[mcullinan]

Just got the Orange Box which is the entire Half Life series. Like 3 or 4 games in one package. Awesome. A great storyline. Great action... it seems like its going to be a huge game. Just started last night. Bought it used at 23 bucks plus tax at Gamestop used. I think its a keeper!

I never played the series before and so far its fUn with a capital U!
Mike

[lord_glum]

I use the sites listed below.  If you are interested in tracking you speeds, if you join it will track your provider stats.  I use it to keep tabs on my provider.  I call them when their service slips and they send somebody out to tweak it.

testmy.net
speedguide.net

Thanks,
Jvo

[mcullinan]

227 up
952 down

[Bob in St. Louis]

Thanks for the links Jvo, I'll check mine when I get home.

Good price on Half-life Mike!
So you're uploading at 227kbps and don't have any glitches on XBox LIVE?

Bob

[mcullinan]

Thanks for the links Jvo, I'll check mine when I get home.

Good price on Half-life Mike!
So you're uploading at 227kbps and don't have any glitches on XBox LIVE?

Bob

Nope.. The bandwidth demand really isnt that high on multiplayer games... its just the constant flow of packets that you need. And 227 isnt that slow...
Mike

[Bob in St. Louis]

Cool Mike, thanks. I was worried my (relatively) slow DSL wouldn't keep up with online play.

Are their any deals out there for MS "LIVE"? Or do you just pay the full retail price MS ask for?

bob

[lord_glum]

COD4 is the highest bandwidth game I have seen for a console and the only time i have an issue is if the host isn't that great.  I have been told you need 125 to game.  I found anything over a consistent 200 up w/xbox live is good to go.

I have not found any deals on the network.

Jvo

[mcullinan]

I havent found any deals either. I signed up for a year. What are DSL speeds on average?
Mike

[Toka]

Only real "deal" with Xbox Live is that some games come with a code for a trial membership (Gold, that is...Silver has always been free). Not aware of any other way to save a few bucks...though IIRC I got a free month for paying for a year in advance...but I'm not sure about that.

XBL is great, with some caveats. It helps a HUGE amount if you already have some friends playing, as it'll cut down your chances of ending up in a game with a bunch of screaming, obnoxious middle schoolers. For some games, it can be a deal breaker...especially games where teamwork is paramount. But at the same time, I've met some cool, random strangers out there in the ether, and had many a quality session with them. Same rules apply there as they do here...don't feed the trolls. 

[Bob in St. Louis]

I checked the MS site awhile back and they had an offer for 13 months (thirteenth month being "free"), can't remember how much it was.

Just as a trial, I'll be getting the one month for $8. Just to make sure everything works on my end regarding speed/connection/equipment etc... before I commit to a long term deal.
As I've said before, I'd love to have an AudioCircle online get together. I've played online once at a buddies house and it got pretty old pretty quick when some snot-nosed brat is talking about my Mother and making the experience in general miserable with his type of game play.
 

Mike, regarding the average DSL speed, I stumbled on this page at the like Jvo gave us:
http://www.speedguide.net/speedtest/stats.php
But damned if I can find where to check my speed on their site? 

Results from "testmy.net"
Up: 319 Kbps or 0.3 Mbps (39 kB/s)
Down: 659 Kbps or 0.7 Mbps (80 kB/s)

Results from "2WIRE.COM"
Down: 654.60kbps
They don't have an 'up' test.

I got home about 30 minutes ago and found 6 kids in my HT room taking turns playing Call Of Duty on quad split screen.
Yea, I'm the cool Dad in the neighborhood.  ..... aa......

Bob

[lord_glum]

Here is the link for the speed test....

http://www.speedguide.net/speedtest/


Need to use 1 of the mirror sites.

DSL should be more than fast enough for most of the things you want to do....

[Bob in St. Louis]

572 kbps down (~0.57 Mbps, 70 KB/s) ↓
313 kbps up (~0.31 Mbps, 38 KB/s) ↑

Cool Thanks Mr. Glum!
That will work fine since Mike's is 200 and he doesn't have any problems.

Bob

[Toka]

Just as a trial, I'll be getting the one month for $8. Just to make sure everything works on my end regarding speed/connection/equipment etc... before I commit to a long term deal.
As I've said before, I'd love to have an AudioCircle online get together. I've played online once at a buddies house and it got pretty old pretty quick when some snot-nosed brat is talking about my Mother and making the experience in general miserable with his type of game play.
 

This thread (which I just started  ) might provide the solution for which you are looking:

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=60214.0

[Woodsea]

Finally part of the tribe again.  Got a deal with a TV and the arcade.

[claris]

I got here using a searcher, i been having problems with my wifi for several days and its getting worst every day. I think everytime i do a speed test my speed decreases. may it be possible? i tried opening some ports as a friend told me, can somebody help me?

[Bob in St. Louis]

I got here using a searcher, i been having problems with my wifi for several days and its getting worst every day. I think everytime i do a speed test my speed decreases. may it be possible? i tried opening some ports as a friend told me, can somebody help me?

In the gaming area of an audio forum?