broadband speed

[nennyrainbow]

Hello
Does anyone else find their internet really slow sometimes, partcularly during bad weather (presumably because everyone else is online as there's nothing else to do)? I have a question for any computer-savvy person out there (big hint to Tim  ): If I change my ISP might I get a faster connection or is it limited by factors outside of their control? I am currently with Madasafish who advertise up to 8MB and I just tested my download speed on their website and it came back as 6.2MB which seems fairly good but doesn't explain why it's so slow sometimes. I keep getting advertising promotions from Virgin Broadband - does anyone have any experience of them and are they likely to be any faster?
Thanks
Emma

[Tim]

Broadband speed is limited by the cable from your house to the exchange not the ISP, unless of course you are subscribed to a fixed rate service.

The connection from you to the exchange is (here in the Village on ADSL) provided by BT Openreach in all cases and the speed will be limited by the signal to noise ratio on your bit of wire.

The up to 8meg broadband service is the old ADSL Max service as it was called and is a rate adaptable service which means it will try to run at the best possible speed for the quality of your line.  However it tends to degrade a lot easier than it upgrades. 

Typically I get anywhere from 6.5meg to 7.5meg connection speed but that will degrade over time if I let it.  It is especially bad when the weather is poor but then that's because I am on a bit of urinateed on wet string between my house and the exchange in Nordelph.  The line goes through the ground and I know from a lot of arguments I had with BT a few years ago the hermetic seals on the chambers are hopeless and they fill with water and mud.  At one point I know that my line was in contact with earth, this has been resolved after a lot of phone calls to BT and most of my problems have ceased.  However, when the speed starts to degrade to less than 6meg I just reset the router and it jumps back up again for another few weeks.

The biggest effect you can have on your broadband speed though is usually in your house.  Most people have telephone extensions running around their house and they cause a considerable amount of interferance.  I am now down to the main master box in my house with the router and DECT phones connected, I've binned everything else.  A quick way to test if there is a problem with wiring is if you have one of the newer master boxes with the detachable plate on the front, unscrew it and plug your router into the telephone point inside.  This should cut off any of the interior wires in the house and provide a direct connection from you to the exchange.

One last thing on download speeds, you will notice with some ISPs that there will be a slow down in the evenings.  This is a result of the ISP implementing traffic shaping on their services.  It reduces the sustained throughput of all their subscribers lines during their busy times.  That means you can change web pages quickly but a long download will suffer.  The other little trick is they cripple certain protocols or ports at certain times of the day, P2P is a classic example.  The problem is it's difficult to get an idea of who does what, BT seem to be a little better at not traffic shaping but they do throttle P2P in the evening.  The ISP review sites are okay but the reviews are usually skewed, people tend to only write about things they are unhappy about so it's not easy to pick a good one only a bad ISP.

It's a difficult problem to really get to the bottom of because there are so many variables many of which you aren't aware of (the ISPs traffic shaping policy) so it all comes down to the feel of the thing, unless of course there is a real problem with the line.

As a rule of thumb though I would like to suggest, if it's free (included with satellite televison for instance) or part of a "whole" package of services that are giving you a cheap option it's going to be run with the tightest of margins which means you'll get the bare minimum they can get away with.  Bandwidth costs are the ISPs biggest outlay, anything they can do to relieve the burden by throttling your connection they'll do especially during the busy periods.

Tim

[nennyrainbow]

Wow, thanks, Tim, for the detailed reply! So I would surmise that changing ISP probably wouldn't have much effect on improving the speed.

[Tim]

Other than time related slow downs probably not.

Tim

[Diligent Dick]

6 Meg, wow you should consider yourselves extremely fortunate. We are on less than 0.5 meg at Cuckoo Road!

[The Vicar]

I just posted a new topic re BT Broad band. See below re their responce.

Dear Mr Shelly

Thank you for your email dated 20/10/10 about providing faster broadband to the East of England.

I called you this afternoon, I am sorry I missed you. I did leave a message on your answer machine to let you know I had called and would reply by email.

I am sorry you feel that BT are resisting providing faster speeds to certain parts of the Uk. Whilst I understand your disappointment that your local exchange can only support the up to 8mb speeds I must advise that BT are not resisiting carrying out any updates. I can confirm that BT are currently undertaking a programme to introduce BT Infintity to all exchanges throughout the Uk. Unfortunately we have no date as to when your exchange will be updated. Please be advised you and your neighbours can register your interest in having the service put in faster by going to www.bt.com/racetoinfinity

I trust that my response will assist you further with your query.

Thank you for contacting BT.

Yours sincerely

Deirdre Howe
BT Digital Care Advisor