SG Broadband Community

Hey all,

Just a quick question. I want to run DSL to 8 different apartment buildings with 8 units a piece. 16-24 connections in each building. If i had a good router and 24 port switch.. how much speed decrease would i see if i just ran regular residential DSL (1.5Mbps) to the building. I worked in an office with 75 people and only one DSL and it did pretty good.. Im just trying to get around the cost of the T1 and fiber and cisco router, etc. Ive done it before (to the whole complex with 1 T1) and it costs a fortune and i know they are using only a fraction of the bandwidth.

Or tell me whatever you would recommend for this setup.. It needs to be very cost effective, but i dont want the tenants complaining. This is new construction by the way, not a retrofit.


Let me know what you think. Thanks all

The problem with many residential DSL accounts is the limited upload bandwidth,,, typically 120kbps... therefore all you would need is one person to be uploading a file and BAM your Download speed of 1500kbps is cut to 120kbps.


Possibly if you could get a good Ultra speed DSL 3000/800 then possibly it would be better but really if you have one tenant that is uploading and downloading files all the time it would probably still suck for the rest of the tenants..... Right now with 4 on my ultra speed it is great, can't even tell enyone else is on but 16-24 just seems like a pretty high number. See what others think.

Just my 2 cents.

EDIT: ouch just read your post again,,, thats alot of connections,,, simply put the switches are far less the problem in comparison to the speed of the DSL/internet connection

What do you end up paying for that 3000/800 service?

Also, it just doesnt seem like enough people upload to warrant paying so much for a T1. I guess with Kazaa and all that nonsense it gets pretty hectic. Im a lowly installer... so i dont understand everything.. so, if someone starts to upload a file, why does it cut the download speed so drastically? Thanks for the input all


and in the first post, i meant 1 DSL connection to each building.. not for the whole complex.

Originally posted by Sameagle
What do you end up paying for that 3000/800 service?

Well I only pay $70 canadian/month and I have no upload or download limits. (tax included)

Originally posted by Sameagle
if someone starts to upload a file, why does it cut the download speed so drastically? Thanks for the input all

and in the first post, i meant 1 DSL connection to each building.. not for the whole complex.

The reason for the slow down is because of how TCP works,,, (A simple explination is ) when downloading files etc. TCP has to acknowledge that it received the data before the transmitting server sends the next set of data,,,, Therefore if your upload is maxed then the acknowledgement is queued up and waiting to be sent, therefore the sending server waits for the reply and you wait for the data. So typically if you max out your upload rate then your max download will only equal your upload clear as mud?

And one per building would be much better

Thanks for all the info... Anyone else with 2 cents wanna chime in?

Honestly, you are talking about a logistical nightmare with existing structures. One per building is a good rule.

I first thought it was one dsl line for the whole complex also, lol


I would only recommend maybe a sightly higher speed for each apartment...maybe a sdsl line, so you can get the upload slightly higher.


I guess it just depends on how much you are willing to spend, isp, and if your tenants will start complaining about there internet service. If you had a sdsl line, you can set it to any speed you want and if it starts to get slow, just order more speed.

Hope it all works out for you,

-Illini25

For basic internet use (surfing/emailing) a typical residential or SOHO ADSL connection would work. However, if any of the users want to do anything more, you'll probably at least need a mid-range SDSL line.