MUHAMMAD NURHADI B.

MOHD HANAFIAH (115076)

UNIVERSITI SAINS MALAYSIA
INTERNET SPEED IN USM


Internet Speed In USM


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Contents
Introduction ............................................................................................................................................. 1
Cases Related to Internet In USM ........................................................................................................... 3
Factors Affecting Internet Speed and Proposed Solutions ..................................................................... 4
Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................... 8
References ............................................................................................................................................... 9

Introduction

What is internet?
Internet is a global network connecting millions of computers. More than 100
countries are linked into exchanges of data, news and opinions. According to Internet World
Stats, as of December 31, 2011 there was an estimated 2,267,233,742 Internet users
worldwide. The number of Internet users represents 32.7 percent of the world's population.
Unlike online services, which are centrally controlled, the Internet is decentralized by design.
Each Internet computer, called a host, is independent. Its operators can choose which Internet
services to use and which local services to make available to the global Internet community.
Remarkably, this anarchy by design works exceedingly well. There are a variety of ways
to access the Internet. Most online services offer access to some Internet services..
Malaysia was listed among the slowest countries in the world for loading Web pages
on desktop computers as well as mobile computers, according to a 2012 report by Google.
Malaysia, with an average Web page loading speed on desktops of 14.3 seconds, was named
the worlds fifth slowest, even more plodding than the connection speeds of nations like
Colombia, Argentina and Peru .Everyone can access to the internet by subscribing through
ISP like in Malaysia we have Telekom Malaysia (TM), Jaring, Time, Redtone, P1 Wimax,
Celcom, Digi, Maxis and many more. The internet speed depends on bandwidth given by the
ISP. The more bandwidth the more you need to pay money. Let me give definition terms
related to internet speed.
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Terms:
Whats bandwidth?
In computer networks, bandwidth is often used as a synonym for data transfer rate - the
amount of data that can be carried from one point to another in a given time period (usually a
second). This kind of bandwidth is usually expressed in bits (of data) per second (bps).
Occasionally, it's expressed as bytes per second (Bps)

Whats throughput?
Throughput is the number of messages successfully delivered per unit time. Throughput is
controlled by available bandwidth, as well as the available signal-to-noise ratio and hardware
limitations.

Whats Latency?
Latency is the delay between the initiation of a network transmission by a sender and the
receipt of that transmission by a receiver. In two-way communication, it may be measured as
the time from the transmission of a request for a message, to the time when the message is
successfully received.

Whats the difference between download and upload speeds?
You may think that just because you have a high-speed connection, the speed is the same for
both uploading and downloading. Not true. Regardless of the connection type, the download
speed is usually faster than upload speed. For example, you have 10mbps connection but your
upload speed may be in 1mbps.



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Cases Related to Internet In USM

In University Science Malaysia, a majority of USM students is well exposed in
internet usage, consequently putting them in a bright side about the benefits and contribution
of the internet if it is used wisely. USM students are likely to use the internet to access their
academic record like campus online and e-learning. Some lecturer are like to give online
quizzes which are needed to use the internet. If the internet is too slow, then user will have a
big problem which is they will fail to access the online quiz. In order to perform that they
need a good connection of internet provided by USM. Student also experienced waiting for a
long time to log in into campus online. Its also caused student could not cancel when they are
misclicked because of slow internet speed.
Furthermore, students like to use internet to release their tension by streaming video,
play games and etc. Because of that, high bandwidth is demanded by students. USM has
upgraded their bandwidth to 1Gbps according to increase of usage of internet among students.
Although the bandwidth is high, but usually it's always disappointing because it's not really
1Gbps because our PPKT (Pusat Pengetahuan, Komunikasi & Teknologi) has limited the
bandwidth for students. Common problem related to USM internet speed:
1) Different maximum internet speed in same building
2) Inconsistent speed (jitter)
3) Slow access to certain website


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Factors Affecting Internet Speed and Proposed Solutions
Obsolete hardware
In Desasiswa Tekun there are about 100 wings (a wing has 4 rooms). USM provides a switch
for each wing. The student should get number of bandwidth more or less with others wing.
For example, student in wing A gets maximum 21Mbps for download speed, but a student in
wing B gets maximum 10Mbps for download speed.

Wing A Wing B
*both of speedtest were taken at the same time, which is early in the morning.

The replacement of the switch with a new switch or reconfigure the switch is needed in order
to balance the bandwidth. If not, the student will not satisfy the large different of bandwidth
because they are paying the same rate of fees.







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PC/network settings
Sometimes the PC that we used to connect to the internet is setting wrongly or our computer
might have viruses. It may cause inconsistent speed of internet and some port blocked because
of the viruses. In order to prevent that we need to check our PC or laptop frequently (at least
once per week, ideally several times per day) for viruses, Trojan horses or other programs that
affect performance. There are several anti-virus programs that are relatively inexpensive and
provide maximum protection.











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Traffic on the web server
Although the internet speed is in optimum condition, but traffic on the web server is high, it is
also affecting the speed of the student to access to that web server. It is because web servers,
configure a download bandwidth at their end. They only allow download from their website
up to certain bandwidth which has to be shared between the users logged on to that web
server. If too many students access to the website, the speed may go slow due to this
limitation. This also puts limitations on the maximum download/upload speed. E.g. Usually
the traffic overload when result is ready to check by student. Student cannot log in fast
because of traffic on the website become slow due to low traffic capacity. In order to solve
this problem administration need to always analyze the traffic and enlarge the web traffic
during that time.














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Too many devices connected
With the total amount of 28,000 students in USM, let assume the number of devices
connected to the internet for student are about 28,000 (1 student = 1 device). If each user has
about 2 or 3 devices, then it become more doubled or tripled the total number of connections.
There is already too many devices connect to the internet that can make high bandwidth
consumption. If the PPKT not limited the connection for each student then traffic of the
internet become slow. The more device connected makes slower traffic.



Figure 1: Example views of network topology. The student will not get exactly number of
bandwidth provided by USM. If all students connect to the internet and start multiple
downloads at a go on each PC, then they can achieve aggregate bandwidth.

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Conclusion

A High bandwidth provided in USM does not guarantee you instant downloads and super fast
browsing. However, it ensures a smooth surfing experience even if you have multiple
downloads in progress. There are many other aspects which affect the browsing experience,
bandwidth being one of them. There is no doubt that high bandwidth plan enhances surfing
experience and it is an advantage to run High bandwidth applications which cannot be run on
Standard broadband connection, but at the same time internet performance varies from time to
time and ISP to ISP. USM also need to take an action by monitoring all the hardware time to
time to ensure that no absolute hardware used. The most effective way to measure
performance of your internet connection is through Internet bandwidth/speed measurement
tools provided by the service providers. This will give a true performance measure within the
service provider network.
















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References

1. http://searchenterprisewan.techtarget.com/definition/bandwidth
2. http://www.ask.com/question/why-is-the-internet-so-important
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_in_Malaysia
4. http://www.speedtest.net/