does sharing of internet connection slows down the speed?

Question

we are in a hostel. we, some 20 people, share a broadband internet connection from BSNL with unlimited download. does this sharing reduce the speed of internet? sometimes it awfully goes down to 20kbps, worse than a dial up connection. please clarify.

Answer 1

Yes it does. If your download speed is 1Mbit/sec then divide that by 20 people and you are down to 50kbit/sec, almost the same speed as a dial up.
Unlimited download just means you can download as much as you want but it doesnt mean unlimited speed. Also, your single router I pressume is constantly busy sending signals to 20 computers.

Answer 2

The more programs you have running on the same connection, even on different computers, will slow it down. Picture your internet connection like a highway. If you have only a few cars, everything moves fast and you get to where you need to be quickly. But add more traffic and things get slowed down. it's the same with your connection. What you can do is remove programs from your start menu that you don't need running all the time and do a check for malware, spyware, and any other programs that are running without you knowing. Or it could be your ISP. Call their tech support and ask them to do a speed connection test for you to make sure it isn't something on their end. Good luck.

Answer 3

Well when you share a connection the download speeds will all depend on how many people are using the connection at the time you download. You have a FIXED amount of available internet speed when a router is connected that speed becomes shared. If only ONE person is using it then you should have the full speed, if 20 are using it (at the same time) then the internet speed will be divided by 20! Your unlimited download only applies to how much you can download not HOW FAST that download will be. I suspect you will find you have a 256 kbs-1.5Mbs service that is the critical number.
256/2 would be only 128 to each user 256/20 would be 12.8kbs for each user if all users were on the net at the same time.

Total bandwidth/number of Active users=bandwidth available to each user

Answer 4

yes during certain times your Internet speed will fluctuate a bit but your case seems to be different. It sounds like their is a connection problem so make all the basic checks. you could have a unreliable isp. 20kbps is terrible and lower than dial up. if you are sure the problem isn't on your end call your isp and demand your money back then switch isp.edit:**** u. btw i was sharing my internet with over a hundred people and my speed never dropped under 3meg download so not sure wthf u are getting your info folks.if you run cable connection you are sharing with thousands of people but your speed will not suffer that badly.

Answer 5

Yes. Internet Speed is Inversly Proportional to the number of computers connected to it. If on single computer youre getting 30KBPS than on two computers It remains 15KBPS each. If you are using at home whether it is Broad Band or Dail-Up same funda follows. Also on Leased Line problem of bandwidth distribution occurs.

Answer 6

Yes it slows down the speed as it shares the speed between shared connections

Answer 7

Sharing will slow down the speed on the link.

If you have, for easy numbers, 200kbps link.
If 20 people are conecting at once, each will have 10kbps.

Note to nerds: yea, this isnt exactly how it works but the concept is there...


so yea, sharing slows down the speed at which you get data because they are getting data as well... but you still have the full speed coming down the line to your building.

Answer 8

Yes, the more computers you have on the network, the slower the speed because each computer uses part of the bandwidth and the bandwidth is the same for one computer as it is for 20.

Answer 9

Ofcourse it will decrease, Since the connection will be shared by the number of computers which use the connection.

Answer 10

YES. Because many PC's data transmition are squeezing in the same pipe.