what does DSL peed mean? my connection always shows 100 Mbps even though I am subscribed to 256 kbps only.?

Answer 1

When you see 100mbs in the windows network it is only showing the connection to the router/modem... not the internet speed. You indeed are connected to the modem at 100mbs but the modem is not connected to the internet at that speed at all. If you have 256 then that is more than likely what your true internet speed will be.

Check http://speedtest.net to see a real reading on internet speed.

Answer 2

DSL speed is what it says - you are on a 256kbps speed (256 kiloBITS per second, not kiloBYTES). That is, 256 kilo (thousand) lots of 8 bits per second. 8 bits to a byte.

Your connection is showing as 100Mbps because it's likely you are using a DSL connection with PPPoE. That's your ethernet card's speed.

You would get 100Mbps if you used ethernet cards between machines at home, for a home network for example. But that's not your ISP's connection to the outside world - the global Internet.

Not unless you want to pay for a 100Mbps ethernet connection and not use DSL - ouch.

Edit:

Here's the picture:

ISP's gateway to the Internet <---> Telecom stuff, e.g. copper wire telephone line, fiber or whatever <---> DSL modem or modem/router <---> ethernet connection to your computer.