Broadband Speed.

dseered

dseered

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Ian
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Just done a speed test as my internet has been really slow recently, its all very well doing the test but if you don't know what the results mean then it ain't alot of use.

Yes, yes, I could Google them but a real life layman's answer would suit me better :)

Upload = 0.33mb/s
Download =0.23mb/s

Is this acceptable as the crow flies I am about 500 yards from the exchange, in fact I can see it from here, I think this is a pretty bad service ?
 
It depends upon what you are paying for. But I can't imagine those speeds being acceptable for any sort of paid-for service.

Who is your isp? What service are you subscribed to? Are you connected by cable to your modem or are you using wifi? Any other computers in your house using the connection? Anything else running on your computer at the same time?

Irrespective of the above really, nope that is terrible service.
 
If you are that close to the exchange then this is very poor, Iwould expect the download speed to be in whole numbers at least, (2.0 mb/s as a minimum) depending on what service you pay for.
 
It would seem to be pretty awful given your distance from the exchange. BT never lay cable "as the crow flies" but even with their generous cable routes, if you are that close to your exchange then you should be seeing better speeds than those. Has it always been like this or has it recently happened?
 
is your router plugged into the main telephone socket? do you have any extensions plugged in to the router? is your router near anything like a fridge or microwave or any power transformers?

if you can log in to your router and check the signal to noise ratio and attenuation.

i know there have been a LOT of issues recently countrywide due to BT upgrading exchanges, may be related.
 
Christ knows what I actually pay for, its with Virgin and has been for about 6 years, using WiFi, netgear router only ever one machine on the net, although 4 machines and i-phone have access ( 3 Macs and 1 PC. )

Wouldn't know where to start with my login from all that time ago, you have confirmed my suspicion though !
 
neil_g said:
is your router plugged into the main telephone socket? do you have any extensions plugged in to the router? is your router near anything like a fridge or microwave or any power transformers?

if you can log in to your router and check the signal to noise ratio and attenuation.

i know there have been a LOT of issues recently countrywide due to BT upgrading exchanges, may be related.
Click to expand...

Router on middle floor, attached to main line, no telephone plugged into it and nothing near it likely to cause interference.
 
I find this
site very good was giving it by a BT guy
 
was this testing over the wifi? that could limit it too, if so try again with a wired network connection
 
If you've been with your ISP that long, you should probably give them a call anyway.

I've been with AOL for 4 years, and been paying £29.99 for 8mb/s. A few weeks ago I researched broadband, and realised AOL now offered 8mb/s for £12.99, so I just demanded I kept my same service but my price be lowered.

Seems these companies will just keep you on the same price plan, even if the cost of the "same" service drops.
 
Thats a terrible speed, even over wifi its still bad.

I would restart your router, swap your filters if you have any spares. If no improvement contact your ISP.
 
dseered said:
Just done a speed test as my internet has been really slow recently, its all very well doing the test but if you don't know what the results mean then it ain't alot of use.

Yes, yes, I could Google them but a real life layman's answer would suit me better :)

Upload = 0.33mb/s
Download =0.23mb/s

Is this acceptable as the crow flies I am about 500 yards from the exchange, in fact I can see it from here, I think this is a pretty bad service ?
Click to expand...

Right , 0.23 Mb/s is 230Kb/s

Internet speeds are advertised confusingly in Mbits/s

An 8 Mbit/s Internet Speed can give a maxumum download speed of 1Mb/s (Divide by 8 to convert Mbits/s into Mb/s)

230kb/s x 8 = 1840 which is 1.8 Mbits/s

This sounds correct for a '2Meg' Service

(Sorry if the explanations bad, makes sense to me)

Edit:

0.31mb/s is 2480kbits/s

Virgin are known for extremely variable download speeds on most of their services though.
 
Thmaga said:
Right , 0.23 Mb/s is 230Kb/s

Internet speeds are advertised confusingly in Mbits/s

An 8 Mbit/s Internet Speed can give a maxumum download speed of 1Mb/s (Divide by 8 to convert Mbits/s into Mb/s)

230kb/s x 8 = 1840 which is 1.8 Mbits/s

This sounds correct for a '2Meg' Service

(Sorry if the explanations bad, makes sense to me)

Edit:

0.31mb/s is 2480kbits/s

Virgin are known for extremely variable download speeds on most of their services though.
Click to expand...

Most speedtests comply with the megabits standard as per advertised by the ISP's.

So assuming the speedtest he did, gave him the result of 0.24 megaBITS, as opposed to the 0.23 megaBYTES, you used in your calculations.

He is actually receiving a download speed of 29.44 kilobytes.
 
Wigster said:
Most speedtests comply with the megabits standard as per advertised by the ISP's.

So assuming the speedtest he did, gave him the result of 0.24 megaBITS, as opposed to the 0.23 megaBYTES, you used in your calculations.

He is actually receiving a download speed of 29.44 kilobytes.
Click to expand...

this is correct, just done my test (got me worried as im with virgin) and its came back as 9.67 mb - which from an 10 mb connection isn't too bad!! :)
 
Most speedtest websites are inaccurate btw.

Sometimes mine says 3mb sometimes 8mb and sometimes 10mb (which its meant to be). Im on cable so am not affected by distance from the exchange and BT's ancient copper cables.

Ring your ISP and they will have an official website which they use to test speeds.
Assuming you are approx 500m from your exchange and on an upto 8mb service then I would expect around 5-6mb

Your speeds seem very low but you need to check which package you are on and perform a speed test using the ISP supported website. Do the test during the day if possible
 
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Anybody not sure about Mb MB and all that crap, this is what you can expect from a 10meg connection with Telewest/Virgin/NTL.....whatever
 
noneforit said:
Most speedtest websites are inaccurate btw.

Sometimes mine says 3mb sometimes 8mb and sometimes 10mb (which its meant to be). Im on cable so am not affected by distance from the exchange and BT's ancient copper cables.
Click to expand...

The speed also depends on variables at your end.
Number of users online in your house, number of people connected/on the phone that use the same exchange server as you.
If you have any other programs open using internet connection, I.e MSN / updaters / downloaders etc.
 
dseered said:
Thats the one I was using !
Click to expand...

if your getting those speeds from that test site you need to phone virgin - you either have a problem or your on a 1/2MB connection either way they should be able to sort it ;).

I live in the middle of nowhere about as far from the exchange as you can get and still get ADSL and i'm getting

1.94 Mb/s and 0.35 Mb/s up from speedtest.net
 
dseered, was your speed ever faster than that?
 
How about you just swap to optical? If you are near an exchange, i'm assume it's in town, so you should have optical.

And joxby shows, you'll get exactly what you pay for, day and night......
 
Well my exchange is aprox the same distance away as yours and I am getting this, but as mentioned they cannot be relied on. Another test would be to download a driver update from say Nvidia or Ati and see what you get.

test.jpg
 
Hi Dseered

I am in Kendal as well (south end about 3k from exchange) and my speed as dropped off over the past few weeks I am down to half what it used to be. I haven't done a speed test today but will do one later and post my result. They maybe doing something with the exchange

Cheers

Paul
 
evotwo said:
Hi Dseered

I am in Kendal as well (south end about 3k from exchange) and my speed as dropped off over the past few weeks I am down to half what it used to be. I haven't done a speed test today but will do one later and post my result. They maybe doing something with the exchange

Cheers

Paul
Click to expand...

Ahh, didn't realise there was another of us in Kendal - yeah if you have a look that would be great, given up on phoning Virgin for tonight, can't find a telephone to plug in and only have my mobile !
 
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