On Saturday, 16 July 2022 18:17:35 BST Dale wrote: > Mark Knecht wrote: > > On Sat, Jul 16, 2022 at 3:57 AM Dale > > wrote: > > > > > > > > > Also, the package I'm getting is 500Mbs/sec. What speeds should I > > > really expect? If memory serves me right, that is about 50MBs/sec, note > > > the size of the B. By the way, that is about 50 times faster than what > > > I have now. Also, up and down is the same. Current up stream is a lot > > > smaller. Basically, I can upload files as fast as I download them. Now > > > I can upload videos or something. > > > > You will almost certainly get your 500Mb pretty much right away - or > > within a day or two. I get 475Mb on my comcast cable connection > > but it's rate limited at the other end. They sell and upgrade which > > I don't need. At these speeds it's more about bytes/month than > > bytes/second so make sure you know how much data you can move > > without incurring any extra charges. > > > > As for upload I'm limited at about 13Mb/S. I can upload lots of > > data to a Google drive for backups but I have to do it slowly > > > > - Mark > > If I understand this correctly, they are stating bits but most data > speeds are commonly in bytes. I read once where one should divide by 8 > or 9 to get the true speed in common use. Internet folks use the larger > number because it makes it look bigger. If I'm correct, and allowing a > little for overhead, I'll see about 50MBs/sec in common use terms. In > other words, using none salesman terms. 1 byte = 8 bits https://www.gbmb.org/mbps-to-mbs > From what they state, there is no limits. I may be a bit of a heavy > user at first but at some point, hard drive space will slow me down. > I'm a collector of videos and other documents. If I download it, I tend > to keep it unless it is really of no use. I've got videos on appliance > repairs, tractor, tree management and just interesting stuff that I > refer back to. It's a lot. Organizing it is also fun. > > I'm hoping to get it pretty soon. It's getting really close to me. > > Dale > > :-) :-) Regarding VPNs and SOCKS proxy servers, a VPN works at layer 2 or 3 of the OSI model while a SOCKS proxy uses layer 5. Simply, with VPN you tunnel all your connections to the Interwebs via a remote VPN server which acts as a router (full tunnel mode); or you tunnel some connections via the remote tunnel and some via your local ISP as usual (split tunnel). With a SOCKS proxy you need to use an application which has a SOCKS client capability, or you can 'socksify' it with a separate piece of software, e.g. privoxy. As has already been commented, unless you control both ends of a VPN tunnel, you should not assume privacy or anonymity despite marketing claims.