stealing internet service

is it possible to steal internet service?

background:
recently i installed apache server so i could host files on forums.
my zonealarm flagged me and said apache was trying to act as a server so i checked yes, after all that's what i installed it for.
my OS starts acting funny a short time later, slow start-ups, 5 minutes not being uncommon.
so i reformatted my hard drive and reinstalled my OS without apache.

symptoms:
when i first got my DSL the download manager in fire fox would display:
AMB of BMB at CKB/s ; d remains.

AMB is the cumulative total download
BMB is the file size
CKB/s is the download speed
d is the time remaining

when i first got my DSL CKB/s would increase to, say, 250 KB/ and vary slightly around that amount.

now CKB/s will be anything from 95 KB/s to 280 KB/s throughout the download. it doesn't increase to a maximum and vary slightly around it.
now there is no maximum.

so, what is causing this?

inernet provider verizon, type DSL
OS, win XP home (oem) sp2

 

I assume that since you want to provide a server the pc is fixed and we are not talking about wireless.

So basically I am not surprised by your speeds or variation. The contention ratio , the number of users sharing the DSL bandwidth is constanly deteriorating as more users come online. Providers don't like to talk about this and hide behind the small print words 'up to 8Meg' or 'up to whatever'. You rarely achieve the top rating.

I'm sorry to tell you that the upload speed also falls at the same time so can be below 28.8K or even off. This is a real problem for anyone trying to host a server on an ordinary ADSL connection.

I'm afraid that's the way it is. You can overcome this at a cost, by having two (or more) ADSL connections and siamesing them.


Studio T

 

i did want to provide a server for forums but not anymore.
i have no server installed.

i have no router. i have no server. i am the only one using my bandwidth that i know of

 

I'm not talking about other users connected to your modem/ router. I'm talking about all the other users connected to the DSL service, on the same physical system as yourself (through the same exchange).

Read the small print of your provider agreement. You did before you signed didn't you?

All users share DSL services, just as all users share other parts of the phone or cable system. You are just not all online at the same time all the time. Most webpage requests only take milliseconds to service. So most of the time so other users are allocated the rest of the time. In high rise urban areas this can reach 200:1. If you are lucky enough to live in a low density area it may be only 6:1 and you will rarely see dips in service.

 

May be this can Help, http://www.ezlan.net/Internet_Speed.html

 

thanks for the link.

apparently i was accessing a strange server.

i've done 3 or 4 speed tests, one being a 100 MB file, they all were normal.
the 100 MB file downloaded at a consistent 351 KB/s

 

a number of days ago i'm sure someone from germany somehow got "on board" with me.

the reason I say this is because i was trying to download something in english , i clicked on "english" but in the end....and it kept on ending up as being in german.

something else happened to strengthen that suspician, but at the moment i just cant remember what it was.

 

I do not know how you envision some one stealing you service.

To "steal" your service the culprit has to be plugged into a switch on your private network with a cable, or leech locally to your unprotected Wireless (if you have one).