I lie a lot.



* If you use this debug setting in the standard viewer, it will revert to 1500K every time you change any preference.

Milla, this is an honest question that leads to nothing more than how you can obtain a sustained bandwidth in excess of 1500 kbps. I've done everything I can think of to get my bandwidth to even spike above 1500 kbps such as opening the big map, increasing my draw distance to the max from my normal 256, slow spins in texture heavy environments (texture shops), visiting script heavy places such as Grendals Children, going to clubs with live DJ's (haven't had the chance to test at a live musician event but I don't see any difference from that and a live DJ). I'm thinking probably the only thing I have not tried (which I will when I log in again and remember to try) is to set my preferrences to play media and music streams automatically. My system can handle ultra settings.......but I don't have set that high because I get occassional lag spikes that I don't get with my draw distance at 256 and terrain, trees, and sky set at mid range instead of max (those are the only settings I reduce from ultra).

Set the bandwidth to at least 5000K
Set draw distance to 512M
Restart the viewer
Teleport to Mosh or just about anywhere in Bay City except the airport
Flying probably helps drive it way up
Regions with fewer avatars may also help, as you won't have anyone else competing for the bandwidth

Ah ha............I didn't think of that I was attempting to set up situations where more would be required to be sent but never thought about sharing the available bandwidth with others. And that does not violate my thoughts (based on my limited knowledge of network and network traffic) about the amount of data that can be economically pumped out by LL.

Thanks, I'll give that a shot..............and will publically apologize to you for doubting your findings. But only if I get something near what you get.

Thanks.

Thanks for the replies, I guess there are many factors to consider concerning bandwidth etc. I will check out a few of the tweaks to try and increase the speed.

I do understand the argument that SL was never meant to be a game, and I never seen it as such. I just love exploring the fantastic creations across the SL world, its a shame that the overall experience is so damaged by the lag and surely the developers could come up with a more optimized way of running the servers. Its hard to see SL ever reach it full potential until the lag issues are corrected, I guess the technology just isn't there yet.

Once again thanks for the comments.

Okay I did test that bandwidth thing using Milla's suggestions. She's right!!! I got just over 1800 kbps bandwidth......not consistantly but enough to see that it was not just spiking and the speed (assuming the meter has any accuracy at all) was, in fact, more than the implied 1500 kbps limit. That might be why no Linden would be specific in answering my question and that the portion of the KB I read about 4 years ago in no longer there.

So Milla, do you need me to start a thread with my official, public apology? I will.

I'm sorry I publically blasted your findings in a recent thread.........you were correct and I was wrong.