BF2S Forums ISP issues and "ping Vs. bandwidth"

it overall depends on the distance and type of server your downloading from. i have 12mbit internet, but rarely download that fast. my usual download speed is around 800-1mbps. i sometimes get around 2mbps, but most servers wont let you download at 12mbps

the ping WOULDENT improve with a faster connection

Ok so that's what I figured... I'm stuck with 60 pings and 512 is enough to handle BF2.

Now just gotta try 1.5 and see if I can download stuff about 3x faster.

ping wont change with more bandwidh, nor will high ping (within reason) affect your download speed

As many people say "its the connection that determines bandwidth", and they are correct, but seeing as how you posted this in a TECH forum, you probably want to know why and how you cna change this.

Well, when you work on a traditional CABLE connection (as opposed to T1 or xDSL), you will find that the data transfer trough the lines are not only dependant on load from the other users in the same area as you, it may also depend on the quality of cable, AND the ISPs hardware and backbone. IMO getting a 60 ms ping on a CABLE connection isn't that bad (ofcourse I'm assuming it gets worse if you try for a server in Moscow as opposed to one in Tijuana). OTOH it isn't that GOOD either. Now upping your speed usually wont do you any good on a CABLE connection, because all you're getting is more bandwidth, this does not change the configuration or hardware facts. So what can you do ? Well, for one thing you can play around with your MTU settings. You see, a "ping" is a very small package, and having a huge package size means that your package will be bundled with "other stuff" when the compression alogrithms start. What algorithms you may ask. Well, your ISPs algorithms, you never see this. It's all hardware. So why will changing the MTU help you ? Because now you're REQUESTING smaller packages from the net, so you will be subject to less "overhead" when reciving a package. Ocourse SENDING one will only help you if you use your connection for OTHER stuff while gaming (like downloads, or a second PC, or using TS or something like that). Also you may want to fiddle around with your transmission windows. The default settings in verious windows versions are not impressive. Default settings for number of open network connections will also benefit from some fiddling, particularly in BF2, as for some reason the selector screen want sto ping every server you ever played on every time you log into your BF2 account (!)
If you dont know what a transmission window or an MTU setting is, then search on the net, you'll find lots of nice, and FREE little tools that will help you change these options, there's no need to go poking around in the registry.

Upgrading to a faster connection you say... Well, upgrading WOULD help if you upgraded to a different TYPE of connection. Obviously a dedicated digital line would be ideal (as opposed to cable which is not natively meant for the internet protocol transmission), however, when you say upgrade to 1.5 Mbit, I dont think you meant getting a T1 connection.

However, if you can get an xDSL connection, this can be good for you, particularly if you fiddle with the settings. Just be aware of a few things about xDSL. VDSL and ADSL2/2+ is VERY fast, but only by virtue of using several transmission frequencies and compressions at the same time. Thus a faster connection is usually not indicative of a better ping. HOWEVER, as cable techonology is somewhat OLDER than xDSL, you may find that your ISP has some newer hardware on his end serving the xDSL costumers, so you should actually get better ping in many cases. The same can be said of ADSL or VDSL over ADSL2/2+, the tech is newer, so usually you have better hardware on the other end.