Download speed.

Galaxy66

Galaxy66

Jeremy Beadle
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My name is Mal not Jeremy :)
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My computer internet speed has been slow lately, 485 KB I have been getting 2 meg from BT.
I have just used their speed tester and note this,

"The Performance Tester is now testing Broadband connection. Your configured download throughput speed for this service is 500 k."

Does this mean they have dropped my speed, I am definitely not a heavy user.
 
It's probably contention. Basically the bandwidth available to your local exchange is shared between you and everyone else. Now for example if there are 20 of you and you all have 2Mb connections you'd assume the total available bandwidth to the exchange to be 40MB, yes?

No, not even close. So at high usage periods your connection will get slower and slower.

If it's constant then it could be a high number of file sharers in your area OR god forbid, a problem with your connection!
 
It's all to do with the size of the Broadband Hosepipe between your house and the exchange which carries the Bits back and forth. Also, it might have a kink in it, or it might be leaking. Or it might have a blockage: to release a blockage, send a REALLy big photo down the hosepipe and see if that clears it, if it doesn't you need to dig the hosepipe up and hit it with a mallet to clear it.

Hope that helps.

:nuts:
 
pour a pot noodle down it. that will unblock anything.

ps: tip obtained from the PNQ. Watch out for her best seller book "1001 uses for a potnoodle" due on sale any day now :D
 
hey you...stop trying to turn tables
 
JumboBeef said:
It's all to do with the size of the Broadband Hosepipe between your house and the exchange which carries the Bits back and forth. Also, it might have a kink in it, or it might be leaking. Or it might have a blockage: to release a blockage, send a REALLy big photo down the hosepipe and see if that clears it, if it doesn't you need to dig the hosepipe up and hit it with a mallet to clear it.

Hope that helps.

:nuts:
Click to expand...

Mmmm, could I apply the same unblocking method with a blocked toilet drain.
 
hepburn said:
Get BT to test the line anyway Galaxy. No harm in it...
Click to expand...

Well Hep I have already been doing just that, I sent them an email this morning not thinking would get a reply and lo and behold, surprise surprise, they rang me back and went through a few Q&A's. He then asked for an alternative number to contact me on and gave him my mobile number and was told not to use the phone for the next 10 minutes. He then rang me back and gave me a url to type and asked me what the readings were and then went off to do some more tests.
He was connected to me via my mobile for about a 1/2 hour resulting in the confirmation that I was only getting 1/2 meg and should at least be getting 1.8 meg and it has now been raised with the fault team.
I am well impressed with this service from BT so far on this fault and wonder if it would have been raised as quick if I had been with another provider.
I have been thinking of changing for a while now but methinks I will sign up for another 18 months and get the best deal possible:):thumbs:
 
Just done a quick one on http://www.speedtest.net

I'm getting 5 meg download with 300k upload.

There was a big hoo ha over Virgin Medias advertising recently due to 'misleading connection speeds'. Many companies are installing new fibre optics UPTO the local exchanges that will increase the traffic carrying potential on the backbone network. But from the local excahnge in to the property will still be the old school copper wires (unless you have paid for fibre) thus slowing the connection down.

Also remember that BT do not have national coverage of fibre optic backbone yet, in fact far from it, so if you are in an area that does not have the 'big pipes' then don't believe the claimed speeds.
 
My BT connection is also way out... 758kb/s download and 331 kb/s upload and this is supposed to be a 8MB broadband I'm paying for... :(

Also, between 6 and 11pm they restrict my download speed to around 50-60kb/s - crazy!
 
Got a call today from BT and an engineer is calling tomorrow to find why my speed is down.
Full marks to BT for their brilliant service:thumbs:
 
ekimeno said:
My BT connection is also way out... 758kb/s download and 331 kb/s upload and this is supposed to be a 8MB broadband I'm paying for... :(
Click to expand...

They're always "upto" limits though. You'd literally have to be on top of the exchange with perfect cabling to get 8Mbps.

ekimeno said:
Also, between 6 and 11pm they restrict my download speed to around 50-60kb/s - crazy!
Click to expand...

Again, that sounds more like contention (see my post above), unless you sine up for a service with such limitations?
 
MG TF 135 said:
Just done a quick one on Also remember that BT do not have national coverage of fibre optic backbone yet, in fact far from it, so if you are in an area that does not have the 'big pipes' then don't believe the claimed speeds.
Click to expand...


You don't need fibre to handle 8Mbps from the exchange (you do if you want anything greater) as copper can support it. The problem is BT, in their infinite wisdom, decided to use the distance rule as a way of explaining to Joe Public how the system works.

The fact is that you can be right next to your exchange and STILL get a crappy service as it's totally dependent on the quality (and length) of cable between your home and said exchange.

There is no easy or hard and fast rule in qualifying the condition of an individual phone line. Hence you get people paying for an "upto 8Mbps" service and only getting 2Mbps. BT cannot know what the line will be able to support until it's installed.

To make it worse the service actually starts faster (but flakey) and gets slower (but better) while the DSLAM in the exchange works out what our line can support.

Back haul traffic is totally different though, most local exchanges are now connected via fibre (unless of course you live up a mountain). If they're not then obviously contention becomes an issue if the number of ADSL userbase is oversubscribed.
 
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When I went over to "Up to 8Mb" with Tiscali I was getting 7.2 Mb but it was so unstable it was unusable. I got it tweaked and now get between 4.5 and 5 Mb and its good.

I did the speed test today and it came out as 3457kb/s and upload at 368kb/s. My IPS tells me I'm getting 4.6Mbps. So who is right??

Paul
 
The speed tests themselves aren't an exact measure. You'd have to do several (at different times of the day) and average them out to get anything like an accurate picture.
 
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Galaxy66 said:
Got a call today from BT and an engineer is calling tomorrow to find why my speed is down.
Full marks to BT for their brilliant service:thumbs:
Click to expand...

Came today and upgraded my socket box to an ADSL filter box which diverted an outside bell which had been knocking my speed down by 1/2 a meg in any case
Sync speed is 3 meg and I am now getting 2 1/2 meg which is 1/2 meg more than I ever had.:thumbs:
 
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